Can you really trust someone who claims to be a troll to that degree not to, at the very least, exaggerate? Just because you talk to someone in person does not mean you are gaining any knowledge about them.
I think the journalist missed a few key points about the 'social trolls,' the people who are trying to prove something through trolling, Vs. Trolls who are just asshats (though the two are not mutually exclusive). The problem is that it's hard to see what's what unless you are really into the community. In otherwords, journalist needed to lurk moar.
However, that girl who shouted racial slurs at white people was hilarious.
I agree with you, on the last point in particular. Often times puzzles or puzzle games are played as much when the game is off. If I get stuck, I turn it off and when I come back tomorrow I can usually figure it out. It makes the game much harder to waste time on, which seems to be the measure of a good game these days.
one of the problems I had in the Myst series was that my desire to play and explore the world created was in conflict with my need to turn the game off and come back the next day in order to solve the puzzle. When I just wanted to appriciate the story or the worlds I resorted to a walkthrough, though that ruined a whole aspect of the game.
I am a little behind the times generally. I am still trying to beat the final Myst game (there were 5, not counting Uru, for those who don't know) not because its hard, just because I like to space it out for when I have a whole day free. (also, seeing as I'll be finished soon, any reccomendations for Myst-like games?)I still love the series, and will be buying the original Myst on the DS soon.
But here's some problems with puzzles in games:
1) running around. Its fine to explore, but when I need to pull lever A and then push button B I do not have fun when they are on the opposite sides of a freaking castle. Thats just pointless running. This is worse when I need to solve some kind of observation puzzle, Pull lever A, see what changed in arbitrary point C on the roof, push button B, see what changed. If the object that is changing has to be across a huge distance, make the controls at a point that can easily see this object.
2) Obscurity. Why no it did not occur to me that Joe Blow secretly loves Novels about Vampires and that I should hand him this useless item that i've been carrying around for days. And no, I do not have fun handing random object after random object to random NPC after random NPC. Same goes for keys in doors.
3) If im playing a game to shoot the crap out of people and suddenly I have to do some math to unlock the next area to shoot people, I'm not having fun. The key word here is suddenly.
4) Make me care about it. Puzzle oriented games are only good when you are engaged in the story or the characters. If i dont get any story or any character interaction for long enough then why exactly am I busting my butt to open this door? if your characters are flat, make the game really fast paced or the puzzles easy. if your characters have depth then I will actually want to take the time to figure it out. Or, alternatively, make the puzzle extremely intriguing. Im thinking Shadow of the Colosus here, the characters weren't really anything out of the ordinary, but DAMN! how am I going to climb onto that guys FACE?
I think a lot of the downward spiral of puzzle games can be contributed to bad design. You really need to think about storyline, character and excecution to make a good puzzle or puzzle game. In a FPS you only need to think about a good excecution (har har).
This is only half joking. I have noticed that attractive teachers get students to actually want to pay attention. My participation in government class was hugely popular because all of the girls had a crush on the professor. Then, when the teacher encouraged discussion, the students were eager to 'show off' for him (and the boys didnt like to be shown up by the girls, so they participated too).
I always tried to do well because I knew that if I maintained straight As and was well behaved in the first two weeks of class I could get away with skipping, chatting, sleeping, doodling, reading, anything short of murder in the classroom. This allowed me to get through the mundane education requirements and fuel my artistic ability.
Basically portray education as a means of getting what you want, rather than a job to plod through. It won't be long before the kids learn that As on tests let you skip homework assigments.
What about these kids Who grow up in backwards racist towns, whole heartedly beleiving that black people and gays are evil. The kids who make fun of the spanish teacher to her face by calling her a fucking jew, in the 7th grade no less. women are objects and their bodies are inappropriate, where the only redeming quality about them is they can cause sexual arousal.
Now one of these kids gets full access to the internet. Wanders about, finds different ideas and oppinions while still young enough to accept them as a possibility. Some of these ideas are on websites that are deemed 'adult' because of strong language and the general lack of cencoring. 'Porn' (which is a term that is based highly on oppinion) is available from actual artists or because of trolls posting it (note that these are two different interpretations of what porn consists of). Swearing is abundant, but the people behave like adults, generally. this kid reads and enters discussions with adults (yes, occasionaly sounding childish, but quickly learns proper behavior based on reactions from others and how they behave). and, because the child is young and can still change their mindset, they begin to wonder if all of the things the real world community taught them about other kinds of people is true.
This was my experience. I saw plenty of porn when I was young, even searched for it on purpose, and (oh my god) some of it wasnt rape, or wierd bondage/violence/poo fetishes, some of it was just two people screwing. Some stuff was just artistic nudity and that allowed me to appriciate male and female form when I draw or paint today. I talked and swore with many adults, and they didnt try to get me to come over to their house for candy. I experienced intelligent debate from a young age with adults.
I think what is more detrimental to kids is to keep them in 'kiddie land' untill they turn a certian age, at which point they are thrown into the adult world. When they take the time to learn things at their own pace they can take it in as they are able. And the internet has a profound power for good, for opening young minds to new cultures EVEN if they are backwards racists morons. like I was.
