Mass Effect Conclusion

It's finished. I'd give a final tally on how many hours and pages I wasted lovingly pored through during my play of a modern videogame classic, but, well, it's a little depressing. I think a quick wrap-up commentary wouldn't be amiss.

I went into this analysis of Mass Effect 2 assuming it was a much looser game, plotwise, than Mass Effect 1. That it streamlined the gameplay is without question; the level upgrades have been lessened, there's no more items to equip, and so forth. And I also thought it was a little looser on the themes of the game. Mass Effect 1 was about forcing the player to take a position on the issue of intergalactic race relations, and its culminating choice was to either save the multiracial galactic Council, or create a new human-dominated one in the wake of their deaths.

Mass Effect 2 goes for something different. Plotwise, it's in a bit of a sticky place. It's the middle game in a trilogy, which means that it can't resolve the plot definitively. And if you can't have the protagonist defeat the major baddie, then what is your story about? The ME2 team at Bioware basically centered the game around not around spatial race relations, but around a more personal story of recruiting your team and gaining their trust.

That isn't to say the race stuff isn't there, which is something I'd forgotten in the course of my previous playthroughs. Pretty much each such thread is referenced at least slightly. The twinning of female sexuality and race as seen in the asari is pushed forward with the addition of the Ardat-Yakshi, barren asari that seduce people, and kill them during mating. (Yes, they're essentially adding a succubus to the all-female species of the game. I didn't say it was a good or original use of race.) The krogan genophage is furthered with Grunt, the manufactured krogan, and Mordin, the scientist who altered the disease to restore its effectiveness (and the resulting moral conundrums of that is one of the more interesting parts of the game). And the robotic geth's status as monsters is tested through both Tali's plotline and the addition of your final team member.

And the technology-organic reversal represented by the game's main villains, the Reapers, is furthered with the introduction of the Collectors, an organic race the Reapers have altered to use as weapons--in other words, the machines have turned people into tools. Granted, this is more a recycling of the same idea as ME1, but it's a nice thought, I guess. We even get a glimpse of a new thread, with the establishment of the drell, a frog-like race that operates almost as willing indentured slaves to the aquatic hanar. So the race stuff is still there.

But the brunt of the choices of the game are based around the brunt of your actions: the recruitment and loyalty of your team members. And in the game's final mission, known repeatedly as the suicide run, these ties are put to the test, as you're put in a situation where many of these characters may die, a death far more final than the usual *use phoenix down* such games present. If you failed to gain a character's loyalty, then he or she may fail under pressure--the same may happen if you assign them a task that they're not suited for. The game still fails to connect the action portions to the choice part in a totally meaningful way, and some of the deaths in the last bit can seem a little arbitrary, but to have the bulk of the choices you've made in the game connect so directly to its conclusion is very gratifying.

I'll conclude, then, with two complaints. The absolute final choice of the game is between destroying the enemy Collector base, or giving it to the Illusive Man (a shadowy pro-human figure who helped you put together your team). It's framed as a choice between "we can't take that risk" and "we must do what's necessary to succeed" but the results frame it as a choice between colluding with the IM or refusing and going your own path. It resolves another of the game's long-standing themes, which is fine, but it really should have been presented differently if that was the decision the player was supposed to be thinking about.

Second, what really irritated me this time round was the way the main character asked for information from his fellow crewmates. He sounds less like a captain trying to secure his people's loyalty and more like an unprepared ENow interviewer:

Miranda: My god. I think it’s a Collector.
Shepherd: Is that some kind of alien? he says, as we see an alien on the monitor.

Shepherd: Sounds like Cerberus wants to dominate all aliens and put humankind on top? Which, you may note, isn't actually a question at all.

Shepherd: You said you were in the Special Tasks Group. What kind of research were you doing?
Mordin: Not simply research. Several recon missions. Covert, high risk. Served under young captain named Kirrhe. Studied krogan genophage. Took water, tissue samples from krogan colonies.
S: Why would Special Tasks Group study the genophage?
Krogran rebellions bloody, dangerous. Nearly as bad as rachni attacks. All species adapt, evolve, mutate. If genophage weakens, need to be prepared.
S: What was the Special Tasks Group preparing to do?
Military schematics for likely krogran population growth. Political scenarios for attack points. Genophage reduced krogan numbers. Species aggression unchecked. Population explosion would be disastrous. Special Task Group helped check krogan rebellion. Needed to be ready to do the same. Simple recon. Nothing to worry about.
Shepherd's asking about a devastating, manufactured virus that keeps an entire species near extinction with all the emotional intensity of a reporter inquiring how the last box social went. It's not the frequency of the questions themselves that bother me--when it comes to videogames, I'm not really interested in immersion, and I'm fairly tolerant of violations to the "show, don't tell" maxim (more on that issue in some future post).

