Could Hunger Games be Our Future?!

Let me start by putting it out there, I don't read. Books have never been enticing to me no matter how
amazing someone claims the story is. So I just wait for the movie to come out. One series that has caught my attention has been the Hunger Game series, which depicts a future that could be our own if we do not start to shape up our government and way of life.

Because I don't read so I didn't know this: Panem, the country in which the Hunger Games takes place is America. That blew my mind when I found out. We are living in an exciting time where we will experience rapid change in technology and social engineering. The baby boomers are dying out and it will soon be up to generations X and Y to reshape our future.

Scientist have concluded that there are 4 possible futures for the human race: Collapse, Creative Response, Techno-Stability, and Techno-Explosion.

The Collapse: is essentially the apocalypse. Nothing lives, everything we have work towards dies out and in another billion years there will begin a new era. 

Creative Response: is the most likely of our options. We will use up everything and continue to ignore our problems until our way of life is drastically altered. The planet is severely ruined but small pockets of civilization will survive. Most will be poor but there will be a small group of power holders who will hold power. This outcome is the most similar to Panem in Hunger Games. 

Techno-Stability: we face our problems head on and throw out the thought of "well I wont be here when it goes to shit". We start making real sacrifices and find solutions to our problems that work with the environment to have a relatively comfortable standard of living in the future. This future will also include the modern elite to be stemmed, spreading the wealth and power.

Techno-Explosion: is when new technological revolutions are created that vastly change our dependency on natural materials. We fix all of our problems and do away with the concept of scarcity. we make a new world where everyone has the ability to pursue their own dreams and individual interest and are encouraged to live to their fullest potential. This is the best possible outcome we can hope for.

Currently the outcome most fitting to our problems is Creative Response. Solving the energy crisis is not going to be easily solved with new technology, it is tied to countless other problems we are facing around the world and will not be fixed without serious change. We will need leaders who are not fallible, but that is the very nature of government, there will always be men who have power over other men. 

Author of Children of Dune, Frank Herbert wrote "Governments, if they endure, always then increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interest of the ruling class..."

Beep Baseball

For one of my culture credits I chose to attend a fellow capstoners event. Haley Green, a soon to be graduate, threw an event recognising degenerative eyes diseases. This particular event hit close to home with Haley as one of her neighbors, a girl who just turned 15, is slowly losing her sight over time. Haley stated "By the time she is 18 she will have lost her sight completely."

Over the summer Haley attended the Hagerstown Suns Beep Ball event, where the suns played with
kids who had or were in the process of losing their sight. Beep Baseball is a physical therapy used to help with listening and coordination skills. This is where Haley learned that one of the children participating is her neighbor. This girls parents were the coordinators of the event and are looking for ways to spread the word about their daughters disease, while raising money to pay for their daughters medical bills.

When Haley contacted the parents they were more than eager to help Haley with her capstone. After recruiting the shepherd baseball team and putting in some practice time she was ready for her event.

The night of Haley's event attracted over 80 shepherd students, a very successful number! All proceeds went to the family of Haley's neighbor to help with their daughters medical bills. But this event was not just successful because of the turn out or amount of money raised, it was successful because it enlightened the students and staff about a medical issues that we feel invincible to. When asked Haley stated "Think of how awful it is to come into this world, knowing what it looks like then to have that taken away." I could not imagine the horrible feeling it must be when you know you have forgotten your parents face.

I am very glad I attended Haleys event, it enlightened us while reminding us to be thankful for everything we have and to help brighten others who do not have the luxuries we do.

Baltimore Comic-Con AKA 'Sad-Con'

I was super excited for Baltimore Comic-Con when I discovered I could go. I knew George Perez, my favorite comic book artist, would be there and it was my first Comic-Con! As we drove up to the convention centr my eyes began to sparkle with joy as I saw my favorite comic book characters in cosplay gather for photos outside the convention center doors.

As we enter the Gaylord BCC, a convention center I know all too well, a rush of confusion slowly
grew over me. Being familiar with the convention center I knew where they would hold their panels, dealers room, and where attendees would congregate to mingle. The confusion came from why the convention was not laid out that way and where everything was.

Everything was hidden in BFE nowheresville in the back of the convention center but the entrance to the dealers room was an exit underneath the convention. It was all overwhelmingly confusing, unorganized, and small. I was almost mad that I had spent $60 on tickets for here when there was nothing to do. Basically it turned into a glorified shopping trip where i bought nothing.

Fortunately I came with the plan to film, unfortunately I didn't come in cosplay because I would have been one of the best ones there. I got some decent footage and there were some nice cosplays, but there was an overwhelming lack of cosplay and happiness. I also never got to see George Perez because the line for him began on the opposite side of the 1/2 mile long room. and it wrapped around the room.

