View allAll Photos Tagged Metagaming
"All the World's a Stage" wrote Shakespeare. "All the world's a screen" may have wrote some film director during the 20th century. But if I had to pick a version to speak of today, I would choose "All the World's a Game".
It's pretty impressive to see the place the word “game” took in our discourse. Is the Sony a9 a gamechanger, asks DxO ? Some website give us 5 tips to improve our photography game. Of course, the consecration of the word, it’s invasion of the collective unconscious comes probably from the successful “Game Of Thrones” of HBO. The way characters use the concept of “Game” to speak about the over-corrupted political world should also warns us.
I may be wrong on the exact origin of the expression, but I am pretty sure it is related to video games. Please note that I am not saying that there was no game before in a lot of social realm (real new human mechanisms are quite rare). What I am saying is that the thing became recently quite explicit and … inhibited (décomplexé, we would say in French).
If you ever played a little bit seriously, you know that a video game is two things. Firstly, it’s a set of possibilities determined by a set of rules/algorithms. Most of the time, you can discover these “rules of the inner world” by playing or even by reading the manual. Secondly, and more importantly, a game is a set of hidden regularities that haven’t necessary been planned by developers, but that you can exploit to hack, in a certain way, the in-game rules. These things are not directly available in-game, so you find them outside, on forums, on website and so on.*
One thing is undeniable: once you discover this metagame aspect, your in-game efficiency increase … A LOT. It’s also undeniable that if you had pleasure just playing without caring of the outside-game rules, this will ruin your “naive” experience. In some way, you’ll lose you innocence. Every serious gamer confess for time to time how nostalgic he is of his first games, when he was a noob: he was so ineffective, everything was so hard, but it was so fun !
What is particularly disturbing with the expansion of the “Game” word outside the realm of video games – in politics, professional life, love, music, art, photography – is that it carries with it the same fundamental idea: there is a gap between the explicit and the implicit rules. There’s the rules we pretend to follow, but we know that they are part of an illusion. And there’s the rules that we pretend not to follow, but we know that it’s the only thing that matters.
Let’s be frank: if All the world’s a Game, there must be winners (serious gamers) and losers (noobs). The real gamers-winners, are the ones who master the hidden rules while being effective in pretending not doing so. In other words, to win, you have to learn how to cheat. By the way, cheating is not really cheating anymore: it’s just the real understanding of how to play.
Why do I write this on a photography social website? Because Flickr, Instagram, and any other photography platform can be perfectly described as games. Exactly like video games, there’s the official in-game rules: we are here to share images, we can get exposure in proportion of our talent, and we can give and receive constructive critique in order to improve our technique together in a happy world. But there’s also the hidden exploits: we can choose the time we post to get a lot of favs, we can give meaningless comments with the chance to get some attention back, we can randomly follow people without even watching one of their picture hoping that they’ll follow back, … **
This cynical topic came to my mind when I was shooting the Milky Way by the Etang de la Gruère last week. I was quite disorganized : all I had – apart my tripod and my camera – was my smartphone with less than 50% of battery. It was my only source of light, and I realized quite soon that I would not find my way back in the darkness. It was cold, I forgot to take a jacket: in brief, it was quite uncomfortable.
During the 17 seconds of every shot, I had time to think about what I was doing: why do I go out to take nightscapes? Why do I play fair? Couldn’t I use always the same shots (that I could take once for all) and create some fake foreground in Photoshop? After all, isn’t that what most people do on Instagram? The competition is so fierce that “real” nightshots have no chance! Cheating is just the way of playing properly: am I that naive to think that a simple nightshot without the silhouette of a naked-young-woman-holding-a-flashlight-as-if-she-was-painting-the milyway-that-finally-turns-out-to-be-a-swarm-of-butterflies-eaten-by-a-wolf-howling-in-a-blood-moon could still interest someone in 2017 ??! What a noob I am! I felt so stupid with my wet shoes and my torn up pants ! Photography is over, it’s all about artwork now !
Kidding apart, it’s not always easy to keep faith in photography when it comes so close to a game. After all, no one really came for this in the first place. It’s something that come insidiously. It’s simply related to the old cognitive mechanisms of rewarding in our brain. We like to receiving attention – even meaningless – from other people. Nothing’s more normal. The question is why do we stay ? Of course, there’s a part of addiction and laziness, but there’s something more. If the game is not fun when you know too well how it really goes, it’s neither fun to play alone … I don’t think I would still find motivation practicing alone. In some way, I really want to test my picture on public opinion. I need emulation. That’s what keeps me wanting to improve. However, what ruins the experience is that you realize that the only way to “be serious” now is to practice things you don’t approve and that would take crazy amount of time …
Maybe I have the wrong conception of “being serious”, it’s maybe time to find some other sort of motivation. If you really red that far – thank you for that - I would love to know how you cope with “the Game” …
*(Pokemon on Game Boy gave a good example in the 90’ : everyone – below 30 years old – remember the good old days wandering around and training their favorite creatures, sometimes up to level 100 ! The Pokemon was so powerful then, it killed everything in one single shot. What most people didn’t knew is that it was possible to take control on the way creatures received new skills at every level (which seemed random according to in-game rules) : rather than having a big fat jack-of-all-trade, you could have a specialized beast that had huge lacks in some skills, but was top rated on others. Of course, because these skills were well chosen, the guys who applied this strategy were unbeatable.)
**(The award-game is an excellent illustration of this : There’s no in-game awards on Flickr, but gamers figured out a way to create a game-in-the-game from outside. Everybody knows that the small texts that accompany awards are meaningless, but everyone pretend it is sincere. All in all, it’s just a way to get more exposure and more followers. That’s how it goes, everybody knows …).
______________________________________________________________________________
[...] In his book The Master Game takes Robert De Ropp perceptive analysis on various games, he would like to point out that
Life games reflect life goals and that the games played by people deliberately allow conclusions to be drawn not only to their type, but also on the degree of their internal development ... We can classify the games in games and games.
Object games can be viewed as games in order to obtain material things, especially money and and the objects that can be bought for money.
Meta-game will be played by intangibles such as knowledge about and around the .
[...] It is the ultimate goal that we recognize our deepest and the very own nature, and fuse with it and that we get from our own direct experience to realize that these natural is divine. Different traditions press this inherently different, but the core content is the same. [...]
De Ropp writes further:
The idea behind all major religions is that man is asleep, that he lives in dreams and illusions that he was cut off from the universal consciousness ... and has withdrawn into the shell of the personal ego. Again, come out from this shell to rejoin to the universal awareness to get out of the darkness of the ego-centered illusion into the light of the non-ego - this was the real aim of religion game, as have practice the great teachers, Jesus, Gautama, Krishna, Mahavira, Lao-tse and the Platonic Socrates.
This re-emergence, this unification and enlightenment is the goal of the game master. [...]
De Ropp states that:
It remains the most ambitious and difficult of all games, and just play in our society. The contemporary man mesmerized by his technical Glitter toy has little contact with his inner world, it deals with space, not with its interior.
But the Masters is played exclusively in the inner world, a vast and complex field, of which the person knows very little. The goal of the game is the real awakening, in the full development of man in the dormant powers.
it can be played only by people who have come from observations of themselves and others at a conclusion, namely that the normal state of consciousness of man, his so-called waking state, not the highest level of consciousness is, of which he is capable. This condition is true revival but so far away that he can rightly be called a kind of somnambulism, a "awake sleep". [...]