What bothers me is that the questions themselves are presented in such a dull, plodding manner, mere placeholders thrown together to get to the real part, the character's answer. What I'd rather like to see is these questions phrased so that we get some sense of Shepherd's feelings on the subject. But we don't. There are reasons for that. The guy doing the voice for Shepherd generally plays him as fairly dispassionate (unlike Jennifer Hale, who does the female Shepherd character, and if I had played through with a female, I doubt I'd be having this problem). And the writers deliberately make Shepherd as much of a blank slate as possible so that the players can take him in any way they want. But it still seems like a waste of time for people investing so much of it into this game.

People like me, for example. Although, given the length of my notes, I suspect there aren't very many players like me. That's probably a good thing.

Later Days.

Friday Quotations: You Should See the Krogan do Cats

I know I said that this scene was my favorite from Mass Effect 2. And it was a very nice moment, and I liked how it demonstrated the roles even the most peripheral characters can play when given the spotlight. But I like this bit too.



Mordin's so care-free and vocal here that you almost forget he was project leader for the creation of a disease that rendered thousands of aliens infertile. The scamp.

The sad thing, no matter how much effort I put into this, we'll probably have to do the whole "obsessive research" thing over again when Mass Effect 3 comes out next March.

Later Days.

A Postcard from Illium

If you think you're sick of these Mass Effect related posts, imagine how I feel. Researching a game is a pretty emotionally draining, time-intensive task. Those book-based reader researchers have it easy.
All right. Here's the sound clips played as you pass from one area of Nos Astra (the capital of the asari world Illium) to another:
-Coming up later today, we release our annual list of Illium’s ten richest people. Are the heavens still bright Asari blue, or have the volus finally rolled to the top? And don’t miss our look at the fashion faux pas at the Commerce Awards held last week. All this and more on Financial Entertainment Daily.
-Illium Entertainment would like to respond to complaints about our upcoming film Blastos the Jellyfish Stings. The Hanar Defamation Association claims that our portrayal of Blasto in sults hanar society, going so far as to call it ‘exploitation.’ We at Illium Entertainment stand by our product, which puts a hanar in a lead role and notes the growing importance of these respected galactic citizens. We hope that you the viewer will decide whether we have done Blastos justice and to allow you to decide, all first day purchases are 30% off. Illium entertainment thanks you for your support.
-Tired of training employees only to lose them to your competitors? Perhaps Indenture-Tech can help. The leading provider of cutting-edge indentured servants, Indenture-Tech can provide high quality labor for any technical area. Contact Indenture-Tech today. You’ve been a slave to your employees for too long. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
-Another difficult development for human expansion as the colony Horizon has been attacked. The Council has pledged to investigate the matter thoroughly, possible indication of the attacks on humans galaxy wide. Investigators in prefabricated complexes are rejoicing, however, as the and rebuilding plans have industry wide.
-The Council thought that Blasto , the first hanar spectre, would play by the rules. This one has forgotten whether its heat sink is over capacity. It wonders whether the criminal scum considers itself fortunate. They were wrong. This one doesn’t have time for your solid waste excretions. He’s got a lover in every port and a gun in every tentacle. Enkindle this. Blasto the Jellyfish Stings available for net purchase this fall, from Illium entertainment.
-By the stars, your skin looks amazing. You’re not using biotics to touch things up, are you?
Actually, I just tried exoderm.
New Exoderm moisturizerizing cleanser. They’ll never know you’ve entered the matron stage.
-Bad luck on the stock market? Debt piling up? Perhaps you need to explore other options. Talk to Indenture-Tech to see if indentured servitude is the right career option for you. Remember, the only shame is enjoying nothing.
-This is a recall notice. All users of Corous-brand medical radiation systems are asked to discontinue treatment immediately. Please return your system to an authorized dealer for a refund. Or for credit, try the new exciting Corel-brand radiation personal defense weapon. Customer safety is important and Corous remains committed to supplying the best radiation-based solutions on the market. Corus: a division of Elcoss Combine.
-Antares System has been deeply embarrassed by the recent theft of a new omnigel synthesis prototype. Antares System closed down four points as a result of the theft.
-Illium is the gateway to the Traverse, but is that gateway open too wide? Investment think tanks are noting concerns that new technological discoveries may have set the market balance and cost skilled workers their jobs. Later today, we’ll talk to survey teams discussing the latest technology you won’t be able to live without. And, how much it will cost.
-Nos Astra has recently received an unexpected visitor in the form of a rare justicar, calling herself Samara. Samara denied our request for an interview, leading us in the dark as to what brought an adjusticar to the fringes of asari space. Nevertheless, Illium News is pleased to present a special report on the history and politics of this rare group.
-(male voice, deep) Hungry? Then come to the Fish Dog Food Factory. Tasty varren skewers are just five credits for a limited time only. Or, for the connoisseur, try our grade a tchonka raised steaks. Turian and quarian food options are also available. It’s fun for the whole family. Come to the Fish Dog Food Factory. (different voice, nasal female) A division of Elcoss Combine.
-Are you a quarian or a volus who is tired of being passed over promotions because of discrimination against exo-suit wearing employees? Genetic Paradigms invites you to consider adaptive genetic therapy. Our trained staff hhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifas a success rate approaching 40%. Come to Genetic Paradigms, and come out of your shell! A division of Elcoss Combine.
-Does living in a higher altitude make you more intelligent? Our report may surprise you. New studies commissioned by the Architectural Union has noted a correlation between tested intelligence and height of habitat. The news comes as new homes ranging from studio apartments to studious rooftop mansions enter into open market bidding.
-Bad luck on the stock market? Debt piling up? Perhaps you need to explore other options. (male voice) Indenture-tech paid off my debt and helped me gain valuable job skills. Now, just five years later, I’m a free man again. (original female voice) Talk to Indenture-Tech to see if indentured servitude is the right career option for you. Remember, the only shame is enjoying nothing.