I don't have very much to say about this convention. It was my first american comic book convention so I now get to see the differences between anime and comic conventions, which has made me appreciate how friendly and open everyone is at anime conventions. And although I got some footage from the con it was not $60 worth. I should have cosplayed and they should rename the con Sad-Con.

Final Draft of 'I've Gotta Sew' Lyrics a Domino Parody

I look sexy and kawaii
everyone’s attention on me
flash of camera everywhere
Bunny ears in my hair

Dressing up around conventions like there’s nobody there
Taking pictures of otaku, making everyone stare
Do you sew? That costume’s out of control

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
we can cosplay all night
Damn this costume is tight
sewin’ it on
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Im starting to feel numb
keep ricking my thumb                                     
Otaku, come on!
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

There’s no time for sleeping tonight
costume’s not ready to be shown
nothing seems to be going right
with this cosplay, now I’ve gotta sew

Every hem needs to be sew tight
When I’m done I will let you know
there will be no sleeping tonight
Can’t stop now because I’ve gotta sew

Fabric spread everywhere
I’m in need of a prayer
Why won’t this piece just stay
costume’s in total dismay

Styling my wig, its not working, I think I need hairspray
new anime distracting me from my own cosplay
I should sew, procrastination

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh (Its out of control)
We can cosplay all night
Damn this costume is tight
Sewing it on
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Im starting to feel numb
keep pricking my thumb                                     
Otaku, come on!
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Pre-reg badge pick up is tonight
guess ill wait in the line tomorrow
nothing seems to be going right
with this cosplay, now ive gotta sew

Forget thread, I’m losing this fight
Cant deal with the stitches anymore
Heat the glue gun, this isn’t right
We’ll just hope that no one will know

Ooh, got my tickets to the con
Ooh, I’ll be there with my costume on
Ooh, I cant get contacts in right
Ooh, the corset makes my head light
Ooh, body paint is starting to crack
Ooh, times is rushing I’m losing track
Ooh, let’s get dressed up tonight
Ooh-taku-taku

Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Let’s get dressed in cosplay tonight
Make this one the best I’ve ever sewn
We’ll be dancing in the rave lights
Make it worth the time I’ve had to sew

Every hem seems to be sewn (glued?)  tight
We wont stop until they make us go
There will be no sleeping tonight
Gotta start new cosplay, I’ve gotta sew

Erik the Slayer

The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is the most immersive and unique game of the Elder Scrolls series. With its wide range of 150 dungeons it would only be fitting to make the Non-Playable Characters just as unique as each of the draugr ridden dungeons. One NPC that you can find longing for adventure in Rorikstead is Erik the Slayer.

Erik the Slayer is an NPC character in the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim who is based off of one of Elder
Scroll's super fans Erik West, who's online alias was Immok the Slayer. Erik, who died in May of 2011, impressed Bethesda so much with his knowledge of Oblivion that they gave him an in depth tour of Bethesda studios, via Make-A-Wish foundation, and decided to immortalize him in the game. Unfortunately Erik lost his battle with cancer and never got to see the release of Skyrim.

Adventures at Anime USA

In 1999, a group of anime fans came together and started Anime USA, a three-day convention celebrating Japanese animation, art, culture, history, and fashion. In 2004, Anime USA formed a non-profit educational organization to host the convention. Anime USA’s mission is to promote, as well as educate the public about Japanese arts and popular culture. Anime USA is a nonprofit managed solely by a staff of volunteers. Anime USA is a convention of Otaku, run by Otaku, for Otaku.

The term Otaku originates from Japan. The term is used to describe people with obsessive interests, usually surrounding the anime and manga fandom. This term has both a negative and positive association with it. In Japan it holds a more negative connotation because of the stereotypes and media reporting on “The Otaku Murder” in 1989. The stereotypes that usually go along with an Otaku are: social outcast, unattractive, apathetic, and spend most of their time tending to their fandom. Similar to the American gamer stereotype we hold. Over the years the term has grown in popularity and positivity. This can be especially shown in the United States. Many American anime and manga fans now identify themselves as Otaku.

Anime USA is one of the smaller conventions I’ve attended, but that does not mean it is small on the cosplay. Nearly every attendee who did not have a professional camera in hand was in costume. There was a wide variety of cosplay from the American “Where’s Waldo” and “How to train your dragon” to the Japanese “Attack on Titan” and “Kill la Kill”. The percentage of cosplayers to normal otaku attendees was so large that the professional photographers spent all their time in the outdoor garden photographing the cosplayers.