Source: Roger N. Walsh - "Der Geist des Schamanismus"
An RP scene from New Haven WoD
(Some lines are removed / changed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
[...] That all of course didn't escape the watchful sights of him, that was nearby in the top of a building, checking the two after he notice they made their way out of the sewers, his eyes returned to her as she seemed to be making her approach on someone. He was worried about what could be actually going on but still wasn't sure if he would end up being forced into a fight in case he stopped her, it was already difficult to think she wasn't on his side of the world anymore. But even then, he continued on walking from rooftop to rooftop [...] He lowered himself a bit more near the ledge after he approached enough, trying to listen to what was going on down there. When she was making her way back with the homeless person following, he couldn't waste too much time, the moment she has walked past the corner and into a place harder for the others to see, he would slowly 'walk' his way down with his mist walk ability until dropping on the floor, if his drop to the ground so suddenly wasn't enough to make the homeless think it was better to leave and not come back to that place, maybe the sword on his waist and the dark metal mask facing him with quite threatening eyes would be - "Denvers..." - He spoke in a low voice not to startle her as he turned to face the woman, folding his arms in front of his chest and looking at her without understanding much of what was going on[...]
She got startled with the sudden noise of heavy boots landing. Her doubts were answered with the familiar voice addressing the name she was planning to abandon. She turned around quickly to face him, not being sure what to expect. Had he changed his mind and was hunting her now? Was he here to make sure she was not causing trouble? As expected, the homeless guy spooked by the sudden appearance of a masked man to fall down from sky. She, who has been watching his masked face in her frozen state, tore her gaze from him to watch her hunt walk off, with a very nasty feeling settling on her stomach. She pressed both of her fists hard to be able to control herself and not lash out in front of him again. "I thought I was clear enough when I told you to drop this issue... How did you find me?" she asked with her voice coming harsher than she intended due to him causing her a hunt. She was curious that if he was able to find her, then maybe Sheriff and his men might be as well.
When her voice came up to him, he leaned his head a bit to the side, trying to read her even if just a bit before he could remove his mask and place it down into his pockets - "You were clear... but you know I'm as much stubborn as you are... maybe even more" - He said in a calm voice, his expression carrying more worries than anger as he looked her over, not seeming to mind her tone towards him - "You know I have my ways... that doesn't really matter now, what were you planning on doing? That guy told you to fetch him his meal while he rests away somewhere else? Or was that yours?" - He had his suspicions seeing that she was pretty much upset about his sudden appearance, though that could also mean many of the other things, she probably didn't want to upset the Kindred while she was stuck with him, not being able to do much to free herself, he knew it wasn't everyone that was able to avoid such things like a bond created by the power of the blood like he was.
She was still standing like a statue with her muscles tense, ready to act in case he made his aims clear that they were no longer on the same side. What she didn't expect was him to remove his mask, the one he never removed when he was on a hunt. "You're not here to hunt me then." she thought aloud, but she still preferred not to lower her guard, she knew he was more sentimental than she could ever be, so maybe he wanted to have this (second) final talk when seeing her face. "It matters, because you are not the only hunter I am avoiding now, for obvious reasons." Her stern shoulders dropped with a sigh, first time taking her eyes off of his face that she hadn't even blink the entire conversation. "Yes and no... You have been in this longer than I was. You know how it works... I can't... can't resist his wishes. He asked me to hunt, because I need to feed sooner or later. You know this..."
Account: peggy215
Characters:
Lilith Denvers
Ushi Oni
Flying in her Red Star 1, a TIE Defender. By lore, she should easily defeat this small rebel squadron, consisting of a Y-Wing, a T-70 X-Wing and a Z-95 Headhunter. In practice, she had a bit more trouble, because the Y-Wing had equipped a weapon that's particularly apt at fighting against nimble starfighters that excel at staying out of firing arc: a Twin Laser Turret.
I particularly like the backdrop here; it's a playmat made of essentially mouse mat material: A layer of rubbery material with a bit of cloth on top. Player mats for the X-Wing game used to be first ... non-existant (thus the game was often played in the woodplank nebula, aka on the plain table), then vynil (which is rather slippery) and this material here is pretty much the best of this evolution. And, the famous Cloud City Bespin in the background is of course very lovely, too.
I just started playing X-Wing again after a hiatus of a bit over half a year. There's quite some stuff that has happened in the competitive metagame since, but I'm looking forward to playing more often. This shot here is from a small tournament yesterday, where I went with my son. He had lots of fun rolling dice and bumping everything he wasn't supposed to bump 😆
An RP scene from New Haven WoD
(Some lines are removed / changed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
[...] She didn't need to see an 'attempt failed' sign to appear on his forehead to know it didn't work. He wasn't looking as blank as that mortal did, nor he stopped questioning things. "You don't understand!" she started all of a sudden with a higher pitched voice. It was already hard for her to control her urges when things didn't go in her planned ways, it was harder now with her hunger. The hunger which made her more than aware now how 'alive' he was. Her 'breath' cut off for a moment before she could continue with her words. Instinctively she lifted her hand to cover the bottom half of her face. Yet it didn't help with being able to hear the beating heart, in a slower rate than that poor coyote but still alive, pumping blood. She could almost feel her fangs itching. She swallowed dry and forced herself to step back before trying to continue with the muffled voice of hers. "You don't- understand. If there's anyone in danger- it's you- if you follow." In fact she wasn't that worried about him to get hurt. She knew he was more than capable of dealing with a newbie kindred. It was the possibility of him to learn what she is now that had her worried.
[...] "Listen, this- this is not just another kindred issue. You can't- help me this time." When he suggested the word 'bond' she nodded her head, thankful that it was him to think that option when she couldn't. He didn't need to know more than that. Even if she couldn't answer why she couldn't accept his offer to help her get rid of it. She continued her words in a more honest way, she didn't see use in hiding Reekel's presence anymore when he himself wasn't doing anything to hide himself from the hunter. "There's an end to- everything. To the lessons. To the partnerships. Or to where your power- reaches. You can't- help me. Not this time. Because... I don't want it."
Account: peggy215
Characters:
Lilith Denvers
Jagger Yukimura
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
sim location: Boston - Wild West sims
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Massachusetts%20Region/140...
(Some lines removed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
.......Timmie looks a bit shocked. "Jesus Christ, I thought you was jokin' when we talked about them.... them..... umbrella things!" He is still happy to see his friend and waves down at her from "his" statue.
Peggy blinks once more trying to understand why he as well was so shocked. "Ohhh! You mean this!" she lowers her umbrella and lets out a very amused chuckle, having relaxed seeing her friend in an unfamiliar town "Well yes, this is how you are supposed to look like in big towns Timmie! you're actually ignoring the town laws! Quick! Grab this before someone sees you without an umbrella!" she teases him and reaches the thing up towards him to take
Timmie bursts into laughter "Oh geez yer right! I's so lucky noone done arrested me yet for my outlawish behaviour!" He grabs the umbrella and proudly rests the handle on his right shoulder, twirling the umbrella around some, nose pointing up to the sky! He stands up, wondering if he could jump down from the statue kind of using the umbrella as a parachute, but two thoughts keep him from it. 1st: the umbrella might break. 2nd: The roses and the bench don't provide a too awesome landing area. He adds number 1b: if the umbrella breaks, he might hurt himself even if he ain't landing on the bench or roses. So he passes the umbrella back down to Peggy. He rolls on his belly and carefully slides back until his toes touch the back rest of the bench, then he climbs down the rest to join his friend.
Peggy watches him sliding down with a little of worry, even though she knew he was used to jumping down bridges and who knows what else. She keeps her mouth shut though and wouldn't interfere his professional work of climbing down. She accepts her umbrella back and closes it down for now not to poke anyone's eye out. "You're going to be a president? Blimey! Let me imagine about that!" She rubs her chin pretending to be thinking "all stores to be turned into candy stores and kids will have them for free, and.. uhm.. no school ever, and.. no winters?"
