The Illusionary Illusionbreaker
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Nightshadow's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Friday, January 1st, 2010 | | 12:00 am |
A permament pinup: Where you can find all the current records of all my written work.
For most part, I've just noticed that the story has become large enough to confuse people, and digging away at 9 months or more wouldn't make things any easier. If this works, you'll be able to always see where the story is, even if the earlier sections go into the distant past.
For now, I'll just update in here all my fictional work that have been posted as they are to date. They will be updated sporadically, although chances are it'll have a few days inbetween. Be advised though, my actual POSTS will be one below this at all times, if you're more interested in my life. (I'll just keep bumping up the year if this thing lasts until 2010. :P)
Oh and just a warning. This notice is to indicate that the stories contained therein are in fact copyrighted by the author (who owns this journal) 2005 and 2006. I don't mind people READING them, I just mind people stealing them outright and claiming it as their own.
Any reproduction of the story requires the above notice, and a link to the journal itself to be attached to it. In short? Don't expect to pass this to your school teacher and expect to get away with it. That and the fact that I'd be impressed if you got anything above 50% for it, given the nature of the story.
Please be advised that as of the 5th December 2007, the stories will be findable at http://www.fictionpress.com/~Illusionbreaker which will eventually supersede this archive, as more sections are updated to continue on. Feel free to comment there, as feedback will help craft the final versions - It'd be interesting to compare this archive with the final result.
( Command Module Logs. )
( Open Commission Requests - Command Module Logs )
( Chronicles of the Silver Millennium )
| | Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 | | 8:25 pm |
Under the 1s and 0s - Why we pirate games, and what we could learn outside Australia about it?
Sorry Sonictail, but well... it might be useful. Besides, we could use it to knock a few birds with the same stone too. It's not quite a rebuttal, but see how far you get. ---- We ask ourselves how could we condone piracy, particularly in this day and age? It's supposed to be illegal, immoral and just telling of your character to go out there and pirate right? Right? ... Before I start making these poor people walk the plank, how about we take a peek at least in part what drives them? The first thing to examine is how gaming is marketted in Australia - Well, more accurately, how it isn't. Due to regulations and the size of our market, gaming is a high turnover, but relatively low profile market. It makes lots of money, most kids have some sort of computer game, but most people don't recognise it as anything special, it's just like any other toy, really. So what video games really are, at least in Australia, is just a copy onto the medium you need to place into your system of choice. There's very few exceptions, since any sort of collector's edition or even physical extras surrounding a game are so few and far between that they're rarities. I'm in a position to know, since I need to get out of the country to find them with any regularity. So you're purchasing a copy of something which could be digitally replicated with just some trouble, but not enough trouble for those who are willing to invest the time in it. In turn, this means when you're conducting piracy as defined in the digital world, you're not actually taking something from someone else. This is important, because most people define theft in this manner, which most people would disapprove of, because if nothing else, the evidence of a crime is so much more physical, and actually there. Someone who worked hard for what they earnt is hurt by someone who just waltzed in and walked away with it. What piracy in the digital world actually is, is making an unauthorised copy of a game, then walking away with that, without knowledge or consent of the person who made it. In some cases, the person who made it is in another country, and there may be no legal way to pick up their stuff. It's a lot easier to justify THAT in most people's heads, particularly if they're hurting for money, as they are in this current economic climate. It's not like the other person's lost anything, right? What's good for me at least won't hurt them, or so the line of thinking goes. It's not physical in any way. So what have other markets around the world have moved towards, dare you ask? You'd find out in an upcoming column at Anime News Network Australia which will cover the specifics, but as a sneak peek, you'll notice something that US based companies have been starting to move towards, and what Japanese companies have been doing for years, to encourage people to buy games. What could this idea really be? They made the idea that purchasing the game felt more than just buying a digital copy of something. You walked away with something you owned, something that was physical, something that you could say you had. Take Atlus for example. In the US Persona 4 release, EVERY copy of the game came with a soundtrack and an artbook. With Shin Megami Tensi: Devil Summoner 