Entry #7: The Small tin box

 

 Hello everyone Jose (Sg) here👋,

It was a simple night playing video games trying not to yell expletives past midnight. The drowsiness began to overwhelm me, but the in-game event was leaving in 2 hours. Sleep was not an option unless I wanted to wait for an indefinite amount of time for a single cosmetic. Out of the corner of my eye a single tin box.

 

A single piece of solace. My salvation. One might be led to believe that I had seen aliens in the flesh with the ecstatic expression I had on my face. I picked it up with the delicacy that one would have when picking up a child. Then a single rattle. A beautiful sound. I open the lid. *POP*.  A single small white bead. Yet I know that it holds so much. A cool winter breeze, a single snowflake, or even a cool green leaf.

 

I plop it straight into my mouth. Normally I would eat two to increase the potency but that night one was enough. It takes some time, but it slowly softens. After 3 or so minutes I took my first bite *crunch*. I can feel each individual piece, some small some big. I take a second bite and every piece is now easily digestible. Every single breath I take feels colder than it was prior to eating the bead. Not only that but I felt like I had heightened awareness now that I was no longer drowsy.

 

 

(I still like gum more, does anyone else agree?)

-Jose sg

Entry #6: A short history of Major Video Game Business Models

 

 Hello everyone Jose SG here👋,

This is a quick 5 phase history of transactions in the video game industry

Phase 0- The start

Early video games had no grasp on post purchase transactions. It was simple you pick up a disk you plop into your preferred console and finished. A complete and full gaming experience near instantly.

Phase 2- Subscriptions

With the advent of the internet, online games were the new trend. You would still buy a disk but now you could play with other people. It was almost exclusively found in PC (Personal computer) games and although they were full experiences it was locked behind 2 purchases.

 

Key Games: World of Warcraft, Wizard 101, Altima Online

 

Phase 3 – DLC/Expansions

Purchases online became just as common as physical transaction. As such developers/publishers realized they could get more money from the consumer by adding content to the games. At this point in time the games were still full of experiences but debatably less polished.

Key games: Call of Duty, Destiny, Witcher GTA

 

Phase 4- Loot boxes

Although the previous model was still commonplace the scope of DLC (Downloadable content) and expansions was greatly diminished but prices did not change. But a thing known as loot boxes which are equivalent to gambling became common place. In essence it was a glorified slot machine which anyone could partake in. Games are now significantly less content rich but still functional.

Key games: Call of Duty, Overwatch

 

Phase 5- Live Service

As of right now we are in the worst state of the games industry as we are in an era of games as a service. Rather than releasing complete games developers/publishers release unfinished products and fix them as time progresses. Although fixing issues and bugs post release was something that happened before it was a last resort. Right now, games are released unfinished, buggy, and without meaningful content. These games are meant to keep players addicted and coming back day by day and are more like jobs than a fun past time.

Key games: Destiny 2, Overwatch 2, Genshin impact, Helldivers

Although the games industry is not in the best spot right now good games are still releasing and players are levying against this games as service ideology. 

So go try out new games or don't

That’s all folks.

-Jose SG-

Entry #2: An intro To Fighting Game Terminology

 

 

 Hello everyone Jose SG here👋,

As most people know, fighting games are a staple video game genre. They are also notoriously hard to get into, which leaves many fighting games that are only a few years old on life support. Since most fighting games are at their best when competing against someone else a self-perpetuating cycle is created.  Not enough players  =  No one wants to play. Before the pandemic there was a niche yet vocal community organizing local tournaments but now even those are struggling. Online tournaments are the fighting game community’s final lifeline, but they use a lot of terminology that could make it inaccessible for first time watchers. If you manage to survive this post, I hope you’ll check some fighting games out.

(Proof of credibility [PlayStation Hours Not Included])

 

Notation:

    Fighting game notation is simultaneously incredibly useless but also integral a fundamental aspect of learning a new fighting game. The nature of fighting games allows for incredibly varied gameplay/ controllers; in order to simplify the learning process the numpad/numeric notation is used. The notation is especially good when referencing special moves.

Special Moves:

    Special moves are the quintessential aspect of fighting games because there is nothing better than using a cool attack to hit your opponent. From laser beams to controlling shadows to blow up your opponent, every character has a distinct move set with a diverse list of special and super moves. 

Super Moves:

       Do you want a giant fireball that covers the entire screen? Spend meter and do a incredibly strong move

.

Meter:

    Most fighting games have a resource used to enhance special moves or use a super move. It is universally known as meter but the name can very between games.

Combos:

    A string of attacks and special moves in a certain sequence to pummel the opponent without an escape routes. The foundation and main selling point of fighting games. Most people will dedicate thousands of hours into optimizing combos. 

    

Okizeme:

    Generally shortened as Oki refers to the situation directly after a combo. Since most combos at the high level set up a difficult blocking situation for the opponent it is incredibly fun to watch and perform. If a character is specialized to setting up Oki situations they are referred to as a setplay character.