It's clearly different from the previous set. Most of that difference is a matter of context; the previous messages all came from Omega, a hollowed out asteroid with a civilization based around pirates and lowlife types, whereas Illium is a corporate capital of a civilization, based around slave trade and high-level lowlife corporate types. See the difference? So you get more commercials about indentured slavery and commercial products, and fewer about racial genocide on the cheap. Illium is supposed to represent a place where capitalism has run amok to a certain degree. I'm not sure then, whether the similarity of its commercials to our own is supposed to suggest that our own society is similarly bloated, or whether it was just quicker to design ads that appear like ours, but are slightly more overblown so you can call it satire--I suspect it's the latter. It's from the "Grand Theft Auto" school of in-game advertisement writing.

Honestly, there's probably more personality in the Illium sections than anywhere else in the game. You've got miniquests of recovering salarian genetic information, helping an indentured quarian find an owner, and reconciling a racist asari to the truth. And the details similar to the commercials are everywhere from the hilarious (the human/turian/salarian bachelor party) to the touching (the salarian out to create some memories with his asari daughter, because he knows that given his short lifespan and her long one, he won't be around long enough to make much difference in her life. Awwww.) Why Bioware wants to move away from this to more shooty stuff, I don't know. But at least that makes my job easier--not a lot of ethical morality choices in the middle of a shooting fight. Well, not that you can't have those, it's just that Bioware, by and large, doesn't.

I'm losing coherence. Better get back to work.

Hope you're a fan of games from 2009

It's not often that I comment on my research without giving away trade secrets, so to speak, so... yeah, it's going to be Mass Effect 2 here for a week or so. Sorry. (Although I'm always open to other topics if anyone wants to suggest any...)

Anyway, today's findings:

1)

This is my favorite scene in the entire game. The set-up is a simple fetch quest, of the sort that populate your basic RPG by the thousands. Doctor Chakwas, one of the two crew members in the game who are carried over from the first ship, lost the bottle of brandy she was saving for a special occasion when the first Normandy was... blown up. So you, Commander Shepherd, volunteered to pick up a bottle if you come across one. And if you do... then you get this scene. I think you get a Med-gel upgrade and a few experience points for it, but it's the story that really gets me. It's Chakwas' moment in the spotlight--she was a very peripheral character in ME 1, and she's not really a big character in Mass Effect 2 either. But for one scene, this character, and her connection to you, really shines.

2) In order to collect minerals, you need to do this mineral thing where you approach a planet, and as it rotates, you hit the left trigger to search a small section of the planet. The catch is that while you have the trigger pressed, the rotation stops, and the speed of search box decreases greatly--so greatly, in fact, that it's not even worth doing until you get access to the mining upgrade in the third mission or so. And it's still slow, because you have to wait for the planet's rotation. Only--you don't. Today, I discovered that pushing the left analog while the trigger ISN'T pressed speeds the rotation of the planet (or the fascimile scan of the planet. Whatever) This is at least the third time I've played through this 40+ hour game. And I'm just figuring out how to do this NOW. Sigh.