2, they released an edition of the game which came a plush toy. Prinny Can I really Be the Hero? on PSP published by NIS America has among other things a Penny Arcade Comic made for the game included in the box. Drift over to Japan, and we've got Atelier Rorona, which the premium box came with a collector edition glass frosting of the title character, and a poster. The idolm@ster collector's edition came with a full figurine set, a faceplate and a special concert DVD. Others come with figurines, posters, wallscrolls, cards, diaries. Then again, there's a huge drive towards making most games have a physical presence - You can buy all sorts of stuff, all which make the game more a physical object, and less something you can replicate with copy and paste. It's not going to change the mother who just wants to get games just to satisfy their kids, because of the fact that there's people out there who just want to get entertainment by the lowest bidder, and they'll get what they pay for, or don't. As one person put it, the faulty assumption about piracy is that if people who pirate got given the choice between paying for something at face value, or not buying it at all, they're more likely not be interested in buying it, unlike what some people have argued. Unfortunately, some people cannot be convinced to care, for their own reasons. For the rest of us? I don't know, it may be something which draws us towards wanting ownership of what we buy, and let's face it, owning the format that the game came on may not do it for some people. But owning a little part of the game, that you can see long after the game's turned off, and touch even during a blackout may be the tipping point between just pirating a game you enjoy, or going out there and paying your way in. Too bad such a movement is so scant here on a local scale, which means I'm not in the least surprised when I visit computer stores, they try to convince me to pirate on my Japanese DSi when they see me test an SD card, and it's even less surprising that I'm working with Anime News Network Australia to work on an ongoing column to show what a wide world is out there... and how to get it from the far reaches of this planet to your doorstep in Australia, meaning the people locally I support are few and far between. Perhaps some of you would be piraters would like to come on that journey with us and see how it can change? Maybe we can combine honesty and hard work, and make what we do as gamers more rewarding when we finally get there, when you can own a small part of a digital creation? Hope to see you with me, when we go live. Maybe you'd even like to give us an idea what to call the column, and why not let us know. Who knows, it might just fit, and we know that the name would be yours. | | Monday, July 13th, 2009 | | 11:51 pm |
Actually, to save some time...
http://www.imagenerd.com/gallery/nightshadow/If you're wondering what occupies four shelves of my room at the moment. I don't collect all that much surprisingly, and no, there are some items missing. The idolm@ster 360 collector's edition stage has not been assembled yet, and a few items haven't been placed there. As well, you've only seen (if you look in a couple of photos) just one shelf full of games. I'm no Angry Video Game Nerd, but I do have a modest collection of titles across the world. There's another seven. | | 10:13 pm |
| | 10:08 pm |
It's here, it's here...
Over $200 in shipping later and I have... Atelier Marie and Elie PS2 Premium Box with the figure set AND the postcard set. Atelier Marie 98/99 calendar. It works for this year... Present for Red Mage Jerry - I want your current postal address. e-mail me! (Not saying what it is either) Present for Alaylle. (Not saying) Ar Tonelico 2 - 1/8 Luca figure. Hail to our Ryvertail overmistresses? The idolm@ster Collector's edition set. Full figure stage set, the idolm@ster game (Now I have a platinum and original game), the faceplate and the special ed DVD. ... Dear Goddess. The Stage set is CUSTOMISABLE. Wow. This'll be a weekend of fun. The idolm@ster 961 Lancer Evolution RC. This one should be fun. I have BOTH cars now. The idolm@ster SP Chihaya wallscroll - You ever wondered what size a imported wallscroll from Japan is? It's a lot smaller than you think. More Kit Kats (Yes, I'm a sweet tooth. I'm pretty bad with snacks.) Prinny - Can I be a Hero PSP Premium Box set - Game, Limited OST, PA insert, Lyric sheet, reversable cover insert. Sad thing is, I'm done with my purchases for the next month and a half, if not two months - Idolm@ster DS is not coming out to September, there's only one order run out of Late August (Dream C Club being one of them) and neither is Time Leap. I batched most of the gaming materials to happen at the end of next month, due to the fact Atelier Rorona, Class of Heroes and Prinny will keep me quite busy. I have enough MS points to cover at least two more releases. The only other expenses are hardware, which fortunately aren't absolutely necessary. Besides, trying to convince yourself into buying a $800 multi format converter is pretty hard, even if you REALLY want to stream PSP games. Considering I'm not getting my money from the ATO... it's a good time to make a break and pay everything off. | | Sunday, July 12th, 2009 | | 2:43 am |
A thought on a larger example of what can go horribly wrong at a convention.
