VMS transcript # 160410: Unintended encounters on Illium.

The Normandy 2 is a revolutionary ship in many ways, optimized by Cerberus and originally the Systems Alliance for long-term reconnaissance missions and stealth attacks.  It seems like every mission is on a whole new world another thousand light years away traveled in a moment through Mass Relays.  Metropolises, jungles, volanic environment, near-zero blizzards, scorching wastelands, the list goes on.  So it came to my surprise when a couple missions of interest were all located on one world- on a sprawling cityscape I had never heard of.  It lined up that two potential recruits were currently at Illium for different reasons and even Miranda promised her loyalty if I would resolve a chasm of her past down on planetside as well.  So going in, I knew I might in there for quite a stay, especially if recruiting either of these agents was anything like the challenge of recruiting Tali was.  It turns out, a surprisingly large majority of my time on Illium was actually spent on things not at all related to any of these missions.

"The perfect city experience, for those who can afford it." is how the asari guide that monitored my landing described Illium.  She led me another asari on the trading floors who had a message for me.  I was briefly taken aback when an outside force seemed to possess her as she talked.  It turned out be the Rachni transmitting through her- a species, labeled as evil, which I spared from full extinction on Noveria some years ago.  "The galaxy isn't ready for the return of the Rachni race", said the asari when pressed for their new location.  It was a decision that I made that came back to serve me apparently as they vowed their support for my cause one day.

Another decision from a past life (literally) reemerged at the surface when I ran into Gianna Parasini, a intern on Noveria whom I helped put the corrupt Research Director behind bars with.  It was originally my choice to let the Director slide (at a high profit to me) versus conducting a fetch quests to gather the necessary evidence to convict him.  I also talked the Director down from killing himself and Gianna once exposed, and so it was an unique thing to see a face that wouldn't have been there if I had made just another easy decision.  The conversation and short side quest we had, had no bearing on any mission of mine, but essentially, it was good to see her again.

Yet ANOTHER face from a past life emerged at the bar in the form of a hopeless fanboy of mine, Conrad Verner.  He was so enamored with the Spectre lifestyle back on the Citadel, the moment I bared even a little outside of my normal fan service, it went to his head modifying his actions drastically.  He said I taught him to "roam the galaxy and truly be extreme".  I very nearly shot him in the foot.  But at the end of the day, again, it was good to see him.  

[Controller: Weird how the previous system remains so tied to this one.  Catching up with "old friends"?]

Illium

VMS transcript # 150410: Finding Tali.

Bringing Tali'Zorah nar Rayya turned out to bearder than we expected to be; partially because neither our ship nor armor could stand up to the sun's blasting intensity, the geth didn't care to listen to why we had decided to drop by, and I just don't understand how these damn Quarians work sometimes.

We found a way to land on Haestrom but found ourselves clutching to the corners and shade constantly as our shields would repower themselves up.  Between that and sustaining geth drop ships and sniper fire, well, we had our hands full.

When we landed and dropped out the ship, we met a drop ship right away and runned-and-gunned our way through to find a dead Quarian guard clutching a walkie-talkie.  We identified ourselves, asking to be updated and provide assistance.  The Quarian Commander reported Tali being alive still but was nebulous about why they were there in the first place (which I didn't like) and that they were running out of time.  Things got worse from there.

A drop ship bombing run barricaded our way into where Tali was holding up and also deployed geth utilizing cloaking technology which I had not seen before (their shielding was their only tell).  Now having to focus on demolition, we worked our way around the base to find the necessary material to blast our way through.  We ended up stumbling onto one of Tali's workstations, finding a VMS from Tali about how the star was dying too quickly to be natural.  We encountered ambush after ambush in procuring the explosives necessary gain access.

Finally exploding the barricade, we reached a control room in ruins, littered with geth technology (much of which we were able to salvage and sell later on, might I add).  We found a communique to reach Tali with, who understandably was surprised to hear my voice again.  Unable to use our ship, the Normandy, to blow our way to her location (she warned the entire aged structures would collapse under heavy ship fire) we were on foot again to recover her and her research.  The enemies were much tougher on this run.  For the first time I remember somehow dreaming that I had blacked out on the middle of the field after sustaining too much fire but then snapping out of it back in the control room.. 

A geth Colossus presented a unique challenge as I met up with a badly wounded Quarian commander to discuss how to take it down.  A synthetic with massive health and self-repair capability, I talked the guard down from throwing his life away by continuing to flight and focused on closing the distance between the Colossus and I.  By clearing out the geth soldiers and sneaking closer, we were able to inflict massive amounts of damage fast enough while staying alive to destroy it.  Finally reaching Tali, I saw many dead Quarians about indicating the extreme cost of the research they were conducting on the dying star.  As we made our escape, it  was very satisfying to see the commander survive and bless Tali when she announced that she had joined my team.

