From the real blog, here is my welcome post.

So it seems we are at a cross roads. I’m going to be using this blog for a non-IMD class over the course of this semester, specifically, Writing 340. Here’s the quick scoop on how this came to be.

After a minor registration mixup, I weaseled my way into Mark C. Marino’s Writing 340 class. Some of you may remember him as one of the speakers from a seminar last April. I’m looking forward to the class, and hoping it will be enlightening, contentious, or both. The class has a strong emphasis on blogging, and when I asked Mark if I might use my already existing IMD blog (for the sake of generating less inter-cruft and using a system I’m somewhat familiar with), he agreed. I’ll be cross posting to another blog, required for the course, so here is Iste Aleator II. Interestingly enough, the course seems to have a strong grounding in the decorum and rituals that have evolved around blogging. Many of our early assignments are geared towards not only setting us up to be semi-respectable on-topic writers, but also to ground us in the larger community of bloggers. Things like seeking out related blogs, writing insightful comments, and profiling another blog take advantage of the social nature of the web to reinforce better writing habits and to prepare our blogs for participation in those larger discourses we’ve chosen to engage. We have been encouraged to begin under the cloak of anonymity, but that’s never really been my style (I believe mistakes must be honestly made, gaffes must be owned, and changed opinions must be sincere if a writer is to learn anything. Failing that, I’m vain), and of course, this being a standard issue IMD blog, that’s already impossible.

Speaking of which, is there an official rationale behind giving us these things, or is it a different sort of grand experiment? This is one of those things no one’s ever told me, and I’ve just kept my head down about asking. It seemed prudent to ask now, in this welcome post of sorts.

So welcome. This is Iste Aleator, and I am Max Geiger. In order to stay relevant and avoid drifting too far off into a digital reverie, the official topic for this subcategory/official series of digressions/line of inquiry will be how games can become more like the web. Yes, I realize that this topic has been explored before. However, it has not been explored to my liking. The question begged by “how can games be more like the web?” is “why must games must be more like the web?” and more largely “why must games be more like anything at all?” I hope to couch a number of digressions in questions of games and culture at large, but we’ll have to see how things go.

Profile:
What is its name and subject?

Raph’s Website covers a variety of subjects, but its largest posting category is “Game Talk.”
Who writes it? What is their relation to the field?

Raph’s Website, is surprisingly enough, written by Raph Koster, who is a prominent game designer as well as being an author, and musician.
Where are they located in the field?
The dude is currently running Areae, Inc.

How frequently do they post?
Almost daily, sometimes more. About 5 times a week, by rule of thumb.
How popular is the blog (by activity and/or technorati rank)?
Raph’s Website has a Technorati authority score of 467 at the time of this post. It also has 24 Technorati fans.
Mention (and link to) the two most interesting posts:
40 ways to be a better (game) designer and Project Horseshoe: Influences. 40 ways is interesting because it not only offers advice for budding designers, but it enumerates said advice as well. I saw Influences cited somewhere (I can’t for the life of me dig up where, and I wish I knew so that I could cite them in turn, as is their due), but it struck me. Maybe not with eloquence, but with an essential rightness, the sort of blind conviction that is indicative of lazy thinking on my part and no small measure of rhetorical skill on the part of the author.

Evaluate:
How well does this blog relate to your work?
I’ll be the first to admit right here and right now, my topic has largely been grifted from Raph’s statements around the Metaplace project he’s doing through his start up, Areae Inc. Incidentally, Areae just means “places” or “areas.” The idea Metaplace advances, that of embedding MMOGs (or perhaps, instead of Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Persistent Multiplayer Online Games) into the web, and by extension, one’s web presence, has interesting implications (which I’ll admit to not having thought through yet, and likely, whatever I write will lead to a “yes, and–” kind of response).
To what extent is it scholarly, academic, professional?
While I would shy away from calling Raph’s website scholarly, academic, or professional, there are definite shades of professionalism in his writing. The tricky thing about game designers is that they tend to be playful, even in their writing, so the usual standards of staid professionalism don’t really apply. That said, there is a great deal of sincerity to what Raph’s writing, as well as depth of knowledge and insight. It’s clearly not just a rant-box, and his posts are lucid, informative, and well written. His blog is not the equivalent of some mentally-mushy comfort food, but a square meal, like your mother would want you to eat. It can usually give you a thought to carry with you through the day.
How rich or detailed are its posts?
Most of the posts are short and to the point, but usually there are posts of substance once or twice a week. As with all things, sometimes more, sometimes less. How does one categorize the practice of posting poems on Sunday? A short poem is often not a rich or work, nor does it seek to convey a wide range of topics, but it is instead honed and detailed, and thought has been applied to crafting its brevity.
Who is its audience? How relevant to the field are they?
I believe the audience in large part, to be composed of people interested in games and game design. Some of the commenters are well known in their own right, but many are part of that seething mass of web-borne hoi polloi that we (you and I, dear reader) are part of.
How might this blog feed your work?
Well, aside from having developed a shameless interest in a project associated with the blog, Raph keeps a sharp eye on the trends around him, from news to the essays that other people write. If something interesting comes along, I’ll be sure to snap it up and comment on it.
How will your site differ?
Well, I’m not Raph, for one, and that counts for a lot given the personalized nature of blogs and blogging. Frankly, I’m nowhere near his level of talent or expertise, but I am a fresh set of eyeballs interested in a similar set of problems. I may not be able to approach his renaissance-man stylings, but my own interests ought to see me through. I doubt I’ll ever be in competition with him, and he could probably destroy me on weight of reputation alone should we ever take up some debate between us (unlikely, but this is the internet, where miraculous, terrible, ridiculous things happen faster than you can count them). But if we’re thinking of the web as a game, which is worthwhile from time to time, it’s important to remember: don’t hate, reciprocate. We’ll see if my stylistic stumblings lead down a path worth following.