Borderlands 2 - A Corporate Dystopia

January 01, 2019 by Andrew Uphoff in Blog

Borderlands 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.

Final Fantasy XIV - A Suggestive Housing Post

October 16, 2018 by Andrew Uphoff in Blog

Final 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.

What Is Final Fantasy XIV’s 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.

A Tip For America

September 27, 2018 by Andrew Uphoff in Blog

Tipping 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?

How Exactly Did Tipping Come To Be?

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.

Stardew Valley - Addicted To Life

September 10, 2018 by Andrew Uphoff in Blog

Stardew Valley is an indie game that a friend of mine turned me on to. Though I had a lot of fun with games like Harvest Moon, I was a little skeptical of picking up a game like this as a working stiff at the age of 30.

However, I am really happy I gave it a chance.

What Kind Of Game Is Stardew Valley?

Well, it's essentially a farming game, and I do mean this in every sense of the word.

So when I say Stardew Valley is a farming game, you're farming everything from crops, to wood, to slimes, and even fishing plays a big part in the game.

That’s not all the game has to offer though.

Food Service - The Industry Of Culture

September 03, 2018 by Andrew Uphoff in Blog

The Food Industry: An economical beast so large, we can't fully track it's impact on the economy.

Given it's size and demand in the global market, is there a deeper reason that food is such a huge deal to people?

Of course there is.

Food has driven decisions in society from where people settle, to what kind of foods they choose to grow. Flavor, aroma, and presentation - these things are all the driving force behind the food industry.

The most sought after foods these days requires more and more work to prepare. Even basic sandwich recipes require a monumental amount of work to make available on a day to day basis.

When Did The Food Industry Change Everything?

From the start of civilization.