Later Days.

WKRMassEffect

I've been spending the past few days (and I'm likely to spend the next several more) playing through Mass Effect 2 for a paper I'm aiming to get published. (Yeah, that was originally going to be the culmination of my much delayed academic series. Spoiler, I guess.) Specifically, I'm looking for instances of race, biotech, and choice. While playthroughs of the game are readily available online, unfortunately they rarely consider the outcome of every possible choice in a conversation. Which means I spend most of my time endlessly going through a single conversation, typing out all the possibilities and jotting down some notes to remind myself why it mattered. In that vein, I spent the last two hours transcribing everything said over the intercom in the space station known as Omega. Since it doesn't seem to exist anywhere else on the Internet, I thought I'd post them here, so no one ever has to go through the pain I did. Sections in italics signal a male speaker, normal font a female speaker, and bolded sections refer to an alien Batarian speaker. The ... sections mark where I missed a word. I'd go back and fill in the blanks, but which news story plays next seems to be randomly chosen, and if a news story doesn't repeat itself after an hour, well, that's too bad. (All right, it's not great scholarship. If it was really important to my argument, I would have made the effort, but this stuff is rather ancillary. And besides, doing great scholarship means getting the funding to buy a new computer so I can run the software that allows me to record videos of my monitor feed, and thus not have to press pause every 3 seconds to jot down what's just been said. So if anyone wants to donate for that noble cause, feel free.) Here we go:

-The Vorcha. A blight on Omega’s society, or a boon for the station’s depressed labor market? A new study on the vorcha’s adaptive capabilities shows that with proper treatment, young vorcha can be molded into productive members of society. The study, sponsored by generi-stethics services, promises to redefine the way we look at the vorcha who clog our walkways. Could these vagrants someday become an asset?

-Imagine this. You’re in the Nexus. It’s late, and the only one around is that screeching Prophet and a few vorchas scratching for food. Suddenly, a shot. Red hot life blood pours from a wound in your back as your life ebbs away. The attacker leans forward, hoists your valuables and says, “Good thing you didn’t have a devlon stinger.” Devlon industries. Fine sidearms for your personal protection.

-Two years since the destruction of the Destiny Ascension, and …. For the fleet… of the Citadel have reached an impasse.The Asari republics had ceded its share of defense responsibility to the Turian hierarchy, the human alliance maintains a majority share of forces.

-The hunt is on for Omega’s public enemy number one. And this time, there is no escape. Merc groups from all over the Terminus system are recruiting for assaults on the notorious Archangel in an attempt to kill the meddling bastard once and for all. Who is he? Who gives a shit? He’ll be dead soon enough. And the ones who take him down will be living like kings.

-The Shepherd memorial on Akuze is expected to open next year once the area is declared safe for visitors. Admiral Stephen Hackett will preside.

-A source reports that the attack on the human colony Freedom’s Progress is being investigated as a possible terrorist attack by members from former council races. While no formal statement has been issued, the Council has made formal information requests of the Salarian special tasks group.

-Investigators on Noveria have uncovered troubling data from the wreckage of League 15. Researchers there may have been cloning Rachni genetic material. Fortunately, according to Council representatives, the experiment produced no living Rachni.

-Captain Hannah Shepherd has apparently turned down an admiral star and will remain in command of the Orizaba. The captain deemed her promotion to admiral a political ploy and said that she could best honor her child’s legacy by captaining a ship.

-Sources say that the asari Shiara, more commonly known as the Consort, may be leaving the Citadel after years of bad press and rumors of intelligence leaks.

-The Turian hierarchy has announced that it will not limit its Dreadnought production to previous totals. Citing an increased need for security in the wake of the death of previous Council members, the Turian military intends to increase defense production. Representatives of the new human led Council have no comment.

-Aria T’Loak. She’s Omega’s number one citizen. But what do we really know about her? With your help, we can make damn sure that the people who should rule Omega do so. Act now for Omega’s future.

-Commander Shepherd. He uncovered Saren’s plan, defeated the geth army and died in the final days of the fight. Or did he? Witnesses report seeing him alive on Omega.

-Plague in the slums. Is this the end for Omega’s poor? Omega’s destitute and pathetic are dying in their own filth. Some people demand that something be done. Mostly those whose loved ones live in the slums. Salarian researcher Morlan Solus thinks he has the answer, but he’s wasting his time. The plague is the answer. The answer to the endless sea of sentient waste that populates the slums. Let those people fall to the Vorcha.

