In Puzzle Pirates, there is an array of different virtual worlds to choose from. These are referred to as “oceans” and come in a variety of types. The first main distinction is the type of player oceans – there are subscription oceans and doubloon oceans. In order to participate in a subscription ocean, a player must pay a monthly rate, where as doubloon oceans are free to all users but certain game features require badges, which are purchasable by using doubloons, which may be purchased using USD or exchanging in game PoE (pieces of eight, the standard currency) for doubloons. Since I went to New York City last weekend I will be using this as a source of comparison (and excuse for why I’m on a doubloon ocean instead of paying for a subscriber ocean).
The environment in Puzzle Pirates is somewhat responsive than one finds in NYC. There is a surprising number of similarities – people gathered in public places just waiting to Brawl or Swordfight based on the slightest provocation, sketchy goods for sale at low prices on the main thoroughfares by individuals. There is as much of a variety of pirates as is seemingly possible (with the exception of corporate pirates and software pirates), from shipwrecked deckhands to aristocratic buccaneers. While I have the option to start various forms of combat (sword fighting, brawling, drinking games) with other users, I can also speak with them, view their items, and add them as my “hearty” (or friend). There are a variety of NPCs around to offer help or guidance or even to engage in a friendly game of sword fighting with, to up my ranking. Every avatar having a name label causes a dissonance with reality, as well as helpful tips that pop up during games or when performing various duties on a ship. Also, when a skill ranking is increased, I am notified of this status change as well.
The avatars used in puzzle pirates are somewhat oversimplified. They are more cartoon character versions of pirates than realistic graphical depictions. While clothing can be bought in an endless variety of color combinations, the clothing items themselves are not particularly numerous. My avatar can be, at best, a vague approximation of my actual physical appearance.
The forms of reaction available to me are mostly interaction with other players or NPCs, puzzles, and textual conversation. Like the interactive video, this depends on the architectural strategy of the program (Hershman 645). The most common areas for interaction to take place are taverns, where open interaction between members occurs, and the Bulletin Board, which contains a variety of tabs that list missions, puzzles, and jobs available to each user, as well as ships run by the NPC island’s “Navy,” in addition to user created and manned ships which are seeking ‘jobbers’ for a journey.
One of the main ways that the puzzle pirates world might “fall apart” would be when a player gains enough ranks to captain a ship. While a player may be highly skilled in the navigation puzzle, without a crew (or a crew of only NPCs) they are likely to be no match for actual human players.
Despite any obvious flaws in this virtual world, it's still extremely likely to be the closest I'll ever get to being a swashbuckling rumrunner myself.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Notes on The Diamond Age
I hope that 3d printers will soon be as ubiquitous in our society as Matter Compilers are in The Diamond Age.
The Drummers underground is very similar to the function of the human neural system, which is an interesting contrast: it functions in a similar dynamic with similar structures but on a larger scale, yet most of the rest of the technology in the novel is on a nanotechnological scale.
Nell's ascent into into her position in high society is the reverse parallel of Hackworth's loss of societal status throughout the story.
The scene where Nell visits Harv who is living in government run treatment center for ill people was poignant because it seems very true to the current status of technological development for ill people.
The last scene where Nell saves Miranda, her “virtual” mother, is a stark contrast between the behavior of her real mother.
Much of the nanotechnology in this novel could be realized as soon as 50 years from now.
The concept of phyles reminds me of the ancient Greek nation-state.
The "independent" and unsigned Nanomites inhabiting the blood streams of people are like a material version of "spam"
It seems like nanotechnology has been used more for cultural reasons than humanitarian reasons in many situations.
The Drummers underground is very similar to the function of the human neural system, which is an interesting contrast: it functions in a similar dynamic with similar structures but on a larger scale, yet most of the rest of the technology in the novel is on a nanotechnological scale.
Nell's ascent into into her position in high society is the reverse parallel of Hackworth's loss of societal status throughout the story.
The scene where Nell visits Harv who is living in government run treatment center for ill people was poignant because it seems very true to the current status of technological development for ill people.
The last scene where Nell saves Miranda, her “virtual” mother, is a stark contrast between the behavior of her real mother.
Much of the nanotechnology in this novel could be realized as soon as 50 years from now.