With the rise of Tumblr, an artistic sharing website, has come a rise in cross-plays. Cross-play is a term used to describe the merging of two characters or two universes together into one costume. An example of this is seen in the wisely popular Sailor Princesses. Artist have taken the Disney Princesses and the Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon to create Sailor Scout outfits for the princesses based off of their original design. 

A small convention also does not mean small on entertainment. One thing Anime USA had that I have never seen at a convention before was the Maid café. A Maid café is a subcategory of cosplay themed restaurants found in Japan. Waitresses dress up as cute maids, based off of the French maid style, and act as servants, treating the customers as masters and mistresses in a private home. Upon entering many Maid café’s the maids will greet the customer with “Welcome home, Master”. 

Originally the Maid cafés were designed to appeal to the stereotypical male Otaku. The maid image has been popularized and fetishized in many anime and manga. Most maids are “moe” characters, meaning they are young, submissive, innocent looking female characters. To further their “moe-ness” or cutesy-ness the maid will typically decorate a customer’s order with syrup or ketchup at the table. 

This was a very successful convention. Anime USA was very successful with providing an educational experience about popular Japanese culture while bringing a community together. As an attendee you really felt the love from the community for their fellow cosplayers and their fandom. The convention left me with overwhelming excitement to attend the next Anime USA. 

The Secret Boyfriend

So let’s get a little into PR and cosplay. You’d think ‘Oh this is just a hobby, surly no one can take this seriously enough to take drastic PR tactics to improve their image.’  Well then you’d be wrong. Now let start by stating not all cosplayers are this way, most treat it as a hobby, but there are many cosplayers out there who use their cosplay as a business or present their cosplay as a public figure. We call these pseudo-celebrities and most of them the average person has never heard of.

Most cosplayers will use a fake name for their cosplay pages or create an alter ego for their cosplay self. One of the most drastic PR tactics some cosplayers will use is the ‘Secret Boyfriend’ tactic. This is when a cosplayer has a boyfriend in their real life but does not disclose so when relating to their cosplay life. Many will have their real life boyfriend attend conventions with them but when time comes to chat with a fan they pretend they are single and the real life boyfriend disappears for a bit.

An Anonymous Takopop Contributor from ‘KOTAKU” published an article disclosing the relationship of a ‘secret boyfriend’. In his article Anon states “Let's be honest folks, celebrities don't date fans. Cosplayers don't date fanboys. I could go into some deep rant 'Barney Stinson style' about the rules of the universe, but that is just the way it is. A guy going to a cosplayer's Facebook page and commenting about how sexy she is and oogling at her boobs is the same as going to a strip club and throwing money on the stage. It is just an illusion. If that stripper revealed she has a boyfriend or a husband and five kids, would she still be attractive? ”

Spot the Bag Boy

Even if these cosplayers are pseudo-celebrities they still have to deal with fan boy problems. No matter your level of fame there will always be those people who play into the illusion, believing its reality. So if they believe that the best way to deal with this is through social suppression of their relationship, or they believe that suppression is key to their feed their fame, then that is their choice to make. 

How To Get Rich Quick with Video Games

Watching Twitch TV and YouTube streamers like Pewdiepie, itsHafu, and Totalbiscuit can be a fascinating adventure on your computer or game console. Although many people look at these streamers and think "Why is this entertaining? You're just watching someone else play a video game instead of playing the game yourself.",but you can't help but continue to watch them as they yelp at jump scares, defeat difficult bosses, and complete objectives you only dreamt of completing.

One reason watching YouTube and Twitch TV streamers have become so popular is due to

the fact that these people are able to complete games that the viewer would not necessarily be able to complete on their own. For example, the game Five Nights at Freddy’s is an incredibly scary game that I would never be able to play, because I’d get too scared. That is why I turn to YouTubers like Markiplier and Pewdiepie, they are able to not only move throughout the game but give comic relief when necessary and build tension for the audience to experience.

It creates a different experience of gaming for a person when they actually have control of the game vs. watching another person play. While watching a friend of mine play Amnesia I would easily bark commands at him which felt like they would be easy to fulfill. But when he told me to switch places and physically play I found it difficult to bring myself to move or complete small actions because I was no longer detached from the game, thus making the game that much scarier.

Another reason so many gamers now watch streamers is because they can compete at a higher skill level than most of their fans. Twitch TV’s theOddone is a professional League of Legends player who streams his live games. He is a part of a multi-championship title holding team (TeamSoloMid) so he holds credibility within the gaming community; because of this many League of Legends players will watch his stream to improve their own skills.