-Breaking news. The weekly death toll numbers are in and they’re not looking good. The last report places the station’s murder rate at 89, up 5 from the previous week. The news report places the death toll at just 73 with experts blaming the council’s threatened limits on the slave trade for the lower number. With 80% of all bets placed on the over this week this news could sink Omega’s economy. Experts say that the smart money’s on the over for next week’s report.

-The Fermat Consortium is going ahead with its plans to sue the Citadel council to remove unfair limits on the intergalactic slave trade. A Fermat spokesman had this to say: slavery is an inextricable part of Batarian caste system. By limiting the slave trade the council is limiting our cultural rights. The Council is scheduled to hear arguments for the next few weeks. Fermat Representatives do not expect the council to take the culturally sensitive option.

-Certa foundation is likely to close by the end of this fiscal year. The foundation never recovered from a deadly attack by biotic extremists on one of its medical centers two years ago.

-Survivors from the destroyed colony of Zhu’s Hope have petitioned the council for reparations, given former Spectre Saren’s role in the attack on their home.

-A human colony called Freedom’s Progress has been attacked by unknown forces logging yet another in the chronicle of the humans failing to defend their own colonies. The Alliance has dispatched aid and travel support vessels in an effort to ease the suffering among the ruins of the human colony. Raiders and pirates have already jumped on the opportunity, staking out the routes that lead to Freedom’s Progress. Record windfalls are expected.

-A quiet candlelight vigil is planned for the hostages who died during the Turian attack on Terra Nova. Reverend Michael Bowman, whose daughter Kate died in the fighting, is holding a nondenominational prayer service for the anniversary of the attack.

-The Kaidan Alenko Memorial scholarship … gifted human biotics to the … for care and training. Alenko, a graduate of the controversial biotic acclimation and temperance training project, sacrificed his life to help stop Saren on Virmire.

-The Vorcha. Ruthless parasites on the hard working men and women of Omega. If you’ve got vorcha problems, there’s only one thing to do: get rid of them. Genera relocation services will design and execute a three, four, or five part plan to confront your nagging Vorcha problem and remove it entirely. And it’s safe and humane. In all our long history, not a single client has been harmed by genera relocation services or our methods. Call today. Get rid of your vorcha hassles, forever.

-Later today, we interview Councillor Udina. This relentless advocate for humanity has ruffled some feathers and has no plans to stop. Tune in and learn with the man the Turian Hierarchy called ‘diplomatic incident waiting to happen happened…. In humanity’s galactic affairs.

-The… universe looms wide. Will you be the one to fill it?... Manufacturing has opened offices all over the …and beyond, preparing to drive civilization into… reaches of the abyss. Only the bravest, … and most qualified and dedicated people will survive in the harsh regions of the most untamed section of the galaxy. If you are that type of person, apply to Daton Manufacturing today and look into the abyss.

-We will all perish in fire and radiation. Let those who think themselves worthy come unto him… The Word is clear. The lesser races will be punished. Only the pure will ascend into righteousness. Be forewarned. The end times are coming. And you are not prepared. Paid for by the followers of the exalted light of the word.

24 separate sound bits. It's not quite Grand Theft Auto level of radio commentary, yet, but it's nothing to sniff at. And there's actually some fodder for study there. Note, for starters, that the references to the Vorcha refer to them alternatively as filth to be cleaned, viruses to be wiped out (or, in some cases, a necessary bane to weed out the weak), and animals to be molded into desirable forms. It's rhetoric based loosely on those found in the discourse of Europeans of the 18th and 19th centuries. Definitely some race stuff there. We've also got parallel arms races going on (Turians and humans) and references to the Batarian rivalry for human colony areas. There's plenty of references to events whose outcomes hinged on the player's actions in Mass Effect One: the death of Kaidan Alenko, the human control of the Council, even the existence of Mother Shepard, so it's reinforcing the overall emphasis on player control and choice. Incidentally, my favorite bit is the report that says the drop in murders is bad, because it may disrupt the gambling economy of all those who believed it would get worse.
Well, that wasn't so bad. How much of the game do I have done now? Let's see... I've been playing for 6 hours and... I'm on the 3rd of approximately 25 missions.
Sigh. Oh yes, video game analysis is great fun...

Later Days.

Dragon Week 6: Pain and Pleasure

Let's look at the dialogue choice system in greater detail. The Bioware line has, as I've said before, made their mark by allowing meaningful choices to made in their game, and most of these choices come through via their dialogue system. And that's a bit of an interesting design choice in itself, as it implies that the major way we can influence events is through our speech, rather than our actions. Now, a bit of game theory: Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, in their book Rules of Play, argue that the most important thing in designing games is that the designers allow the players to make meaningful choices--choices that are both integrated (they have an effect on the game beyond its immediate moment) and discernible (the player can clearly see what effect their choice will have on the game after they choose it, and to some extent, before they can predict the effect before they choose it). How Bioware has approached meaningful play via dialogue has varied greatly over their gaming oeuvre.

