Every good teams has a nice balance of people—those whose strength can back-up what other weaknesses are. Whether this is in the real world, working with coworkers that you spend time around daily, or creating a team of people in a game setting where an infinite amount of things can happen, it’s necessary that we are able to know who we are working with, and learn how to be as cooperative as possible. Knowing people’s jobs and specialties can really help in creating a positive team, especially when they all balance each other.
Just like in Dungeons and Dragons, there are certain fields that require certain jobs to help the workflow of the team, and to make sure that things are running as efficiently as possible. An example of this would be a team dedicated to making graphic designs for a company, but the team is broken down into different categories and job titles:
The one who can go through and make changes before sending it back (Editor)
The one who provides imagery for the design (Photographer)
The one who adds the flair and creates moving imagery to help sell the point, after the design is finished and needs to be presented to an interested party (Special Effects Artists and Animators).
Based on the Myers-Briggs personality types that are usually used for D&D characters, as well as linking up those same personalities to each job listed here, we can create a team within the world of D&D that has the same match-up as the creative multimedia team we see in real life:
Art Director = Warlock or Rogue (INTP, the Logician)
Editor = Paladin (ENFP, the Campaigner)
Graphic Designer = Wizard or Sorcerer (INTJ, the Architect)
Photography = Barbarian (ESTP, the Entrepreneur) or Fighter (ENTP, the Debater)
Special Effects Artists and Animators = Ranger or Bard (ISFP, the Adventurer)
The classes themselves all differ based on what weapons they use, as well as what their roles are for the party (arcane users for varying types of abilities, a paladin for healing, a warrior class for damage and tanking (a person who uses their self to take on a lot of damage from the opposing team, as well as deal massive damage), and therefore can pick each other up when one lacks a certain skill for a certain action. This is very similar, if not almost exactly, to how everyone working on a real life job uses their own specialty and skills to help each other on a certain task, and collaborate to complete it.
College is a big step for a lot of people—there are many things that can seem overwhelming if someone is just starting to think about extending their education, or wanting to develop some other skills that would benefit them for a multitude of reasons. Depending on the college as well, sometimes the “competition” of trying to get in when there are so many people wanting to attend can be off-putting to those who have insecurity about getting that acceptance letter. College can be intimidating at first glance, but the adventure that waits inside is exciting, and can be worth the hardships that come with preparing for college, as well as when in the thick of it.
An alumnus of the college—or maybe even someone who is in the middle of earning their degree—would be the best person to speak to about their experiences being in college. From the student’s perspective, they’d be able to tell you about their experiences signing up and taking courses, about their experiences with time management (or a lake thereof), and their experiences with utilizing the college resources found around campus or online, amongst many. Of course, everyone’s experience is going to be different, and not everyone will have that picture perfect image of what it means to be a student at college; however, those “imperfections” can help encourage students to still participate and have fun while doing it.
Everyone’s reasoning for joining college is going to be different; the journey to get to the destination, however, can bring people together, especially when you find that you have surrounded yourself with familiar classmates who are in the same classes as you and are working towards the same goal as you. Sometimes the experiences you have with other people, as well as the ones you have yourself, can have as much of an equal impact as finally obtaining the degree that you were working towards. That is an adventure that some people would not replace, no matter how stressful things got on the way there.
When coming up with what I wanted as my mission badge, I had a few ideas of what I wanted my mission to be. Most of them involve the act of self-care in some fashion, but they do focus on different aspects of what it means to practice self-care; and because of that, I thought that my mission would be the idea of encompassing a multitude of different things. Since I cannot decide on just one thing, why not try and embrace a few things at a steady pace?
I thought that the best way to express this was to create a mission badge that would use the language of flowers to represent the side-quests—aka, the different things that I want to represent as what I want for my future. One of my drawings that I had done was of someone whose head was surrounded by a blooming lotus. Then I had the idea to use the flowers in a flower crown, which was something that I liked better.
Now, my idea is to create a badge that takes inspiration from the artist Alphonse Mucha, a Czech artist who created art during the art nouveau movement. Of course, I don’t think I would be creating the badge with as much detail as Alphonse Mucha put in his own art pieces, but I am going to try and utilize the usage of flowers and framing to create the overall essence of the badge.