http://orange-envelopes.com/blog/2009/07/09/how-to-get-500000-people-to-hate-your-company/Original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozoIf you want an example of how to destroy a brand of ANY kind, that's kinda hard to walk past. In short... Learn when to take responsiblity - Sometimes gunning for that short term defensive position isn't worth it, because saving your own pride there may cost you in the long term. A disgruntled or unhappy customer may only cost a few potential people, or a few hundred thousand, and the problem is you won't know which it is until after the damage is done. The biggest mistake I've seen is to defend on the basis of personal pride, where being right matters than doing the best course of action. Even I get awfully close, although I generally remind myself before it gets to that point. I know better than most because I've watched so many other people do it, I might open a video library of them all. There's very little, if any, malice in the story being told. It feels honest, and it feels genuine. The person did everything reasonable, and tried their best to get an amicable result, and eventually got denied even a reasonable result. And it ended up working as a lightning rod for all the frustration pent up for everything that's happened to them as a whole. The sad part? Well, apart from the fact people are quite lucky I can't sing (Or otherwise Manifest, SMASH and Animania would have be in a lot of trouble about now) there's a lot of examples at major events around Australia where smaller versions of this happen. After the recent spate of event management... unhappiness (Top Gear's deception is the latest example, although even football events had issues of the kind happen) I think it might be a good time to remind people in the industry to remember not to make themselves a catalyst for something like this. As well, since we've tipped over the growth stage of Conventions (People owe me money for that analysis calling it two YEARS in advance, now I think about it) there's a larger percentage of only marginally satisified people. It would pay well to keep them in your business. So how do you avoid a disaster like the above? That's not too hard. Remember you're not perfect, that you work in a SERVICE industry (yes, conventions are a PR exercise, not a factory that produces anything) and that the customer should always be your first pirority. It doesn't mean they're always right (The old addage is only accurate until the customer tries to break reality or the law), but it does mean that you should do everything reasonable to treat them that way. Which means you should think from an attendee's point of view. A lot of planning examples I've been shown assume that the attendee will know everything that the organisers do... which is the last thing they'll know. They'll rock up to a convention with certain expectations... and knowing next to nothing about what it takes, nor will they really care. Think about your audience, and do your best. Just remember you won't get it perfect, and as long as you show you're human and actually will respond positively when people give criticism and feedback. Be genuine, not just trying to run your convention. Vetting your volunteers is only part of it, because the sort of person YOU are will rub off on the people that report to you. It's surprising how easily you can tell what a manager is like by talking to the people who report to them. Planning and running an event is not that much fun, I know - But passing on that frustration against some customer will backfire royally, even though it might make you feel better in the short term. It's hard to 'take back' a negative action, after all, and the person you target may just be able to sing, and just might be able to make a music video out of their experience. Hopefully I won't learn how to compose a song anytime soon... | | Thursday, July 9th, 2009 | | 8:42 pm |
| | Monday, July 6th, 2009 | | 11:11 pm |
Atelier Rorona - Probably the RPG of the year, and we're only halfway through.
If you couldn't tell how much fun I had with the game already, let me just spell it out to you. Atelier Rorona is the sort of game where you'll play it for hours at a sitting... and not realise the time. The basic idea of Atelier Rorona is that you could play a game where the world was in fact wide open to you. You set up shop in a town as a budding alchemist who made stuff, and the game gave you an overall objective to get you to gain your alchemist licence, gives you a time limit, and just told you 'Well, that's what you'll need to achieve at some point, you find the best way there.' The game itself doesn't leave you in the dark or in a static town like so many others, where you'd walk through once, and apart from a couple of minor things, the world never really changed. People come knocking on your door asking for advice, your friends want favours or two (and usually are willing to pay) and the surrounding world would expand as you grew and learnt more about it. People would warm up to you, you could grab your staff and a couple of friends and beat the hell out of the local monsters, you can even go out there and save the world. The town would drag you in, encouraging you to participate, but you didn't have to if you wanted to lock yourself in and make yourself the most advanced alchemist ever. In itself, that's a lot of fun, but part of what makes Rorona really shine is how the characterisation has been done, drawing you into her world. Rorona, who you play, is a very expressive, endearing, somewhat clueless and at times cute to the point of cringeworthy, and this is communicated from her VA, to the expressions on her face, and even down to how she does things and what she's able to do. If you're after a cool character to know something about, you might find a protaganist who won't rub you the right way - she's prone to mistakes, silliness and outright goofyness as she struggles to learn and complete her objectives. You have not seen cute until you see her attack someone by rolling