Baldur's Gate 2, for example, had a very simple system. A scene occurred, and you got a selection of choices. It created the sense of meaningful play through the variety of these choices. Many were clearly NOT going to get you a desirable outcome (HINT: when a character learns her husband has just died, don't tell her to suck it up), and there was always the sense that the choices could have been different if you had chosen a different alignment at the beginning of the game. Some of it failed the integrated/discernible test, though, especially those relating to the in-game romances, when you often didn't see the outcome of your choice until hours later--or, if you inadvertently choose wrong, never.

Mass Effect took a rather different approach. It couldn't do the same "make your choice from options, and have the other characters respond" thing. Because the entire game was voice-acted, the main character would just be saying exactly what you told her/him to say over again, which is really dull if you've just read that. So, to fix that and streamline the process (thus making it more discernible and integrated as a result), they introduced the choice wheel.
The picture above shows a typical case. You, ie. Shepherd, has just had yet another alien talk at him/her, and the creature is now waiting for a response. Rather than depict the entire response, the game let's you choose your basic intent: "Can I help?" is the peaceful choice, "What's going on?" is the neutral choice, and "Only a dozen?" is the aggressive choice. Arguably, the three options are a holdover from Bioware's association with Dungeons & Dragons, where "good," "evil," and "neutral" are the three moral backgrounds your characters are allowed.

In Mass Effect, the options are labelled "Paragon" and "Renegade" rather than good and evil, but the basic thrust remains the same. Obviously, this is approach is more reductive than the previous method, as it assumes that any problem basically has three options, each with an obvious moral weight--and, since the game has tried very hard not to push a player down a path, it usually has three options with balanced results, leaving someone with the feeling that it doesn't matter. In fact, sometimes it literally doesn't matter; there's many points in Mass Effect in particular where the character you're speaking to will respond exactly the same if you're asking politely or aggressively, and even a few cases where Shepherd will act identically whether you've chosen aggressively or politely. You can't even confuse a Paragon option with a Renegade option; the paragon option is always in the top right corner, and the Renegade is always the bottom left. Essentially, you decide early on whether your character is going to be a bastard or a saint, and then blindly follow that direction to get the maximum effect.

Ah, I forgot how you obtain the maximum effect. We'll do this quickly, then. When you make significant paragon-related choices, you get paragon points. When you get enough to fill your Paragon gauge to 10%, 25%, 50% and 75%, you get bonuses to your fighting stats as well as the option to use your ability points gained during level ups to increase your Charm gauge to a new level, which gives you more Paragon conversation options while talking (a rare case where the battle and talking systems reinforce each other). And the same thing holds true for the Renegade, except s/he will have the Intimidate gauge instead of Charm. Making Paragon choices doesn't effect the Renegade gauge and vice versa, so technically, if you play enough times, you can maximize both. My point, however, is that in a single playthrough, you're more likely to make the choices that maximize your current abilities, and thus more likely to follow a single path. It then becomes less about making moral decisions, and more about making the decision most expedient to your full skill potential.

And Dragon Age II has a slightly different system altogether. But more on that tomorrow.

Welcome toThe Daily---: A Story of Delayed Gratification

Well, that was weird.

I was embarking on my usual daily anaerobic exercises--200 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, and some light weightlifting (yes, I'm trying to brag in an overly affected modest manner, just ignore politely and move on)--and, also as usual, my background noise per choice was an episode of the Daily Show, as streamed through the Comedy Network's website. (Look at that! A legal use of the Internet to watch television. How quaint.) But due to a crossed wire of some sort, the show kept stopping every fifteen seconds or so in order to load. So I'd get a few seconds of some joke, then a weird pause. I endured this process for approximately 20 minutes of work-out time, during which I received about 9 minutes of actual show. (BTW, the original title of this post was "Welcome to the Daily Sh---," which was more faithful to the actual pause in my viewing, but provided a sort of mixed message in terms of signaling today's content.) This stilted method of viewing drew a number of things to mind:
1) It was the first time I finished the my exercises before the interview segment, making it my fastest workout ever. (I know this isn't actually the case, but please, be quiet; I really need a win right now.)
2) I'm reminded of how big a role immediacy plays in the modern media culture. I want what I want, and I want it now. Internet lags, television commercials, video game loading time, waiting for book releases, listening to an entire song (I've got a friend with a record player) --they're all anathema to culture of NOW, dammit. I had to actively resist an urge to turn off the stream, because a large part of me would rather listen to nothing than be forced to wait.
3) The pauses really drew attention to the structure of the show. The Daily Show is very formulaic in this regard; there's the opening run-through of the news, a consultation with one of the reporters/comedy people, and a commercial. Followed by a a more in-depth look at some more news items (or a feature on-location piece by one of the reporters), another commercial, and then a closing interview. The formulaic approach comes in part from the news format the show is satirizing, and in part from the late night talk show format that it actually is. But another big reason for the formula is that, once people are used to it, they ignore it, and that's what the show wants you to do--to focus on the content rather than their format.

