Welcome to 'The Arena'

I am really excited about the people who have joined in to work on this project so far.  I've always knew I wanted to get into game development.  I never felt there was a ton of opportunities to gain experience or get involved though.  I am hoping that this project can be a positive experience for everyone involved.

I am really excited about what lies ahead.  Having talked with a few of the people who signed up I can tell we have a passionate and talented group.  I want nothing more to make games fun games that people will enjoy.  However my number one priority is that I want this to be a great learning experience for anyone and everyone who is interested in a career in the gaming industry.

With that all said I want to take a moment to talk about my vision for "The Arena".  First and foremost I want this project to be reasonable.  I want to be able to finish it.  I want to finish it and show people a completed game.  That is why I want to keep this game simple.  Basic concept, You team up with some buddies and enter into a, Romanesque sci-fi, arena and fight other players to the death.  Obviously I have a lot of ideas i'd like to explore and i'd like to expand the game but we need to start basic.  A few weeks ago Blizzard's Jonny Ebbert came to BYU and spoke to a bunch of students about making games.  (That was the kick in the butt I needed to decided I really was going to do this).  He said something that I thought was quite profound.  He said that in order to make a great game, you need to figure out what the player will spend most of his/her time doing.  Once you know what it is, you need to make that feature awesome.  That is what I am trying to do with "The Arena".  I want to make the most fun combat of any game.  Once we are sure that we have accomplished that goal, we can start thinking about expanding.

Best case scenario for "The Arena" is that is becomes massively popular, it becomes the next League of Legends.  If that happened, I would immediately start to find money, or look for a publishing deal to make this into a real company.  Of course I would continue to support and improve "The Arena", but I would love to more ideas and concepts.  I have always been fascinated and drawn to open world games.  If "The Arena" succeeds, I would love to make it into an open world game.  A game were friends can explore a vibrant and rich world together.  Then, bringing it full circle, having the players return to the arena to test their skills against other players.

Worst case scenario for "The Arena" is that we make a game that doesn't get much attention.  However, we still made a game.  We can slap that onto a resume and show employers.  When Jonny came and spoke, I asked him what would be more valuable from a hiring stand point, straight A's or having made a game.  He laughed a little and responded, "If you make a well polished game, we won't even look to see if you graduated college".  So I think worst case scenario, we get a good job out of it.

How to Make Your Business Successful

When it comes to running a business I believe most people surround themselves with like-minded people or people with very similar traits.  Whether you are a group of hyper intelligent people, charismatic people persons or tenacious business men all can benefit from one simple principle.  This principal is diversity.  All people seeking to enter into the commercial sector should seek to find a working balance of mavens, connectors, and salesmen.  Companies who find this balance are more often than not the companies who find success.

              A good company needs a healthy balance of mavens.  These are the know it all’s.  They are smart; they keep up to date with the latest technology and constantly learning.  Mavens are important because they are the ones who improve the working technology of the office.  More importantly, Mavens are the ones who provide the greatest boost to the quality of your product or service.  Companies who fail to accumulate Mavens tend to suffer as they become out dated.

              Just as important as having people with the know-how, it is important to have connectors with the know-who.  Connectors know everyone and more importantly they know the right people.  They are the ones you want on your side.  They can bring in talent, investor and endorsers.  It doesn't matter how brilliant you product or idea is if you can get other people to join you and support your endeavor.  Companies who fail to find connectors more often or not are lost in the mix.

              Now that you have the smarts and the support, it’s time to sell your product or service.  This should be easy right?  You have a brilliant product and all the backing you’ll need, they product should sell itself.  False, this is where 90% of businesses fail.  Salesmen are tenuous and they know how to get the word out and how to get people to pull out their wallets.  Salesmen with the combined efforts of the mavens and the connectors will proved to be beneficial to any company who find the right balance.

