Major Assignment: Digital Media Artifact

                With all the modern forms of digital media, it is difficult for sites to stand out and be innovative or new.  One such site is the online forum and social site Battlelog for the multiplayer game Battlefield 3.  Created by Dice, the same company that produces the Battlefield franchise, this online community is designed to enable players to communicate, comment on games, and view the stats of their friends; this game is rapidly changing the way videogame multi-player experiences are innovated.  Tracking stats and friends is just part of the site, with plenty of extra features and planned content for members at no additional cost.  It comes as no surprise that since the debut, Battlelog has received mass quantities of press and interest by other game developers.

                In modern gaming, your statistics serve as an overview of how you do in games and how other members of the gaming community view you.  With innovative technology like Battlelog, any player can be instantly searched and reviewed for parties or special game events.  For avid gamers or competitive players, simple stat-sharing is critical when looking for opportunities to play against other skilled players, sometimes even for monetary gain in competitions.  In a recent interview with PCGamer, a Dice employee was quoted saying “It [Battlelog] lets players recruit friends into your squad and specify a server to play on, all from the comfort of a browser window.”  Though this may not sound impressive to some, it should be noted that this system was developed with the intention of crossing PlayStation, Xbox, and PC platforms.  All of these platforms have their own systems in place making it a difficult challenge to link them all together.  The designers made the interface radically simple and very straightforward, plus they used a Facebook-esque layout to further simplify the ability to communicate with fellow Battlefield 3 players.

                Possibly the most notable innovation in Battlelog is the mix of social media incorporated into the site itself.  When a gamer creates and links their Battlelog account with their Battlefield 3 game, they are also given the option to link Twitter and Facebook accounts to Battlelog as well.  Such an interconnected system has never been seen in gaming, and lets users share their stats over multiple media platforms.  Looking back at the reading for “Always Already New,” it is interesting to think of Battlelog as a distant relative to the H-Bot that was created to help university students research specific dates in history.  I always find it amazing to look at the precursors to media like Battlelog and see what has developed in the time between.  With media moving so quickly, it is exciting to see where media technology like Battlelog will take us in the years to come.

The gamers are not the only ones who gain from this, however.  With every tweet or post about their in-game achievements, Battlelog users are spreading the word about Battlefield 3 to their friends.  I believe this type of advertisement system is what Manovich was describing in their article on the evolution of media.  Throughout the article, Manovich comments on how the current path of media is little more than improvements on the previous media technology and that there are distinct roots that all lead back to the now primitive media techniques.  This is also pertinent to the book The Medium is the Massage in the method of conveying new media.  When you look at Battlelog as a form of mass-marketing for the Battlefield franchise, it is clear that the business plan in mass-multiplayer gaming has shifted from the traditional “seeing is believing” approach into a “keeping up with the Jones’” methodology.  Though Battlelog is a huge step in the media of online games, it is a simple combination of many different outlets in an effort to use Battlefield 3 community members to advertise the game instead of putting large sums of money into television or computer advertisements. 

Main opposition comes from members of the Battlefield community who feel Battlelog does not do an adequate job in matching gamers into lobbies.  There are countless forums and threads about the petty issues Battlelog has, but a particular thread on notbookreview.com took a poll on the overall satisfaction with Battlelog only to find that about half of the voters agreed that Dice should get rid of Battlelog altogether.  Further inspection of the voters, however, shows that a majority of those who do not favor Battlelog are looking for a system to place them into games based on their statistics which is not what Battlelog was created for.  In the article mentioned earlier about the interview with the Dice employee, the main function of Battlelog is to let Battlefield 3 members communicate and share their stats and achievements with other community members.  From the foundation that has been created, there is little to no doubt that in time, a system for matchmaking can be implemented.  Like all things, however, this is a development that will take time to reach full potential.  Though digital media evolves in one week what takes biological evolution decades, online members will just have to be a little more patient and enjoy the digital marvel that is the current Battlelog.