a barrel. Even I couldn't help but smack my forehead as she pulled out a barrel and smacked someone with it, and it gets more clutzy as you move along. As you can guess, even combat is very upbeat and cheerful. How Rorona is presented emphasises the focus of the game - The goal isn't necessarily to save the world from a huge evil, although you're more than welcome to give that a try. The whole point is to explore, to discover the world, and to find a path that you want to take, using Rorona. She doesn't know everything, and half the fun is exploring the world through her youthful eyes, as she discovers everything from good cakes to explosives and everything inbetween if you want to. The rest of the town you set up in is populated full of vibrant people, although not necessarily the most active of people, many of the characters you interact with have lives, needs, vices and desires, and as you're the resident alchemist, everyone thinks you're in a position to help them. You can choose to fill those requests, which allows you to get closer to the people that ask you of stuff, if you'd want to. They'll give cash and an insight into their world as you work with them. You can even explore a lush set of worlds, as you go trepassing in areas, and where you can take two of your friends, and go beat up the resident monsters, often in combat which at times can be called outright amusing, with companions such as a Chef, your rich best friend, your soldier crush and old guy joining in, for various fees, and go walking along, trying to pluck away at the best ingredients you'll need to make items of good quality. You might not even want to fight, and see if you can sneak around monsters to take what you want. The big point is that barring at the beginning, where the game more or less requires you to try a little of everything, it's entirely possible to finish up the game without doing very much in all the areas which the game offers. You don't have to go outside town more than once every three months if you don't want to, nor do you have to please anyone - As long as you pass the test set every quarter, you're free to lounge around on your couch if you'd like. And after a little while, you'll find that you can get over the game requirements, and you'll just have this block of time to do whatever you like, in as much capacity as you'd like. The game is very well paced, making sure that you don't get overwhelmed, introducing alchemy recipes at a steady pace to not confuse you too much, and you don't ever get the feeling that you have to so strictly plan your days away. As you might have noticed, a significant amount of the game can be very optional, and the game encourages you to go look into Rorona's world, to steer her towards the things you want to see, and to make her the sort of alchemist you'd like to play. As the whole game is based around exploration and experimentation, it really encourages you to get into her world and see what you want to see, but this is done in a fashion which doesn't force you to do things only one way. Presented on the PS3, it's difficult to fault the presentation for what it sets out to be. In terms of the gaming difficulty, considering the easy going pace of the game, it's not particularly hard, even if you don't know much Japanese. There are a few things you'll need to figure out, such as the basic layout of menus, and perhaps what each licence test requires of you each quarter, but you'll find that a significant amount of the game can be played through trial and error, and it won't punish you for it, because it's designed to be that way. Given how there's so many ways to successfully finish the game, finding a path that works is always fun. And even if your language skills are very limited, you can feel a lot of the time about what's happening - Atelier Rorona is an expressive game, and the title character is the core example of that. You'll laugh when she tries something silly, and cry when things don't go quite her way. You might want to have a friend who can help you on your way through the game though, to get the most mileage out of it. In the end, Atelier Rorona emphasies what anyone who ventures out and tries to play games in foreign languages actually does - They might not know everything, and they certainly experiment, and they have a lot of fun in the process discovering something new that they might not have known before. | | Saturday, July 4th, 2009 | | 7:56 pm |
Collectors editions and location - A quick breakdown of what to expect.
For most part, I thought I'd just put some passing thoughts for those who ever wondered what the differences between the various collector's editions are, at least in the gaming world, and in a way, it explains a reason why I look abroad for my gaming. This point was brought home recently when I picked up Atelier Rorona's Premium Box for the PS3 from Japan, when I just realised the huge disparency in how we're treated. At the moment, it looks something like this: The Japanese are by and large WAY out in front, when it comes to offering actual collector's editions of a game. As an example, Atelier Rorona came with just two items with the box set - A large fold out book like poster, and a glass internally frosted display, engraved with the titlar character. The price difference between the collector's edition and the main was about 20 AU, all conversions said and done. Postage was waved after a little fast talking, and what surprised me was that Customs didn't take exception to me taking a glass object through the post. If you want reasonably scary, I also picked up a collector's edition of The idolm@ster - Which as part of its collector's edition came with a FULL stage, a faceplate, and a special music CD. You can probably guess what I've done with all of them. Granted, I went for the game well after its release, but at the time, most of the extra costs were from the postage costs of moving something that big, not the game itself. If nothing else, when someone in Japan make a collector's edition of the game, they