Archetypes:

    Every character is different but there are clear generalizations you can make about the individual characters specialties 

• Rushdown
• Incredibly aggressive, good movement, good mix up, often known as monkeys 
• Grappler
• Highly technical, slow, aggressive, grab/ throw oriented, often the worst characters  
• Zoner
• Projectile oriented, average speed, incredibly annoying
• Setplay
• Oki oriented
• Puppet
• Controls two characters instead of one, shares similarities to setplay characters, often hardest characters to play 
• Shoto
• Often the starter character, Jack of all trades

     DP:     

    The worst thing ever made. A defensive option, and offensive option, a combo starter. It does anything and everything. This is the first thing any new player should learn how to do and also learn how to punish. Is strong for only one reason frame data.

 Frame Data   
          

......    

    All in all if anything in this post sounded interesting to you check out fighting games the community is incredibly welcoming and the games are fun to learn with friends. 

Check them out or don’t it’s up to you I’m not the free time police.

That’s all folks.

-Jose SG-

Entry #1 Blogs and their value

         Hello everyone Jose SG here👋,

Today I’m talking about one of the pillars of internet culture BLOGS. Blogs as most people know are longform media posts (Similar to diary entries) that have been largely rendered obsolete. In today’s day and age social media posts are mainly short form. There are many social media platforms that have content that is predominantly easy to scroll through and community made. For example, TikTac uses short community made videos to keep users’ attention as they mindlessly scroll through. Instagram and its contemporaries like X (formerly twitter) have short user made posts with words count limits but access to pictures and videos. Blogs can no longer be considered a popular form of internet expression, but they still  have their uses. Blogs have slightly adapted by having distinct purposes and the three most easily identifiable are, Personal, Professional, and Corporate.

 (All blogs used at the bottom of the post)

 

Personal Blogs

Personal blogs are the most similar to modern day social media posts except that they generally have their own specific websites and are very wordy. These types of blogs give the reader a sense of familiarity with the creator as they have personal details  that make you feel like a friend or family member. For example, the blog I read is about the poster giving an update as to why he wasn’t posting as often. Although I haven’t read any of his previous posts, I still felt like I knew the person behind the screen personally. These types of blogs are not my cup of tea but if you like things like Instagram posts you should check these out.

 

Professional Blogs

Professional blogs from my own interpretation follow the article format which makes them the most confusing to me. On one hand they can be extremely helpful as resources to get information like news, guides, and tutorials. On the other hand, we have articles that exist only to get clicks and keep user retention rates high. The ones that serve to be educational and primarily objective will always get high levels of praise from me as they have helped me all throughout my life. The ones that only look for clicks can be fun and serve as entertainment but things like hit pieces, gossip, and over politicized articles are worthless in my opinion. The main issue I have is I don’t see the purpose to read articles that thinly veil attempts at telling you what to think; if it is meant to be a persuasive piece then why hide it? These Blogs can either be one of the best tools on the internet or a waste of time.

                          

                          Corporate Blogs

Corporate blogs are the ones I’ve used the least as I have no need for them yet. From my short experience with them they are interesting as they have a very specific purpose which is education. The blog I referenced is aimed at new customers for a service and the easiest way to learn how to use it. It’s a very simple type of blog but can be useful if you want to get acquainted with a specific service/organization. These are especially useful if you’re running a business as it serves as a good alternative to Q&A or FAQ pages.

 

TLDR:

Personal blogs aren’t  popular anymore.

Professional blogs are good but should with be read with some level of scrutiny.  

Corporate blogs are useful for specific programs or occupations.

Read them or don’t it’s up to you I’m not the free time police.

Leave any suggestions or disagreements in the comment section

That’s all folks.

-Jose SG

Blogs Read:

https://nation.marketo.com/t5/marketo-whisperer-blogs/marketo-new-user-self-guided-learning-path/ba-p/336789

 

https://www.theaussienomad.com/travel-thoughts/a-new-beginning/

 

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elon-musk-grimes-third-child_n_64fdd9d5e4b030adc9547f79

Pictures Used:

https://www.epicnewmedia.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/corporate-blog.png

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.digitalvidya.com%2Fblog%2Fpersonal-blog%2F&psig=AOvVaw1gPP-p5aL5cC5LQ44dslq3&ust=1694508238715000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CA8QjRxqFwoTCJDC-p6VooEDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Entry (#0)

Hello my name is Jose Sevilla,

I despise writing I think that it is incredibly unnecessary for the average person to require anything past a high school level English course. There are the certain situations in which a higher understanding of writing principles and literature are necessary, but they are so few and far between; that I have found myself thinking about practical applications for calculus more often than anything I have learned in any English courses. 

(I have found more use in this ☝than some English concepts)

Is this all hyperbole? Yes but one of my biggest pet peeves is doing things that I perceive as being unnecessary which I believe most English courses fall under.

The complete antithesis to my hatred of English is math and it's real world applications which I absolutely adore. I will not elaborate.

Of course my life does  not revolve around school although it sometimes does seems like it. My main pastime is playing videogames mainly fighting games but I have recently stopped playing since the player base for my favorites has quickly waned. Even during school hours I love listening to music without a doubt in my mind it is the primary thing that keeps me awake. Currently my favorite song is Endroll by mass of fermenting dregs. My favorite album of all time is probably The Forever Story by JID or Lateralus by Tool.

The Final Interesting thing about me is that I don't use social media. I have accounts for most social media platforms but I will rarely if ever actually use them. 

That's All Folks - Bean