Rance's Blog
So first off, enjoy me (as Karma) running for my life from Malphite!
League of Legends have been the only consistent video game I ever played lately. I have started playing League of Legends around late 2016 but got sucked competitively a year later.
For basics, what is League of Legends? The game's website defines this game as "a fast-paced, competitive online game that blends the speed and intensity of an RTS with RPG elements. Two teams of powerful champions, each with a unique design and playstyle, battle head-to-head across multiple battlefields and game modes. With an ever-expanding roster of champions, frequent updates and a thriving tournament scene, League of Legends offers endless replay ability for players of every skill level." Based on experience, League of Legends is a 5-vs-5 multiplayer online battle game that is centered on a three-lane arena (and a jungle to travel on to transfer to another lanes) fighting for domination of the other team's territory by destroying primarily its nexus. Generally, champions (the characters players control in the game) are separated for five roles: Top-laners (who are stationed at the Top Lane), Junglers (who roam all around the arena to help their fellow teammates defeat the enemies by attacks), Mid-Laners (who are stationed at the Middle Lane), ADCs (who are stationed at the Bottom Lane) and Supports (who helps their fellow teammates defeat the enemies by crowd control for them to be easily defeated or by sustainability to keep their teammates alive) -- all with the same similar goal: to not let anyone of the opposing team go through towards that nexus. Gold and Glory
For the economic aspect of this game, the main process to own gold is to take down any obstacle that blocks you from getting to the other's territory: that is to kill (or what they call last-hit) minions, turrets, and even the opposing champions. [see figure on the left]
That gold earned is used to buy different items that can give you advantages in the game [see figure below] -- for example, these Ionian Boots of Lucidity that provides "+10% Cooldown Reduction" in order for skills to be used more often, "+45 Movement Speed" for your champion to get to a position much more faster.
As you acquire more gold, you can get more items. And once you have more items, it strengthens you to get more gold and kill more stuff that hold gold to repeat the cycle over and over again. This represents that the power of money matters as it dictates how you are surviving in-game -- the more gold you have, the more powerful you become.
The screen capture below is a graphed representation of the gold earned per team, ours being the red team [hi, I'm Karma]. As you can see in the figure below, over match time, the gap between both gold earned by both teams are getting bigger, much more advantageous on our team. Gold does play a huge role in this game as a reflection of what is really happening in real-life: the insufficiency of wealth limits a person to what he needs and wants in order to survive -- or win at life. How This World Works
The League of Legends universe holds a number of champions who in their own lores and backstories come from certain regions, each with their own lore and advocacy. However, gameplay itself breaks the boundary as you, the player, AND as a team, are not defined to use champions that solely lives in one region. This concern was actually addressed by the developers of the game themselves in 2014, with an excerpt from this article from Red Bull.
This kind of diversity promotes some sort of initiative as we have free will to use whichever champion we want in the game. This team of diverse champions now coming from their own roots and regions have one team goal: to capture the enemy nexus -- similar to our own government, where all positions are not congested and ran by one political party but by different representatives coming from different political parties having one goal: to render service to the nation. For the example below, our team is composed of champions who reside in different regions (Vayne for Demacia, Yasuo and Karma for Ionia, and Udyr and Ornn [not seen] for Freljord). All champions do not come from one region yet worked together to win.
But alongside this diversity is the option to ban certain champions into play (in ranked games). Each player is given one vote to ban a champion any player from both sides can't use (most likely not for the other team to use) as they believe the usage of this champion will disrupt the chances of them attaining the goal.
The LoLture
Culturally speaking, given the diversity of champions, they are classified based on the skills they possess and the appropriate items they use where they fit best in-game. For example, the champions below are classified under Marksman and these 'marksmen' are best/usually (AND NOT ONLY) fit to be played as ADCs the Bottom Lane. This inhabits a culture where one belongs in order for the situation to avoid disrupting the goal.
However, some players take the challenge by using champions outside of their expected roles. For example, YouTuber TwigerLoL does this for his Off-Meta Mondays series. The example below shows his gameplay as Orianna, a Mid-Laner, taking on the ADC role. (To enjoy the whole series, follow this playlist.) This kind of off-meta gaming presents us a culture that one can break from ideals, but this kind of 'disruption' and risking promotes one's responsibility to the role they chose to play as to continually go for that goal.