(note: this entry was the first to be recorded by real time as opposed to by reflection.  As you can see the effects and the details of the writing are very different)

VMS transcript # 140410: Tali's Pilgramage.

Quarians are a pretty unique species.  They're the most brilliant engineers in the universe and this ultimately was a curse as they create the geth- a species that evicted them from their home as well as any respect from other sentient races.

Most Quarians now live aboard the Migrant Fleet, a flotilla of 50 thousand vessels.  Since resources are very scarce nowadays for them, every quarian undergoes a rite of passage Pilgramage, leaving the flotilla and not returning until they've found something of value to bring back to their people.  This is where I met Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, while she was on her's and I was on mine.  She didn't bring back a sustainable source of food to the Fleet, but she helped me destroy Saren, the most dangerous man in the universe at the time. I heard she passed the Pilgrimage and earned her Adult name.

Now as Tali'Zorah vas Neema, my team of enigmas is going after her services once again.  Tali is currently on a classified assignment for the Migrant Fleet Advisory Board on Haestrom.  I have no idea what the hell she's doing there.  Haestrom is A. located in a system whose sun has reddened and is about to explode/expand into a red giant and B. is deep within geth-controlled space.  Her hacking skills better have doubled for the effort we're putting into this.

- Shepard

Tali on the left

A Paragon or Renegade?

In the Mass Effect 2 system, as has been discussed ad nauseam, Controllers such as myself make the decisions for success and survival for Commander Shepard and his crew.  The path to these outcomes, however, the "kind" of decisions made, is defined by how you interact with other beings as you move along.

Similar to life outside the ME 2 system, "positive" and "negative" decisions do not weigh onto a single scale; a good action doesn't "cancel out" a bad one and a reputation built on fear or on generosity will not be significantly altered by one defection.  The implication of this, according to the system documentation site, masseffect.wikia.com, therefore is that there "is no gameplay-driven motivation to avoid a particular type of action".  The choice to intimidate or accommodate more often than the other leads to unlocked decisions that can lead one further down the path.  For example, if one commonly threatens or forces their way in conversation, they might be presented with more aggressive physical actions such as kicking a character through a window to his doom.  Or one that offers genuinely helpful advice or extends compassion towards difficult circumstances may have the opportunity to step in and save a character from death by quickly administering medigel.  

It's worth adding that the Paragon or Renegade decisions that need to be made occasionally feel forced and draw the character out of the System temporarily.  I mean, who exactly stops halfway through a mission to encourage a confused asari to pursue a romantic relationship, and presumably kids, with a genetically diseased krogan?  See the following developed by a group of system analysts for a unique look at this topic: http://xbox360.ign.com/dor/objects/14235013/mass-effect-2/videos/ignoriginal_nastynate2_030510.html


 - Controller 22789JK7

 Renegade facial scarring in ME 2

Most boring game ever?

Yesterday, I was able to log about 2 - 3 hours of play into the Mass Effect 2 system.  It was one of the more boring times I've had with a game in recent memory.  I spent the time traversing my own ship trying to tease out research upgrades out of my crewmates Miranda and Jacob (which I failed at). I spent time recovering some crates from some robots.  Heck, I spent fuel traversing the galaxy to get two low-level engineers a more efficient engine piece they wouldn't have to "check as often".  Afterwards, I was playing "Skillian 5" poker with them for a few measly credits.  But most (least?) of all, I spent much of my time hovering in orbit at various planets, scanning their hides for various mineable minerals.  Talk about a rush!  Talk about in-depth character development!

Why did I do this?  I would love to say that I don't know or that I was forced to in order to advance the storyline but alas, I was not.  You might ask where then, precisely, was the motivation to carry out such tasks.

It's not too hard of a question to answer actually.  First, I am so in love with the ME systems that I am motivated to extract as much as is possible from the experience (including Iridium deposits :) ) even if not all of the experiences are gut-wrenching or thought-provoking.  It is only new once, I want it to last as long as it can with as many experiences as possible.  Indeed, I was pausing to stop in various locations in-game so I could listen to the full radio advertisement that was bring broadcasted above.  Imagine a learning system that had students wringing it out like a wet towel.  How could such a system be designed?  What huge effect could it have and what contrast would it have to most of learning systems today?

Second, I am one to try and master the experience and in systems such us these, that often requires a penchant for fetch quests, long conversations, needless transactions, essentially, delayed gratification.  So I do all that for experience points, unlocked conversation options, ship and weapon upgrades, etc etc.  Because at the end of the day, I want to maximize my potential in the system, totally destroy anything that stands in my way, find the most powerful pieces of whatever that's out there.  

So when you see me scanning for platinum that will allow me to construct a faster scanner, don't laugh.  Instead, think of a student as compelled to squeeze every single drop out of chemistry lab or their creative WWII project.

