ELLIOTT – Weekly Writing for Rhetoric of Gaming F2017

Rhetorical analysis

ELLIOTT — Tue, 28 Nov 2017 00:48:49 +0000

Soulcalibur II is a fighting game released by Namco, and is similar to games like Mortal Kombat and Tekken. In the game, female characters such as Ivy, Taki, and Talim are all clad in very objectifying clothing, as well as their dialogue in the game being flirtatious and suggestive in tone and nature. In this way, the game suggests that men who play the game are only interested in women who can serve some sort of sexual desire or appetite. Also the female characters’ fighting techniques all tend to focus on distance attacks or defensive attacks, which would imply that the game argues that women either attack from a distance or they tend to hide behind something while they attack. An example of this in the game is the character Ivy, who wears very revealing body armor and whose weapon is a sword that can extend across the field of play to do things like choke her opponent from behind. She also has attacks where she crushes the opponent’s head between her legs and tells them to “stay down”. These attacks and aspects of play all suggest rampant misogyny on the part of the game designers.

Rhetorical analysis

ELLIOTT — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 15:16:16 +0000

The recent spike of celebrity sex offenders being reported, and the rise of the #metoo on Twitter argues not that more sex offenders are around, but rather that the hashtag invites people with similar experiences to come forward. In the same way, the hashtag argues that knowing that someone has a shared experience with someone else will make them more likely to vocalize this shared experience. In the same way, when a student is in class, they may feel self-conscious about a certain interest or experience that they have had, but when a professor introduces a concept that is near this interest or experience, students are likely to speak out about it. These examples argue that collective experience is equal to vocalization of experience; if something is culturally shared, it is culturally vocalized. The newfound vocalization of a shared experience is not representative of a new frequency of the experience, but rather a feeling of normalcy in having the experience.

Weekly research

ELLIOTT — Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:51:45 +0000

Risk is one of the of the most conflicting games in the canon of classic board games. In it, players must take on their inner Napoleon and attempt to conquer the entire world by moving their different pieces into different territories by rolling dice. The game requires players to create intentional conflict and attack other player’s territories, and this is why many players do not enjoy playing Risk. When players enter into a game of Risk, they go in knowing that conflict, hurt feelings, and contention will arise, and all of these things are on purpose.

http://www.pogo.com/games/risk

Rhetorical Analysis

ELLIOTT — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 15:21:12 +0000

After reading a chapter in a book I Know Who my Comrades Are, I wanted to muse on what privacy actually is, specifically in relation to mobile apps. While many users of mobile apps, when they first install an app, are asked if they want to allow the app to use their camera, microphone, and location, they don’t actually think about the implications of what that actually entails. For all intensive purposes, whenever a user of the app gives consent to the app to use their microphone, camera, and location, they essentially allow the app to not only use these things when they want it to, but also when they are unaware of it, as well.

It’s almost as if the app argues that unless someone wants to give up certain aspects of their own privacy that they will not be allowed to participate in the realm of the app. Many different types of media make this argument that one cannot participate in society while maintaining their own type of privacy. This is similar to many websites that do not allow people access without signing up for the website and creating an account when, for all intensive purposes, one would be able to enjoy what the website or app has to offer without needing to sign up.

Rhetorical analysis

ELLIOTT — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 17:54:04 +0000

On Sunday, November 5th, the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed the Denver Broncos 51-23, and given the nature of the game, there was a great amount of celebration among Eagles fans. By the end of the game, the Eagles used their back-up quarterback, Nick Foles, instead of their starting quarterback, Carson Wentz. This example of switching players argues that a team is willing to not play as hard if they feel that they have certainty of their win in a game. Because of this, it could be suggested that the better a team is playing, the more willing they are to slack off in the end of a game. This is almost like an analogy for the tortoise and the hare story; the hare feels far enough ahead in the race so it decides to take a break.

What one may wonder, though, is when does this point occur in a situation of play? At what point does a player or team decide to throw in the towel and stop playing like the game is on the line and become content with just relaxing? One could argue that this choice is directly related to the choice of how seriously one takes the game to begin with. If the team truly cares about winning, they would not at any time decide to take things easy.

Gender and Games

ELLIOTT — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 15:14:44 +0000

Liz Danforth in her short article “Gender and Games” argues that in order to help bridge the gap between gendered stereotypes of the gaming community, places like local libraries need to help educate players on games and also offer opportunities to people who may not have the means to play games otherwise. Danforth argues that while game developers often target a male audience when developing a game, many “serious” games are developed by female designers. Danforth closes by suggesting that the best way for a woman to become integrated into the gaming community is by playing tabletop RPGs by understanding conceptual tricks as well as interactive storytelling.

Danforth, Liz. “Gender and Games.” Library Journal, vol. 136, no. 13, 8/1/2011, p. 53. EBSCOhost, proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=64501689&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Project 1 final checklist

ELLIOTT — Thu, 02 Nov 2017 11:58:20 +0000

Topic Proposal, containing a topic, a working thesis, and at least one primary (game object) and secondary source shared via the weekly blogs, no later than 1159 9/29 (5%) YES
Presentation of topic proposal, in class 10/3 (5 %) YES
Defense of topic proposal in conference with me no later than 10/3 (5%) YES
A draft project overview with a thesis and and no fewer than 200 words, shared on our weekly blogs no later than 10/6 (5%) YES
Commenting on two other writing projects via the blogs, on or before 10/8 (5%) YES
A draft conference with me, on or before 10/6 (5%) YES
Another draft conference with me, showing a substantially finished draft of the project, on or before 10/13 (5%) YES
A near-final draft, shared/linked from a post on our shared blog, on or before 10/13 (5%) YES
A final round of commenting on two drafts, due on or before 10/14 (5%) YES
The quality of the finished project, due on 10/16 (55%) YES

Rhetorical Analysis of DnD

ELLIOTT — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 12:40:00 +0000

While it may seem that Dungeons and Dragons is a simple role-playing game, it actually argues that one’s success in life is not reliant on how well equipped someone is for a situation, but rather how they are able to find solutions to a situation with what they already have.

The definite aspect of dice rolling in the game, while it does leave certain aspects of a situation up to chance, it never guarantees that a player is going to have a situation play out in a definitive way until the Dungeon Master says whether or not the roll was successful. With this in mind, players must continuously take into account the role of uncertainty with the decisions that are made.

The only real certainty that a player has is in their ability to make new decisions after seeing the success of their first decision. This aspect of the game appeals to cynical players who are willing to scrutinize every decision that they make, understanding that all things in life are uncertain. It is almost as if the game argues that every situation in life has a different type of kairos to it that is unknown until the situation plays out in its entirety.

http://dnd.wizards.com/

Dungeons and Dragons

ELLIOTT — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 12:14:56 +0000

Dungeons and Dragons is the single most definitive game in the realm of role playing that first came out in 1974. The game is played by having players select characters who navigate through various situations that are contrived by the Dungeon Master, who officiates play. Players roll dice of various sizes–d4’s, d6’s, d8’s, d10’s, d12’s, d20’s, and d100’s–in order to make certain things happen.

The part of Dungeons and Dragons that separates it from other games is the amount of freedom and experimentation that the game allows for, especially in character creation. Not only can players select their character’s race and class, but also they are able to customize their personalities as well as their weaknesses. Unlike many role playing games, Dungeons and Dragons does not only rely on fighting and customization of your character’s gear in order to submerge players in game play; the only limit to play is the player’s imagination.

http://dnd.wizards.com/

Personality and Play

ELLIOTT — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 03:54:06 +0000

personalityandplay.wordpress.com