Welcome to a collection of independent author works by me - Andrew Uphoff. Please enjoy your stay, and be sure to check out my Patreon to support upcoming works!
Recently I’ve been playing quite a bit of Anthem and a friend had needed the locations of each Legionnaire Tomb. So, I hopped in my Interceptor and worked my way around to find locations to make it easier for others to find as well! Once you’ve unlocked all of the Legionnaire Challenges and you’re ready to start hunting for Tomb Entrances, I hope this helps make finding them a little less frustrating.
Read MoreWhen you think of education, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? For most people in America I would wager school comes to mind in some form or another. Whether it’s a picture of an older professor detailing a lesson plan for a classroom, or the massive bill that comes with it these days, education is centered around the idea of a central(and most of the time physical) school framework.
Even our definitions seem to include this expectation of a centralized school being involved. But as we push towards the future, are we considering that these expectations may be purely cultural? Is it truly necessary to have a centralized form of education for our society to function properly?
Well, that depends on how you view the nature of information. The truth is in the age of technology we now have an inordinate amount of tools to learn independently. Not only do we have entire blogs and youtube channels dedicated to sharing personal knowledge, we have website programs that are free and accessible to everyone that provide the same level of knowledge a college education brings.
Read MoreBorderlands is a marvelous role playing game cleverly disguised as a shooter. The world of Pandora is littered with bandits and corporate death bots looking to kill you for you know, ‘cause reasons.
Many stories throughout history have taken to telling tales of the dangers of Capitalism run rampant. None have done it in such a way that can only be described as a psychological cluster-bomb.
Not only is Pandora a place where corporate workers go to lose their minds(and often times their lives), it’s also center to a vast trove of alien technology. Any corporation would become insanely powerful with Eridian tech on their side.
That’s where Handsome Jack was hoping to take the Hyperion Corporation.
As I play through Borderlands each time it never ceases to amaze me the levels of insane the denizens of Pandora must truly be to run around shooting each other for fun. Even small side quests tell funny(and sometimes insanely sad) stories of people’s lives on such a deranged and chaotic planet.
Scooter, the Vault Hunter’s resident mechanic, has a series of side quests that detail his non-existent love life. One girl decides to become a cannibalistic sewer mutant rather than date him. Another just shoots herself in an abandoned shack when you give her a card with some righteously awful poetry from him.
Read MoreFinal Fantasy is a series most people who know anything about games are aware of. While there have been two MMORPGs in the Final Fantasy Universe, FFXI and FFXIV, I am currently a part of the latter.
While hardly the first game to implement this system, FFXIV has something called In-Game Housing.
It’s exactly as it sounds. A system that allows you to purchase a home for your In-Game Avatar.
While this system has oodles of nooks and crannies I could write for hours describing, I think I’ll leave that to the FFXIV wiki.
My focus here is to pinpoint ideas behind the importance of In-Game housing and how we can expand it to create a whole new layer of gaming.
For many purchasing a home in-game is a difficult and time consuming task If it’s not hidden timers and lack of availability, it’s the sheer cost of the land and housing permits before you even think of the costs of furnishing it.
The psychology of ownership within games is fascinating, especially when you realize it’s driving entire business models in the gaming industry.
Keeping in mind this psychology, I think it’s safe to say that In-Game Housing can actually be a very big deal for both gamers and game-makers.
In the case of FFXIV, I truly believe there is a lot of solid groundwork to build on for a brighter future for this game concept.
Read MoreTipping is a bit of a grey area. The modern view on tipping varies based on culture and that’s evident in statistics of tipping rates between states.
Why does tipping vary between states? Wasn’t this system put in place long ago?
Tipping was a concept that originated in Europe.
The thoughts behind various forms of tipping was a thank you to a server or innkeeper for their services. A thought based on appreciation for the work the individual put in to the customer’s experience.
Seems a pretty basic concept really. If someone does something for you, generally an easy way to show your appreciation is to provide them with currency to live their lives with.
Germany even tipped it’s beer delivery workers with money to go get drinks themselves.
Yet there’s a much different history to tipping in America.
I’ve read quite a few articles trying to find multiple views on how tipping in America started and none of them provide any encouraging information.
It seems tipping was adopted in America partly due to racist restaurant owners who could then make their black workers rely on tips entirely.
Not even just the restaurant owners were accepting these practices.
Many customers felt tipping was natural as the servers were seen as “inferiors”.
Was this the only mentality bringing the idea overseas? I seriously doubt it.
However it is important to remember it is still part of what drove tipping to popularity.
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