Observations of Babbage Palisade

An Ode To New Babbage

As I walk our cobbled streets by night,

I am cheered by the glow of every street light

The canals, though beautiful, look so cold,

But I swear one day I shall be bold

I’ll don a swimsuit and then dive in.

To miss such fun would indeed be a sin.

But for now, I continue to stroll through the town

Exploring each street, up one side, then down

Amazed at the wonders New Babbage contains

Created by townsfolk with vision and brains

This land filled with steam, and smoke, and sky craft

Makes me giddy, so happy, I cannot help but laugh

I am grateful to all who have crafted and plotted

(Yes, even the cuckoos, who I haven’t yet spotted)

For having the courage to keep this era alive

Not just as a small thing – you’ve all made it thrive.

I raise my glass high, to this lovely shared dream.

To New Babbage! Long may she prosper and steam!

--Ceejay Writer

Second Life

After getting myself unstuck from literally inside the city walls of Babbage Palisade, here are the observations that I made.

Environment:

• Industrial
• Steam trains
• Lamp posts on all streets
• Few trees
• Located next to ocean and other industrialized areas
• Few bright colors - dark grey, worn bricks, slightly rusted copper
• Neat glass buildings, with stained glass paintings

Stores:

• Writing and editing services
• "Her Dark Materials Landship No.1", abbreviated "HDM LS 1", nicknamed "Mother". (A really neat looking steam-powered tank) - L$200
• An entire female outfit, duster/trench-coat theme (28 pieces) - L$900 (kinda made me jealous, this looked really cool).
• Indoor teleporter for going from floor to floor (its almost as if they don't want you using the flying capability to go from floor to floor)
• A gallery of schematics / religious paintings (religious paintings seemed to not fit-in with the rest of the theme)
• Hot air ballon with skulls on it - L$500

Layout:

• Connected to other areas by railway
• Labeled streets
• Map in the train station that allows you to teleport to different areas
• City walled on the ocean side

Area Ads:

• Ad for black and white formal with music and contests
• Ad for Valentines Day cards
• Ad for a 2009 Relay for Life Benefit

Victorian Age Connection:

• Steam-Punk themed
• Steam-Punk sometimes out-weighs the Victorian connection with Airships and Tanks
• Victorian architecture
• Streets and signs are realistic to time period

Thought and Feelings on Exploring:

• Not many people were around making me feel as if I wasn't supposed to be where I was.
• I was sometimes uncomfortable entering buildings as we were told that entering private buildings was not a good idea.
• Based on my teleporter findings in the shop, I was sometime uncomfortable on what the locals would think of me flying around.
• The local train yard was neat to see, but it was easily bested by the tower with all of the docked airships. It seems as if people make their homes on the airships.

Understanding Research Differences

While reading the article as well as in the book, I was drawn to the part that says qualitative research is more of an art rather than a science. It requires a great attention to detail to be able to do this type of research. I find this idea so interesting because it is an idea that was raised in another one of my economics classes. The way economics works is not tangible, people can have theories about it (as they do), but often the only thing that matters is the execution. The same is the case in qualitative research. The way you ask questions is often just as important as what questions you ask.

In my Intro to Mass Media class gave me the understanding that those that do quantitative research dislike those that do qualitative research and vice versa. Qualitative research failed to get the bigger picture by generalizing everything and quantitative research failed to make any concrete conclusions because it is too focused on feelings.

It surprised me to hear that the two research methods are used complimentarily. Quantitative data can give you key statistics, but the data cannot be fully understood without understanding what is truly going on (the idea of reducing human experience to nothing but a numerical value), hence the need for qualitative research.

I was going to post about some observations I was making in Second Life before this post, but I somehow managed to get my avatar stuck within a city wall. Out of frustration I quit and decided to do this first. Fortunately will writing this post, the solution came to me to get unstuck - teleport. Duh!

Those observations will be up shortly, I'm sure.

The First Few Steps in a Second Life

Just a few days ago, I joined the world of Second Life. Typically with a video game, this would mean by now I was fully emerged in the game and would know the interface forwards and backwards - that is not the case here.

Since my arrival at college, my video gaming has had to take a back seat. To put this into perspective, I have a copy of Mass Effect 2 sitting in my drawer that I picked up at the midnight release two (almost three) days ago that I have been unable to play yet. Before college, I'd spend hours and hours playing games. Suffice to say, being enrolled in a class that requires me to play a video game is quite exciting.

Second Life is not my first MMORPG. I played Star Wars Galaxies for almost four years and World of WarCraft for at least two. I know what it is to live in a "second life" - so to say.

So how has my brief time in Second Life stood apart from my other MMORPG experiences?

I'd say it all falls under one thing, its limitless options. Its size, customization, and interface all make it a tough game to get used to all at once.

Today I played for about an hour and tried to get more use to the character customization features. I tried on various different "freebies" I acquired to see if I could find something I liked. After much trial and error (and frustration), I did. A nice striped shirt with a pair of black pants. However that was all ruined when my curiosity got the best of me.

I am now stuck in this dragon suit (and yes, that is an R2-D2 next to me with a Pokeball off in the distance). I will say this though, the jet pack on the back of my avatar is just as cool as the scenery on the Park School of Communications Island.

Till next time,

--J.P.

(Ihikano Longfall)

Test

This is only a test. Indeed a test post.