First I would like to point out that I have read most of the replies about parenting here, and it occurs to me that, unless parents are totally effed up, kids turn out OK. That's what kids were designed to do, become productive adults. Some may have different perceptions or reactions but such is life.
But in my own experience I only started drinking underage because my father expressly forbid it and he has a tendency to piss me off. I saw drinking young as an opportunity to make him feel bad in a future arguement. Sick but true. what's more I was fully aware of what I was doing, how twisted it was, and didn't care because I wanted him to know that the more he hovered the more I would rebell. Same thing with swearing, loud music, dying my hair, rebelling against being a 'proper girl' (aka burping and not wearing skirts) etc. Never smoked though. I only did these things to my father, never to my mother. I respected my mom because she respected me. This is probably why I never smoked, drinking would not piss off my mom as long as I did it responsibly, smoking would have. Interesting because if I had started smoking this would be the quickest way to make my father angry (both his parents died from smoking).
the thing is my mom set up way more rules with me than my dad ever did. I actually had chores at my mom's house *gasp! shock!* but she also let me go online with no supervision, instead of hovering she would ask me over dinner what kind of stuff I did, showing interest in what I was up to.
also, as a college student now, I see a lot of kids who came from opressive boarding schools or overbeaing parents. I know only one of them who doesnt drink to excess/do hard drugs/smoke, that kid has almost zero social skills and no firends that I know of.
My main problem with these things is they work on the principle that equality will not ever be reached. Working based on percentage is better than some options, but it is still flawed, especially if women have no desire to enter these fields!
At my college we have something called the Women's Leadership Center. Whenever I do anything to work on my career they point me over there, and I am repeatedly offended. I understand where they're coming from, but I do not need special classes or a leadership councellor to be able to get a job anywhere and I am appaled whenever someone implies that I do because I am female.
All it really does is give extra leadership advice to the women while the men have to rely on the career center alone. This gives women the advantage, and while this may be nessessary even today to offset other hindrances (though I am very sceptical about that) there will come a day when it is not. When that day comes I highly doubt that this center will close down, because if it does then someone will accuse the school of being sexist. So all this does in the long run is ensure that women get an unfair advantage. This is all speculation of course, but I find it a likely senario.
Just as an aside, the Women's Leadership Center also has the biggest on campus laundromat inside (because it is the closest building to the apartment buildings). I have always loved that subtle little humor.
And if you care to know I am a woman going into Geology.
Slashdot Mirror
...that the journalist got trolled.
Can you really trust someone who claims to be a troll to that degree not to, at the very least, exaggerate? Just because you talk to someone in person does not mean you are gaining any knowledge about them.
I think the journalist missed a few key points about the 'social trolls,' the people who are trying to prove something through trolling, Vs. Trolls who are just asshats (though the two are not mutually exclusive). The problem is that it's hard to see what's what unless you are really into the community. In otherwords, journalist needed to lurk moar.
However, that girl who shouted racial slurs at white people was hilarious.
I agree with you, on the last point in particular. Often times puzzles or puzzle games are played as much when the game is off. If I get stuck, I turn it off and when I come back tomorrow I can usually figure it out. It makes the game much harder to waste time on, which seems to be the measure of a good game these days.
one of the problems I had in the Myst series was that my desire to play and explore the world created was in conflict with my need to turn the game off and come back the next day in order to solve the puzzle. When I just wanted to appriciate the story or the worlds I resorted to a walkthrough, though that ruined a whole aspect of the game.
I am a little behind the times generally. I am still trying to beat the final Myst game (there were 5, not counting Uru, for those who don't know) not because its hard, just because I like to space it out for when I have a whole day free. (also, seeing as I'll be finished soon, any reccomendations for Myst-like games?)I still love the series, and will be buying the original Myst on the DS soon.
But here's some problems with puzzles in games:
1) running around. Its fine to explore, but when I need to pull lever A and then push button B I do not have fun when they are on the opposite sides of a freaking castle. Thats just pointless running. This is worse when I need to solve some kind of observation puzzle, Pull lever A, see what changed in arbitrary point C on the roof, push button B, see what changed. If the object that is changing has to be across a huge distance, make the controls at a point that can easily see this object.
2) Obscurity. Why no it did not occur to me that Joe Blow secretly loves Novels about Vampires and that I should hand him this useless item that i've been carrying around for days. And no, I do not have fun handing random object after random object to random NPC after random NPC. Same goes for keys in doors.
3) If im playing a game to shoot the crap out of people and suddenly I have to do some math to unlock the next area to shoot people, I'm not having fun. The key word here is suddenly.
4) Make me care about it. Puzzle oriented games are only good when you are engaged in the story or the characters. If i dont get any story or any character interaction for long enough then why exactly am I busting my butt to open this door? if your characters are flat, make the game really fast paced or the puzzles easy. if your characters have depth then I will actually want to take the time to figure it out. Or, alternatively, make the puzzle extremely intriguing. Im thinking Shadow of the Colosus here, the characters weren't really anything out of the ordinary, but DAMN! how am I going to climb onto that guys FACE?