- Controller 22789JK7

(Killer scanner on planet Patseyev)

VMS transcript # 100310: Commander Shepard

I had a team.  They were taken away from me.  Heard most of them got stripped of their life-earned priviledges, slung back behind the red tape again into administrative governmental roles or political idols for their people.  Then life was taken away from me.  

Looking back on it, I didn't need it back, I finished what I was made to do.  But they needed my life again, I guess, new impending threat, new doom.  I'm back, siezing obedience as the most influential most human in the galaxy right now; great.  This time, on the behalf of the Zealots for Humanity Association; great.  So far, these guys seem to be playing for the greater good, but it doesn't stop any and all non-human from being wary when interacting with me, definitely including my new teammates.  Not that I give a damn whether they like me or not, but if we're heading into hell for a suicide mission, I need to know I'm giving my life for the best chance of success, and for that, I need loyalty and trust, not a bunch of androids.

I've started talking to some of these guys while in transit.  The frittering scientist Moldus, the genetically "enhanced" Miranda, heck, I even spent 20 credits the other day for a bottle of brandy to give to the old doctor.  I guess the reason I'm doing it is because I'm started to see the value of exploring these guys a bit.  I feel they're precise, but limited in combat- I don't know, I just feel we haven't harnessed all of their abilities yet.  Maybe they don't trust me or maybe I haven't earned their loyalty.  I feel confident that like Ender and his team in the battleroom, once I have earned their loyalty our range of attacks, our flexibility, and our resilience will increase.  

I know, and they most assuredly know, that I can and will lead them to victory if victory is possible.  That said, these conversations are making this experience better worth living even if it's not yielding weapons, credits, or tangible information on these bastard Collectors.  That's it for now, I think we've reached the Citadel..

(This Controller has discovered that certain teammate abilities are indeed unaccessible until they are fully loyal to Shepard.  There are no specifics to how this loyalty may be attained.)

A continuation from yesterday's entry.

The previous entry points to a powerful example of how a virtual identity can affect the “real” one.  It offers the insight that if a System is designed well to draw a real world identity in- that respective identity can affect real world choices and conscience. 

This extends to an educational foreground as well.  Imagine a student’s moral code, self-esteem, and motivation for success being transferred into the virtual identity of a scientist in a laboratory; where the actions as the scientist significantly affect these areas in the “real” student.  A high transfer rate to the scientist identity may occur if the System engages the user in similar ways that the Mass Effect System does for me.  

It is not unreasonable to extend then that if the “real” identity is deeply affected by the virtual one, the amount of learning from that experience will be increased.  Therefore, the key appears to be, designing Systems that tie students to virtual identities.  It’s worth finally adding that, as in the example of the scientist identity, virtual identities are not and should not be constrained to the development of “edutainment”.  As J.P. Gee might support, the medium of virtual Systems is just one possible path to developing meaningful virtual identities in students.    

- Controller 22789JK7

 

(Ladies discussing the idiocy of a tic-tac-toe trivia game)

 

Conscience breaks the fourth wall

Finally receiving the chance to transfer some experiences, this Controller recently encountered a scenario where a decision was made and the moral consequence was so startling, I was broken out of the virtual identity.
This situation was the first of its kind I’ve ever encountered in a game.  The decision had entirely no bearing on my virtual identity (Capt. Jonathan Shepard) in terms of progression, success, lasting relationships, or any other System-related parameter.  It was simply an option, one that I took but was so startled by outcome (again, meaningless) that it brought me back to my real identity, halting the System, and thinking about how I felt about what had just happened.  My real world identity was made uncomfortable by a trivial (relative to the System-world) decision- I seemed to myself, “I can’t stand for that kind of action.”  <- even if it was nothing I directly did.

I ended up restarting the System to an earlier save point to “correct” the decision I made (an impulse choice that led to the unnecessary murder of a minor villain).  I hampered my progress, and possibly even hampered a success factor (it’s possible that killing the minor villain could have made the current mission easier down the road) in order to “ease” my real-world identity.

(Shepard killing an adversary)

Conclusion to previous entry:

We have seen here that Controllers in fulfilling these unrelated side quests do not only care that they reach the end, or even that they completely reach the end, but also care how they reach the end.  Does one care enough about a virtual friendship to their virtual identity to take hours to complete a cross-galatic fetch quest to reveal something about the virtual friend's past?  Does one care to save a unrelated species or race from extinction at the cost of fuel, supplies, and other time-critical opportunities.  Does one try to amass every resource imaginable making any challenge a relative ease as payment for their hours spent or does one relish the challenge of unlikely success and punishable failure?  How does one make the decision to rip themselves from the central narrative to a briefer, unrelated peripheral one or are they unable to relinquish the development of the story for a personal history item?  And in the case of the former, does this show weakness on the side of the Architects in formulating a compelling, involving narrative?   