The concept of phyles reminds me of the ancient Greek nation-state.
The "independent" and unsigned Nanomites inhabiting the blood streams of people are like a material version of "spam"
It seems like nanotechnology has been used more for cultural reasons than humanitarian reasons in many situations.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Virtual World: Puzzle Pirates
For my virtual world experience, I chose Three Rings: YoHoHo! Puzzle Pirates. To begin, I was directed to the following interface:
From here, I was prompted to choose a name, gender, and various physical attributes for my pirate. I chose a black haired female sea wench, dressed in a well worn bodice and skirt who is named ieatbugs.
Once my pirate was created, I was placed on a ship whose captain was a non-player character. He directed me to a station to begin my first on board duty, the game of Bilge. While being instructed in this game, the goal of which is to align 3 pieces of the same type together in order to lower the "bilge" water which builds up on the bottom of the ship, my "mission" was listed as: Learn Bilge.
During the sea journey, there are various "checkpoints" which are labeled on the map. When ships reach the location of a checkpoint, the status of all crew members, their stations and performance (which can range from "Good" to "Poor") are displayed to all members aboard a ship. Throughout the day there are a variety of "Navy" ships, which are run by NPCs, for any character without a crew to join for a pillage. During a pillage, the ship Captain will be on the lookout for other ships to engage in a sea battle.
During a sea battle, the Captain must manoeuvre the vessel among rocks and winds to a position where they can fire their cannon upon the opposing vessel. This may sound like a fairly simple task, but given a time limit and being required to plan out each move without knowing the move the opposing ship will take first presents quite a challenge.
Once a vessel has been attacked and successfully grappled by an opposing ship, they may then be boarded. A swordfighting puzzle ensues, where each member of the ship plays a game with an objective somewhat similar to tetris.
If the opposing vessel is defeated, partial contents of the ship's cargo hold will be transferred to the victors. This may take the form of PoE (Pieces of Eight, the game's currency), commodities such as hemp oil, rum, or madder root, or the elusive Kraken's blood, which is required for all black dye but can only be pillaged from high level brigands, granting it a very high worth in game. When the destination is reached, the pillage is complete and PoE is split amongst the players. Commodities are generally sold to restock the ship with necessary supplies (a ship is not able to pillage if it lacks enough Rum for each pirate to consume).
Upon disembarking from a ship, the user is greeted with the scene of a sea-side town which meets them at the dock. This presents them with an entire world of opportunities to explore, a mission board to help find crews looking for jobbers, shops seeking laborers, as well as more NPC training demos for all of the other in game puzzles.
Images from http://www.mmmorpg.com and YPPedia.
(note: I was unable to play SecondLife on my computer due to hardware constraints.)
From here, I was prompted to choose a name, gender, and various physical attributes for my pirate. I chose a black haired female sea wench, dressed in a well worn bodice and skirt who is named ieatbugs.
Once my pirate was created, I was placed on a ship whose captain was a non-player character. He directed me to a station to begin my first on board duty, the game of Bilge. While being instructed in this game, the goal of which is to align 3 pieces of the same type together in order to lower the "bilge" water which builds up on the bottom of the ship, my "mission" was listed as: Learn Bilge.
During the sea journey, there are various "checkpoints" which are labeled on the map. When ships reach the location of a checkpoint, the status of all crew members, their stations and performance (which can range from "Good" to "Poor") are displayed to all members aboard a ship. Throughout the day there are a variety of "Navy" ships, which are run by NPCs, for any character without a crew to join for a pillage. During a pillage, the ship Captain will be on the lookout for other ships to engage in a sea battle.
During a sea battle, the Captain must manoeuvre the vessel among rocks and winds to a position where they can fire their cannon upon the opposing vessel. This may sound like a fairly simple task, but given a time limit and being required to plan out each move without knowing the move the opposing ship will take first presents quite a challenge.
Once a vessel has been attacked and successfully grappled by an opposing ship, they may then be boarded. A swordfighting puzzle ensues, where each member of the ship plays a game with an objective somewhat similar to tetris.