The League of Leg-End.
League of Legends, after analysis, is a game that promotes to players the idea of initiative towards a goal - where you, as the player, choose a champion of your best fitting for your team. With that champion, you are destined to be placed in a lane that is of your responsibility. That responsibility involves you getting stronger and stronger (through killing and getting gold for items) to contribute to the welfare of your team to win the game. Everyone in that team have this same responsibility and with unification and strategic moves, it will pave a way in order for your team to win.
time to play some League and rise from Silver II!
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My Face on Facebook
Let's start with the most 'serious' I can be with my Facebook content. I give time and some opinions to matters that are huge and relevant like politics, religion, etc. A lot of the serious stuff that we encounter, some of which I can relate myself or can sympathize with those affected. Why do I respond to these content this way? I firmly believe that my opinions on these topics are a result of the proper education authentic people and accounts online have provided the audience, one that has affected me.
And now down to the less 'serious' content, some of which include are just answering queries online that won't really affect me, going through throwbacks, sharing just random status updates. My profile is actually cluttered with anything random. Why do I even post such randomness? It's my form of expression in response to what I'm feeling, I'm encountering, I'm reading, I'm checking. I post my response online though, because I see Facebook as my online wall where I could just leave what I want to say without feeling that I have ruined or wasted time. It's my safe haven.
I wasn't a fan of uploading photos I have captured on my own so my Photos tab as what you can see below contains family pictures, all of which are just pics with me where I'm tagged.
There's really not much else to say about how I present myself through Facebook but quite an expressive and opinionated person who doesn't mind what people think of me now to be. But outside Facebook contains the realer me online -- a realer, much more creative reflection of who I really am in person.
Who are you-Tube?
What is it with YouTube then? Here lies my hopes and dreams. LOL. But seriously, this is the platform and the avenue where I can express my ultimate hobby: making mashups. (The website where this blog is actually posted is my personal website which contains the information about my YouTube uploads.) IRL, I still mashup my own songs by singing different songs in line with the beat of the former. Surely, it's the same thing but the mashups that I make are more complicated, way more complicated from the hardest mashup I have done singing. It's really quite difficult to find my place in this real world as a mashup artist if I have to share and present myself outside of the online world.
One of the examples below is even a collaboration with another mashup artist overseas. It feels easier pushing what you want online because it's faster to reach people. If I have to consider this on an offline self basis, then it's way difficult for this to push through -- considering this field of artistry isn't typical.
Okay, sidenote. I saw this in Sir's collection of PBS Idea Channel videos, hehehehe.
Admittedly, I tried self-expression and showing my realer side as a vlogger. But I failed to do so because personally, it is going to feel like I've made a diary of myself online -- a diary where my private thoughts are in danger to be, well, used to destroy my life, LOL.
#truthtweeting
So this is my personal Twitter account. It has nothing much to be honest. It ended as a personal planner for my academic responsibilities. Just regular tweeting. Nothing new but...
...I have an alternate Twitter account that contains the realest side of me, under the name "louietibbs~" (or really, it's Louie).
It's like my natural Twitter account already that contains more updates about my life, more posts on my wants and likes, more opinions, more truths, and, er, more. Some of which are not known to the people in my life. (Yes, I haven't opened up to my family that I have a boyfriend. My family doesn't know I've learned going out.) Why am I hiding behind the name Louie by the way? Honestly, I have nothing to fear but if I have to give myself a name, Louie would fit me. It is in this Twitter account where my content fully narrates the WHOs, WHATs, WHENs, WHEREs, WHYs and HOWs of my life. It is way more random than my Facebook footprint but it's really my truth.
This is where I post about my likes and wants. (For example, League of Legends content.)
This is where I express my thoughts on anything I could think of.
This is my avenue to being true to myself and to what I'm feeling.
This is where my 'morally wrong' secrets lie. And I have no regrets letting the world know about it.
Log Out
So what does LOUIE say about me as myself? (Yep, I just named my digital footprint Louie.) Louie is everything I am, I want to do, I want to be unconditionally. Louie is Francis without anything holding Francis back.
