My thoughts on AGT 09 so far...

This is the best act I have seen so far in AGT this year. Unpretentious. Great voice. I put my money on him winning the competition. One thing that puzzle me is the lady below who appeared in both Kevin Skinner's and Lawrence Beaman's auditions. Who is she? If the clips are genuine, she and her friends (near her) must be working for the producer of AGT that they can afford to jet-set and attend auditions in different cities in America.

In Beaman's audition, she sat behind David Hasselhoff on the front row, swaying her body when Beaman sang. Skinner came in EP 3 when the auditions were held in NY and Beaman, EP 5 in LA. And in between these cities, AGT went to Houston. The clips looks so similar that I am encourage to believe it is only real for Beaman. I wonder when these audition clips were first made available to the public.

Anyway, another comment I want to make is that had Simon Cowell been one of the judges, half of the act that got throught the next stage would have been kicked out. Like The Texas Tenors and Timez 2. The judges have to commit to say "NO" more often to audience who are easily moved by county nationalism with little regards whether their support is aimed at real talent. Simon knows when to do that when the audience fails to discriminate craps from talent.

Lastly, what do AGT and American Idol teach us about learning? How you assess shape the kind of gems that will come out through the education system. You would not get to see that phenomenal talent of Kevin Skinner and Susan Boyle from the idol format. So again, it is meaningless to talk about how the effectiveness of educational intervention when assessment could not assess the learning afforded by the intervention. Just my thoughts...

How teens' experimentation with identities affects how they read game?

Henry Jenkins shares an autobiography of one of his students reflecting on her journey and engagement with popular media during her teens. The post reminds me that I too did collect pictures on my bedroom wall and in my scrapbook. Those pictures are pictures of soccer teams and players. I remember those collections meant a lot to me then and I had to save before I could afford to buy soccer magazines from sundry shops where they had pull out centre piece that featured a famous players or soccer teams competing in the English Division One, equivalent to today's EPL. I drew pictures of soccer players and paste them onto the cover of my school text books. Back then, I aspired to be like them, most importantly to be like my all time favourite player, Ian Rush. While I play nowhere near Ian Rush, I remember fondly calling myself as him when I got together for a game of soccer or even when I hanged out with friends. I agree that I was experimenting with identities back then and media facilitated that.

Jenkins' post alerts me to the influence of age factor on how players "read" games. Teenage is a period of time where teens explore their subjectivity and experiment with many identities while navigating their way in searching of meaning to their existence and their relation to the social environment around them. Hence, MMOGs can be seen as laboratories to experiment with identities and how this experimentation mediates how they "read" and take away from playing MMOGs.

What BGT can teach us about subjectivity?

Watching the trio of Piers, Amanda and Simon gives you a good lesson how exploring one's own subjectivity is important in qualitative research. This particular clip (click on pic) is taken from the first semi-final of BGT 09 involving the performance of Julia Naidenko. See how they reacted throughout her performance and when they gave comments in the end.

Looking at Piers giggling and overly excited, I wonder what he really meant by "stunning performance" and "I am very grateful that you brought all your frieds with you". :D I see Amanda's interjection as a good prompt for Piers to check on his subjectivity. And Amanda cannot agreed with Simon on whether the Queen would like to see belly dancing underscores how gender too impact on one's subjectivity. It's like have three qualitative researchers looking at a phenomenon and all three come up with three different stories to describe it.

It was only during qualitative class that I learnt to explore and appreciate how important it is to establish my subjectivity. Well, not all subjectivities can be addressed but it is important to be aware of them and how they mediates how you generate and interpret your data. I see subjectivity as a lens for readers to understand where you coming from and appreciate how you see your research. Another thing I learn about subjectivity is that it is not a one-off process where in one sitting you can pen down all your subjectivities. It is a process of discovery. So far I have gone through two rounds of subjectivity writing and in the process learn more about assumptions and biases I have - in short, I learn more about myself. I will do the exercise again when I during the stage of simulataneous data collection and analysis.

Well, I don't think that the judges in BGT will be ask to write their subjectivity statement in any foreseenable future. But it would be great if we can have a peek into their mind through their subjectivity writing. While I agree there will be benefits, I also think the controvesy this will invite outweighs its benefits. Just sharing my thoughts.

What conversations game playing experience affords?