If the opposing vessel is defeated, partial contents of the ship's cargo hold will be transferred to the victors. This may take the form of PoE (Pieces of Eight, the game's currency), commodities such as hemp oil, rum, or madder root, or the elusive Kraken's blood, which is required for all black dye but can only be pillaged from high level brigands, granting it a very high worth in game. When the destination is reached, the pillage is complete and PoE is split amongst the players. Commodities are generally sold to restock the ship with necessary supplies (a ship is not able to pillage if it lacks enough Rum for each pirate to consume).
Upon disembarking from a ship, the user is greeted with the scene of a sea-side town which meets them at the dock. This presents them with an entire world of opportunities to explore, a mission board to help find crews looking for jobbers, shops seeking laborers, as well as more NPC training demos for all of the other in game puzzles.
Images from http://www.mmmorpg.com and YPPedia.
(note: I was unable to play SecondLife on my computer due to hardware constraints.)
Thursday, October 2, 2008
1985; 1988
1985
- DNA is first used in a criminal case
- ATI Technologies is founded.
- NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after resigning from Apple Computer.
- Solarquest, space age real estate game, first published by Golden.
- Buckyballs discovered by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. One of the first nanomaterial discoveries.
- GNU Manifesto first written by Richard Stallman.
February 19 - William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
March 25 - The 57th Academy Awards are held at in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture.
June 24 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
June - Tetris released
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
July 24 - Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
September 22 - Plaza Accord was signed by five nations.
October 4 - The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA.
October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in US stores.
November - QuantumLink, predecessor to AOL, launches
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
December - Movie "Brazil" released - in an Orwellian vision of the future, the populace are completely controlled by the state, but technology remains almost as it was in the 1970's.
1988
TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed.
In England, Max Dowhham's "Cyberpunk: the Final Solution" published in Vague
Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net published
Mississippi Review entire issue published devoted to cyberpunk; academic colonization of the Movement begins in earnest
Shatter graphic novel published
Saibapanku Amerika [Cyberpunk America] by Tatsumi Takayuki published in Japan
Going GaGa begins publication
bOING bOING begins publication
Wetware published (Apr)
May 16 - California v. Greenwood: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers do not need a search warrant to search through discarded garbage.
June 11 - The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time.
July 6 - The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area (including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus) washes ashore on Long Island. Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island and in Monmouth County, New Jersey force the closure of numerous New York-area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers in the American Northeast on record.
September 29 - STS-26: NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.
The Internet worm strikes (Nov)
Interplay releases the Neuromancer Game; a computer role-playing game for the Apple II, Commodore C64, and Amiga
William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov)
1989
Mondo 2000 begins publication
"Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June)
Wetware wins the Philip K. Dick Award
Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published
The Cuckoo's Egg published
Semiotext(e):SF published
Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published
Crystal Express published
Tetsuo:The Iron Man released
Shadowrun computer game released
Mattel introduces the PowerGlove, a Virtual Reality input device
Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson
Satellite television service Sky Television plc is launched in Europe.
- DNA is first used in a criminal case
- ATI Technologies is founded.
- NeXT is founded by Steve Jobs after resigning from Apple Computer.
- Solarquest, space age real estate game, first published by Golden.
- Buckyballs discovered by Harold Kroto, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley. One of the first nanomaterial discoveries.
- GNU Manifesto first written by Richard Stallman.
February 19 - William J. Schroeder becomes the first artificial heart patient to leave the hospital.
March 25 - The 57th Academy Awards are held at in Los Angeles, California with Amadeus winning Best Picture.
June 24 - STS-51-G Space Shuttle Discovery completed its mission, best remembered for having Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist.
June - Tetris released
July 13 - Live Aid pop concerts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and London raise over £50 million for famine relief in Ethiopia.
July 19 - U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush announces that New Hampshire teacher Christa McAuliffe will become the first schoolteacher to ride aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger.
July 24 - Commodore launches the Amiga personal computer at the Lincoln Center in New York.
August 7 - Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts.
September 22 - Plaza Accord was signed by five nations.
October 4 - The Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA.
October 18 - The Nintendo Entertainment System is released in US stores.
November - QuantumLink, predecessor to AOL, launches
November 20 - Microsoft Corporation releases the first version of Windows, Windows 1.0.