I actually feel the danger of being Louie. First is the country's perception of having alternate accounts.
Second, my digital footprint is reaching more audience, an audience that can possibly reach the people I know. Like one of my infamous tweets that got featured in Filipino Tweets That Matter. There's this danger that if they find out who I am online, it would put conditions that I have as myself to the persona I have made online as well.
As long as there is really a restriction and condition of my content online, then I will never be the same as Louie, but my online self and my real self will always be similar.
On Facebook and YouTube, I can be as honest as I can be and no questions will surely be asked. But the Twitter side of me, a.k.a. Louie, is a faithful representation of how I see myself as a person and what I personally believe in. He embodies both a part of me that is true, the 'me' that has a say on things, the crazy and random Francis, the gamer Francis, the mashup artist Francis, AND a part of me that I wish I could be, much MORE truthful and opening to the people I love and the people around me about what are the other truths in my life. Some of which I post online are my secrets that others are now aware of because people online may seem to understand much precisely as we are in the same generation. TL:DR - Facebook and YouTube show my real sides. But Twitter holds my darker side. #shamelessplug Follow @energICED. Loljk, I'm sort of kidding.
February 7, 2018 marked the official release of the trailer of one of the most controversial teleserye titles this 2018. Literally. "Bagani", starring Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil, has been questioned and has been getting backlash for the usage of the title considering the original concept of the term "Bagani" in terms of the history of our indigenous groups and the casting for the teleserye, quoting Rappler, "with Eurocentric features in a show that depicts a culture inspired by pre-colonial Philippine mythology." People online critiques to the wrong appropriation like the following:
Mark Duane Angos, headwriter of the said teleserye, defends the show from this race backlash through tweets:
The government agency NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous People) has spoken up to the situation calling out ABS-CBN for the use of the term 'Bagani' as it is real and not a mythological group of warriors. NCIP defines the Bagani as "a peace-keeping force of the Manobo Indigenous Cultural Communities / Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao. [T]he Bagani defends and protects lives, properties, and territory."
Ronald Adamat, a commissioner of CHED (Commission on Higher Education) also backlashes on the network's depiction of the 'Bagani' - saying it will have a negative impact on young students, quoting "I cannot tolerate the public showing of the said teleserye as long as ABS-CBN would not revise the format and concept in order to render 'Bagani' to become as educational, historically-accurate, and culturally-correct as it can be." ABS-CBN released a statement with regards to the backlash the network was getting via Twitter:
On the 10th of March, ABS-CBN, CHED and groups of indigenous people have met to deal with the situation. After the discussions, it is agreed upon that the use of the title "Bagani" was not misused, releasing this official statement:
Critical Theory
This month-long commotion of the use of the term 'Bagani' has come to be due to a misrepresentation of the casting with what the term really means, perceiving to be an insult to race in our country, most specifically to indigenous groups. Information from "The American Chamber of Commerce Journal" about the 'bagani' says the following:
"A chief under a small political group who can only be qualified as a leader if he kills 10 people. A bagani is under an ethnic group called Mandaya. Practices paganism, slavery and polygamy." While "A Study of Bagobo Ceremonial, Magic and Myth" says the following: “Valiant men who have slain other men and have therefore received the title bagani are everywhere entitled to the same privileges: the wearing of a closed shirt dyed in solid red, the ceremonial kerchief, and a costume graded (at least among the Bagobo, Mandaya and the Manobo) by the number of persons the wearer has killed-from kerchief to the full costume of encarnado.” Historically defined, the casting, their appropriation on costumes, and skin tone changes do not match to what a bagani looks like, they do not even match to what Bagobos, one of the indigenous groups a bagani leads, look like.
Even the attires for the women differ. The traditional wear is protective of the female's skin and denotes respect and sacredness of the human body. The fantaserye wear for the females on the other hand are designed like less heavy armor with certain exposed parts. What is more ironic is that the males' costumes hide and protect more body parts than that of the females'. I mean, look at Sofia Andres' (indigo) costume design, her legs are exposed and therefore, as a young actress, shows skin which also puts a minor concern for the gender aspect but that's another story.