really make it collectable. Going across the Pacific into North America, I bought recently Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2, and that came with just one item - a Raidou Frost Plush toy and a box number to indicate what number it was. Not entirely practical, but it's a pretty good effort. The plush toy's adorable, and there's no extra cost compared to just buying the game, and postage of course. I also picked up the US Ar Tonelico 2: Melody of Metafalica - The game came with a mini art book, a selection of the soundtracks as well as the game itself and a poster. The poster adorns my wall, and the music is something I listen to from time to time. The cost? Nothing, the price of the game, just had to pay the postage costs. Going back a little further and back towards the Asian Markets, I recall purchasing the Chinese Collector's edition of Sakura Taisen 1 and 2 XP. This came with a whole bunch of cards including a 2008-09 calendar card, a set of notepads, a little red book, and special CD cases that the game came in on. I still use the red book. The cost compared to the regular? According to the box, 500 yuan. I even managed to buy the game in Sydney locally. Just to muddy the waters even more, I have Luminous Arc 2, which didn't come in a colletor's edition - Each copy of the game came with a A4 sized art book, AND a music sound track. No additional cost - ALL new copies of the game came with it. Shipping was even waved for me, cause I was lucky. ... So what do we have here? My last major collector's edition purchase was Red Alert 3: That came with a tin case, and a making of movie in DVD. We paid an extra 15 dollars for that perk. I understand that the Halo 3 ultimate edition even came with the helmet, but the disparency in pricing was huge compared to the base game at launch. I'm fairly sure you're seeing the disparencies involved here. I suppose the first question I'm curious about is why do they bother splitting up the limited editions and even regluar editions for the regions? I picked up Persona 4 in PAL and found that they omitted the artbook that was provided with the US edition (I own the US, PAL AND Japanese copies of the game, for the record), as another example of the disparency. I understand that the collector's edition of Gears of War 2 had the replica rifle dropped from it. There are a few exceptions - The collector's edition of Street Fighter 4 and Resident Evil 5 come to mind. There are very likely business reasons why making any sort of limited edition of a title available is unfeasable, but of course, that's not the point. Collecting and getting something that's a little more a part of a game people want to love appeals to gamers. Not all people are hardcore, but there are those out there who'd like that little something extra, and will pay extra to GET that little something extra. It's kinda depressing, actually, but in a way, it explains to people why I'm here, with so many items which simply aren't acquirable in Australia, and why I choose to go the extra two or three steps, and import titles in. It's the only way I'm going to find what I seek. I almost always get asked from various companies why on Earth an Australian is grabbing US, Japanese, Asian and even a couple of PAL releases (Yes, I have found out recently that I can buy direct from Game in the UK) when I'm out on the prowl, finding something I really want. My answer's always the same - I simply can't find what I'm looking for in Australia, because no one wants to take us seriously. | | Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 | | 8:26 pm |
Atelier Rorona ~~
Puni, Puni! Now if only they let me throw chestnuts galore at them... Sorry, I got my premium set, which came with just two extra items - A nice foldout poster, and this... http://i40.tinypic.com/13z0dia.jpgIt's not a surface etching - It's inside the glass. I don't know about you, but damn, considering how the game plays, and stuff like this, they REALLY did a good job, dispite all the odds. It's not worth all that much but I have to admit that it looks damn good. I think that in itself was worth the money outlaid for it. Lucky I preordered the box, considering how much trouble I've had in getting it. Now if you'll excuse me... | | Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 | | 10:00 pm |
Formal notice: Intention to stop working at Australia Council.
I'm not sure what triggered all of this. Part of it really just is the fact I can feel I should move on. I've dabbled enough within the Arts section, even though I'm not associated WITH the arts in any way. I might not know the specifics, but I came out knowing a great deal about a few of the initiatives. In the end though, I'm just good at faking a wisdom in everything. I'm not a walking goddess. In a way, I think I've found that I've stopped learning all that much, and I want to go out there and learn something different. It may be cold and unforgiving but... the alternative right now is just degrading in skill, and I don't think I'll serve myself or anywhere I work for well if I just hung on for money's sake. Another part is the fact that in the end, I'm not a conflict orientated person. It sounds strange, but I generally only play hard when I can see an objective in sight and I know I must get it - Otherwise I just pioritise or lop off objectives I don't see possible at the time. I don't see a real objective at the moment, not at the council. The last of course, is the amount of conflict that's been breaking out at Council. I smell power struggles, and I think I'd rather just step aside and watch the psychos have at each other. There's little semblance of life, and I think I want to go somewhere that doesn't have the soul sucked out of its culture. So I'm probably going to hand in my hat sometime in the next month, or so. Or at the least, request a withdraw to part time work. I don't need the money, if it means I'm going to sacrifice my sanity for it at this point. | | Monday, June 29th, 2009 | | 9:24 pm |
... And Australia Council go on strike again.