Henry Jenkins wrote a nice piece of reflection on the phenomenon of Susan Boyle from the perspectives how technology contributes to her instant global popularity and the motivations that drive viewers to pass her clip around. I find myself reflecting why I keep on coming back again and again to video clips of Britain's Got Talent (BGT) performances. Though I hardly talk to anyone about the performances, for me those unlikely stars, like Susan Boyle and Jamie Pugh, or those in Amanda's words "lump of coal to be turned into a diamond", like Julian Smith and Sue Son, have a story of their own that invokes strong emotions in me every time I watch them. Incredible. Jenkins explains it best why their performances have potential to invoke conversations we have with others (I guess for me, conversation with myself) when he says (bold part of citation):

" Does the wide-spread circulation of reality television suggest the triviality of what constitutes public interests? I don't think we can answer that question without knowing what we are using Susan Boyle to talk about. Her meaning doesn't reside in the video itself -- we won't exhaust it no matter how many times we watch it. The meaning rests in the conversations that Susan Boyle enables us to have with each other. As it starts to circulate, the Susan Boyle video gets inserted into all kinds of ongoing conversations across a range of different communities, so that I've stumbled into prayer circles for Susan Boyle; I've found scientists talking about how someone with that body could produce such a sound; I've seen discussions amongst Karaoke singers about her techniques, and I've seen reality television fans trying to explain why her success would never be possible given the rules of American Idol which exclude someone her age from competing in the first place. Susan Boyle circulates because she's meaningful on many different levels and after a while, all of this has started to go meta so that we are spreading Susan's videos to talk about how fast they are being spread. "

From my research perspective how players read games, I am wondering whether game playing experience does have such impact. Does meaning in game playing reside beyond the game and in the conversations players have with others? If it does, what kind of conversations do players have about their playing experience? What about game playing that spark certain kind of conversations? Who do players engage in conversations with? What they draw from such conversations and how it impact them and the things they do in game? At this stage of my study and my literature review, I am collecting as many questions as possible to give me a good sense where should I take my research forward.

Reflecting back on my own playing experience, I remember having a lot of conversations with myself about one aspect of game playing that is most prominent when I first play MMOG. It is about conflict I have with my online conduct and personal belief. There a numerous examples but I share just this one. It may sound trivial to others but is resonated deep into my belief of what is right and wrong.

Granado Espada allows players to put their playing characters on auto mode where characters continue to fight mobs while players are afk. Very often I squad up with friends in maps where it is difficult to survive alone because of high spawn rate or when there are high level mobs. While my friends were afk, their characters would get very good drops but they were not there to collect them. When this happened, the items would remain there for a few seconds before dissapearing. I always end up struggling with my own conscious whether to take them or just to ignore them. It also happened with very good drops belonging to other players not in my squad but they happened to be nearby and afk. Should I take or should I not? Does taking and not informing the owner consider stealing? But when does ownership starts? Does it begin only when you choose to take them? But does this rule apply when they are afk? Is there an unwritten rule where players do come to a consensus about this even though they do not talk about this at all? Or does stealing in virtual world have to be looked differently from stealing in real world. So many questions and what a dilemma.

I guess, game playing has potential to invoke strong emotion when players is confronted with a dilemma in decision making, and this in turn may encourages a lot of self-reflection and conversations with others. I think "emotion" and "dilemma" are keywords I should include in my literature review search as well.

Does players' narratives matter to developers?

I would say yes, it does. In my paper Understanding superstitions in MMOG, I put forth a claim that both players and developers form an unwritten partnership to make game playing experience more enjoyable. Excerpt from the paper is here below.

" We will notice that MMOG industry challenges one of the fundamental and traditionally-held business practices - you only sell your finished product. Every MMOG that goes into the market is not a finished product. The industry is unique where players, games developers/designers play specific role to collectively improve each version of a game and in doing so help achieve their own individual objectives. For the players, it is having a more enjoyable playing experience while for the game developers/designers, a satisfied consumer population and sustained interest in the game. This relationship between players and game developers/designers gives rise to the expectation that game design is not faultless and players can uncover bug if they persist in stretching out the affordances and constraints of the game world. So enjoyment of play for some experienced players is not in the game play alone but in researching on the limits what game world could or could not do, how it works and what mathematical functions are used to govern its mechanisms. Yee (2007) points out that most superstitions in MMOG can be observed in low-chance and high-risk events. This is expected because in those events the rewards are most lucrative and thus, players are more motivated to understand the working mechanism behind those events. "

2-year research study plan

I have completed my last assignment for Dr M's class this afternoon. It was a paper entitled, Massively Multiplayer Online Games: Productive play "sandpits". 15-page paper and it took me 5 days. I brain is aching and if I only could take it out, massage it and leave it in a fridge for a week. I am mentally exhausted and drained. Looking back, with all the assignments for Steve's and Dr M's classes put together, I could possibly have written more than 100 pages (single space). Yes, I deserve a break. Anyway, above is the study schedule I am committed to. I have written Chapter 1 and my methodology chapter is halfway through. I have till end of June to finish it. Comfortabe runway for me since my work has started to pickup pace.