December - Movie "Brazil" released - in an Orwellian vision of the future, the populace are completely controlled by the state, but technology remains almost as it was in the 1970's.
1988
TAT-8, the first transatlantic telephone cable to use optical fibers, is completed.
In England, Max Dowhham's "Cyberpunk: the Final Solution" published in Vague
Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net published
Mississippi Review entire issue published devoted to cyberpunk; academic colonization of the Movement begins in earnest
Shatter graphic novel published
Saibapanku Amerika [Cyberpunk America] by Tatsumi Takayuki published in Japan
Going GaGa begins publication
bOING bOING begins publication
Wetware published (Apr)
May 16 - California v. Greenwood: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police officers do not need a search warrant to search through discarded garbage.
June 11 - The name of the General Public License (GPL) is mentioned for the first time.
July 6 - The first reported medical waste on beaches in the Greater New York area (including hypodermic needles and syringes possibly infected with the AIDS virus) washes ashore on Long Island. Subsequent medical waste discoveries on beaches in Coney Island and in Monmouth County, New Jersey force the closure of numerous New York-area beaches in the middle of one of the hottest summers in the American Northeast on record.
September 29 - STS-26: NASA resumes space shuttle flights, grounded after the Challenger disaster, with Space Shuttle Discovery.
The Internet worm strikes (Nov)
Interplay releases the Neuromancer Game; a computer role-playing game for the Apple II, Commodore C64, and Amiga
William Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive published (Nov)
1989
Mondo 2000 begins publication
"Fiction 2000" conference held in Leeds (June)
Wetware wins the Philip K. Dick Award
Neuromancer: The Graphic Novel published
The Cuckoo's Egg published
Semiotext(e):SF published
Cherry comix special cyberpunk issue published
Crystal Express published
Tetsuo:The Iron Man released
Shadowrun computer game released
Mattel introduces the PowerGlove, a Virtual Reality input device
Timothy Leary interviews William Gibson
Satellite television service Sky Television plc is launched in Europe.
Blade Runner vs. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Blade Runner is a film based on one of the foremost plot lines in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? However, despite the fact that several significant aspects of the original story are omitted in the cinematic interpretation, meaning is not lost. Instead, there is an additional dimension of meaning as the viewer begins to empathize with Rick Deckard, who is to be revealed as a replicant himself before the end of the film.
In Philip K. Dick’s text, androids play the role of a plot device. They are the motivation for fear and apprehension, symbolic of technology created by humans that has come to tire of its role as a slave to its creators. The need for Blade Runners arises from situations in which rogue androids kill their masters and take their place. However, in the film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, these inhuman creations are orchestrated in such a manner that we begin to respond to them with sympathy and compassion (Galagher 70). Our inability to differentiate between biological humans and androids does not interfere with our yearning to empathize with them (Galagher 70).
One of the ways in which the director elicits sympathy from viewers for robots by juxtapositioning their behavior against the behavior of “humans.” Roy Batty, in one scene, expresses concern and dismay that his android lover may be nearing the end of her lifespan. “Pris hasn’t got long to live,” he says, expressing the sense that replicants are truly self-conscious beings (Armstrong 120). This type of behavior strongly contrasts against the scene in which Deckard retires the android Zhora, where he appears to be chasing after a seemingly innocent woman and shooting in the back in public.
Assigning behavior considered to be human may have farther-reaching consequences than to question the true identity of the characters. Varun Begley, in his paper “Blade Runner and the Postmodern,” suggests that this may be evidence for the interpretation of the film as postmodern cinema. “The film frustrates our attempts to formulate correspondences or construct interpretations (190).” Further evidence to support this interpretation of the film is one of Deckard’s own statements about Rachael, who is revealed to be a replicant as well. “How can it not know what it is?” he asks Tyrell, of Rachael’s lack of awareness of herself being a replicant (Slade 13). Clearly Rachael’s belief that she is, in fact, a human contradicts the self-awareness of Pris and Roy Batty, who identify themselves as replicants.
