Hello to all you lovely people who will (hopefully) read my blogs! Today, I am going to cover the mentor blogs that I chose and why I chose them. So be prepared for an in-depth analysis of them. I will be covering Kotaku, Gameranx, TenTonHammer, and PCGamer, Whew! Let’s break them down, shall we?

Let’s start with Kotaku. Now, I use Kotaku for a variety of things. reviews, their “Before you Buy (game name here)” articles, as well as their Beginner Guides to (Insert game here). I actually really like their reviews and beginner guides. Their review for my new favorite game in the beloved Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age really helped prepare me for the game, and I definitely agree with some of the things they stated about the game. For example, their opening sentence in the review: “Dragon Quest XI is the best game in the 32-year-old series.” Bold words, coming from not only me, but the reviewer, Tim Rogers, and myself. Ask any Dragon Quest fan before XI came out in September of 2018, and they would have stated that Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride was their favorite. Now, most would most likely state XI as their favorite.

Up next is Gameranx: Now, I don’t use them a whole lot, but I do use them for looking at updates for some of my video games, including upcoming DLC (downloadable content). I used them quite a bit when the Kingdom Hearts 3 Re:Mind DLC was revealed to keep up with the news. For example, at Sony’s State of Play last year, in 2019, Gameranx had an article with these words in the opening blurb: “Square Enix have released a brand new trailer for their highly anticipated DLC expansion for Kingdom Hearts 3 at Sony’s last State of Play event for 2019!” Gameranx is hosted by people who are very passionate about games, and this blurb shows it. I hope to show that same kind of passion in my own blog posts.

TenTonHammer is a blog covering news about MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games, MMO for short). I use them quite a bit for one MMO I play, The Lord of the Rings Online, mainly guides to each class I play. Here is a nice overview of what class I play, the Guardian: “In a group, [The Guardian] is a protector of his fellows, putting the safety of others ahead of his own and keeping the enemy focused on his
actions rather than the actions of his comrades.” I would like to replicate their style of short, brief overviews.

Lastly, we have PC Gamer. I used them a lot for mod listings to one of my favorite video games, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, specifically, their top ten listings. In fact, I’ve even installed mods that I normally wouldn’t install just because PCGamer made them sound cool! For example, the mod “Oscuro’s Oblivion Overhaul” overhauls the game to make it more challenging and deadly. Here’s their brief summary of it: In regular Oblivion, the world levels up at the same rate you do, which means every battle presents roughly the same amount of challenge. Oscuro’s Overhaul changes all of this, setting different level caps for different areas, turning Cyrodiil into a dangerous and unpredictable wilderness. Oscuro’s Overhaul tweaks almost every other aspect of the game as well. Magic is easier to cast, advanced creature AI ensures animals react to you realistically, and boss characters have been scattered throughout the world to provide extra challenge and some desirable loot drops. A series of smaller mods are also incorporated, adding AI tweaks, balance alterations and hundreds of new weapons and items to the game.” I hope that by the end of my project I will have influenced you folks to try something new, like I have.

And there you have it! Those are four out of my six mentor blogs that I chose! I sincerely hope that those of you who read this learned something new. Next blog post will be what got me into gaming, so look forward to that!

Works cited:  

Biazzo, Jordan. “Kingdom Hearts 3 Re Mind DLC Set to Release in January, 2020; Watch New Trailer Here.” Gameranx, 10 Dec. 2019, gameranx.com/updates/id/188327/article/square-enix-details-announces-kh3-re-mind-dlc/.

“LotRO – Guardian Class Guide Overview.” Tentonhammer.com, 15 Sept. 2010, www.tentonhammer.com/guides/lotro-guardian-class-guide-overview.

Rogers, Tim. “Dragon Quest XI: The Kotaku Review.” Kotaku, 4 Sept. 2018, 12:30 PM, kotaku.com/dragon-quest-xi-the-kotaku-review-1828646512.

Senior, Tom, et al. “Ten Essential Oblivion Mods.” Pcgamer, PC Gamer, 16 July 2010, http://www.pcgamer.com/ten-essential-oblivion-mods/.

I’ve always considered myself to be creative, but for the longest time, I never knew how to express myself. I was in elementary school, probably around 2^nd or 3^rd grade when I was starting to be bullied. It even got to the point where I ended up punching a kid! Yeah, that happened. While I’m unsure as to when it first started, I do know that I began to express my feelings through poetry. My first poems were basic at best, and at worst, they were verbal garbage. But writing poetry is like riding a bike – the more you practice and the more you use it, the better you will be at it.

And though this has continued, it has lessened itself through the actions of my best friend of 8 years this September, Chaz Morris. Although most call him Chaz-Mo, I myself call him Chazzie Boy and I’m the only one able to call him that, no one else can We met in September of 2012, the day after I moved here from California, on the second day of 8^th grade at John Adams Middle School. Chaz and I have been through a lot – middle school, high school, relationships, break-ups from those relationships, we played sports together, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for him, and the feeling is mutual. In fact, he’s probably the only person outside of my immediate family that I can truly say I would willingly lay down my life for. Through him, I’ve learned different ways to express myself. I’ve learned to joke around, be less serious, have fun and enjoy life. I’ve also learned kindness, empathy, and compassion, and I’ve received the same from him. Without him, I more than likely wouldn’t be the person I have become today, since before I met him, I was arrogant, cocky, mistrustful of others, and not nearly as kind or empathetic as I am now. Throughout my entire life, I’ve never had a friend as supportive as him. So, while I was not expressing myself creatively, I was indeed expressing myself through him, if that makes any sense.