Timmie nods his head eagerly at each of Peggy's ideas! "Yes and yes and YES and YESSSS! And chi'rens will be allowed to smoke and it will be forbidden to beat them and no early bed times and baths may be taken in the lake or river and without soap and and...some cursing will be allowed too! " He hastily adds "And free ice cream and free lemonade.".....
Theme Song: Outside - Staind
I can see through you
See to the real you
Day 8 - Fifth Dream: The Mythos of a Tormentor
The leopard people dated the origins of their species
back to the period known as the Golden age,
wherein many mythical creatures,
most now being extinct, existed.
Some ancient texts call this the age of the ‘men of renown.’
It was the time that the sons of the gods
were believed to dwell in and rule the earth.
- From Book I of the Feline Chronicles, author unknown.
As the dreaming continued, so did my tears and sorrows for yesteryears. On one hand, I regretted the things that happened that broke the flow of RP I thought was good. Yet, putting out the other hand, I considered that, looking at what I saw at that time when it was my present, it could not be so easily faulted what happened to break up stories when others around me also did things to create the stumbling blocks. I mean, if one is honest, and looks at the different events that happened, how could anyone possibly pin the problems of the whole on just one person? All who are a part of the whole have their part in making or breaking something in the whole. Yet, mathematics aside, and transgression of others as well, when it comes down to it in the end, no one's actions matter as much as your own. How you deal with what you personally do does make a difference in the end. And, in looking at this, pondering in my head all my faults, I realize in one rock song that I used to listen to while alive rings true:
All the times
That I’ve cried
All that’s wasted
It’s all inside
The faults are ours, they are inside us. They are the thorns that do not allow us to love as we would like to. To treat others as we would want them to treat us. Because we put up barriers. We make ourselves fortresses, or towers, or skyscrapers in a city, and try to maintain that rigid posture that we are unbendable, that we can face all storms and weather what the world has to dish out on us.
Yet, another lesson of the era in which I lived was that even the tallest and the greatest of skyscrapers could fall.
You'd think we could have learned that lesson from back in the days of the tower of Babel, but we don't learn lessons too easily. Sometimes we don't want to. We just go about our lives and decide that the folly of the past was that they weren't as smart as us, didn't have the proper technologies, and thus, we of the future generations are far better and more advanced and so much more capable of handling what those in the past could not.
Even with my own perspective and respect for times and cultures past, I too failed to do better and found myself in a pride just as destructive as that of the general modern population. For I dwelled in the synthetic metaverse created by Another World, trying to recreate a past in a fictional character. Enjoying the mythologies of cultures times past, I took that and ran with the ideas in order make an age of my own creation.
I failed.
And now, in my own dark prison, I find myself reliving my failure. Thusly, another dream, and I am transported back once again to that era before my fourth felix. I am beginning to wonder if I will be stuck in that time, or maybe these dreams have some purpose I have yet to fully comprehend. Who knows? I don't. And I am the one here taking note of my pondering into... nothingness. A black slate of nothingness.
"Beast."
I blinked for a moment as I heard someone call out my first Kitten's name. It wasn't my voice. But it was of someone familiar. Eyes became focused. I saw that I was on a rooftop. There was my Kitten at the ledge. I kept my gaze firm on Beast. She didn't look back.
"What?"
"Don't do it."
I heard the familiar voice again speak, and I started to realize who it was. Ashur Kentoku, or Ash, as I called my old friend.
"You'll only hurt yourself. You need a waaay taller building than this one," Ash said lightly, trying to inject a bit of humor into an already very bad situation. "Come on. You still need to get back at me for tickling you so much earlier."
I gave a growly murr towards Beast. "What you talk about here Kitten is not courage. Here, let me show you something I rarely show anyone."
My Kitten turned slowly. She looked sad and angry. Her vision was past Ioh for a moment, "Ashur. You know I won't get revenge on you. You're not the enemy."
I took from behind my back a blade. "Do you see this Kitten? Do you know what it is?"
Beast shook her head slowly as if understanding the basic concept but not getting the meaning. "Somewhat. What is it?"
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : okay im going to let you do your thing Ioh, my roleplaying slant here is way different...I'll wait some.
I answered Beast, “It's called a Tanto. From my days training as a samurai in the Tendai clan. I had always kept this on me behind my back.”
Beast nodded as she viewed the blade. "And why?"
I replied, “It is for if I were ever captured by the enemy. We were told in no uncertain terms that, rather than face being captured, we were to die instead.”
Beast nodded again slightly. "Why show it to me then?"
"I kept it there as a reminder of the importance of strength to keep in battle. To remind myself that it was the fight that mattered, and not to accept defeat."
Beast looked back to the drop off. She started to cry again. But this time more in shame. "I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. I... I can't do it." She took a slight step forward.
I looked to the blade, speaking while guiding it across my gut. "You see, if I were to be captured, I would have to perform Hari Kari. As was the tradition. I would take this blade and force it into my gut, ripping out my insides in a rather painful death." I looked to my Kitten. "So you don't want to go through with it now?"
She started to cry more. "I can't. I can't do it. I'm not ready. It's not my time."
"Good, because I haven't fought my last battle yet either Kitten."
Beast moved closer to me, continuing to cry in shame and in pain. "Why did I almost do it?"
Ashur looked at Beast with eyes also full of pain and anger. "I know how you feel Beast. What the Matron did was utterly wrong. And I told her so." Her use of the word 'Matron' instead of the name 'Rith' was evident.
Beast nodded, still crying. She held her hand out as it bled freely. Her skin slowly changed back to it's usual, more human skin, rather than her dark gray fur, tiger striped feral skin.
"But you don’t need to do anything stupid because of it." Ash continued on to say. "We're here for you. Even if she isn't."
I sheathed my tanto and sighed in relief. I nodded to Ash. "Yes, this was uncalled for."
Ashur turned toward me. "I had just peacefully dealt with two potentially violent problems. And was about to deal with a third. In about as many minutes, practically. Then Rith arrived, lost her temper and undid everything I had fixed."
I sighed at hearing this. "I am still a Catwalker due to the ideal as a Feles Royale. But even the Matronii and Patronii have been wrong."
Ashur nodded. "And when they cannot admit it. It leads to discontent, even rebellion."
"We were cursed never to have an empire again because of a grave error in judgment by the Old Empire's royal Matron and Patron." I added.
"I have never heard the Matron compliment any of us when we deserved such," said Ash, "I will not stay in a family where the Matron rules with ire and does not show support for her family. I will NOT."
Beast nodded. "Well I'm in those shoes now Ash."
Ashur nodded. "I am interested in seeing what comes of this. Sarika was there also. She also expressed dissatisfaction. The Matron threw it back in our faces. I have served the Catwalkers above and beyond the call of duty for a long time now, and I feel there is little if any reward in doing such any more. I will wait a short while to see what comes of this. Most likely Rith will hide from us and these issues again, leaving us to fend for ourselves." She growled in anger.
I softened my eyes in seeing Beast crying, then hugged her. "We'll work things out Kitten. We'll find a way."
Beast nodded as I held her away from the ledge and allowed her to cry freely.
I sighed at hearing Ash's comments. "I know our Matron has erred. But remember, we're still family." I looked to Beast, "You are of an even more closer familia to me than even the Catwalkers my love."
Beast stopped crying and started to murr softly. "I'm happy to be that one hun. You are my only family now."
"Ash is in that familia too. Reserved only for my closest friends and those I love most, especially you my Kitten."
Beast smiled at Ioh. "Then let that be enough. Because other than Dui, you two are the closest thing to family I can call. And sorry about earlier when I got mad at you Ash."
