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Legalese Blonde

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/S.J.+Res+34+%282017%29

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Legalese Blonde

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/FISA+Amendments+Act+%282008%29

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Mod it: Mastery

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/Wake+Me+Up+Before+You+Gogo...to+the+library

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Game Makers

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/Scott+Cawthon

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I play piano...so yeah.

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Going Dark

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This game is the horse game currently on Tumblr.  As far as internet browser games goes it is not bad (I am thinking the dinosaur game for no internet and other such games.)   It is fairly simple to play, you have a horse that walks back and forth, occasionally pausing.  The horse has a predetermined name (that cannot be changed) and a health bar at the top of the box.  The horse will periodically poop and if you do not clean it up the horse will lose health and die within 15 seconds.  The point of the game is to keep the horse alive by clicking on the poop to get rid of it.  If there is more than one poop on the screen, the health will decrease twice as fast.  You can also click on the horse and it will give a heart that appears to do absolutely nothing.  

Overall, there is enough to the game to capture your attention for a little while.  From what I have seen, they rules were very unclear to start with.  This ambiguity created a determination of many to have the highest amount of “days” surviving.  This was a very good aspect to create an even more fun time.  There has since then been a post that was circulated that outlines the rules and what works and what does not.  I did not play the game until after this post was circulated and found it very easy because of it.  Now, I feel there is a lot less intrigue toward the game.  It is very easy to keep the horse alive (as you can see that horse was my first attempt.)  In the beginning most could not keep it alive for more than 0-3 days.  There is still some fun in the random name, most of them are very amusing.  There is also the same intrigue as any clicker game (like cookie clicker.)  It is addictive and easy to want to get a higher score than before.  

It is lacking any change at all though.  Through the days I got through, I did not find it increasingly hard to do (other than I was losing interest and testing to see if you could pause the game--side note I did not successfully pause it) and the background is just constantly blank and white.  The horse is never changing, other than moving back and forth.  You can click the horse and make hearts float that are amusing for a while, but that becomes less interesting after a while as well.  Overall, not bad at all for a game from a browser, but definitely not going to be consuming my time anytime soon.

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Mod it: Engagement

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/Battle+of+the+Authors

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Critique It!

In Carly Kocurek’s Coin-Operated America, Kocruek writes about the argument most make about the exclusion of women from the world of video games and then proceeds to explain the focus of the book will be the inclusion of men in the gaming world.  Recently, there has been a game release that I think makes the separation of these two arguments nonexistent.  In other words, I do not think that to include women in the video game world requires companies to change games to exclude men.  This game has all of the story of a good adventure game with battles and precision that keeps gamers engaged with emotional connections to characters and other canon ideas of story video games.  There is interesting over-arching ideas that pay off after hours of game play and many side characters and optional quests to explore.  The only difference is that the main character is female with clothing that is practical for what she does.  She is covered in places that make her more able to battle and her style makes sense for the setting and feeling of the game.  She is intelligent and skilled without making her sexualized.  The best part of this and the part that fits with my point is that it is NOT weird that she is what she is.  Well, that is not completely accurate because part of the plot is that she is an outcast at first and completely shunned by the tribe she lives near (to the point that it is illegal to talk to her and any other outcast), but my point is the fact that she is a woman is not important.  Like, at all.  In fact, the head of the tribe where you start is a woman.  There does not seem to be any preference in gender.  So, in the sense that these have to be two different conversations or that you have to address the inclusion of men or the exclusion of women one at a time, I do not agree.  I think that this is one game that can show how amazingly women and men can come together and enjoy a game no matter the gender of the lead character.  Furthermore, I think that separating these two conversations is a mistake that is only making the problem worse.  I realize that she was more addressing the culture as it stands now and disregarding the arguments of what could be changed to include others.  But I think that doing so takes away from the new generations of games coming out that are working to close the gap between the issues.  In the end, you do not have to exclude men to include women.  While I understand the mentality of creating games geared toward girls to entice them into joining the gamer world, I do not think it is as helpful as it could be.  Creating more games like the one I’ve been discussing (which is called Horizon Zero Dawn, by the way) is the way to really make gaming accessible to everyone.  

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Communing with the Virtual

I am a member of a Discord group that follows a Twitch gamer.  Discord is set up in a way that allows for many subgroups to have their own space to talk.  The overall feel of the Discord community is allowing a place for everyone.  There are subgroups for the lgbtq+ community, people who cosplay, people struggling with mental illness, and even people who want to talk about their workout routines. The community is called MadHouse Misfits and aims to allow people to feel they have a safe space.  It is monitored by people dubbed “mods” and their rules encourage people to speak their minds and respect opinions that differ from their own.  The biggest rule forbids people from making someone feel unsafe.  There are a lot of ways for that to be reported and cyber bullying or not allowing any opinion to be spoken about is not tolerated.  Smaller rules are to keep to the topic of the subgroup you are talking in, and there are subgroups that are not specific to any one topic and/or community.