Well, it's more or less official - Management and most of the frontline employees are at each other again. I'd watch the news tomorrow, just to see how it turns out. Unlike the previous strike, I think people are more ticked off, and less willing to be comprimising over it. I don't think it'll come to blows, but I'm willing to put good money it won't be pretty at all. Of course though, you won't find me there. To be honest, (As I've said previously) that the union picked the wrong point to be bogged down on (Although it did do a good job in playing their cards) and management chose to fight on the wrong battleground. I'm not interested on principle. The bigger issue is of course, the workload's increased a lot. In the time I've been there, I don't think I've really met anyone who could be as calm as paced as I could be, and bear in mind, this is coming from a person spends most of their time running around the building all day. I'm not exactly the best benchmark for calm. To fight over pay when your stress levels are much higher than they should be is... what, just plain all out silly? It's sort of like quibbling over a twenty dollar note while the house around you is burning down. Then again, I had the unfortunate luck to have worked for welfare, or more accurately, youth welfare, so I think I can safely call when a service is under tremendous strain. Working in a chronically underfunded field will burn you out, let me tell you. Love or care will only get you so far in burnout prevention, and those who love or care about their work are usually the ones who will do a good service for you, will work the extra hours without demanding optimium pay, and will make sure the work's done well. We haven't quite hit DOCS level yet, although one person quoting about 80 client organisations at once is an impressive record, and would arguably come fairly close. That in itself says something about the current structure, and just how close it is to reflecting an agency at break point. It feels like someone's feeling particularly adventourous and putting all their human resource eggs in one basket. So if throwing more money at the employees isn't going to fix the issue, what could possibly diffuse the ticking timebomb that's the near open revolt we're seeing at the moment? Work on retaining your staff - by alleviating the REAL source of the conflict - And that is the workload. If people aren't stressed to hell and back, they won't demand to be compensated so badly for it. Granted, a little stress is a good thing since it encourages you to do your best, but take it from someone who knows people who work at DOCS, there's upper limits before people break, and as people break, a casading effect goes into play - Every person you lose means that the remainder get more stressed, and that increases the chance of someone else breaking. I bet if capacity was increased by 10% across the board (At least for the lower ranks), particularly in the more depleted sections, and offer this with no strings attached regardless of the negociations, you'll find that a lot of the clasdestine union support will slide away as people find themselves being able to collect themselves instead of the 28/7 approach right now. I'd put an entire year's pay on it, in fact. As a last note, I think this article will say it best: http://blogs.watoday.com.au/small-business/futureproof/2009/06/23/thebesttalent.htmlMy advice to anyone out there? Don't be seen like those major corporations - Apparently it is true that if you chase money and absolute efficency, you give up your humanity. But of course, my curse is never to be listened to, particularly when I'm pointing out something important. On the bright side, at least I'm now permitted to say 'I told you so, and did you listen?' and actually be genuinely telling the truth. | | Sunday, June 28th, 2009 | | 11:39 pm |
Understanding the pitfalls of using law as a censorship tool - Child Pornography and animated.
Considering discussing animated child pornography this is a contentious topic, I better watch my step - Wait a second. Nah. This is me we're talking about here. There's no other way to pass this minefield except through it. This also covers things such as a recent case where someone is indited for putting children's faces on adult pornography. I should declare my position where I start. I'm in close proximity with the Australia Council of the Arts via working there, which drafted the Protocols of Visual Art and working with Children - And once had a run-in where the CEO had to step in and explain to a Perth curator that showing a topless female toddler did not constitute a breech of the rules. Previously, I've worked with child protection units as a support, studied youth work, worked with young and vulnerable people, worked as part of research and been there myself. I also do some work for the Classifications board, since I write up reports in my spare time for game classification. Surprisingly, the topic of what could constitute child pornography crops up more often than one would actually think. So I've been there, and I do know what I'm talking about, or at least have at least some background on the topic. Bear in mind the below is a rational discussion of aspects of the topic - if you come walking in WITH a preset opinion, you're going to walk out with one too. The one big thing that's happened with children as a whole is the fact that they have been put into emotional space for a lot of people - where critical thinking isn't encouraged, and where challenging things is unlikely. I bet I could make both sides angry at me at the same time, but I'll save that set of provokation for later. First things first, there's a historical context and geographical context. Historically, the move towards any sort of child protection only started to phase in at about the 1800s or so, and it's been struggling ever since, with only about one in three of the world's children afforded any real protection. Prior to this, children around the world being exploited to work in any shape or form was the norm, and as always, exploitation is an equal opportunity employer. Child marriages were not uncommon, and if you weren't married by your mid teens, something was wrong with you. The idea of waiting until you were twenty or twenty one was insane in itself - You'd be lucky to hit forty, and wasting half your life to not have kids