I sighed. "This is a mess, I don't even know how this even came to be. Our Matron herself was with me at Snake Pit last week, we even talked over a few drinks there." I then nuzzled Beast. "My familia is the most important thing to me. I will do what I can to protect the ones I care for and love."
Ashur shook her head. "She is unstable. She loves us, but she also has strange ideas on leadership. And she seems to lose perspective and the ability to do what she tells us to do. To be, in her own words, and I qoute, 'Smart, empathic, disciplined, good-natured, obediant, and amibitious.'"
Beast nuzzled back with a smile. "I will protect those who deserve it. Like you. Ioh. And you too Ash. Don't think we forgot about you." Beast headed over and hugged Ashur in an apologetic way. "I'm sorry Ash. Can you forgive me?"
I shrugged. "Maybe Rithy's getting cranky in her old age. " I smirked, "But I'm even older than she is, so what's that say about me?" I chuckled trying to lighten things up a bit.
Ashur decided to let Ioh take the lead and stopped her complaining. She hugged Beast and purred. Beast then tickled her sides while mewing. "gotcha back now hehe."
Ashur eeped and lept back grinning. Beast giggled.
"Its okay Beast." Ashur said, "We all make mistakes. It's how we move on from them that matters."
Beast nodded, smiling. Moving as fast as Grease Lightning, she pokes Ashur's sides again for a laugh.
As the silliness was going on, I was pondering a bit. "You know, the ideal of the Catwalkers is what drew me here. Even partially the tradition of a Matron. As my clan was run by the Matronis and Patronis as head of the familiae. So the ideal is appealing, even while the reality is flawed."
Beast giggled while nodding to what I said. Ashur looked at Ioh, not understanding his words well but got the gist of it.
I murred, then sighed. "I don't know yet. To remain or to go from the Catwalkers."
Beast sighed, "I'm gone already."
I nodded, then shook my head. "It may be possible to appeal. Maybe fight to regain your place among the Kittenwalkers again." I shruged, "That is, if that is what you'd want to do, my Kitten."
Ashur pondered on that. "Beast, just think about it for a day or two. Approach and speak to Rith if you have to. She is the source of your unhappiness. I think if anyone logically speaks to her and she still won't listen, then your case is untainted. You tried.
As for me, and perhaps others, the time is fast approaching for a big change in the Catwalkers." Ashur let her ominous words trail off, the unspoken words spoke louder than a gunshot.
I shrugged. "It is hard to say. I'm just amazed at what happed. Shocked that such a thing would happen in the first place." I then listened to what Ash was saying, "There is indeed a need to do something, but what?"
"There have been too many of us who have left." Ashur continued, "Even one is too much. Rith needs to wake up or we can do what needs to be done."
Beast nodded to Ashur. "If anything, Rith will kill me for this. But I'll talk with her in three days. And if all goes wrong, I'll leave and start something new. Or just wander alone like a vigilanty or something, helping the innocent."
Ashur nodded to Beast. "Fine. But don't despair yet. Okay?"
Beast gave a small look of gratitude to Ashur.
"As a Catwalker, my loyalties are to the Matron and Master." I then began thinking, "However..."
Ashur nodded to me. "However..."
I looked around. When I felt comfortable that I was secure to speak in the area, I continued, "However, even among the Feles, there were times that the Matronis and Patronis would 'retire.'" I said with a serious and somewhat grim look.
"And then becomes anarchy right?" asked Beast.
Ashur nodded again. "In the military, an unfit leader is ousted and another installed. By force, if necessary."
Beast gravely nodded in agreement.
I nodded, then sighed, "I don't like thinking like this, but, the Matron has not seemed herself."
Beast slowly brought her hand into a fist and pushed it into her other palm. "Then let us do something?"
I looked to Beast solemnly, "What we're talking about here is a last resort situation."
Beast shook her head, "It now is my only resort."
Ashur nodded gravely. "Yes." But her face seemed to say, "This has been a long time coming."
Beast had put a fist in the air, as if vowing to a cause. Ashur looked at Beast, wondering if she knew the horror and bloodshed that could occur becasue of their intended actions.
I shrugged. "For the time being, let's not speak of this, especially not in so open an area." I then pondered, "We have to be careful no matter. If we do anything, we need to find a place where we're relatively safe to speak openly and without much..." I looked about the rooftops, "Ears from our family's well known security up here."
Beast nodded. "Where will I go now?" Her face was sullen and dark. She looked down, "I can see if Mitz has a place to stay. 'Cause I got none."
"If you need to be in the city. But remember, we've got our hideout away from the city as well Kitten." I winked at Beast.
Beast smiled back with a twinkle in her eyes.
Ashur said quietly. "I have always found the ruined zone to be good place for qiuet. Most stay away from that place."
Beast shivered from the mention of the ruins.
"If you are seriously in need, let me know also, Beast. I am not without resources." Added Ashur.
Beast nodded and smiled to Ashur. "Thanks. I will. But first I will see if I can fix me something."
I pondered a bit more on the subject. "But remember, the Strays are around in the south side of the city now. Though they might be interested, for now, this should be an internal issue."
Ashur looked at me again. "Ioh. Sarika was also angry about this. Speak to her. Speak to others. See who will join in a... change... in the status quo. Let me know. I will do the same."
Beast added, "First talk with Gin and Dui. They'd be big."
Ashur looked at Beast, and nodded slowly.
"I'll keep my ears open." I pondered again, "What about Linds? Is she still around?"
Beast nodded, "Yeah she is."
"Good," I replied, "she's a veteran, and she brought me into the Pride."
Ashur added "Rarely have I seen her. I don't know her that well. This whole affair has left me feeling sick. I'm going somehwere to be alone for a time. See you both soon, I hope. Take care."
Beast turned to them. "Ok well I'm heading to Mitz's place for now to heal. Thanks for pulling me out of this one."
I nodded and waved to Ash, "Take care and be safe. I'm not looking to do Hari Kari any time soon with my blade!" I chuckled, meaning it to be somewhat a joke, despite how morbid it sounded.
Ashur said nothing. Her thoughts leaned toward the future, and bloodletting...
And so began the working of the revolution of the Catwalkers. One Matron to step down, and two to take her place. However, I was not looking to be in the revolution. While on my quest to learn more about the history of the Catwalkers, I had met with the first leader of the Catwalkers. Her alias in town was Sekhmet, and her story of the town, and what happened to the original Catwalkers was enough to make me see the vanity of the revolution. For Rith was said to had started the first revolution to which not only ousted Sekhmet, but started a whole new Catwalker group, to which took over the old group's property, due to internal simulus politics. In other words, Rith's fate was just a continuation of that which she first began when she usurped Sekhmet and Bastet to start the first reign of the Matronage. So too would the dual Matronage of Lindsay and Tober step down, then Dui, then Elise, and now...
*sighs*
I don't want to speak on it. Not now...
"The things we do sometimes, to protect the Pride... it can be a mess sometime, huh?"
I said to Ashur, who by the time I spoke those words was made a Wrath in the Catwalkers. Me? I was grafted back in, and had just turned Satomi into a cat.
"It can be," Ash replied back to me. "Mari showed us that."
I nodded, "Yeah, Mari..." It had not been long after I attempted to kill that cat.
"But the Pride is first," Ash continued on to say. "Yes. Family First."
I then looked down towards the ground and asked her, "Am I...?"
"Are you what, Ioh?"
"Becoming like Mari?"
Ashur frowned, "Why do you say that?"
I shrugged, "I dunno..."
Just then, a visitor dropped by the park, and Ash responded, "Oh, hey Ginkitty." She then smiled to him. "Whats new?"
Gin eyed the big cannon on Ash's back "Is that a gun?"
I looked and saw Gin, "Hey there."