#twitterstake

There is an underground society in the LDS community.  They are known as #twitterstake.  During priesthood session of this general conference I decided to experience General Conference is another way, through Twitter.  It was a very positive experience, initially I thought that “tweeting” during conference is disrespectful and will distract me.  When I discovered is there is a vast community of people who are sharing live quotes and insights for the current talk.  Even the churches official Twitter account was participating in the sharing.  With all this positive influence I actually found it easier to stay awake and attentive during the session.  I recommend that anyone who reads this to try “Tweeting Conference” at least once.

Ethics and Computers in Society

When is comes to ethics in computer science one may think it only involves not hacking and not developing content that is inconsistent with or personal or religious beliefs.  There is a great deal more that is expected of us however.  Computer science is a valuable skill, one that will make some very wealthy in their life time.  We will all experience some form of success, it is imperative that we remember to give back.  Remember to give back to the community by teaching programming to others.  Remember to give back to the institutions that taught us.  Most importantly remember God, who has given us all that we have.  We earn nothing in this life but that which He gives.  So in 10 to 15 years, no matter our situation, stay ethically and morally responsible.

Games For Human Development (Vlog)

Gaming Addiction

There is a stigma to massive multiplayer online games that they are addictive.  This is no more true than saying that cars are addictive.  The activity shouldn't be blamed for a person's addictive personality, if it wasn't games it would be something else.  A friend from growing up was by any definition of the word addicted to games.  When he was banned from them, he simply moved on to the next thing.  Those with obsessive personalities need something to pour their energy into.  Ironically, the "signs" of someone who is addicted to games are the same signs you would see in anyone who is passionate about anything: music, art, programming.  While we should strive to maintain balanced lives, we must recognize that any activity can become "addictive".  We should therefore resist blaming games for being the problem.

Excellent Gaming Leading to Excellent Grades

Video games have become an extremely popular entertainment medium.  While their focus should remain on entertainment, video games should also emphasis learning while having fun.  The amount of information people retain from playing games is amazing.  This is partly due to games unique nature, they engage sight, sounds and feel while allowing the user to read, interact and see immediate applications.  The other part, and probably the more important, is they enjoy the game so they strive to remember all they can. Games give players an opportunity to be exposed to thoughts, ideas, and beliefs they otherwise may not encounter.  This passion that players have towards games can assist them in their learning pursuits.  Games can be applicable practice for real life.

A recent study shows that 91% of children in American play video games (cnet.com).  Games should not only aim to entertain, they should teach.  An example would be "Rock Band".  The game is played by pretending to drum.  The player taps the correct drum head at the correct time to earn points.  The game is very entertaining and can be enjoyed for hours on end.  I mention "Rock Band" because a friend growing up loved to play "Rock Band" and the practice he gained from playing carried over into real life!  He was able to learn the real drums at an alarmingly accelerated rate.  When asked how he was able to learn so well in such a short period of time he attributed it to his time spent playing "Rock Band".  Image that while playing engaging  AAA titles like "Call of Duty", "Mass Effect" or "Assassins Creed" that you were also learning, almost unbeknownst, programming, chemistry, and american history.  Games can become a powerful resource for creating a platform for life long learning.

Current efforts to incorporate learning into games have produced titles like "JumpStart" or "Reader Rabbit".  These games aren't sufficient.  They don't make a strong attempt to make learning fun, simply having an animated moose hand out additional homework, won't work.  We need titles that people will be excited to play during their free time.  I am a fan of the mass effect series.  There are many activities players can engage in.  They can hack, slice, engineer or administer first aid.  What if these mini games actively taught the player the basics of these disciplines?  If a player chose first aid, they'll learn how to safely remove debris from wounds, apply pressure to stop bleeding, and know that bandages should not be removed. When people play games and they find they have an affinity towards healing they can then consider a career in the medical field.  When they start taking classes to become a EMT, nurse or doctor they'll find they already have a solid understanding of the fundamentals.

Learn More: The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World