Quiz / Case Study

Robin Burke

GAM 224

Outline

AdminRules paperPlay paperGame designs

Quiz Case study

Rules paper

GradesA: AAAB: BB---++C: CC-----+D: D-RW: R

Rewrites

Must RW grade or C- or below

May anybody but grade is not guaranteed to go up

Cannot if no original paper

Rewrite due date 3/4 Must submit original graded assignment

• and new hard copy As well as to turnitin.com

Grading (2 * rewrite_grade + original_grade) / 3 example: Rewrite = A, Original = C- (2*4 + 1.67) / 3 = 3.22 = B / B+

Problems

Citation Correct

• Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar Games, 2001, Playstation 2.• Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, Rules of Play: Game Design

Fundamentals (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2004), 390.• Blizzard Entertainment, "Honor System F.A.Q"

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/honor-system-faq.html. (Accessed 5 February 2007.)

Incorrect• anything else

2nd citation• none necessary for the game• Salen and Zimmerman, 232.• "Honor System F.A.Q"

Unsupported assertions "World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG ever." Might be true

• needs to be supported with a citation – according to whom?

Thesis

More specific is better Blah

• "Halo 2 shows a lot of emergence." Better

• "The weapons systems in Halo 2 are tightly coupled with many aspects of the game generating emergent gameplay at both the strategic and tactical levels."

In many cases the conclusion of the paper contained a good

thesis statement grab this and put it in front

Focus

Do not "brain dump" the description of the game's premise

• should be just enough to get the reader started• should focus on those areas that matter for your argument

Example Unfocused

• "Madden has rules about .... [2 pages of description]" Focused

• "The main conflicts in Madden are set up by the standard rules of NFL football and the operational rules for controlling the game.... [2 or 3 paragraphs about these rules]"

Warning sign Your paragraphs are too long

• 10 lines maximum• otherwise you probably don't know what your point is

Many papers had this problem

Focus cont'd

A 5-page paper is very short You cannot argue persuasively for more than one or

two points Many papers tried to do too much

every conflict in a game every game theoretic decision

Pick the most significant points that support your case argue them in depth with concrete examples from the

game Don't slavishly follow my outlines

if it doesn't apply, don't mention it

Proofreading

The spellchecker is no substitute for human judgmenttheir (belonging to them)there (location reference)losing (not winning)loosing (what happens to your

shoelaces)

#1 Tip

Read your paper out loud You will learn

if your overall argument holds togetherif your syntax is garbledif you are rambling on and onif your transitions are abrupt

Schemas

Emergence ≠ finding two object coupled together ≠ complex gameplay you are looking for a system in which one object / behavior / variable is

highly coupled to many other things you are looking for the whole being greater than the sum of the parts

• if the parts are themselves complex, it is a tougher argument Game theory

≠ finding decisions that balance risk / reward what is the larger system of such decisions? how does the player learn about the risks and rewards?

Conflict ≠ identifying one or two types of conflict that are present what is the system of conflict? how do different types of conflict interact?

Information ≠ what forms of information there are what is the underlying system of hiding and revealing? what are the costs/payoffs of learning something?

Play paper

Due in two weeks 2/26

No rewrites Schemas

Experience Pleasure Meaning Narrative Simulation Social Play

Game designs

Please review my comments on COL. NW = needs work

Assignment requirement “The theme of the game will be a treasure hunt:

collecting items in a Mexican village. Each player will have different items that they need to collect.”

Many games did not have this theme• not hard to incorporate

Play testing Some games did not appear to have been

playtested

Quiz

30 min.

Katamari Damacy

Thursday

Board game presentations Next week

may have a guest speaker!• stay tuned