Participation

For this semester in English 56b I made sure to keep up with the all of the reading while also making sure to watch all of the lecture videos and extra materials that were needed for class. I do admit though, that I had a bad habit of not watching some of the videos when they were scheduled. This meant I wasn’t always as prepared to discuss and contribute which left me at a disadvantage. Also, I recognize that I didn’t make a great effort to add to the discussions we would have in class. Part of this was because of my own shyness and at other times, this was due to the fact that I felt others had already expressed some of the same points I had thought of and I didn’t want to repeat something needlessly. Though, I did make sure to contribute to the discussion on Frankenstein, Jane Eyre and Clockwork Orange.

I made it to class with perfect attendance this semester and always arrived early to make sure I could set up my laptop before class started. With my group, I would help with the organization of blog posts, contribute notes, and would help extensively with the small presentations we did on the whiteboard. I did this by searching for evidence from the text that would support our points and making sure to help to clarify points that I felt could be stronger. Some presentations that I believe I added significantly to were the ones on “Prometheus” and Mrs. Dalloway, where we were assigned to present on how the repeated symbolism and imagery of flowers is used. I would also present for my group when needed. Within my own group, I always participated greatly by asking questions, answering the questions of others, discussing the texts, and providing additional analysis of characters. For these reasons, I believe I have earned a B-.

Diablo III: Video Game and Narrative

What is the significance of your hero?

• In most games I usually play as a character that uses magic but for Diablo I decided to try out the Demon Hunter, which is essentially an Archer, a class I wouldn’t say I’m familiar with. I name my character “Blake” because he reminded me of another character from fantasy series that like. The demon hunter seems to be more of a rogue, someone who probably enjoys being on their own. I tried to play him with this mindset for a little while but later was more interested in helping my group with quests.

Did you listen to the Lore, Quests, Journals, and townspeople? What did you discover?

• During the course of playing, I made an effort to speak to the townspeople when I was in New Tristam and the things they said and the way they described their town, as a place that’s been under assault more and more lately, really helped to build the world and provide backstory. Also, we made sure to listen to Leah’s journals and found out that she was looking for her uncle early in the game. As we went along, we discovered that we would have to find and defeat the Skeleton King if we wanted to find a fallen star and progress the plot.
• This is one example of how the game provides Lore through quests.

What are the rules of this game — that you can discover so far?

• From what I played, the main objective of the game seems to be mostly completing quests, collecting treasures, and defeating monsters. Also, I noticed that since I was playing in a group, the game actually increased the difficulty of the enemies to make sure we didn’t just storm through.

At what level did you conclude the play? How much money has your hero found?

• By the time class was over, I was at level 9 and was very close to level 10. My gold was at around 9000, most of which was collected by killing monsters.

What’s in the inventory?

• My inventory at the end of class was full of armor, some which was pretty good, and an especially powerful crossbow that I was lucky to pick up. I also had collected some potions and some materials that could be used for crafting, one of which was apparently rare, going off the description.

Was anything sold, repaired, or bought with the merchant?

• I only spoke to the merchant once while I was playing but didn’t buy anything. Everything I had found while playing was better than what the merchant was selling.

What skills are available to your hero?

• My hero’s skills were largely focused around long range damage and traps to show down my enemies. As I played I unlocked an arrow that would slow down enemies when hit and a skill that allows me to shoot arrows like a machine gun. I would use the first skill to make the enemies vulnerable and switch to the rapid fire to kill them while they were easy pickings.

How can this kind of gaming “save the world”? (Make reference to the McGonigal video)

• In her video, McGonigal mentions that video games make it easier for people to cooperate and become friendly. I definitely noticed that while I was playing with my group mates, we made a lot of progress in the relatively short amount of time that we played. While we played together, there really wasn’t any obstacle that could stand in our way. We also had plenty of fun.

How can gaming represent narrative (or not)?

• Gaming can represent narrative through the Lore it provides it provides throughout the course of playing. All of the backstory that developers provided through, journals, quests, conversation with townspeople, and videos, creates a larger story that the players can immerse themselves in.