Entries from September 2007 ↓

Keen and Graev recently wrote an article asking me to comment on the following topics. While I am a little late in replying, here they are.

Four jobs I have had in my life (not including current job):

1. McDonald’s Cashier
2. Government Relations/Lobbyist in Washington, D.C.
3. Nighttime Receptionist in a Law Firm During College
4. Lawyer in a Law Firm

Four Movies I have watched over and over:

1. Spaceballs
2. Red Dawn
3. Braveheart
4. Shaw Shank Redemption

Four places I have lived:

1. Shippensburg, PA
2. Washington, DC
3. Potomac, MD
4. Philadelphia, PA

Four Shows I love to watch:

1. The Office
2. 24
3. Every Philadelphia Eagles Football Game
4. American Idol (no laughing now!!)

Four Places I have been on vacation:

1. Soviet Union (showing my age)
2. Germany
3. Italy
4. Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Four of my favorite foods:

1. An Outback Steak
2. Pizza (never had a pizza I didn’t like)
3. Pad Thai
4. Spaghetti

Four favorite drinks:

1. Coffee
2. Jim Beam
3. Hefeweissen
4. Mountain Dew (sometimes with Jim Beam)

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Hawaii
2. Russia
3. Germany
4. Washington, D.C.

Four People I Command to do This:

1. Cord from The World of Cord
2. Brackish Waters
3. Wilhelm from the Ancient Gaming Noob
4. Ethic from Kill Ten Rats

In the 9th episode of Shut Up We’re Talking, Darren from Common Sense Gamer, Brent from Virgin Worlds, Troy from Voyages of Vanguard, and Shawn from Brackishwater
discussed whether bloggers were part of the press. While the group certainly wasn’t unanimous in their belief that bloggers were not part of the press, several seemed adamant that bloggers were not journalists. I am surprised by this. I certainly think that bloggers comprise part of the press in this early part of the 21st century.

What activities does the press engage in? Are these that different than the activities of bloggers?

Sure a majority of bloggers are not “professional” journalists, but I think that the activities performed by bloggers are very similar to those of journalists. Let’s look at the activities that journalists perform and compare them to activities of bloggers.

• Journalists report the news - Many bloggers do too. In fact, I do. When MMO developers make statements or put out videos or press releases, I read those press releases and update my readers about the latest news.
• Journalists research issues - I argue that bloggers do just as much research as journalists. After my first year of law school, I worked in the government relations office of a large fortune 500 company. Part of my job was to write a newsletter describing the hearings that were taking place on Capitol Hill, the State Department and the Federal Communications Commission. Let me tell you: the tasks that I performed in this job were not that much different than the tasks that I perform today as a blogger. I would attend hearings, read newspaper reports and trade journals, and then write summaries of these events. Bloggers around the country are doing the same thing.

When you break it down, the press reports the news. I can’t see where bloggers don’t do this too.

Is a journalism degree necessary to qualify as a member of the press?

One argument that I heard a lot on Shut Up We’re Talking was that bloggers are not educated in the art of journalism and therefore they are not part of the press. Well, that may or may not be true. I am sure that there are many bloggers that were journalism majors in college. However, I think that having a journalism degree is a pretty weak criteria for being part of the press. Sure some bloggers may not be formally educated in journalism, but like any writer, bloggers use their own education, experience and knowledge to communicate with their readers. I might not have been a journalism major, but when I write I draw upon my own education in international relations and law to express my thoughts. This is very similar to journalists except that we come from slightly different academic backgrounds.

What media do you have to work with in order to be part of the press?

Another argument made was that the press writes for newspapers and television broadcast stations. Boy, that is a really narrow definition of the press. I am sure that newspapermen made that argument about radio newsmen when radio first came out. What we are seeing with blogging is new medium born from the way people surf the Internet. When people surf the Internet, they scan and skim news articles. This allows bloggers to write shorter, easily scannable copy.

You can see this in television as well. Television news is much more abbreviated than that found in newspapers. The stories do not go into as much detail. Television relies on images and video to help describe the story. Therefore the text of what is read is shorter and not as detailed.

So which bloggers are part of the press?

I certainly do not believe that all bloggers are part of the press. I am not that much different from the writers of PC gaming magazines, so for my niche, I would consider myself part of the gaming press. It is hard to argue that Matt Drudge is not part of the press. He only broke the story that lead to impeachment trials against the President of the United States. Perez Hilton is doing almost the same thing as Extra and People Magazine. The Daily Kos and Powerline provide news about the latest in politics.

In conclusion, the definition of the press is changing as it always has. During the American Revolution, pamphleteers, such as Thomas Paine, became part of the press. The definition of the “press” is constantly evolving as technology introduces new media for people to express ideas.

Thanks to Keen and Graev (where you can read the entire article), I recently came across Age of Conan’s first community Q & A. There is some awesome information provided. Here are some of the items that I found most interesting.

Borluc: Will we be able to strategically control resources in PvP areas?

There are many types of objectives in the Border Kingdoms in addition to the Battlekeeps. Controlling these strategic resources will benefit those who hold them and give them some advantages. So, in short, yes.

I really hope that there are great rewards for controlling PvP areas. I have always that that PvP areas should contain more rare resources and that you could have access to them only if your faction controlled the area. I hope that this is what Age of Conan will have.

Strone-Decessus: In melee combat, will there be positional and reactionary styles/combos? (I.e.: A different set of combos is opened up if you are to the side of your opponent, or behind him/her. A different set of combos is opened up if you parry, or block, or dodge. These different combos could then have increased dps and/or utility depending on complexity.)

Satisfying positional requirements does not open new combo lines, but does add additional enhancing effects to existing combos depending on the class. When you successfully block or dodge an opponent, you can get a counterattack option that will briefly give you the opportunity to do a rare and more powerful unique combo. You can also specialize your character to try to increase the chances of this happening.

This does not seem that different than many other MMORPGs. I really think that games could do more with these types of systems.

I never thought that I would be excited about a trading card game, but I have to admit that I am pretty pumped about Legends of Norrath. I sent an email to get into the beta on Friday, but it looks like I won’t have to wait long to play this game.  SOE just announced that Legends of Norrath will go live on September 5.

I have never played Magic the Gathering or any other trading card games.  In addition to wanting to experience a trading card game, I also think that Legends of Norrath will also be fun to play whenever I am waiting for something to do in Everquest 2.
These mini-games are great for MMORPGs.  The more activities that players can engage in the better.  Who else is looking forward to Legends of Norrath?

Here is another Warhammer Online video. The focus of this video is the 4 archetypes of Warhammer Online. There is nothing really unique about Warhammer Online’s archetypes. You have your tank, melee dps, ranged dps and healers. However, while the archetypes aren’t unique, I am hopeful that Warhammer Online’s 24 classes will provide diverse gameplay.

Enjoy the Warhammer Online video!!