I think a lot of the downward spiral of puzzle games can be contributed to bad design. You really need to think about storyline, character and excecution to make a good puzzle or puzzle game. In a FPS you only need to think about a good excecution (har har).
This is only half joking. I have noticed that attractive teachers get students to actually want to pay attention. My participation in government class was hugely popular because all of the girls had a crush on the professor. Then, when the teacher encouraged discussion, the students were eager to 'show off' for him (and the boys didnt like to be shown up by the girls, so they participated too).
I always tried to do well because I knew that if I maintained straight As and was well behaved in the first two weeks of class I could get away with skipping, chatting, sleeping, doodling, reading, anything short of murder in the classroom. This allowed me to get through the mundane education requirements and fuel my artistic ability.
Basically portray education as a means of getting what you want, rather than a job to plod through. It won't be long before the kids learn that As on tests let you skip homework assigments.
Theres a shocker.
What about these kids Who grow up in backwards racist towns, whole heartedly beleiving that black people and gays are evil. The kids who make fun of the spanish teacher to her face by calling her a fucking jew, in the 7th grade no less. women are objects and their bodies are inappropriate, where the only redeming quality about them is they can cause sexual arousal.
Now one of these kids gets full access to the internet. Wanders about, finds different ideas and oppinions while still young enough to accept them as a possibility. Some of these ideas are on websites that are deemed 'adult' because of strong language and the general lack of cencoring. 'Porn' (which is a term that is based highly on oppinion) is available from actual artists or because of trolls posting it (note that these are two different interpretations of what porn consists of). Swearing is abundant, but the people behave like adults, generally. this kid reads and enters discussions with adults (yes, occasionaly sounding childish, but quickly learns proper behavior based on reactions from others and how they behave). and, because the child is young and can still change their mindset, they begin to wonder if all of the things the real world community taught them about other kinds of people is true.
This was my experience. I saw plenty of porn when I was young, even searched for it on purpose, and (oh my god) some of it wasnt rape, or wierd bondage/violence/poo fetishes, some of it was just two people screwing. Some stuff was just artistic nudity and that allowed me to appriciate male and female form when I draw or paint today. I talked and swore with many adults, and they didnt try to get me to come over to their house for candy. I experienced intelligent debate from a young age with adults.
I think what is more detrimental to kids is to keep them in 'kiddie land' untill they turn a certian age, at which point they are thrown into the adult world. When they take the time to learn things at their own pace they can take it in as they are able. And the internet has a profound power for good, for opening young minds to new cultures EVEN if they are backwards racists morons. like I was.
First I would like to point out that I have read most of the replies about parenting here, and it occurs to me that, unless parents are totally effed up, kids turn out OK. That's what kids were designed to do, become productive adults. Some may have different perceptions or reactions but such is life.
But in my own experience I only started drinking underage because my father expressly forbid it and he has a tendency to piss me off. I saw drinking young as an opportunity to make him feel bad in a future arguement. Sick but true. what's more I was fully aware of what I was doing, how twisted it was, and didn't care because I wanted him to know that the more he hovered the more I would rebell. Same thing with swearing, loud music, dying my hair, rebelling against being a 'proper girl' (aka burping and not wearing skirts) etc. Never smoked though. I only did these things to my father, never to my mother. I respected my mom because she respected me. This is probably why I never smoked, drinking would not piss off my mom as long as I did it responsibly, smoking would have. Interesting because if I had started smoking this would be the quickest way to make my father angry (both his parents died from smoking).
the thing is my mom set up way more rules with me than my dad ever did. I actually had chores at my mom's house *gasp! shock!* but she also let me go online with no supervision, instead of hovering she would ask me over dinner what kind of stuff I did, showing interest in what I was up to.
also, as a college student now, I see a lot of kids who came from opressive boarding schools or overbeaing parents. I know only one of them who doesnt drink to excess/do hard drugs/smoke, that kid has almost zero social skills and no firends that I know of.
My main problem with these things is they work on the principle that equality will not ever be reached. Working based on percentage is better than some options, but it is still flawed, especially if women have no desire to enter these fields! At my college we have something called the Women's Leadership Center. Whenever I do anything to work on my career they point me over there, and I am repeatedly offended. I understand where they're coming from, but I do not need special classes or a leadership councellor to be able to get a job anywhere and I am appaled whenever someone implies that I do because I am female. All it really does is give extra leadership advice to the women while the men have to rely on the career center alone. This gives women the advantage, and while this may be nessessary even today to offset other hindrances (though I am very sceptical about that) there will come a day when it is not. When that day comes I highly doubt that this center will close down, because if it does then someone will accuse the school of being sexist. So all this does in the long run is ensure that women get an unfair advantage. This is all speculation of course, but I find it a likely senario. Just as an aside, the Women's Leadership Center also has the biggest on campus laundromat inside (because it is the closest building to the apartment buildings). I have always loved that subtle little humor. And if you care to know I am a woman going into Geology.