“The game that can give you 10 extra years of life” by Jane McGonigal
Watching this video in class, it came as no shock to me that there were studies that playing games (of any media) can have a positive impact on your life—it was the first time, however, seeing the details of how exactly that worked, down to the intricate calculations and different ways that it positively impacted us.
Jane McGonigal, a game designer, talks about how, from personal experience, creating and playing a video game has been a positive influence on her life, and how it has helped her with her recovery from a concussion that took a year to fully recover from. She talks about Post-Traumatic Growth, which was a concept I have never heard of before. This is something that I wish is talked about more since we always see more research, and news, and development about the negative aftermath of a traumatic and stressful event.
She creates a game-based exercise for the audience to participate in and uses real-world research to tie into the achievements earned as the audience played the game. She states that, because of the smaller tasks that everyone was able to do, and the positive reactions that their bodies have developed because of it, they have essentially earned 7 more minutes to their life; she also states that meeting the goals of these tasks regularly can earn people 10 more years into their life.
Journey
I have personally played the game “Journey” back around the time that it was first released, which was March 13, 2012. I was only a child, but I still remember the things that I felt and experienced when I was playing it for myself.
I remember being amazed by the different landscapes and terrains that I would wander around in, and particularly being fond of the way we could glide on the sandy hills and gain speed and momentum. I remember how emotional the story was despite there being no words spoken a single time—it was mainly experienced by the architecture, and the glyphs and art on the walls, and the moments of action that drove the character to move and experience the adrenaline of escaping a perilous enemy. I remember feeling this sinking pit in my stomach when I saw how worn-down and trodden our character was when walking through the snowy and dangerously cold mountain. I remember feeling happy—and, admittedly, a little bit confused—when we were suddenly energetic and alive again and soaring through the sky with our newfound source of life and energy.
I learned recently within the last year or two that you could actually play this game online with other people! The story doesn’t change at all, but I’m sure it could make the experience of the game more impactful and fun if you were to go through the story together.
A Whole New World (Game)
I’m someone who enjoys playing video games—if it wasn’t obvious by the number of times that I have talked about playing a specific game in my blog posts (aka, Skyrim…). There have been a variety of games that I’ve played; similarly to how I listen to music, if a game is good, and I enjoy the concept and the controls, and can grasp how to do something in a game (whether it’s easy, or the challenge is fun), then I will enjoy that game no matter what genre it might be under.
With that being said, I have become fond of farming games over the years. Farming games are known to have the player play as a new farmer who manages their land and grows their home with every passing season; they live in a town full of other townsfolk that you are allowed to build relationship with, which can lead to special events, which includes learning about a personal part of them that they don’t really share with anyone else. Another common theme found in these farming games is the fact that there is some fantasy element to it that helps keep the game just a bit more engaging for the player, as well as add more depth to the game. A good example of a farming game would be Stardew Valley, which came out almost a decade ago, and is a popular farming game amongst the gaming community.
When I was deciding on what game I wanted to try—that was free to play—I decided that I wanted to try and play Palia. Palia is a farming game that came out last year on Steam, a gaming service that allows the uploading and purchasing of different games, and earlier this year on the Nintendo Switch console. Palia is a bit different from other farming games that I have played; not only is it a free game that is available to download by anyone, but it also doubles as an MMORPG (massive multiplayer role-playing game), which means that the game uses a server for other players to play in, which makes it available for players to play with each other. I’ve had the joy of having one single online interaction with someone who was able to deliver some supplies to me when I was testing out the request feature. It was a really sweet interaction when I sent out a message thanking whoever it was that sent me supplies, and having them with “it was probably me! you’re welcome!”.
This game is definitely supposed to be one of those cozy games that you play to wind down after a long day, or to play when you just want to relax and need a calm part of your day. The game was meant to be played with the intention of building a nice and positive community, but there is no actual push to play with others if that is not the game style you are going for—I assume that you are allowed to play completely by yourself to discover the story. There are in-app purchases to buy in-game currency for special objects and outfits, however they are not necessary to the game, and are more for aesthetics and customization than anything else.
Overall, I’m excited to try and play this game more! I think this will be a nice game to come back to every once in a while since it seems like it’s not a game that relies on constantly logging into to keep up with the story and such. Hopefully, for those who have the means to try it out, you are able to give this game a shot as well!