was considered absurd. Because of cold hard reality, kids grew up fast, particularly girls due to the fact they weren't really considered people until fairly recently. It still happens in much of the world as well. So why is this historical perspective important? The answer is simple - It reminds people that the idea of 'child protection' is a very recent idea. Before that, due to necessity or just because of the fact people didn't see anything wrong with it, child protection didn't really exist, and as always, it still DOESN'T in a lot of places. There are children around in Africa right now being trained as soldiers, kids in Indonesia and Thailand taught to be prostitutes, and adolesents in China that slave away for pennies to make a living. Do I believe in it? I'd like to, except that well, I know first hand how the law can fail so miserably in making it happen. The Law assumes that all things are equal - It has to, because justice is by definition blind. It cares not your status, or your background, just what you did and what is just. Which brings me to the second point - Why law as a weapon in this debate is such a poor one. The law is blind, for good reason. If it considered things other than what happened, it'd start being a bit lopsided. So what on earth makes you think it'll figure out exactly what is obscene and what isn't and get everyone in a country to agree? It's not exactly fair or just to have a law that imposes on a group of other people, right? I hear you say 'But I'm right, therefore my ideas of what should be censored should be what everyone else is. I even have a group of other people who agree.' Okay, if numbers are how you play it, then let's play the numbers - About seventy percent of the world's population thinks you're nuts. There's a lot of religions, countries and figures who'd beg to differ on that for reasons ranging from practical to all out philosophical. And you can't rightfully impose the rules on the majority on your say so... unless you don't believe in any sort of democracy. Not necessarily a bad thing. Which lies in the crux of the problem - a lot of people don't believe in what you do, despite what your position actually is. Interpetation of the law, and of a situation will mean that you're stuck with a wide spread of opinion, and that's a problem in itself, because concensus is a lot harder to get than you'd first think. Then we get to the third point - What does the child pornography laws actually do right now? How are they supposed to work? Currently, child pornography/exploitation laws work on a similar vein other laws in regards with possession of a crime - If you have pictures of a crime and conceal it, you're essentially concealing the crime itself, making you an accessory. It is also argued that if you enjoy the picture, you're supporting the criminal. There's more to it, but that's the long and short of why they traditionally exist. You'll notice however that the spirit of the law above ignores something very specific. What's this specific note? It's the fact that the law revolving around possession of pictures of child pornography DOES NOT DEFINE what it is. It's up to the OTHER section of the law, namely the bit that defines the crime itself, to determine that. Remember, the law is blind, and blind for a reason. In short, it bats it back to the society in question to do it. There's a pretty good reason for that - It's up to a society to figure that one out as a collective group. In a court, even a group of peers (jury) can decide how the law is interperted, and a few times have decided it was unconsciousible to see the person as guilty of a crime, even though the law defines it as is. It's a little fact of court that few prosecutors let their jury know, but there you have it. It's why adultry or sex outside of marriage with two consentual adults can be an imprisionable or capital offense, or why having sexual intercourse with a fourteen year old or smacking them around be considered legal - it's the society that it happens around that determines this. People will determine just what's permissible or not, and as we've found, people tend to be objecting on what seems to be private consentual rights from their point of view. Given all of that, you probably noticed why traditionally, people as a whole are generally smart enough NOT to use law to censor what they don't like, or if they do, they make sure it's used in a very limited fashion. It can come down heavily on people who for reasons for their own, see things as their right, and see nothing wrong with it. They have history or societial values on their side, often backed by a lot of other people, and they don't fall afoul of possession of evidence of a crime. So why should animated child pornography be treated any differently? Unless it can be proved that it IS evidence of a crime (Hey, who knows, there may some sick artist out there who steals child models and sets them up in the positions required, but that would be up to the investigating unit to prove) you can't argue that it was used as evidence of a crime. Which leaves the only real reason as censorship. People get upset over it, because it depicts something that they're not comfortable with. The proponents of enshrining censorship into law believe that people should not see such material because they believe it offensive, and/or against what they believe in, for better or worse. Unfortunately, just because you don't like something does not mean you should make it illegal for everyone else. Sorry, you lost that point just recently in Australia due to the changes to how same sex couples are treated, and how sodomy was rendered legal a while ago. Besides, you'll find that if you did that, you might get yourself in trouble somewhere along the line, like so many other people did. You DO know that in a lot of countries around the world, any other sex position other than the missionary position is still illegal right? Oops, oral sex is out which is considered a staple these days, (And in some places, not even considered actual sex), among other things and having sex with anyone than the opposite member is completely out, and in some countries, being the wrong skin colour counts too. Needless to say, I'd strongly advise you check the laws in your area before you get it on, before a lawyer catches you and hauls you to court. When they made the straight and