The other concern of the inappropriateness is that of who was cast for the role. Like what I had put in the intro, actors and actresses who were given these roles have Eurocentric features. They have foreign blood and not an ounce of Filipino blood evident. Netizens online have commented on this aspect:
Screenshots captured by Inquirer POP! (http://pop.inquirer.net/2018/02/liza-soberano-bagani-filipino-i-love-sinigang/)
To which Liza Soberano responds:
This is where the socio-economic problem comes in race. The cast (or at least the main ones) are those that have recent influence in the showbiz limelight: Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil is one of the biggest loveteams in the country today. The show uses the power of this influence to gain viewers, to keep the show trending, thus to keep viewers viewing and advertisers advertising so the network gains profit. And I truly agree with some netizens, that there are more Filipino-representing celebrities for any show that could promote our Philippine ethnicities.
But as the network has made their statement, ABS-CBN expresses the term 'Bagani' not through the historical aspect but by the appropriation of a term that they say, "embodies a champion who fights for the common good of his tribe or family." The network appropriates the term in the teleserye in its values-oriented context. Nevertheless, the great Internet has left a mark not just to the people concerned with the teleserye but to the whole country, at least, that there must be the proper appropriation of references to anything that is a platform for educating our future generations, in this case, television. It must have been a rough time for ABS-CBN, the cast, the show's team of working men, and show supporters with this fiasco but it is good to know that the situation has been dealt with, without any form of physical outrage and boycotts. Here ends my blog post and since you've come this far, you deserve to have a bowl of sinigang.
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3D Printing as described by Funk-e Studios, functions similarly like a physical printer, with its own sort of material used to print outputs – with spools of material to be used for the production (like plastic, rubber or metal). The product to be printed out is first designed through a 3D printing software on the computer. Premade 3D models and templates of products to be printed are also available online for easement. With the technology of 3D printing, it takes over the creation of products essential and useful in all fields, from simple manufacturing to more in-depth functions like for medical applications (creation of limbs, bio-printing), and even to oddly but functional purposes like those of DIY objects (figurines, collectible objects, etc) and ‘printing’ food (like pizza). It has tested an individual’s creativity and smarts when it comes to innovation, to making life easier piece by piece. However, as what Uncle Ben from the Spider-Man movies has said over and over… ...we wield the power of creation. But we should not forget and greatly consider what would become of life if this form of
technology continues to persists – and in this case, takes over its economic reflection towards society. In an online article written by Michelle Schoof, the technology of 3D printing is greatly considering consumers responsible for and in control of production – which companies fear of as they may possibly become irrelevant. Having that motive, companies also take over the 3D printing industry to promote faster production, AND to stay relevant and keep consumers’ eyes on them and their products. (Source.) While this ideology can easily threaten the economic system of how companies manufacture and create products for their customers, first is to consider what society is. Everyone belongs to the society. However, with each person's differences in living standards being one of the characteristics that can automatically differ a person from another, everyone is divided in this society, having different specifications for their own needs and wants. Not all persons are part of the demographic of every company and not anyone wants to embrace and potentiality to harness the power of 3D printing. Taking it outside the 'threat to company' context, a paper by Alexandru Pirjan and Dana-Mihaela Petrosanu (Source) studied the potential effect of 3D printing in society and economy. As they have argued, advantages of 3D printing include:
However, Pirjan and Petrosanu have also acknowledged the disadvantages of this kind of technology, which include:
Considering the following pros and cons, after amassing and analysis of the sources, this technology, with the right amount of our own education and awareness is not a threat to our society when it comes to breaking their own limitations and optimizing their own skills, capabilities, and innovation. 3D printing goes far useful in fields that help society -- for medical purposes, for engineering purposes, for design purposes, etc. However, 3D printing is a threat to the economic aspect of the industries. It also limits the resources that is available for us that this technology needs (in the form of materials the printers use). What the technology needs to work is found in our own world, its natural resources. 3D Printing, to sum it all up, contributes to the urbanization of our world. It's not dangerous for now, but if not controlled and regulated properly, then this technology will not just take away the world's natural resources but also take away and take over people's lives in ways and waste one can barely imagine. |
Francis Anwell TordecillaA senior (not yet graduating) student in the Ateneo de Manila University, taking up BFA Information Design. Archives
April 2018
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