Since its debut in the gaming world, Battlelog has made a stir that few media forms ever achieve.  Joining the elite ranks of Facebook and Twitter, and partially riding the coattails of their success, Battlelog has proven itself worthy of the title “artifact.”  By linking gamers of the Battlefield community, Dice has started a new wave of media in mass-multiplayer games that will be wonderfully new territory for other game developers to explore.  In this new territory, all roots will lead back to the advances made by Dice and Battlelog, and will serve to remind future gamers where such innovative forms of digital media began.  Being a relatively new form of digital media that relies on an annually replaced game franchise, the future of Battlelog is anything but certain.  One thing that is clear, though, is Battlelog has definitely placed a steadfast flag in the shifting pixels of the digital world.

Response to "The Medium is the Massage"

    Never before have I received so many questions and odd looks as I did while reading The Medium is the Massage.  The quirky layout and non-linear story did, however, make this book particularly enjoyable to read.  The pictures and small segments of text were both interesting and informative, and presented content in a way that really made me think of what the main points of the book were.
    Throughout the book, I was intrigued by the views presented on the topic of childhood and how it has changed over the centuries.  Even when I listen to my grandparent's stories of their childhood, I can see the vast difference in how youth was treated two generations ago versus how they are treated in modern society.  Work, for example, is something that we reserve for people who are old enough to "handle the responsibility" of a job.  The earliest age requirement for many jobs in my home state is 15 or 16 with parental consent, but my grandfather reminisces stories of working in paper mills at a much younger age and in a far more hazardous environment.  Though the new mentality of having children put education before work is a safer method, I feel the book presents a strong argument that the education system has become overbearing for many children who want to start work at earlier ages.
    The other key point this book presented was the idea of media evolution as it relates to our senses as well as our individual success.  The strongest example I found for this argument was the quote from Socrates that predicts future students/disciples will "trust written characters rather than remember their own memories."  I agree with this prediction even in the digital world, even more so than in the written media.  By changing the form of media from written (where you are actively thinking about what you are writing) to digital media (hitting keys or clicking links), I can see how involving less active thinking could result in less retention.
    Though I don't feel The Medium is the Massage gives proper credit to the true knowledge base that is digital media, I can see how it limits us in the amount of information we retain.  It was also interesting to stop and think about how the change of media has impacted society.  Though this book is fun to read and presents good information, the true meanings require much more effort than simply reading and interpretation. 

Response to the Baudrillard... Writing? Rambling?

    Let me begin by saying that I have read some odd things for my previous classes, but this article has been the strangest, most non-linear read ever.  Now that that is out of the way, I believe the overall tone was supposed to be that when applied to a grand scale, media as a whole is most noticed by those who use said media to create their own interpretations.  Much like the saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," I feel that Jean is, for the most part, trying to convey a sense of individuality through media that's marketed to the mass populous.
    The portion of the article that helped me understand the main theme was the article on Disney and the media icon that is Disney World.  While looking at the rest of the article, I couldn't help but relate everything back to the idea that we as humans are surrounded by simulations.  Some of these simulations are obvious or self-administered (video games, theme parks, television, etc.), while some of the simulations are ingrained in our lives, some may say subliminally, such as clothing and modern trends.  For example, Jean later comments on counterfeits and reproductions in the Orders of Simulacra and their negative connotations in modern society.  This, however, appears to be a simulated negativity to protect the rights of the owner of the individual product or idea.  To look for what you as an individual sees in media, explicit or implicit, is the very idea of modern media. 
    Though this was a very difficult read, and I am still grasping some of the concepts presented, I feel that I can apply my new ideas in everyday life.  Seeing things for what I want versus what the mass populous sees may be a tough goal at first, but I feel in the long run I will get more out of the media I am exposed to.  By understanding and appreciating what I view, I feel that I will also obtain a better idea of who I am as an individual, rather than a number among the ranks of society.

Response to "Always Already New"