Ashur nods nodded to Gin. "Yus, it is. A 20mm sniper/anti-armour rifle. I got it in Hong Kong while I was a away."
"Wow Ash. Impressive." Said Gin before turning to me. "Hi Ioh. Just wanted to say 'night to the both of you." He licked his fur as he prepared for his bedtime.
"Well thanks, kind Gin." Said Ash, "Sleep well. It's good to see you again."
"Sleep well Gin." I replied.
Gin then ran off in the direction of the Den.
I waved as Gin ran off, then slumped a bit.
"So, Ioh... You have something to tell me?" Asked Ashur.
I nodded, then sighed, "I'll have to tell the Matrons eventually, so might as well talk with you first then...."
Ashur perked her ears. "I'm listening, Ioh." she said in her soft voice.
Looking away for a moment, I then said, "You remember that military recruit that we captured before you went on vacation? Well, she came back to the Den a few more times, shot Dui, Elise, and even Aspie Kitten."
Ash nodded knowingly.
I shrugged, "Then you probably heard about how I had her captured a second time, and what happened after that."
"All I know is you got ahold of her and she's not been seen since. Did you kill her?"
"So you've heard a bit about the third time huh?" I shook my head, "It didn't turn out how I expected. You see, I intended to at least torment her, maybe shoot and kill her, but..."
Ashur tilted her head, looking at me.
I looked up toward military base just behind the cement walls of the park, "Think we should head some place a little further from here?"
Ashur nodded. "Follow me."
I nodded as I stood up. We then went out into the ruins.
"Technically Pack turf," Ash explianed, "But I came here when they were still dreaming of their own territory. Besides, Angela likes me. So go on."
"Alright," I then began my story, "So I got to a point when interrogating her, trying to figure out her motives, that, I don't know. I could see the usual fear you'd expect. But, there was something else, like an uncertainty about the military, about her role." I shrugged, "Stupid stuff I guess, that I should have not paid any mind to."
Ashur shook her head. "What are you getting at, Ioh?"
"I couldn't kill her, and I couldn't simply let her free either."
"What did you do to her Ioh?"
"I turned her into a cat... sorta."
Ashur blinked rapidly, then frowned. "Er, say what?"
"Well, I guess she's technically like the test tube cats, being half human, and half my pure bred Feles."
She raised an eyebrow. "How, precisely, did you do that, may I ask?"
"Well, it's a long story. But basically, seven years ago, I met a scientist who I became friends with. He extracted some of my DNA and mixed it in a vial with, I think it's a virus or bacterial host." I shrugged, "Either way, it was developed to carry my DNA into the host after being injected, and thus reforming the host to be more like the DNA found in syrum."
Ashur nodded. "I see... well, she's a cat now. Well, I hope she goes insane and kills herself for what she did to us. But also..., I dunno. I feel it's an invasion making scum like her one of us."
I shrugged, "Well, apparently it cured her of her illness. Though she's still transitioning." I murred, knowing that it won't be easy to explain, "Ash... she's a sired one of mine now."
She pursed her lips and folded her arms, thinking. "Umm... This is difficult Ioh. What you did was sneaky. Almost Ghost-like. But also, your ability to torment people in your clutches is self-evident too. Thing is, umm..., she's not likely to be welcomed into the Pride, at least not until she does penance for what she did to us."
Looking up at her from the incline, still trying to gauge her reaction, I looked down, "Yes, I know, and I knew then that she likely would not be accepted by the Pride. Though I think she's willing to do penance. I don't know if any amount will be good for some in the Pride." I sighed, "Aspie Kitten already seems to hate me. Or really dislikes what I did." A tear came down from my cheek, "She even called me a monster..."
Ashur reached a small but clawed hand up to my face and brushed the tear away." I'm sorry to hear that Ioh. What you did was... strange and unusual punishment..., but you're hardly a monster for it. Satomi is a better person now from what you tell me. That's something."
I nodded with a sniff, "Yeah..., but I don't know." I then shrugged, "I still have to pay for my actions. At least, I guess, I need penance..., seek attonement, or whatever."
At least then, I could be granted penance more freely. But now, either I am paying back the pennies for my debt I piled up in my life, so I may be polished and made whole again. Or I am being tormented, and only now seeing my missed opportunity to learn the life lesson and repent of my follies.
Ashur had been there many times to reveal the warning signs of the path we walked upon in that city and in the Pride. She too before me was brought high. She was the one who sought for me the position of Tormentor. And then, an upstart cat by the name of Ayami came into the Pride and ruined Ash. She caused Ash's departure from the Pride. I also made friends with, and eventually called another young recruit in the Catwalkers my sis', who was named Baily Dazy, but went by the name of Dazy.
God. If I would have known the foolishness of befriending and making family this pink cat, I would have never made her so. But, she was in the Pride, as was Ayami. And so, they were family regardless. Yet, now, the logic seems stupid, considering that such an unconditional acceptance was not reciprocated in the end. They came to despise me. Just as Mari was torn down out of favor. And then Ashur. What came reciprocal was mutual hatred, as the scars of internal 'family' warfare took their toll. And somehow, I knew that this would all fall to pieces as it did. I could just feel it. It should have been apparent when...
I found myself standing on the ledge in the middle of the high rising building that stood next to the Den. Gin was struggling in agony, looking over to me with some hope in his eyes.
"Last chance, cat boy," I heard Ash say as I approached. She dropped to a knee, using Gin as cover, and fired a burst at me.
I heard the gun fire, then hopped back behind the wall, quickly drawing my duals. Dazy growled and came up behind me. Gin still struggled with his good leg to push off the ground with his back against the black clad figure to cause her aim to be off. Ashur stayed crouched as she unclipped a grenade from her utility belt. She popped the pin, counted to 3, and skittered it around the corner after I and Dazy, prepaing for the blast a second later. Dazy started around the back corner to get to Ashur's other side she approached the other side of the building behind Ashur. I ducked as I did a barrol roll, taking a hop back towards the black uniformed bioweapon.
And then, a time out was called by Ash, to which the log, I try to recollect here:
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : hold on a sec!
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : my grenade action please...
: Bailey Dazy OOC : i was on my way around the building when that post was made, so i'd have been around a wall by then
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : you were next to Ioh when I tossed the grenade Baily, not behind me....
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : one second fuse after I tossed it...
: Bailey Dazy OOC : i was typing out that i was walking around the building, i walked the long way around...
: Bailey Dazy OOC : i'll bow out though if this is gunna run funky i dont wanna cause rp issues
Ginseng Kyong: ((what is the order? and I change mine from push to struggle to get a footing of some sorts)
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : you werent, you were approaching Ioh..read up...suddenly you're not, your going back the other way...please repost?
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : Bailey Dazy growls and approaches behind Ioh......
: Bailey Dazy OOC : ugh nevermind ignore me im out. in my eyes this was what happened i was typing (apparently not fast enough) that i was heading around the building when your post came though... i went ahead and hit enter anyway after... maybe i should have just stopped there. well ignore everything ive done. im bowing out.
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : sorry Bailey, Im not accepting your movement, you stated you were approaching Ioh, then suddenly you"re running around the building to the other side...yes....bow out then if you feel that way
Ginseng Kyong ((Bailey you are starting your way around the building right now))
: Bailey Dazy OOC : i do :) bye.... no gins im out. ill be at the med den when you need help
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : and consider yourself out of my storyline in future if its going to devolve into OOC squabbles....
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : now, for the rest of you...grenade to deal with.
Iohannes Crispien: ((back, my connection has been like this all day, and Ash, any more like that and I'm out of here too))
Ginseng Kyong ((Ash she just needs some experience with battles
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : she needs to be muted , and thats what Im doing to her. I have no time for this.