These are all questions that when the answers are filled in by one of the five billion Controllers reveal private information about the real-life Controller such as the intrinsic motivations behind the control of a virtual simulation, the value the Controller has for a projected identity in general, and the amount of metacognition a Controller may have for such a task.  The answers also can reveal the creator of the system's (in this case, the Architects) ability to "lock in" Controllers, whether they are the divertive or single-minded type, to the experience they've created.  

The insights gleaned from these revelations about the Controllers and creators may have significant value for the roles of educators.

No, I'm looking to get some ME time this weekend, you? Yea, ME 2 man.

A version of Commander Shepard based on his experiences in ME 2

Both ME and ME 2 have been designed around narrative.  As previously mentioned, the group known as the Architects designed a system to convey a controllable series of events occurring in a future-state of the universe, placing this system into the hands of many Controllers (up to 5 million at this point).  Each Controller makes different choices and engages in different control of the characters to watch the story unfold in unique ways- hence the title they have given the system; Mass Effect.  

It is clear that the way a Controller virtual-projects his or her identity will determine the outcome of the system and this extends beyond one's value system or interests; the outcome also indicates the value the Controller has for their avatars, the strongest motivations of the Controller, and also the amount of metacognition and second-level learning (a degree of separation "above" the unfolding scenarios) experienced by the Controller.

A large example of the outcome revealing much about the Controller and their unique experience in the system is illustrated through the exploration options given to the Controller in ME 2.  In Mass Effect and its extension ME 2, Controllers have the option of eschewing the system's events completely, piloting with some control their squad and ship to any planet in any reachable galaxy.  Arriving in orbit near the unexplored planets, the Controller may scan the planet for anomalies such as unregistered installations, communications, or material goods.  In addition to this, the Controller may be in conversation with someone one when they offhandedly, accidentally, or purposely mention unrelated events occurring on a certain planet in a certain galaxy.  Choosing to divert from the main focus and pursue the subject may reveal actionable possibilities on the planets as well.  Choosing to pursue such opportunities may elicit support, outrage, excitement, or indifference from your squadmates but more importantly, may reveal the corners of completely withheld history and connections about these individuals.  Completion, rejection, and how one completes these side quests will alter the loyalties and relationship of your squadmates as you refocus on the main task at hand.  In addition, one's character will develop in different ways as decisions unique to the quest will be made, new items will be found to keep, and combat experience (which can improve/add skills) will be gained.  

In the next few days the 1st and 2nd-level implications of this core example will be added.

For further ideas on the Architects, the 1st or 2nd Mass Effect universes, or Commander Shepard and co., stay tuned or please get in touch.


- Controller 22789JK7

A virtual representation of one of the Architects 

Filling out some Space..

(night at the Citadel)

The story called Mass Effect is themed on humanity's struggle to find their place in the universe.  The second part of the saga continues from the 50-hour effort that, at its end, showed Humanity assert and attain a rank of power and status among the begrudging elite races- mostly through the efforts of the first ever Human Spectre, Commander Shepard which brought down the most influential being in the galaxy, a rogue Spectre, and the ancient alien race he had managed to recruit.

This commanded the permanent respect of the Human race and galactic politics experienced a polar-shift (especially when Shepard allowed the entire Galactic Council to perish at the hands of the reawakened race).  Such was made about the events, countless award-winning documentaries have been made.  An abridged version of one of the best (5 min) can be found here: Abridged Version of the Mass Effect.  This version was released by the Architects, a unknown group on sentient beings that found a way to create the entire universe in which the Mass Effect story takes place.  It is unknown where the Architects reside, whether in our universe or another, but they have revealed themselves to be of humanoid form.  

In developing the universe for Mass Effect, the Architects designed the system to run and display parallel versions of itself.  Assigning each parallel version to a Controller (of which I am an example), this allowed radically different developments and fates for each system.  For example, many Controller's are still in the middle of their universe and it is unlikely a ending will ever be reached by them.  As another example, many Controllers choose to save the previously mentioned Galactic Council.  

ALL Controllers from the 1st system will have the opportunity to control the 2nd Mass Effect system; the key here being that the deviations found from their respective 1st system will control the onset, development, and even conclusion of their 2nd system.  Thus those that saved the equivalence of Earth's United Nations will have dynamically different options than those, like me, who allow it to perish.  It has even been hinted by the Architect's that this will continue into a 3rd system that they develop and that it is possible to enter that system without the main character (Shepard) still alive.

For further revelations on the Architects, the 1st or 2nd Mass Effect universes, or Commander Shepard and co., stay tuned or please get in touch.

- Controller 22789JK7

(a bar located in the Omega station)