Other visual metaphors are more clearly expressed in the film instead of in print. During one of the final scenes when Deckard is hunting for Pris, she hides by posing herself among a group of animated toy figures, which are owned by Sebastian, who he considers to be his “friends.” This illustration of android among dolls brings to light the ways in which Pris is similar and dissimilar from the other animated creatures, as well as humans (Lev 34). Although she may appear visually similar to humans, she also fills the role of mechanically functional to that of the dolls she surrounds. Yet some of her behavior is considered human as well. The replicants are suggested to be surreptitiously human and non human.
This dimension of humanity that Ridley Scott applies to the androids in Blade Runner seems contradictory and somewhat paradoxical. This contributes to the viewing and interpretation of Blade Runner as a postmodern work of film. However, the same aspects that suggest it to be a postmodern film also insert a new depth of meaning to the story, which was begot by Do Androids Dream of Elecctric Sheep?
In Philip K. Dick’s text, androids play the role of a plot device. They are the motivation for fear and apprehension, symbolic of technology created by humans that has come to tire of its role as a slave to its creators. The need for Blade Runners arises from situations in which rogue androids kill their masters and take their place. However, in the film Blade Runner by Ridley Scott, these inhuman creations are orchestrated in such a manner that we begin to respond to them with sympathy and compassion (Galagher 70). Our inability to differentiate between biological humans and androids does not interfere with our yearning to empathize with them (Galagher 70).
One of the ways in which the director elicits sympathy from viewers for robots by juxtapositioning their behavior against the behavior of “humans.” Roy Batty, in one scene, expresses concern and dismay that his android lover may be nearing the end of her lifespan. “Pris hasn’t got long to live,” he says, expressing the sense that replicants are truly self-conscious beings (Armstrong 120). This type of behavior strongly contrasts against the scene in which Deckard retires the android Zhora, where he appears to be chasing after a seemingly innocent woman and shooting in the back in public.
Assigning behavior considered to be human may have farther-reaching consequences than to question the true identity of the characters. Varun Begley, in his paper “Blade Runner and the Postmodern,” suggests that this may be evidence for the interpretation of the film as postmodern cinema. “The film frustrates our attempts to formulate correspondences or construct interpretations (190).” Further evidence to support this interpretation of the film is one of Deckard’s own statements about Rachael, who is revealed to be a replicant as well. “How can it not know what it is?” he asks Tyrell, of Rachael’s lack of awareness of herself being a replicant (Slade 13). Clearly Rachael’s belief that she is, in fact, a human contradicts the self-awareness of Pris and Roy Batty, who identify themselves as replicants.
Other visual metaphors are more clearly expressed in the film instead of in print. During one of the final scenes when Deckard is hunting for Pris, she hides by posing herself among a group of animated toy figures, which are owned by Sebastian, who he considers to be his “friends.” This illustration of android among dolls brings to light the ways in which Pris is similar and dissimilar from the other animated creatures, as well as humans (Lev 34). Although she may appear visually similar to humans, she also fills the role of mechanically functional to that of the dolls she surrounds. Yet some of her behavior is considered human as well. The replicants are suggested to be surreptitiously human and non human.
This dimension of humanity that Ridley Scott applies to the androids in Blade Runner seems contradictory and somewhat paradoxical. This contributes to the viewing and interpretation of Blade Runner as a postmodern work of film. However, the same aspects that suggest it to be a postmodern film also insert a new depth of meaning to the story, which was begot by Do Androids Dream of Elecctric Sheep?
Works Cited
Armstrong, Richard. "SIGNS OF LIFE: SOUL AND CINEPHILIA IN 'BLADE RUNNER'." Screen Education (June 2006): 117-122. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008
Begley, Varun. "Blade Runner and the Postmodern: A Reconsideration." Literature Film Quarterly 32.3 (July 2004): 186-192. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008
Galagher, Nola. "BLEAK VISIONS: RIDLEY SCOTT'S BLADE RUNNER, DIRECTOR'S CUT." Australian Screen Education (Winter2002 2002): 169. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008
Lev, Peter. "Whose Future? "Star Wars," " Alien," and "Blade Runner."." Literature Film Quarterly 26.1 (Jan. 1998): 30. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008
Slade, Joseph W. "Romanticizing cybernetics in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner." Literature Film Quarterly 18.1 (Jan. 1990): 11. Communication & Mass Media Complete. EBSCO. 1 Oct. 2008
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