Writing In-Class for Sept. 9: finding binaries & assumptions

 

MEMBERS CONTRIBUTING: Akhil, Jessica, Irma, Chris, Peter

 

One group member will be our wiki-editor for the page. Others will take notes in their comp books but everyone needs to help to make this work (I'll grade this page and you all share the fate of whomever participates).  This exercise will help you focus your own short assignment due this week.

 

Your tasks are as follows:

 

• Use strategies 1-4, on pp. 74-75 of your textbook, to question the binaries in this question:

  "Do virtual worlds like Second Life change the nature of how we interact online?"

• THEN reformulate the question using strategy #5 on p. 76. Write your reformulation below.
• THEN examine what you have written and list any assumptions for your reformulated question. Here you would also consider what sort of additional evidence you'd need, if you had as much time as possible to do research.  Try the four steps on pp. 78-79 to guide you in digging deeply into your question.

 

ORIGINAL Q:

 

"Do virtual worlds like Second Life change the nature of how we interact online?"

 

GROUP'S REFORMULATION:-To what extent does Second Life change who we interact with online and how much time we spend with them online?

 

Strategy 1: Opposing categories (Binary)

 

-Second Life changes how we interact online verse no change

 

 

Strategy 2: Defining change

 

-What is change?

     *How much time people spend online

     *The method of how we interact online

-How do we measure change?

     *Statistics of online usage

     *Statistics of player communications

 

Strategy 3: Questioning the accuracy of the binary in regards to answering "Do virtual worlds like Second Life change the nature of how we interact online?"

 

-Time spent online

     *This accurately answers the question because it will compare to the time we spend online doing other activities.

 

-The method of communication used in Second Life

     *This answers the questions because it shows the nature of how we interact in the game and we can compare it to other programs people use online.

 

Strategy 4: To what extent (binary)

 

 

-To what extent does Second Life change who we interact with online and how much time we spend with them online?

 

Uncovering Assumptions:

-There is interaction in Second Life

-People spend time in Second Life

-Users spend time with others online

 

 

ASSUMPTIONS and STEPS to uncover them:

 

1. (p. 78)

2. (p. 78)

3. (p. 79)

4. (p. 79)

 

EVIDENCE NEEDED:

 

How many active users are there in Second Life?

 

 

 

Scavenger Hunt BLOG: Ye Old Pirate Scavenger Hunt! (group 1)

 

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October 28th, 2008

On AJ Tan's "The Devil's Advocate"

 

The offensive claim I found was that "How long can you really spend doing something where there is no sense of advancement or reward?"

-This is offensive to professors because this makes the assumption that there are no rewards to Second Life which contradicts professors' ideas that SL is a teaching tool that can give the user knowledge.

 

The offensive claim is "Second Life has neither a conclusion nor a path"

-This is offensive because a lot of people join SL because there they can be whatever they want and create their own path.

 

The offensive claim is "In my experience, the demographic of Second Life residents is roughly in the mid- to late-thirties. For me, these individuals represent 'real' adults who do not celebrate the end of finals week or the advertisement of a city-wide bar crawl. As such, the presence of these “real” adults triggers real-world conceptions of societal norms that force me to monitor and limit my online behavior."

-This is offensive because not all mid to late thirty year olds fit Tan's description.  This could offend an adult who breaks this stereotype.

 

The offensive claim is "Second Life is too close a parallel to the real thing"

-This is offensive because SL is a place to go to escape the real world and be whoever you want, and Tan claims that it is too close to the real world

 

The offensive claim is "In an age where entertainment is more of a demand than a request, new users are unlikely to remain in Second Life where the initial most intriguing activity is customizing one’s character."

-This is offensive because without doing further research, I think Tan would realize that more than most people do not consider the most intruiging activity to be customizing one's character.  If Tan researched more, he would realize that people (Second Lifers) are also interested in customizing cars and businesses and updating personal items.

 

300 word response to the last claim:

 

 

 

 

 

One can find several Residents of Second Life intrigued by aspects of the virtual world other than purely editing an avatar's appearance.  For example, builders who create jewelry, skins, businesses, and art are entertained.  People decide whether or not to stay in Second Life after they customize their character.  Customization of an avatar helps users to find deeper aspects of the game.  For example, Tan makes a solid point when he claims that anonymity leads to conversation.  Changing the look of one’s avatar can help a user feel more comfortable in the world which then lets them experience other parts of Second Life.  For example, there are live events users can attend such as Burning Life that can retain players.  Customizing your avatar and creating a second identity for yourself inside Second Life is what draws users to the virtual world.  The opportunities beyond this style of customization are what keep users returning to the virtual world.  The social scene in Second Life keeps users returning as well.  Users can meet other avatars and form relationships which may lead to scheduled meetings, or daily socializing.  After users become rooted in Second Life, they discover opportunities like creating their own business because Second Life is a platform that makes being an entrepreneur easier.  Economical profits keep some coming back to the game.  However, a large portion of the game revolves around the idea of editing one’s appearance indirectly.  For example, many Second Life business ventures sell items that change avatars’ looks.  Also, in Dominus Motor Company a user can virtually customize the showroom car as he or she would to his or her own avatar.  Although changing the look of one’s avatar may be exciting, so is exploring new areas of the world, or designing architectural structures.   Overall, AJ Tan fails to recognize that customizing avatars is not the only aspect of the virtual world that retains users.  Customization in general is an important concept but exploration, business, and designing other objects in the game can be equally as interesting for Residents.

 

Word count: 341

 

Build It! Project

Group Archivist: Irma

Design Decisions: The design of our building was inspired by Akhil's avatar. Akhil's avatar was wearing a "Joker" costume. The outfit was of the Joker from The Dark Knight. This is the latest Batman movie and was the basis of our building's design. After our Head Architect, Peter, built the frame of our building, our group made the decision to build a spotlight and put it on the top of the building's roof. This spotlight would represent the famous spotlight that had the Batman icon on it so that it would go along with The Dark Knight theme. Then, we decided that each group member would upload a picture on a wall of the building for his or her individual part of the project. Akhil decided to put his picture on the ceiling. His reasoning behind his decision was that he wanted to give his group members more room and because he is different. :-)