Players are able to see his plays first hand while he describes why he did what he did and the different ways the play could have played out. From this players are able to implement his strategies into their own games to improve their skill and chances of winning.

Now I’m sure you’re asking yourself two things, what does this have to do with Elder Scrolls and how can I get rich quick with video games? Easy! When you have a Twitch TV account viewers of your stream can subscribe to you for $5 a month and donate any amount of money to you.

Streamers stream all kinds of video games, including console games like Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. If a player does not have the time or skill to complete all of the objectives within the game they can simply watch another streamer do it. This also allows players to see how life choices within the game play out for them in various quests that require you to choose a side.

Now how do you get rich quick? Simple, make a Twitch TV account and get your webcam going.

Now I’m not saying any of this because I’m sexist. I am saying this because the Internet has proven to BE sexist, and this is the scientific result of how different genders make their money as streamers.

If you are a guy BE FUNNY! Everyone knows guys are funnier than girls, it must be in their DNA or maybe guys are just easier to laugh at. If you are a chick, wear the most revealing low cut shirt you own. Everyone knows girls are not as good as guys at video games so you have to compensate it with cleavage.

So, what did we learn from this blog? REVIEW: You need the 3 C’s. If you’re a guy: Complete, Compete, and Comedy. If you’re a girl: Complete, Compete, and Cleavage. That’s it! Now go out into the world and get some donations.

How Cosplayers Truly Perceive Their 'Heroes'

The most well-known cosplayers are those who star in SyFy’s Heroes of Cosplay. The show gives those who are not a part of the cosplay community, but are into fandom, a window into what the world of cosplay looks like. The show has greatly increased awareness of cosplay and debunked some of the myths people believed about the immaturity of the practice and revealed the talent and craftsmanship that go into some of the costumes. Which is great for the community!

However, as lovely and friendshipy the show portrays the world of cosplay to an outsider, many of the cosplayers within the community see through the ‘BS’ of the show and have experience  the negative repercussions the show has caused. The primary issue being the elitist attitude. All negative issues within the cosplay community that derived from the Heros of Cosplay airing relate to the Elitist Attitude that has been growing for years. Whether the cosplayers on that show specifically portray an elitist attitude, like Monica Minx, or they attempt to portray an inclusive attitude, like YaYa Han, the truth of favoritism and elitist nature emerge.

The most talked about two episodes are the last two of season 1 at Wizard World New Orleans. These episodes were split over two days at the convention, seeing as there were two different contests on different days. OR SO WE THOUGHT.

In the episodes, which we are told are over the course of two days, the judges who are judging the different contest change clothes(which takes them over 1 hour), the cosplay “heroes” also change clothes seeing as some of them are in both competitions. Mind you the audience is still in their seats throughout the whole contest of 6 + hours. The at home audience is completely convinced this is a two day event. It wasn’t until shortly after Wizard World that we discovered attendee testimonials describing the horrible experiences they had at the convention, particularly at the contest. The contest was during one day and having an original time slot of 2 hours (normal) but ended up lasting 6 + hours.

The testimonials and personal experiences of the Wizard World New Orleans cosplayers are too long and in depth for the sake of this blog but I encourage everyone to read them.

At the end of the competition the heroes won all but one of the prizes and the ‘Judges’, who were some of the heroes themselves, conveniently created a new award on the spot for a group of heroes. Basically this is a deliberate act of favoritism. Yes, I understand these heroes are good, but there was a lot of costumes which were clearly better crafted, yet the ‘heroes’ still took all the prizes.

All in all the show has opened the general public’s eyes to the true fun-loving nature of cosplay, but it has also created a seed of hate which has bloomed and separated a part of the community. 

Shifting into MMO

As players explored the vast world of Skyrim and discovered the secrets hidden in its nooks and crannies, they became engrossed in the minute details of the world and mechanics. But players couldn’t help but feel like a second element of game play was missing. As fun as bashing in the skulls of bandits and dragons is with your NPC companion it would be more fun to do with your friends. This sparked the idea of taking the world of Elder Scrolls and transforming it into an MMORPG.

For those players, like myself, who love Skyrim but have little to no experience with MMORPG’s have had a difficult time adjusting to the new style of game play. The changes are small little things like the mechanics and normal MMO glitches, but they add up to become so annoying I was unable to become immersed into the world like I normally am. When I played there was a point where you had to jump into a pool of light to transfer you to Tamriel. Normally on a console you just physically jump into the light, with an MMORPG you have to click a specific button to do so rather than the action its self.