I love Paul Pots and Susan Boyle!!!

I have been watching snippets of performances in Britain Got Talent show in youtube every time I take a break from my writing. I must say, Paul Pots and Susan Boyle got my votes. Excellent voice! Simon is right. It is exciting to find ordinary people, not a professional entertainer, but with a talent they didn't know they have and when they start performing, they're just brilliant to describe.
Well done Paul and Susan!

Culture Unplugged Video

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Worth your time to watch this. Don't forget to invite your kids to join too. Good visual reflection.

Research design

I finally finish my Final Research Proposal paper for Steve's class. The last section that touches on research design really forces me to confront what methodology I would like to consider for my study. I am glad that this assignment comes very early in my study because I see it is important to set the path clear from the very beginning. What comes ahead now look very clear and comprehensible and I really can't wait till next Jan 2010 to collect my data. : )

I know more now about grounded theory and methods I can adopt for my study. I feel I am confident enough to defend orally my choice of methodology and methods. This assignment has also made me relook at my subjectivity. I realise that I have not include some aspects. Steve is right. Subejctivity is not a "once and for all" exercie but more like discovering bit and pieces, one at a time, and picking them up as you move along your study. Good reflecting exercise indeed.

Anyway, I bump into a useful guide on APA5 formatting. If you like to take a peek at it, it is here.
What's next? Dr M's final assignment and I have only a week to complete it! How I wish I have more time. : /

Bigger than Braveheart!

Oh you just have got to watch this (click on pic, pls). Very inspiring! Tears well in my eyes when I hear her sing. Tell me if you experience the same. A welcome distraction to my writing. I am firm believer that each and everyone of us are special. If only we could be less cynical, open-minded and see beyond a person appearance, else we would miss how special a person can be.

More on her can be found here.

Research is storytelling

It was a good critique session I had with Dr M today. While how I position my paper will depend a great deal on how my analysis turns out, at least now I can see possible paths that I may want to look deeper into from suggestions given by Dr M. One thing I learn today from Dr M which Prof DH also underscored in a sharing session I attend last week is that it would be best if we have research that challenge conventional thinking because it makes it a good story to read. So research is like storytelling. Well it's not about cooking up lies but how to position your research from an angle that is never thought of before. Like this book.

The conventional thinking is that it is wise to follow an elite few instead of the masses but his book tells a different story that many are actually smarter than the few. I am wondering now what is conventional thinking about some phenomenon in MMOG that I can show the contrary. Hmmm. : ?

Second best to this kind of story, I think, is what Prof DH said. If you can't tell this kind of story, then tell a story that goes well with conventional thinking but which people cannot describe in details. So your research is like providing the "thick description" of something people have accepted but can't describe. Well, I can think of Steinkuehler research on cognition and learning in MMOG. The conventional thinking is that people know learning occurs in MMOG but cannot describe how it takes place.

So what what kind of story will you be telling from your research?

Life is short

This is a welcome distraction from my research work. I received an email yesterday about Katie Kirkpatrick. Well, what happened to her may not be news to many already because it happened like five years ago. But for me, I didn't know about it. Anyway, I thought it will be a good reflection for me whetever I lose sight of the big picture, the most important thing in life, so I put it here in my blog. Not to forget at least a good reflection for all who visit my blog.

The Bride was beautiful post describes nicely what happened to Katie

Cancer had to wait.

21 year-old Katie Kirkpatrick Godwin held off her cancer so she could have her happiest day of her life. She had battle her cancer but it always returned. She had to use an oxygen tank to breath, the pain the back was so strong in broke though the morphine and her organs were shutting down. Yet all this was not able to stop her from marrying Nick Godwin who'd loves her from 11th grade.

Katie got married on January 15, 2005 five days lated she died. That's how love can beat even the toughest sickness

The video is in Spanish I believe. I like it the background music so I choose it over another version in English. Many people blog about her. This particular one may be of interest to you.

masterwordsmith-unplugged: THE SHORT LIFE OF KATIE KIRKPATRICK