In my life, I have faced hardships. But I have also learned ways to appropriately handle those hardships, through learning how to express myself through written words, and how to express myself through spoken words and my actions, all thanks to Chaz.

Timothy Galvin

Bonnie Robinson

ENGL 1117

20 February 2020

Books: More Than Just Educational

“In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” -Mark Twain

Books – we all must read them at some point. Whether you are a born and passionate reader like I am, or someone who only reads for an assignment the night it’s due (we’ve all been there, don’t feel too bad), books are all around us. And it seems to some that books are something that we must read, even when that is simply not the case. There are many times where a book, read for fun, has taught a person something, a lesson perhaps, beyond the educational sense. For this essay, I will be pulling one of my favorite quotes from the fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring by John Ronald Ruel (J.R.R.) Tolkien. The follow quote is a life lesson that I carry with me, even to this day and age, years after reading the trilogy (though Tolkien himself calls it three volumes set across 6 books), and the novels still inspire me. This exchange is taken early in the volume, when Gandalf is discussing with the Hobbit Frodo Baggins the origins of the Ring of Power and the creature Gollum. In the passage, Gandalf relates to Frodo how Gollum was making his way to the Shire, the home of the Hobbits, in search of the One Ring. “The Shire – he may be seeking for it now, if he has not already found out where it lies.”  

“But this is terrible!” cried Frodo “… What am I to do? What a pity that Bilbo did not stab that vile creature when he had the chance.”

“Pity? It was Pity that stayed his hand. Pity, and Mercy, not to strike without need…. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement, for even the very wise cannot see all ends” (58). This is arguably one of the most powerful exchanges in literary history. If it weren’t for Bilbo’s Pity and Mercy, the events of The Lord of the Rings would have been vastly different. The whole Quest of the Ring, the main driving force of the novels, would have failed with Frodo taking the Ring for himself, or possibly being found by the forces of Sauron and Mordor since he and Sam would have no guide to Mordor and Mount Doom.

As you can tell from this exchange, books are not just strictly educational. Some, like The Lord of the Rings, instill values in us, values that are applicable to day to day life. And isn’t that an encouraging thought?

Works Cited

Tolkien, J R. R. “Book I Chapter 2 The Shadow of the Past.” The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, Del Rey/Ballantine Books, 2012.

Timothy Galvin

Bonnie Robinson

ENGL 1117

11 February 2020

Video Games: Showing Their Side of the Story, or Crossing the Line?

We’ve all heard the age-old story. Video games incite violence; video games are not healthy to young adults; video games cause anti-socialism. The list goes on and on. There are good video games out there. However, some do cross the line and enforce their views on others.

According to an article posted to the website Atlanta Blackstar by Ricky Riley, there are a multitude of video games that portray offensive stereotypes. One of the examples Riley gives is Grand Theft Auto, which we all have seen. This stereotype is that African Americans are more criminally inclined than white people. According to Riley, “For example, Grand Theft Auto has many gangsters, thugs, and hookers. White video gamers may see that white characters are doing the same exact thing as Black ones, but they still hold the white ones in higher regard.”.

However, not all video games are bad. In fact, there are some video games that encourage more positive traits, traits such as kindness, love, and friendship. A key example of this is the Kingdom Hearts series. One of the recurrent themes is that our friends help us be who we are. One of the most commonly spoken lines is “My friends are my power.” It goes even beyond that. The first video games series I truly got into was Kingdom Hearts and I have learned far more about friendships from the series than I have in real life.

Another example of positive ideas in video games are life simulation games, such as the Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing series. Both series teach real-world skills, such as communication, balancing a budget through selling and buying crops in Harvest Moon and even making friends, as is the case with Animal Crossing. As you can see, video games don’t teach just bad habits, some teach good habits and even real-world skills. If you are looking for a fun, relaxing game series, I would recommend one of these two.

As you can tell, there are many ways in which games teach skills, but just as there are many games that foster good habits, there are some that create bad ones.

Words Cited

Riley, Ricky. “5 Offensive Stereotypes Reinforced by Video Games That Need to End.” Blerds, 10 Dec. 2014, blerds.atlantablackstar.com/2014/12/10/5-offensive-stereotypes-reinforced-by-video-games-that-need-to-end/.

Why Cuss?

Why the fuck do we cuss? What’s the history behind swearing? And why is it the shit? But most importantly, what the fuck is swearing? Siddown, shut the fuck up, and let me tell you.