This small but unnatural change in mechanics resulted in a lot of deaths. I also noticed when playing the game I couldn’t fully engage in the environment. If I were to sneak in specific areas or too close to an object the game would glitch and I would fall through the map causing my character to die after 3 minutes of falling, resulting in many rage-quits. Many of my friends who do play MMORPG’s told me this is completely normal for relatively new MMORPG’s and it would never deter them from playing.

There is also no heroic narrative in the MMORPG. What made the single player games so exciting and addictive is that the single player became the hero among heroes and The player is now faced with countless other people who are now going to be the best of the best and as GAMESPOT, a credible gaming news source, states “the one true hero crown is threatened”.

The Elder Scrolls Online did an excellent job of capturing the world of Tamriel, the continent which holds all the countries Elder Scrolls takes place in. In this regard they did not disappoint any Elder Scrolls fans. But the change in view has irked some players. Many who have played the traditional Elder Scrolls games has played in the first person view. In MMORPG’s the only option is a 3^rd person view which is not hard to get used to, but not having the option to switch views does remind you that your character is just that, a character.

Elder Scrolls Online will never be as beautiful or immersive as Skyrim, but it can be linked to the way players approach their game. Rather than fighting to become the best hero players can work together to advance their faction and have a sense of being part of something larger could be the thing that attracts the Skyrim fans and makes Elder Scrolls Online a stable in the Elder Scrolls universe rather than a side story project. 

Game Immersiveness through Virtual Reality

The concept of Virtual Reality (VR) has been around since the birth of Atari. Players and developers alike have been searching for the technology that will allow the player to become fully immersed into an environment that does not exist within our own reality.

From the release of the Virtual Boy to the newly debuted PlaystationProject Morpheus, many attempts have been made to engross the player into a game. The Oculus Rift is the most wide spread Virtual Reality device that has come the closest to meeting the expectations of gamers when yearning to experience Virtual Reality. That enhances the game play and environment is that the environment around the screen (your home or play space and outside noise) has been removed. When these elements are removed the player is unable to break free from the gaming environment.

When I play a horror game in my home on a monitor I am able to jump back when I get scared and notice my surroundings, thus reminding myself that the game environment is not real. But when you remove the ability to remind yourself of your true environment you allow yourself to become immersed. While playing the Oculus Rift when I got scared I would jump back, but have a second instinctive scare because I was not able to break the environment of the game and for a moment believed it was real.

So how will this technology increase the game play of Skyrim? One of the elements of Virtual Reality that has not fully allowed the player to immerse themselves is the graphics. For most games they are bubbly and unrealistic. However, Skyrim has the leading graphics of its time. Even without the advantage of the Oculus Rift players would look at the smallest details, like the grains in tree stumps and say “That’s so realistic!”

If the Oculus Rift or Morpheus could intertwine the graphics of a PS4/Xbox One with their immersive technology while including the game to register body movements, like the Omni, them they will succeed in creating a true Virtual Reality.

My bet is on the Omni for creating the full VR experience. I cannot wait to involve my whole body with the mechanics of a game, especially Skyrim. I want to run around and become out of breath when playing. I want to physically swing my sword at my enemies. I want to become the character that I am portraying in the game.

Many joke that the Omni will solve America’s obesity crisis, because one thing many of us are not willing to give up is our video games. The Omni is to become what the Wii was meant to be, but couldn’t hold up too. There will be no way to cheat around physically moving your body to interact in the game, unlike the Wii and Kinect technology.

It is not until the players actions are fully registered and react fluidly with the players body’s motions that Virtual Reality will allow the player to become fully immersed. The player needs to believe that they truly are having the wind run through their hair or are about to be eaten by a dragon and have the initial body reactions that we humans express to properly experience Virtual Reality. 

Escape into Cosplay

Why is cosplay so appealing? Why do so many humans find it so freeing to take on another persona for a short period of time? One explanation for its appeal can be attributed to escapism; the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.

Now this does not mean that all cosplayers are unhappy with their lives or constantly feel that they are oppressed within their realities. This could not be farther from the truth. Cosplayers, like every other human being, have the urge to try new adventures in another persons shoes, they have just found their release from reality by dressing as fictional characters.  

We can see a parallel of escapism in cosplay through Gordon Calleja's Digital Games and Escapism. 

Calleja discusses the nature of escapism and how it plays a role in our everyday lives. As humans we look for temporary relief from the mundane tasks. Many find this relief in video games or sports as explained in Calleja's article. 

In an interview with cosplayers Zinny Cat and Amanda about some misconceptions of cosplay they express their opinions as to why cosplay is so vastly popular.

Cosplay gives someone the chance to escape their day to day lives and live in a world where a persons fandom becomes reality and is shared across countless other fans supporting their love and craft. Cosplay creates cross country and international friendships that would otherwise not manifest.