The constant breaks drew attention to the format. Not at the broad level I've been describing, but at the micro-level of the individual joke. There's the framing, from Jon Stewart, the set-up (some kind of news clip, usually), the punchline, and the laughter. With the show slowed down to a crawl, I found myself looking for each element more and more. And because the cut-off happened at various places, I got to see how each element blended into and anticipated the next, particularly the set-up and laughter. You could often predict exactly what Stewart was going to do for the punchline, just from the news clip used. And despite what you might think, the joke doesn't end with the punchline, but with the laughter, the reaction to the punchline. I think both of these elements draw attention to how much of comedy and humor is in its communal component; to follow Kenneth Burke a bit, you identify with the group by anticipating Jon's joke and reacting with them. Of course, that's the main function of a studio audience to begin with.
(There's been a lot of noise in the press this year comparing Jon Stewart to Glenn Beck. It would be interesting to see if his show, while not a comedy, follows the same pattern of formula and community creation/enforcement. If only I could figure out a way of doing it without actually watching the show...)

4) It reminded me a lot of my own research habits. Particularly, it mirrored the painstaking efforts I once went through to map out the conversation tree of a scene in the video game Mass Effect (in case aficionados are wondering, it was the scene with Wrex on Virmire. Flowchart of the conversation is available upon request). There would be a few seconds of speech, then I'd push pause, and frantically rush over to my computer to type out what had just been said. It was significantly worse than transcribing an actual video, because there's no rewind button; if I missed something, I had to reload the entire scene and try again.

More generally, it reminded me of my close-reading method, which is basically to read a passage, stop reading, spend a few seconds jotting notes and reflecting, then return to the text. Watching the Daily Show in this broken manner reminded me of the pros and cons of this approach--you get a very good reading on the micro-level, but at the cost of missing the bigger picture. I might have to rethink my approach a little in the future.

To recap: muscle building, entertainment, and scholarly reflection, all in one 20 minute work-out. Truly, I am the modern Renaissance man. Ladies, get in line.

Later Days.

Facebook: Finally, a place for inappropriate venting on the internet

This time 'round, I've spared you all from endless complaints regarding my term papers, and posted them on Facebook instead. Now, since there's nothing else of note to post, here's a "greatest hits" compilation (with Person substituted for my actual name). My theory is that compiling all this information in one place will provide keen insight into the working process. First, the background. The post-colonial paper was on how the video game Mass Effect allows players to work out colonial ideologies in safe environments. The art and persuasion course paper was on how David Antin's talk poems can be better viewed as tours rather than maps, following Certeau's spatial theories. For the record, Mass Effect is a video game in which the player saves the galaxy from a machine race invasion, and makes several choices regarding the genocide of other species while s/he's at it. And Antin is a poet who's thing is that he shows up, gives an hour long talk, records it, writes down the result, removes all the spacing, captials, and margins, and calls both the book and the talk poetry. The former was due July 23, the latter Aug 4. I am happy both are done. First, the Antin stuff:

Person realized his original presentation was in 11 size font, which means he has a ten page paper instead of eight. Which also means that in order to "build on without expanding," I'm going to have to cut about half of it, and still glue on a new argument that fits with the remains. Oh, the terrible conundrums of a grad student.
July 24 at 4:40pm.

Person is reading David Antin's latest book of talk poetry and noticed that Antin was using an apostrophe, and immediately became disgusted that the poet was selling out. And that's when he realized he was entirely too involved.
July 30 at 1:18pm.
Person : God help him if I find a semi-colon.
July 30 at 1:18pm.

Person wrote 1800 words today. On his blog. The paper, sadly, did not go nearly as well.
July 31 at 6:29pm.