Storytelling has been a thing that has existed for years and years, and has become a tradition for many cultures. Many stories come from the act of sitting around a fire and telling a story to a group of people, who would then go to tell that same story to another group of people, or singular person; the cycle would continue, and that same story would eventually become famous and well-known—with some alterations, since the story would either be lost in translation, or someone would mis-remember a detail for something else and change some aspect of a character or concept. A well-known example of this type of storytelling comes from the epic poems The Odyssey and the Iliad, which are stories that were supposedly told verbally by the blind poet Homer.
Modernly, most of our stories are found online through the perspective of both credited sources, written in the format of physical and online books, as well as individuals who express these stories to the world. Since we have access to seeing stories online, we are exposed to a multitude of events and stories that are spread across the entirety of social media. Just as though it were told verbally around a campfire, sometimes there could be accidental misinterpretations of the story that can confuse people and make them wonder which version of the story is the truest.
Despite the different ways that storytelling has changed since the evolution and creation of technology, the effects of storytelling are still the same as they have always been. We still have emotional reactions to stories that we read or see on the internet (laughing when we see something funny or shocking, or crying when we read devastating news or connect with someone on a personal level); we still learn life lessons after reading a story about someone experiencing something firsthand, rather than learning them through fictionalized stories.
Even if we feel disconnected sometimes by how often we are on our phones looking though social media, there is still this feeling of connection when we read something that affects us to the point of gaining a reaction from it, or when we learn something new from a stranger that lives in an entirely different country. Social media is definitely exhausting in the way that we learn about so many things at once, but there is some reward when we see something uplifting, or learn something that has benefited us and helped us grow as people.
You find yourself at a crossroads; a fork in the road, with a sign that points to two paths in opposite directions. One sign reads of a town name—painted recently, radiating a sort of pride to its name. The sign is big, and it provides you with a sense of knowing where you want to go. The other sign is smaller, and more run-down—left without maintenance, and shadowing the town sign; however, the sign provides an image rather than a word. It’s mysterious, but it compels you to want to explore the path and find out what awaits on the other side.
There is always the option to go a different direction—find a path that no one has before and discover something that has been left unknown for who knows how long. Figure out whether to go further left or further right, or try the un-ventured path that remains in the middle of the two. Or you could always turn back and plan for something else—there’s nothing wrong with regrouping with yourself and finding a different route to venture towards.
What do you do? Where do you think the story will go? How will you decide where and when the story ends?
In a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) story, there is always a choice that leads towards a path with even more choices, and that choice is counted towards a path that eventually leads to a special event. Whether that event is the end, or that path causes another option to open, depends on the choices that have been made beforehand. This genre of storytelling has been incorporated into the world of video games, as well as Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) as another fun way to tell a story that is more engaging and more interactive than activities before it.
Each CYOA story has a quest that the protagonist (you, or the character that represents you) must go on, as represented by one of the seven quest-types that all adventurers go on according to Dan Roam:
The quest towards home after the long battle, or after getting lost in oneself.
Striving to win the prize, whether that be wealth for your gain, or a prize to an object that could save the world.
Hunting for revenge to avenge a fallen loved one, or to strike down those who have done you wrong.
Harking on a battle to fight the evil dragon taking over the world, or enemy that goes against the better of the world and its people.
Going on a journey of self-discovery to find yourself once more, or to be reborn.
Risking the climb to reach the top and make to where no one has before.
Searching for true love, whether that’s the love that comes from someone else, or you find the will to love yourself.
Each of these quests are what make a story relatable and captivating, placing you into a situation where you can get lost in, as well as relate the experiences to yourself. They create an agency to discover more about the in-world story, as well as find where you fit in and see what kind of changes you can make in it. This gives people the chance to discover a story that they can connect with, as well as explore different paths and decide for themselves what may be the more interesting option, or connect with a choice from experiences from their personal life.
These are stories that I have grown fond of over the years, and I tend to play games where I can create a character, or create someone to play, and play a game where I can determine the story—as best as I can, anyhow. I’m forced to play a main role in the games that I play, which makes up for my absence as a leader in the real world; but, I can say that storytelling games and media where I am forced to take the role as leader for myself inspires me to try and be more confident in my actions, as well as inspire myself to help others more in anyway possible.