Iohannes Crispien: ((Ash fine then, I'm voiding and muting you as well.))
Iohannes Crispien: ((Sorry Gin, but this RP is going nowhere, so you can stay, void, or whatever.))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : Well your decision is to support those who mess up combat RP, then do it Ioh. Nothing surprises me anymore really, even hearing things like this from my friends.))
Ginseng Kyong ((wait guys))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : What, gin?
Iohannes Crispien: ((Sorry, but she had every right to go around the building, that was her decision, and that's what I would have /told/ her to do as well))
Ginseng Kyong ((how about we get Baily back.. and do this like we should and have fun))
Ginseng Kyong ((but she did go around a little too quick
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : NOT when she had posted she was approaching you from behind! Thats not acceptable!
Ginseng Kyong ((she needs to post it before she moves))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : I'll not be party to being metagamed and god-modded in combat RP anymore. its not fair. And you"re supporting her Ioh. Im surprised, and disappointed.
Iohannes Crispien: ((Ash doesn't seem to want to do that, she seems more in dictating everyone else's moves.... that's power gaming, and in effect, godmoding))
Iohannes Crispien: ((out of here, and I don't care Ash, you brought it on yourself))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : So go ahead and mute me then if you want Ioh, I cant stop you of course. Was nice being friends, i suppose....
Ginseng Kyong ((Ash you could of been more nice.. Bailey is still new to combat))
Iohannes Crispien: ((Yeah, too bad you turned into Rith and Mari, Ash. But that's your RP))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : THEN MAYBE YOU catwalkers should train her better...so she doesn't annoy people when it comes to combat!
Ginseng Kyong ((I plan to talk to her later))
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : And you Ioh? So quick to Mute me over an obvious case of someone else messing with the RP...
: Ashur Kentoku OOC : Well fine your decision. Gin, wanna finish this?
Ginseng Kyong ((if we get a replacement for Ioh))
Iohannes Crispien: ((Gin, she was Fine, and no, I don't see her messing it up. I see someone I considered a friend take over the RP, and essentially power gamed it into OOC.))
Ashur Kentoku: 22 Well, I have to goto work now Gin
*shakes my head*
It was a stupid argument, and nearly ended a friendship. And I defended who? My sis'? My fair weather sis'? Dazy, who could give a damn about me now? Yes, I was stupid for it. And almost lost a true friend to keep someone who turned out to be a fake one. But what does it matter, now that I'm dead. They're both lost to me now.
But now, what does it matter? Though Ash was there, I didn't heed her warnings. And now look. Here I am in this dream. This nightmare. Replaying a fake life I lived in a fake city in a fake world. And what do I have to show for myself? A man who died in his early thirties. He lived alone, and died alone. And now I am here in the prison of my own making. Alone. And apparently fated to watch the reruns of my pathetic life and where I screwed up. Alone.
And I leave
A burning path of flame
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
RP Sim: Chronicles of Lynnea
(Some lines removed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
[...]He sighed, and sat down on the bench next to Emily. Timidly, he reached out and grabbed her hand into his own massive, bandaged palm. "I promise I won't do anything to you. The spell- If would sort of be like looking at the ring through magical glasses, you know?" He frowned. "I'm just... Wondering if it has something to do with your memory loss. You didn't have it before you left. And you haven't taken it off since you came back, have you?"
Emily kept her stare on the man as he got closer, though it was only her defensive posture, she wasn't actively trying to flee from the man. The more he explained the more she found herself in the mass complexity of the life she had possibly been in. She ran her right hand's fingers through her hair with a tired manner. It was barely afternoon and she was starting to show tiredness once again. She flinched when her other hand was held and came back to this world once again from her momentary distraction. Her sapphire eyes found the man's behind his glasses, hopefully not magical ones "I.. no, I don't think I ever did. It's bad luck, and I didn't want to upset whoever my husband is" she muttered with blushed cheeks. Then, she nodded her head. As if a child agreeing her parent to pull the threat tied to their milk teeth that was about to fall off. She carefully took the ring off and placed on the man's palm, watching without a breath.
August sucked sharply on his teeth, and tried not to celebrate too much the fact that he'd been precisely right so far. Her reason for keeping the ring on- that had been his guess. The way she'd suddenly started acting tired at the mention of the ring as well, just like the day before. Those long, deep sleeps she'd been going through every single day. August had first attributed it to [~removed~] but Emily had been perfectly fine for a few days now. Yet, the sleep thing persisted. August had hazarded to Alexandra, yesterday, that perhaps the ring was draining from Emily to keep its own enchantment going. Had he been correct around that too? His eyes narrowed as he stared at the ring put down in his palm. "Thank you. For your trust. Let's figure this out, okay?" August pulled in a deep breath, and his other hand hovered the ring. Between his cupped palms, thin golden magic condensed, like a mist. It became denser and denser, more opaque as mana gathered within the invisible cage of his hands, waiting for bright flash and flow of information that should follow successful casting on an indeed enchanted object. After all, breaking apart enchantments to their core components was August's very niche specialty.
Emily unintentionally scooted a little away now, leaning against the wall. Though not because he was afraid of the man, she was afraid of the magic's possible effects. Even the sight of the golden hues were enough to cause the girl to gasp. The ring laying on the man's hand however, showing the opposite reaction the girl was giving: disappointingly nothing... No trace of magic, curse, and even the false sensation of it's lack of weight as if it's not actually gold at all.
August seemed completely dumbfounded by the lack of result. As the golden magic dissipated, he stared at the inert ring in his palm as if it had developed the ability to speak and personally insulted him in especially salty words. His brows met at a sharp angle. "What the hell." he muttered, as if the fact that it was -not- magic was weirder than the opposite. He'd -hoped- that were it. It would have been a simple solution to a complicated problem, and one that would have meant a mistake in an otherwise intentional behavior. Now, August had to face the possibility that Emily had actually been involved into a marriage, and he doubted by choice, with some loser who'd given her a garbage ring. He crushed the ring into his clenched fist at the rage provoked by the thought. This was a very touchy subject for August, and one that undoubtedly drove him to jump to such conclusions. His eyes drifted down to his balled fist, and let out a deep sigh before dropping down the now twisted ring. "I'm sorry." he muttered. "I broke it a little."
Emily has watched not daring to breath still, and took it as very bad news when he cursed under his breath. Her hand dropped to side as she leaned closer "What is it? Was it a curse? Is.. is it okay now?" She took the secondary behavior as a yes too, the ring was bent easily being a cheap copy trying to look like gold made a chling sound as it dropped. Emily's gaze shifted from it to the man, expecting a confirmation before believing anything. Still, she believed from the day one when she noticed a ring on her finger, that it was valuable. Thus, she quickly took it from wooden planks and dusted off, with a visible sadness on her face. She lifted it using two fingers and slowly turning it to let the now lowering sunlight on it to inspect better. "Can it be fixed now? I.. I don't want-" She paused and frowned, something caught her eye "August? There's... something written in here" She reached the thing back to the man with grown excitement.
August perked up from his frustrated state at the announcement that something was written inside the ring. He blinked blanked at Emily, and waited in expectant silence before remembering something very crucial: Emily couldn't read. He fumbled in the realization, and picked the ring out of her waiting fingers. Squinting at it, August lifted his glasses off his nose in an attempt to read the tiny engraving more easily. "...Who the hell is Henry Wilkinson?" he muttered, before turning his puzzled gaze to the girl. He rolled the uneven, bent metal circle between his fingers before handing it back to Emily. "Does that name ring a bell to you at all?" He hesitated and, rather than simply dropping the ring into her palm, grabbed her hand into his own. Before her mysterious departure, August had often avoided touching Emily directly, or even being too close. Her anxiety had been overwhelming and, without much experience at controlling his affliction back then, the results on his had been devastating. Things had changed now. Well, somewhat. He'd gotten better. And, right now, he needed it. If the name stirred up anything in Emily, he had to know. August cupped her tiny hand into his own, and swallowed with difficulty. "Do you know who Henry Wilkinson is, Em?" he repeated, carefully.
