I did the two podcasts within a comparatively short time, which means I am writing these two reflections one close behind another. I am a little short for words.
This time, the main producer, Kimberly, picked an RPG video game Undertale. I have never heard of this game before, but it really surprised me as the first time playing it, in a good way. Though my schedule did not allow me to make it for the Zoom meeting with Kimberly and Dr. Morgen, the information we posted on the google doc helped us to communicate our ideas a lot. Kimberly firstly came out with a list of bullet points she summarized from the Zoom meeting in turns and added we detail to each point in turns. We move faster and smoother than any piece we have made before.
I love how Kimberly suggests relating the contents of SuperBetter with the podcast. By combining the contents of Undertale and the strategies mentioned by Jane McGonigal, the episode, as one of the ending episodes of the Ready, Set, Play series, matches the ending of the book SuperBetter. This kind of “coincident” we planned on purpose is not only making out podcast more related to the lecture materials but also contributes to the whole series as a whole. This is a genius move.
Interestingly, I found out a common characteristic of the series of the podcast our group produced. Without planning out intentionally, we all discuss the problem of how the game is trying to break the fourth wall in the podcasts. In Doki Doki Literature Club and Undertale, the characters are aware of the player’s effect, and in Plague Inc., the players are like playing his or her real-life at this point. We dabbled into that topic a little bit. This kind of immersive gaming experience is quite a thing recently in the gaming community. As far as I can see, breaking the fourth wall blurs the boundary between the players and the game so that it actively engages the players to put their foot into the characters’ or the developers’ shoes. People can get the idea conveyed by them better: appealing people’s attentions to teenagers’ mental health problems, making the game as an educational media of public health, and provoking compassion and understanding between individuals.
Composing podcasts is a more vivid creation than simply writing. It is pretty amazing to see how the group is finishing the goal of doing an episode step by step: building up the draft on the top of a little point, decorating the statement with personal experience, and voicing and posting out a comprehensive thesis. Doing all three podcasts is a self-improving process. This improvement is not only about using Audacity or Google Doc better but also about building up the bond and trust with the group members and challenge me to explore alternative ways to think about games. Using more vocabulary than “good” to describe the game absolutely broadens my word bank and view.
A LINK TO THE PODCAST EPISODE: https://eng101s20.davidmorgen.org/ready-set-game/undertale/
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