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Jun 14

Validation, Conviction, and Doubt

by Chris Billows in Republic of Bloggers 1 comments tags: Blogging, Components of Human Nature, Fictional Letter, Republic of Bloggers, Virtuous Discourse
This is an open letter in response to Chris Bateman; it is written in a format to cultivate an open discussion, so please do not hesitate to get involved! Dear Chris, It has taken me some time to write this response to you about facts and knowledge. It is an involved topic that has had me rewrite this letter multiple (40 and counting) times since to write something about knowing means you need to have a conviction you know something! Let me start off with a relatively famous and grammatically twisted quote about what it is to know: [quote]… because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know. – Donald Rumsfeld[/quote] This quote captured my imagination. It identifies three different kinds of knowing from known knowns to unknown unknowns. Taking those three, I added a fourth to extrapolate a scale that combines the two redundant values: Known Knowns – these are “facts” that we believe to be true. […]

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May 27

Winnipeg Jets & Farm Team Collective Performance 2012-2014

by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Farm Team, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The professional hockey world shifted a bit when Atlanta Thrashers relocated to become the Winnipeg Jets. Not only did the NHL get affected, but so did the minor league affiliations which needed to be reestablished. Atlanta had affiliations with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and the Gwinnett Glaidiators of the ECHL. Those were ended in the summer of 2011 when Winnipeg established a new affiliation hierarchy by forming a new team in St. John’s and establishing an agreement with a new ECHL team, the Colorado Eagles. The purpose of this post is to track how the three teams have risen and fallen along side each other to see if there is any pattern. It tracks the 2nd and 3rd seasons. You can see the first and second season comparison from 2011-13 here.   This was the second year of the operating agreement between the three franchises. The St-John’s IceCaps had a bust sophomore year. The Winnipeg Jets unfortunately carried on the mediocre tradition of the Thrashers while the Eagles had a disappointing regular season. There was not much to celebrate. In addition, unfortunately for NHL Hockey fans the 2012-13 season was almost halved due to the player lockout. The […]

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May 23

St-John’s IceCaps 2013-14 Farm Team Scoring

by Chris Billows in Jets Flight Control 0 comments tags: Jets Farm Team, Minor League Stats
The Winnipeg Jets established a new team with their existing AHL franchise in St-John’s, Newfoundland in 2011-12. The St-John’s IceCaps were a brand new team (even though the franchise moved from Winnipeg) since all of the players belonged to the Vancouver Canucks parent club. The team had a winning season, went far in the playoffs, and were loved by the Newfoundland and Labrador fans. With the St.John’s IceCaps being the primary farm team for the Winnipeg Jets, I thought it would be useful to review how the IceCaps did in their second season as a new team and track how many of those players contributed to the Winnipeg Jets in 2012-13.   # Name Pos GP Min GA SO GAA W L SOL SA SVS SAV% NHL GP NHL SA 1 Eddie Pasquale G 43 2452:57:00 114 4 2.79 15 23 4 1223 1109 0.907 * 2 Chris Carrozzi G 3 150:10:00 7 0 2.8 1 1 0 58 51 0.879 3 Mark Dekanich G 35 1913:47:00 95 2 2.98 16 14 1 909 814 0.895 * 4 Juho Olkinuora G 1 59:29:00 3 0 3.03 0 1 0 25 22 0.880 Empty Net 37:57:00 13 13 * indicates Rookie […]

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May 21

Why RPGs Matter

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 1 comments
Note: This is an open letter to Chris Bateman at International Hobo. All replies are welcome. Dear Chris, I really enjoyed your serial on the Essence of RPGs where you elegantly explained the tension of the game’s duality; that of Role-Play and of Rule-Play. I remember struggling with these two aspects; The obsessive-compulsive side of me did not want any rule to be neglected, while the creative-imaginative side wanted me to witness an epic adventure unfold. I never did resolve the two and have come to accept that I am a divided individual. 😉 Perhaps it is this internal conflict that has generated in me some insights about the tension of Role-Play and Rule-Play. Based on my interpretation of your writing, Role-Play appears to be the champion of narrative, story, and the performance art of acting, while Rule-Play is the champion of simulation, preciseness, and power gaming. They appear to have little in common with each other. I believe that this is a surface level conflict. Role-Play and Rule-Play may have tensions with each other, but that is because they come from the same place; That place being human imagination and its need for understanding. Games have a special purpose […]

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Apr 05

Passive & Active Media Infographic

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Active / Passive Media, Active / Passive Senses, Awareness / Understanding, Infographic, Sense: Hearing / Ear, Senses: Seeing / Vision, Senses: Speaking / Communication, Senses: Touch / Nerves
In my earlier post, I outlined the five senses by which we interact with music, books, shows (including movies, television, and cinema), and games. I have created an Infographic to outline how the different Media relate to each other on a continuum of Passivity to Activity. Passive Media need Passive Senses (Seeing & Hearing) while Active Media /Games need Active Senses (Touch & Speech). Both Passive and Active Media need the Bridging Sense of Awareness. Upon further investigation, it becomes apparent that Passive Media can expand to become Active by engaging in the development of Fan Clubs (Speech Sense) and expanding into games as evidenced by popular movies being made into games. These expansions become a way for Passive Media to become Active, deepening a relationship between a fan and a franchise. Active Media / Games have done the same thing. There are novels written on Starcraft, movies set on the Mario Brothers, and game music played live by orchestras. Any franchise can migrate across Passive and Active Media to deepen relationships with its fan base.

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Apr 05

Passive & Active Senses with Media

by Chris Billows in Playstates Theory 0 comments tags: Active / Passive Media, Active / Passive Senses, Awareness / Understanding, Sense: Hearing / Ear, Senses: Seeing / Vision, Senses: Speaking / Communication, Senses: Touch / Nerves
In an earlier post I listed the seven human senses that interact with games. I also explained that not all of them are essential to engaging with games with Taste & Smell being two of the seven that can be left out. This leaves five essential senses: Seeing, Hearing, Touching, Speaking, and Awareness. The five senses are employed when we use engage with any media, entertainment, or art. We need all five senses when we read a book, watch a movie, or play a game. Yet, the degree that they are used does differ which helps explain why games are unique. There exists a continuum of passivity to activity that marks how games are different from media like books, music, and shows (including movies, television, and cinema). To help explain why games are different, I divide the five senses into Passive and Active categories. Passive Senses are defined by their latent information gathering done through the visual and audio senses. Active Senses differ from Passive Senses because they require action and communication. Let’s begin by discussing the two Passive Senses: P1) Seeing: Games, books, and shows all share the need for the Seeing Sense. A video or computer game cannot […]
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