Personally, I have never seen The Princess Bride, as someone who does not consume a lot of movies during my spare time. Despite my lack of experience, I still know of the movie itself, as well as the memes and jokes that come with it, as a byproduct of other people talking about it and seeing it in pop culture. This well-beloved and well-known story has retained its status as an extraordinary story since the time of its release—despite its moderate appraisal amongst the audience and critics. It’s gradual accomplishment of becoming a classic of older generations, as well as a new favorite amongst younger audiences, shows how its story stays relevant, and how its themes and storytelling captivates an audience of all ages.
William Goldman, the writer behind the story—both for the original novel, and for the movie adaptation—utilized the world of unconventional storytelling to deliver a classic story with its own twists and adaptations of fairy tale tropes. He keeps the classic fairy tale theme of “love conquers all”, as well as the importance of friendship, while deviating from tropes that are typically found in storybook side characters and plot points. The writing itself combines elements of satire and humor, and appeals to the audience that loves a romantic fantasy—a “romantacy”—story; this is a perfect combination of storytelling elements that allows the story to captivate a wider audience range.
Tying back to Dan Roam’s Draw to Win, visualizations can help garner a reader’s attention, and help further visualize a place or object, or even a concept, which, in turn, helps an audience retain information better. This also applies to information outside of a creative storytelling place—for example, in slide shows, we find that it can become hard to stay focused on a topic if all we are listening to is someone speaking with no actual visual aids to help us. When we are reading a book, or looking at a body of text (like this blog post), we can only do so much imagination on our own, as well as remember details of a person or place, without sometimes forgetting what it was or who they were. And while we can come up with a face to a name, or a descriptor for the character, sometimes it is difficult to keep track of everything.
The film adaptation of The Princess Bride brings in a fresh new perspective of the characters and the setting that they’re in. Having people act out scenes from a novel, keeping to the story while adding new elements that don’t take away from the original script (to my knowledge…as stated, I have never seen or read the story), helps make the story that much more memorable and cherish-able.
Many people claim that they can’t draw. When people think of being an artist, they think of the predominant historical artists that defined history back when people were first beginning to learn about the concept of art; they don’t think of the historical and present-day figures that make history with stick figures and boxes and spheres. There have been many accounts, as illustrated and shown in Dan Roam’s Draw to Win, where people have found success in creating visuals—or art—to showcase an idea of theirs to help explain exactly what they are going for. Their professions are and were not centered around art.
Art can be utilized as a tool just as easily as art is used as a nice decorative piece, or used to make money when times get tough. One of the main examples of art being used as a tool comes from Dan Roam himself, where he talked about how him and his friend, Tony, illustrated a presentation showcasing how Obamacare worked and how it became the way it was, all while using stick figures and simple diagrams with single sentences attached to each drawing. That presentation has since been on the news, as well as been showcased at the White House. And it was all done with simple line work. No fancy details or brushes. No aesthetically pleasing color (unless you love red). It almost looks as though the presentation was made with a cocktail napkin for a last-minute idea to get a patent for a future invention, or even doodles on a whiteboard. Maybe calling it a doodle is disrespectful considering its success, but if you think about it this way, if a doodle can bring success to that kind of caliber, then maybe anything you call just a “doodle” can later bring you that same success—or any other type of success depending on what your goals are.
In the same way that doodles can land you a presentation at the White House, art, and your skill (or lack thereof), can be applied to the concepts of Digital Storytelling and the usage of infographics. Digital Storytelling is a storytelling media that utilizes things that make it easier to express an idea or concept, as well as aid in the visualization of the story that you are trying to tell; things such as digital art, or an open world that allows you to create things in a sandbox (such as Second Life). Anything that involves using the digital space to create art. I’ve been involved in Digital Storytelling throughout my college course, with Spring 2024 being my first time stepping into the world of Digital Storytelling.
Infographics follow the same idea of delivering and expressing a concept or idea, except it focuses more on data and information rather than creative storytelling. Infographics present data in a way that delivers information that is easy to digest, and gets the point across efficiently without using lengthy texts for people to read. I have not had much experience with creating infographics myself, though they look very intresting to create.
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