Person:"now in this sense every subjectivity is social to the extent that it is localized consciousness but to become a self it has to survive the collision or union with other things and endure." Antin tells us this is poetry. I choose to believe him.
August 1 at 10:10am.

Person feels like it's time for a status check. At the moment, I'm 2000 words and 6 pages into my Eng 760 paper, and calling it a night. Anyone else want to weigh in on how their efforts are going?
August 1 at 8:41pm.

Person is done, bitches. Aug 2 at 9:32 pm.
What an ending. Crap, I'm articulate. And the Postcolonial Paper (which, frankly, is more entertaining):

Person is trying to work on his paper, but the asari matriarch won't friggin' die
July 11 at 3:11am.

Person is having the most research-productive day EVER.
July 14 at 7:46pm.
Person:First, I stumbled onto this gem, by Douglas: "Video games do not threaten film's status so much as they threaten religion, because they perform the same existentially soothing task as religion. They proffer a world of meaning in which we not only have a task to perform, but a world made with us in mind." Which redefines my area of study as an act of worship. And my folks say I never go to church.
July 14th at 7:49pm.
Person: Second, in"Colonialism and the emergence of science fiction," Rieder describes the "lost race" trope, in which a secret treasure map leads a white European stand-in to a lost civilization in the middle of a colonized people, and identifies the trope as a staple of colonial literature. And since that's basically "Mass Effect" 's entire plot, that makes my postcolonial paper on video games a lot easier.
July 14th at 7:53pm.
Person: Can you imagine how my life would have been wasted if I went into mathematics instead of English? Granted, I'd probably be enthusiastically posting about the amazing awesomeness of invariant polynomial algebras, but think of the loss to the Humanities.
July 14th at 7:56pm.

Person just found a paper entitled 'Nintendo and New World Travel Writing.' Or to phrase it differently, post-colonial score.
July 16 at 8:31pm.

Person just made his 200th Xbox achievement in the pursuit of his Mass Effect paper. Yet somehow, it doesn't feel an achievement at all...
July 17 at 11:34pm.

Person is finishing Mass Effect tongiht, come hell or high water. And he's goingt to be transcribing the efforts in half hour intervals. So... enjoy. First up: goin' to Ilos.
July 19 at 1:07am.
Person: Post 2. Went through all the crew's final conversations. And the romance subplot. Kaidan'svall man, ladies. Also: a guy that can make things move with his mind should have a better pick-up line than 'you make me feel... human."
July 19 at 1:42 am.
Person: Lost in Ilos. I was wandering around for ten minutes before realizing that what I thought wasa button for the door was actually a button for the elevators.
July 19 at 2:15am.
Person: I spent another 20 minutes wandering around before I remembered I had toreturn to the first level after unlocking the bay door. In the process, I discovered I could push my fellow teammates off the elevator ledges. This provided some amusement.
July 19 at 2:41am.
Person: A half hour mapping out Vigil's dialogue options. Still on Ilos.
July 19 at 3:10am.
Person: Still mapping out Vigil's dialogue. Mouthy little VI. Still on Ilos.
Julyv19 at 3:41am.
Person: *six pages of transcription* DAMN IT VIGIL, SHUT THE HELL UP!
July 19 at 4:10am.
Person:Now we're cooking. In the citadel, first saren battle. Gotta love an end boss that uses a hover platform.
July 19 at 5:12am.
Person: And THAT is how you save a galaxy from an impeding Reaper invasion. It's 5:35. Do you know where your next dictatorship in the name of humanity is?
July 19 at 5:35am.
Other: You. Are. Crazy.
July 19 at 12:47pm.
Person: I spent an hour writing down all of the conversational options of a machine inside a disc inside a game system. So... I don't think I can dispute that.
July 19 at 2:23pm.

Person made an outline for his essay. That's enough for today, right?
July 19 at 3:32pm.

Person was thinking about pulling a quotation from "The Empire Writes Back" for the paper, but the book feels a little 'undergraduatey.' A question to the masses: What do you think?
July 19 at 5:50pm.
Person: One alternative is that I'm intellectual snob. Of course, that could hold regardless of the answer.
July 19 at 5:53pm.

Person just learned to snap his fingers... I don't think I've ever put this much effort into procrastinating on a paper.
July 20 at 9:26pm.

Person probably can't get away with including his eight paged appendix in his page count.
July 21 at 8:28pm.

Person IZ DUN.
July 22 at 2:08am.

...And there we are. So much for insight, huh? I think the most interesting thing here, to put myself under the microscope, is how my expressive style changes depending on the medium: Facebook, or the blog. If anyone who's powered through this whole thing sees a difference too, feel free to comment.
Later Days.