For the uninitiated, swearing is the beautiful fucking art of using what adults tell kiddies is “colorful language”, the most common swear words being fuck, shit, damn, and this author’s personal favorite, piece of shit. However, swearing is not just an American (or even English-speaking) thing. Different languages have different swear words. My personal favorite is the Italian phrase “tu cazzo culo”, translating to “you fucking ass”. But historically, swearing takes on a whole different meaning, especially in the early Middle Ages. No, back then, medieval kings didn’t say “that bitch is dead”. No. Swearing back then was to be taking an oath by God. So, in God’s name would be considered taboo back then, at least according to HistoryExtra.

So now that you know the history of cussing, why do we cuss? Well, first off, cussing has been proven to reduce pain. That’s right, you heard me. Cussing can help relieve stress and pain. Well, Goddamn. In a study done by Keele University in Staffordshire, England, Professor Richard Stephens, persuaded 67 of his students to plunge their hands into ice-cold water and to do two tests. The first test, students were told to stick their hands into water while repeating a single swear word. The second, they were instructed to use a neutral word. The results were amazing. It was found that students who used a swear word were able to hold their hands under for longer (Wired).

Now, I have a friend named Jenny, who thought, like so many others, that people who swear have a lack of intelligence and that those who swear have limited vocabulary. Well, that is not the case. In fact, she was shocked and surprised when I told her that this wasn’t the case. That’s not to say she’s a bad person. If anything, she’s nice. It just goes to show that others are quick to demean those as lesser for using vocabulary that is not up to others’ expectations. Leading off that, according to an article posted in Science Alert “The use of…. swearing…. is often seen as a sign that the speaker…. cannot express themselves…. Or even lack[s] intelligence. Studies have shown, however, that swearing may in fact display a more, rather than less, intelligent use of language”. The article even goes on to explain a study conducted by psychologists from Marist College and how it “found links between how fluent a person is in the English and how fluent they are in swearing” (ScienceAlert).

As for why swearing is the shit. Well, there many reasons. For some people, it’s fun to do. For others, it’s a great way to release stress and anger. But to best way to find out is to swear yourself. So, go ahead. Swear. I don’t give a damn. Knock yourself the fuck out. And have fun with it.  And that’s it. Congrats, you made it to the end of my essay! Now go get yourself a cookie.

Works Cited

Byrne, Emma. “The Science of Why Swearing Reduces Pain.” Wired, Conde Nast, 23 Apr. 2019, http://www.wired.com/story/the-science-of-why-swearing-physically-reduces-pain/.

Stephens, Richard. “Swearing Is Actually a Sign of More Intelligence – Not Less – Say Scientists.” ScienceAlert, http://www.sciencealert.com/swearing-is-a-sign-of-more-intelligence-not-less-say-scientists.

“‘Damn Your Blood’: Swearing in Early Modern English.” HistoryExtra, 24 Apr. 2019, http://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/damn-your-blood-swearing-in-early-modern-english/.

Copyright- we’ve all likely heard of it. Us gamers and YouTubers call it “a mess”. Why is that? Well, simply because it allows a copyright holder to remove a video on YouTube if it infringes on the holder’s rights. So then, if it’s such a mess, why did I add it? Simply put, my personal philosophy is that, if an item belongs to that person, you should ask permission before taking it. Same thing goes for the internet. So, if any people on the internet want to use my blog, simply ask for permission. If it is a reasonable request, I will happily say yes. If it is not reasonable, or you take it without permission, I will deny the request, or, if need be, file a lawsuit (but hopefully it won’t come to that-lawyers are expensive, okay? Sheesh!).

Well, now that the introduction is out of the way, let’s go over some slight hiccups, and what went well! First off, what went well. Setting up and creating a domain was easy as pie! After all, all I needed to do was create an account, domain, and choose a snazzy gaming-themed background (totally just didn’t pull off a photo off the internet, what are you talking about?). Another thing that went well was the initial process of setting up my posts.

Now, some bugs that went not so well (but let’s be honest, do bugs ever go well?). First off, setting up the widgets was a bit confusing, as I didn’t know that I had to exit out of my page and go straight to the homepage; I had just used the in-blog widgets tool, which did not have the “Blogs I Follow” and “Follow” buttons. As a result, I had to carefully read through the directions instead of skimming over it, like I am always inclined to do (but come on, is this day and age, who DOESN’T skim?). Since I couldn’t skim, I had to look at the directions multiple times to fully absorb the information. As for my thinking when typing these up, I decided to go for a more informal, relaxed approach, since that is naturally who I am, and I want my blog to reflect both that and my love for gaming.

Well, that was a wall of text! Hopefully you made it through to the end and didn’t skim through everything. As they say in Italy, buono fortuna e arrivederci (good luck and goodbye). If any of ya’ll need help setting up your blogs, hit me up, I don’t bite….much. Just kidding! ….Or am I?

Howdy! So, you’ve found my blog post! Welcome to My Gaming Journey, also known as Gamers Unite! (Cheesy, I know, but that’s just the kinda person I am.) As a life-long gamer, starting all the way back in the early 2000’s with Super Mario Bros., gaming has become more than just a hobby for me, it’s become a lifestyle. And as for what you will get out of this?? Well, not only will you get to learn some facts about video games, but you will also get to know more about me! So, let’s a-go, like Mario!