Emily was equally breathless as he once again waited for the man's answer, leaning forward to be able to see the ring herself too even if she couldn't read like he did. She didn't mind the slightest when the man held her hand. Just like he did, Emily has changed too, mostly because she accepted that the man had an important place in her previous life for some unknown reason and she should trust it. Just like the confidence she felt about her hunting abilities. When the name mentioned, the grip on the man's hand tightened with a jerk, a sharp inhale was taken. August didn't have to cast any spell on her, she seemed to have fallen into some sort of trance already just like she did with Alex and the memory of her injury. Emily'a gaze was torn away from the ring and August himself and turned towards the empty fields again, yet her dilated pupils was not even seeing the imaginary herd now. If their connection was strong enough, August was about to feel, and even see from Emily's POV what she was about to. Same ring, undamaged version, was visible on their sights. It was swaying with the wind from where it was hung with a chain: a simple wooden cross stuck deep into a mound of earth, with a name carved on it: Elenna Wilkinson. Emily's trembling fingers reached and folded on the cold metal, with a quick jerk she broke the chain. There was a secondary and considerably newer grave next to the one they were standing by, though it had less earth on it. Another less damaged cross was read: Emily Wilkinson, though this cross seemingly have seen worse days than the previous one, the name was almost unreadable among extra carvings of insults and swear words, with the mildest being 'witch'. Emily wasn't able to read them, but the way they were carved gave her the idea.The girl was quick to stand up on her shaking legs again. They'd both feel that it wasn't the tiredness of the muscles, it was the heaviness of the emotional scene. However they didn't have the needed time to spare, there was a crack of a twig heard behind them. Just when they turned to see- BAM! Both Emily and August would return to the now and here as sudden as that.
August Shattershell had, somewhere during the process of being overtaken by the feelings and memories that weren't his, pulled Emily instinctively into a hug. While the compulsive gesture had been done in a bid for comfort, August's own pupils dilated and his heart rate sped up as the visions and emotions only became even more vivid. He should have thought this one through better. He could see everything in detailed clarity, clearer than he saw the real world without his glasses on. Felt the clenching in the girl's chest, the choking in her throat, the stinging in her eyes as she stood by the gravestones. When the blow came, he felt the pain too. It was with a sudden jerk forward, like he'd really just been clobbered behind the head, that August snapped out of it with a gasp. He pushed himself away from Emily with a pained and bewildered expression. Frenetically, he bent over and scrambled to pick the damaged, bent ring off the balcony where it had been dropped. "I'm sorry-" he murmured urgently, "I'll fix it, I promise." He was at loss for anything else to say. His mind reeled, and August did all he could to keep his composure. [...]
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Sim location: Revenland medieval/fantasy RP Sim - Glade
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Brei%20vaukia/130/123/1049
(Some lines removed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
...Jack gave a frown to the man, and saw the dark skinned lady hiding behind him. Poor thing, probably she didn't know where she was or whom she was hiding behind! Having another boost of confidence he rode his horse towards the man as if riding a tank (not to mention his courage was all coming from her) till he was close enough to point the tip of his average sword towards his throat. "Yes, you wouldn't expected it, right? I've warned you all!"
Damian's attention went to the boy again and he made sure he was in front of Minitune to shield her. Not that he would get in the horse's way, she probably weighed ten times him! When the sword was pointed at his throat, he lifted his chin a bit. The guy probably had to lean down to reach him with his weapon, but even if it touched him he refused to back down! "How about you get off you high horse? Hm? Come one, fight me like a man you little twat." ...
...Jack's expression didn't have to change much, only got a little paler hearing the wolf man. He has heard the stories about the big black wolf all around the town after all! With fear he turned around and tried to climb on his horse again, but it was hard to do without a chair underneath his feet. The worse, horse took it as a 'go' command and trotted away without waiting him. "Oh crap..." he mumbled eventually turning his face back to the two again, only to see the hand reaching towards his shoulder. He panicked and swayed his sword towards him without aiming! ...
...Damian was happy his fist connected with the face, that at least gave him some satisfaction! He growled some more and approached the poor guy that was now on the ground and as he did he tried to kick his sword even further our of his reach. He then lowered himself and tried grab a handful of his shirt, pulling the man up to his face so he could stare him right in the eyes as he lectured him. "Listen you dumbass. This lady here is my friend and she does not need saving. You are lucky that I'm in a good mood today and I'm giving you this chance to tell me exactly what you are doing here. Who sent you? The Mayor??"
Jack desperately watched his sword going even further. But what was more desperate was being grabbed by the mad wolf himself! He whined with fear as his teary eyes met his blue ones, and started to beg "P-please.. d-don't kill me!" He then noticed his aim was to question only.. at least for now.. "No! I came here myself but yes, there's a reward for you! I.." he suddenly started crying, his hiccups shaking his shoulders and making his nose bleed worse "I sold everything I saved so far to buy that sword. I have nothing left! Nothing to send to my family, or no dignity. I can't go back now anyways empty handed.. Kill me then!"...
The first ever Games for Change Festival Board Game Night was a night of fun, schmoozing and socializing at The Uncommons Cafe, curated by the game experts at Babycastles. Attendees were able to buy a drink or a cup of coffee, meet a friend or make some new friends, and play a select group of the best social impact board games out there – which happen to also be among the best new games around.
The Metagame, which had only recently been commercially released to great reviews; Consentacle, which was a hit at No Quarter in an earlier version; and two new games from the great design minds at Tiltfactor (Mary Flanagan) and Antidote Games (Mohini Freya Dutta and Ben Norskov): Awkward Moment at Work and Howzat, Umpire? made for a great night.
Photo Credit: Gabi Porter
A RP scene at Elven Palace (RP Sim: Chronicles of Lynnea)
(Some lines removed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
...."Uhm.. I never tried this" she announced and tilted her head, looking at Dara and wondering how she was to attack. To her question she shook her head "No, the best weapon I ever had was a broom, and no, I wasn't chasing people with it either". Her voice was explanatory, not mocking or anything else. Well, she did the first thing came to her mind. Raising the sword above her head she just ran towards her, aiming to hit the woman like one would do with a frying pan. There wasn't any hesitation in her moves, as she was very sure Dara could protect herself if she wished
.......She readjusted the sword in her hand t hold it better and ran towards her again, this time her arm reached forward and holding it like a cane of a blind man, pointed at her belly. It almost looked like the sword was dragging her along, not she was carrying it
...... Emily tried over and over, each time trying to catch what she was doing wrong and try to make her calculations better next time. Blood was rushing to her stiff face with the effort she was showing, and her hair was starting to get loose here and there as she rolled around and dove forward, now falling to her shoulders. Still, her jaw was shut and teeth were clenched. Not only her attacks were getting better, she was doing swifter moves, maybe better than a beginner human would do. When she thought she managed at last, she missed again, and the woman's voice echoed in her head. She had to close her eyes for a moment to contain herself, but there it went again: "Enough!" The words came out before she could stop it, and there she was, breathing fast not very clear if out of the effort or the rage building inside her. "I am trying okay? You can't just.. push a button and turn me into a merciless warrior like yourself by bossing around like that! I am -not- built for this!"