In this community, the members get a chance to talk things out and understand themselves, and others, better.  For myself, I get to see what people think about events going on and gain perspective from their experiences.  I have never met these people but what they have gone through and continue to go through has changed my life.  I do not know for sure what the other members of the group gain but I can imagine that it is a relief to share these things in a place where a safe environment has been enforced.  I know it sounds counterproductive to force kindness, but in practice it has encouraged people seeking the kind of place where they can share without fear to stay and those who are looking to do other things to find other communities and places to do so.

I am not a member of the New Communalists and I am not about to run off and live on a commune, but I am a part of a group that is trying to let the smaller, weirder, less popular people have a place to do what they want.  I understand that aspect of the New Communalist movement.  There are a lot of things that I do not agree with from that movement but this one part has always been a part of how I see life.  I am proud to be a part of something that lets people be who they are, feel what they feel, think what they think, and in the end say what they want and need to say.  If the world was like this, I would like to think there would be a lot more understanding, or at the very least a lot less violence toward other opinions.  I am sure in practice it would be a lot like it is now, just with more informed reasons for being against something.

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Digital Time Travel

My first experience with social media was Facebook, much like most people my age.  I was not allowed to be on Facebook until I started high school, as per my parents rules.  In the beginning I was posting a lot of pictures and random thoughts that I find oh so fascinating now *cough not cough*.  Fast forward to now and I occasionally like something from my friends if it is a big enough life event I feel I must.  Somewhere in the middle I was sharing videos, quotes, and pictures I found particularly interesting or funny.  Honestly, everything I used to do on Facebook I would never do now.  I do not like sharing much of anything with my Facebook “friends” and find that ghosting is my favorite pass time on any social media site.  When I was first discovering the platform, the easiest thing for me to do was post my obviously golden thoughts.  This meant that I very often posted those absolute zingers for all to enjoy.  I could also pretty easily add my stellar pictures for people to “ooo” and “ahh” about.  Now, despite the ever changing platform and many ways I could share my opinions and feelings, I just have no desire to do so.  I definitely have seen the new emotes and review forms and just how easy it is to share your scintillating life live for all to see, yet-if my sarcastic undertones were not enough to tip my hand-I just will not share more about myself than I would in a face to face conversation with those close Facebook friends of mine.  I have included one of the videos where I did a ritual from my hometown (a desert in California, important for the context) to make it snow.  The last time I had posted a video, I had obviously been the cause of the snow and was hoping for a second success.  I have also included one of the first pictures of me on Facebook, featuring my sister and I as we saw one of the Harry Potter movies in 3-D.  Finally I added some screenshots of some particularly good statuses from my first year on Facebook.  Please, enjoy.

https://www.facebook.com/bethany.mahan.98/videos/400448356718005/?l=3350451648817498911

(that link will take you to the video that refuses to be attached and is old enough I do not have anymore)

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If at First You Don’t Succeed...

The Manchester Mark I:

http://digitalamericasp17.wikispaces.com/Manchester+Mark+I

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Blogify Your Life

Recently I watched a movie, one that was the highest rated comedy on IMDB for 2016. This movie was quite the experience, and was captivating from start to finish. The cast of characters was diverse and really invoked deep thoughts of human nature and how people react to stressful situations. The emotion of the characters was so raw and really inspired me as a viewer to feel those same emotions. I was very impressed with the quality of the end credits and the song selection to accompany the finale of this masterpiece. The dedication to creating an engaging and complete story was inspiring.

Overall, this movie was one that I would recommend because it is something everyone should get to see. It truly is an adventure that cannot be matched by any other film. This movie was called “Uno: The Movie.”  It was done by Rooster Teeth Productions and it is one movie I will never forget.  It was a harrowing adventure to 500 points that had many twists and turns. Not every character made it to the end, but the ones who did were changed forever, as was I.  I am a better person for seeing this film, and this has been a completely serious report (about as serious as the movie).

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Me

I’m Bethany.  I am a sophomore Psychology major.  I just changed majors from Biological Systems Engineering and am more than happy to be in my new major.  I love music and watching people play video games online.  I am mostly a fan of achievement hunter but I watch other gamers as well (so no, I don’t really care if they are good at the games they play.)  I think the most healing and special thing to do in life is to laugh so I surround myself with things that amuse me.  I play piano and the flute as well as sing on occasion.  I grew up in music, dance, and theatre and currently do none of those things, which has been quite the adjustment.  Until recently I had rather long hair and just cut off 9 inches of it so that was a change.  That is really all I can think of about myself at the moment, so here is a picture of me meeting one of the members of achievement hunter (I have a lot more of these but since I had to choose one, this is the one I chose.)