    For the Gitelman article, I found the context and technicality particularly difficult to understand.  To me, the article seemed to jump topics from early forms of internet then made a choppy transition into errors the early web faced.  Though I learned quite a bit of new information, it was not an easy task to do so.  I did, however, find the section on common issues very interesting due to the fact that they all exist even in the modern internet we use today.
    Anyone who has been online can tell you how frustrating it can be to find that a site you were looking for is out of commission with one or more errors.  Even more frustrating is when the error is unexplained or an unfamiliar problem.  One such error is the infamous 404 error which, I was surprised to learn, is usually an error caused by the site you are trying to navigate.  I had always assumed that a 404 error was a temporary issue that would be resolved in due time or with a new update to software. 
    Though this error was one that I was familiar with, I was more interested in the errors experienced by the early H-bot.  Created to assist students researching specific dates in history, the H-bot experienced issues distinguishing factual information from fictional media.  This is similar to modern Google searches except that we now blame ourselves for searches that turn up fictional media presented in a factual manner.
   This article helped me realize how even as media evolves and becomes stronger, there will always be errors and problems to look out for as we search for information.  In solving one issue, we will find other problems arise to take the place.  Though someday, at the peak of digital media, issues will be few and far between, they will always be a way of remembering where the media has come from.

Response to the Manovich article

After reading the Manovich article, the Bush Article, and viewing the short videos on the history of digital media and its impact on society, I was very intrigued by how far digital media has come in such a short time.  Perhaps it's my mindset, but to hear that "ancient" machines and tribal ideas could contribute to the areas of mass-digital media we use today are very mind-opening statements. I found all of this information very interesting, however, because I find that one of the best ways to completely understand a current topic is to trace back to the roots of the product or mentality.

While reading the Manovich article, I found the section on gaming and artificial intelligence particularly interesting because of my, well, extensive knowledge on the intelligence systems modern video games use to challenge players.  I fondly remember playing puzzle games like Frogger or racing games as a young child, but the games I play now seem to incorporate computerized opponents that would have (and probably still could) out-played me on every game I played.  Since games like Halo and Battlefield started incorporating computerized enemies that "learn" your moves as you progress, I have noticed an evolution of sorts in how modern games are played.  Though this is just one example that caught my interest in the article, it is the one that I feel best exemplifies the evolution of media.

Though there are countless forms of digital media and the number increases every day, it is very interesting to see some of the roots that have contributed to all the media we experience today.  It is also important to see where our media forms started to better predict where future forms will go as well as getting a better idea on what problems may come up.  Though digital media will always evolve and adapt to the needs of the mass populace, it is fascinating to read about how modern-day HTML code that runs the internet had a start as a sequence of 1s and 0s on a recycled film strip.  Innovations such as this ensure digital will be our main resource for any information we will need.

HU2642 Reading Response: "Why I Blog"

In review of the article, "Why I Blog," by Andrew Sullivan, I feel that the author does a thorough job of explaining what a blog is and how it has become such a key portion of the modern-day internet. I had never known that the term "blog" came for the contraction of "web log," but after reading the article, my views on blogging turned from it being a web journal to a source of freedom writers can use regardless of their backgrounds.  Having limited experience with blogs, I was concerned by the idea of me running and contributing to my very own slice of internet journalism. Having read Mr. Sullivan's article, the goals of the course seem much more tangible than they did while gawking at the daunting tasks the syllabus outlined.

As I stated, I have never been exposed to online blogs aside from Reddit and various individual internet sites featuring stories and documents. The idea of people reading work that I create has always been a bit of a dream for me, but as Andrew stated in his article, "Email seems to unleash the inner beast." I have been told and have seen many horror stories of individuals who have been psychologically attacked by members of the internet community over trivial things like spelling and punctuation errors. To throw myself in, headfirst, into the world of blogging was definitely not on my list of things to do. However, Mr. Sullivan provides a wonderful rebuttal to my conservative views by presenting the idea that through the criticism and brutality, a better blog is indeed formed.

Though I don't intend on creating the next big blog or having thousands, or even millions of followers, I am much more interested in the world of blogging than I was before reading Andrew Sullivan's article. What I hope to create is just what Andrew suggested, a place where anyone is welcome to share their ideas and contribute into a community of like-minded people to further the freedom that is blogging.with others. Though blogging may not be a lucrative form of media, I feel it will be a great place for me to start sharing my views and creating my own writing persona.   -Charlie

Welcome!

Hello all! This blog is my first step in the realm of internet blogging, so bare with me as I figure everything out. To start, I am a college sophomore at Michigan Technological University. As the blog title probably infers, I am an avid music fan and love anything that is off the beaten path or different. Though this is primarily my gateway into blogging, I hope to create a place where creativity is king (or queen, your choice) and users are free to express themselves.
Here's to original posts and everything awesome! -Charlie