...... She covered her cheek with one hand as she gazed to her with a flicker on her eyes and frowned face, shoulders moving along with her fast breathing. After a rub of her now even redder cheek she let her arm down "If only I knew you wouldn't eat me in the end anyways" she said, but instead of continuing her wordly war she tightened her grip on the sword with gritted teeth. It was a progress alright, despite developing a nasty habit to snap back. Without another word she continued her 'attacks', now a controlled frustration was added to her gaze. As if she -really- wanted to hurt her even though it was just a wooden sword in her hand....
An RP scene from New Haven WoD
(Some lines removed / changed to avoid spoilers / metagaming)
[...] One of her hands left the soil she was leaning on to place on her own neck, fingertips trailing on the smooth skin to find the cause of her demise. Which was gone now. She didn't seem to be aware, or maybe denying the fact that he indeed turned her. Still, there was room of doubt it seemed, as same hand moved a little to the side to be placed on the side of her neck, trying to find her pulse. When her fingers failed, she placed them on her chest then, at least hoping to feel *something* alive in there.
The sudden realization was slowly starting to be shown on her face. "I'm not-" The slow panic creeping in her was visible when she couldn't feel anything, as well as slowly noticing the changes on herself. "...hungry." she finalized her deductions. There was no way left for her to try explain what was actually happening instead of what he was claiming, so eventually and hesitant about what she was to find, she ran her tongue over her teeth- which had a pair of elongated fangs that she was pretty certain weren't there before. [...]
[...]She slowly stood up from her place, grabbing the garbs he thrown and walking towards the water source, a little away from him. She wasn't able to see her reflection with no light source enlightening the water, but she took her moment to inspect her hands and arms. She wasn't unfamiliar with how a dead person looked, be it a normal one or a reanimated one. It was hard to conceive when it was finally her who were animating those fingers that were supposed to be dead.
Characters:
Lilith Denvers (peggy215)
Reekel Havok (Reekel resident)
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
The first ever Games for Change Festival Board Game Night was a night of fun, schmoozing and socializing at The Uncommons Cafe, curated by the game experts at Babycastles. Attendees were able to buy a drink or a cup of coffee, meet a friend or make some new friends, and play a select group of the best social impact board games out there – which happen to also be among the best new games around.
The Metagame, which had only recently been commercially released to great reviews; Consentacle, which was a hit at No Quarter in an earlier version; and two new games from the great design minds at Tiltfactor (Mary Flanagan) and Antidote Games (Mohini Freya Dutta and Ben Norskov): Awkward Moment at Work and Howzat, Umpire? made for a great night.
Photo Credit: Gabi Porter
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
The first ever Games for Change Festival Board Game Night was a night of fun, schmoozing and socializing at The Uncommons Cafe, curated by the game experts at Babycastles. Attendees were able to buy a drink or a cup of coffee, meet a friend or make some new friends, and play a select group of the best social impact board games out there – which happen to also be among the best new games around.
The Metagame, which had only recently been commercially released to great reviews; Consentacle, which was a hit at No Quarter in an earlier version; and two new games from the great design minds at Tiltfactor (Mary Flanagan) and Antidote Games (Mohini Freya Dutta and Ben Norskov): Awkward Moment at Work and Howzat, Umpire? made for a great night.
Photo Credit: Gabi Porter
The first ever Games for Change Festival Board Game Night was a night of fun, schmoozing and socializing at The Uncommons Cafe, curated by the game experts at Babycastles. Attendees were able to buy a drink or a cup of coffee, meet a friend or make some new friends, and play a select group of the best social impact board games out there – which happen to also be among the best new games around.
The Metagame, which had only recently been commercially released to great reviews; Consentacle, which was a hit at No Quarter in an earlier version; and two new games from the great design minds at Tiltfactor (Mary Flanagan) and Antidote Games (Mohini Freya Dutta and Ben Norskov): Awkward Moment at Work and Howzat, Umpire? made for a great night.
Photo Credit: Gabi Porter
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
Created for Metagame Book Club
Blockchain Revolution
June - July 2016
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Week 1 sites.google.com/site/metagam...
Blockchain Book Club Intro sites.google.com/site/metagam...
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art
JUNE 4 2019/4 GIUGNO 2019
18:00 - 19:00
Room 135/Aula 135 (terzo piano)
Università IULM (IULM 1)
Via Carlo Bo, 1
20143 Milan
gamedesign.university
7 1/2 OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE SHORTEST FOUR-LETTER WORD IN GAMES
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
When players enjoy a game, they say, “That was fun!” When designers make, journalists review, or academics theorize about a game, the word fun rarely comes up. A word so commonplace as to sound meaningless and typically ignored, “fun" remains unmentioned by those who make and write about games. This talk looks beyond game development, game journalism and game studies for ideas to help us better understand the role of fun in games and beyond. Drawing on fields as diverse as cognitive psychology, anthropology, cultural theory, the philosophy of art, and sociology, Sharp explores the power and potential of fun as useful concept and tool for experiencing, thinking about, and understanding play.
historian, curator and educator with thirty years of involvement in the creation and study of art and design. John's current design work focuses on cultural games, artgames and non-digital games. His current research addresses game aesthetics, the processes of creativity, and the intersections of aesthetics and ethics. Sharp is Associate Professor in the School of Art, Media, and Technology at Parsons School of Design at the New School. He is the author of Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) and coauthor (with Colleen Macklin) of Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure and (with David Thomas) Fun, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp and Macklin are Codirectors of the PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) at Parsons. John was the curator of Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) and A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, co-curator Jason Eppink) at the Museum of the Moving Image and co-curator of XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) at the Museum of Design-Atlanta. John’s Games include The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
7 OSSERVAZIONI E 1/2 SULLA PAROLA DI QUATTRO LETTERE PIÙ CORTA NEI GIOCHI
Quando un giocatore s’imbatte in un’esperienza ludica particolarmente avvincente, spesso esclama: "Wow, è veramente divertente!". Eppure designer, giornalisti e accademici raramente utilizzano il termine “divertimento” per riferisi ai videogiochi. Questo sostantivo è così vago e generico che persino chi sviluppa o scrive di videogiochi tende a ignorarlo. Beninteso, il fenomeno non riguarda solo game design, giornalismo e game studies, ma la cultura in quanto tale. In un avvincente excursus che attinge a piene mani dalla psicologia cognitiva, dall'antropologia, dalla teoria culturale, dalla filosofia dell'arte e alla sociologia - Sharp esplora il potenziale del divertimento per ripensare l’attività del giocare.
John Sharp è un designer, storico dell'arte, curatore ed educatore con trent'anni di esperienza nello sviluppo e nello studio dell'arte e del design. La sua ricerca si concentra sui videogiochi culturali, artistici e analogici, con particolare attenzione all'estetica videoludica, i processi creativi e le intersezioni tra estetica ed etica. Professore Associato alla Scuola di Arte, Media e Tecnologia della Parsons School of Design (New School), è l’autore di Works of Game: On the Aesthetics of Games and Art (MIT Press) e coautore (con Colleen Macklin) di Iterate.Ten Lessons in Design and Failure e (con David Thomas) Fun, Taste, Taste, & Games: An Aesthetics of the Idle, Unproductive, and Otherwise Playful (MIT Press). Sharp e Macklin sono i direttori del PETLab (Prototyping Education and Technology Lab) alla Parsons School of Design. Ha curato numerose mostre tra cui Spacewar!: Videogames Blast Off (2012) e A Whole Different Ball Game: Playing Through 60 Years of Sports Video Games (2018, insieme a Jason Eppink) al Museum of the Moving Image. Ha co-curato XYZ: Alternative Voices in Game Design (2013) al Museum of Design-Atlanta. Come designer, ha realizzato The Metagame (2015) and Losswords (2019).
John Sharp is a designer, art