narrow, they really made it straight and narrow. (There you go, salvo one fired. All you pro-censorship or anti-CP people can come after me now.) ... Or does it? Let me pull out a little page from what's known as the Australian Classification Bible - well, that's my little nickname for it. It's actually the explanation of what each of the classification levels mean, and as you can guess, I refer to it a lot. Refused Classification: Flms and computer games will refused classifcation if they include or contain any of the following: Crime or Violence: Detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime of violence. Surprisingly, if you remembered that one line, you pretty much have the rest of the section covered, barring the notes about fetishes and/or fantasies which are also banned under the act which also includes S&M or other forms of sexual violence even if consentual. Essentially, everything else just flows from that one line. It raises an interesting point - By depicting sexual activity with a minor, you are providing instruction and are promoting what's considered a crime. There's little wiggle room there, because any depiction is instructional and in most circumstances promotive, if you think about it. (And that's the other side shot at. All you CP supporters, go line up, will you?) Of course, it could be argued for and against both flaws all day long. You could argue that it is unreasonable for a person to be bombarded with something they do not want (But the law protects you from unwanted information in the circumstances where this would happen, surprisingly, so you don't need a specific law to protect your eyes from what you don't like by banning anyone from doing it) and that if instruction in crime was a crime, it would assume that people would react like simpletons to even stuff like WW2 movies (But it's actually to a degree true - many people do CPR badly, and this is due to TV doing it wrong... and yet it's still useful because even doing it badly is better than not doing it at all. Instruction CAN work, even if only vaguely correct.) What does all the above say to me though? It says that only an idiot would fire a bullet one way or the other in an area and try to forge a new spirit of the law. You cannot control every thought, because it's by nature impossible, and there are too many people who actually need to think about child protection issues (such as myself when I'm working on reports, or back when I was working with a child protection unit) to actually do their jobs in protecting other people. You could arrest me for thinking about child pornography, but I'd be thinking about it if I was making a call if a depiction was a sexual act to a minor for the purposes of a classification report. You also can't just ignore the issue entirely, because the issues are real. Child abuse and exploitation is a messy thing at the best of times. But given how the law is like using a hammer to do heart surgery, it's probably not the best weapon to use if you want to fix the underlying problem. So what's left? Keep any laws grounded in as much reality as you can, with the societial values that are firmly entrenched as you can. If there is no actual harm inflicted or depicted, don't attempt to chase them down. And maybe perhaps try to make what you believe in the actual norm, instead of your world versus the rest of the world's. Doing anything else is asking to open pandora's box, and ironically, undermine your position in the long term. Something to consider before you go gallivanting either for increased censorship for children, or even against it - Perhaps we should consider what the law does and how it's supposed to work before we do anything stupid, hmm? | | 1:21 am |
A thought for you - Lessons Apple can learn.
At the moment, someone's contracted me to pick up then post a 32GB iphone 3GS to them, which means for at least two hours, I'll be carrying a mobile phone for probably the first and only time for a very long time, possibly ever. And during the conversation, something came up, which surprised me. Him: "This will send me broke for a week, but ****it." Me: "The 3GS isn't actually GOING anywhere, you know. "I mean it's not like it's a collector's edition of an iphone." ... Hold that thought... The iPhone is one of the hottest items on the planet - It carries a smooth mix of good hardware, well planned functionality, and a good dash of status mixed in. If nothing else, Apple have made a product that people desire, talk about and will do a lot for. It's one of the items where there's a groundswell of people who are just willing to sell Apple, free of charge, because of its merits or badge. So I suppose that leaves the question for Apple - Why haven't they taken a page from what the Japanese have been doing with their Anime and Gaming for years? Why on earth haven't they made limited editions of the iPhones? Why on earth haven't they partnered up with the likes of the big shots and fired broadside artillery strikes to make that fanbase explode? Think about this for a moment - Imagine if they made a Dragon Quest limited edition iPhone. Or a Final Fantasy one. Coupled with extras, both software launch and hardware mods. I don't know, a slime engraved at the back here, maybe a FF7 logo on the corner of another... Maybe an exclusive cover plate or theme, or chain? Perhaps a iphone version of a game or an episode of a show, anime or series pre-loaded before its screendate? Strictly stocked to a number of units, and that's all you're getting. To be fair, some items may be made available to the general public after a period of time. It sounds patiently absurd, doesn't it? Why would Apple need to be schooled by a whole bunch of foreigners? It's got its own gig going, why does it need help from anyone else? But here's the thing. It's no more patiently absurd than releasing a 360 package with a faceplate for the system for the upcoming game. Or an anime DVD collector's edition which also happens to have a figure of one of the characters in it. Music CDs coming with games, little bits and pieces, and all sorts of other trinklets which drive the partners' collective sales up, and drive the fanatism and the devotion of its fans. Even though if you really sat down and thought about it, it's completely not rational. Why would we be driven to pick up something that's in short supply at a huge premium that probably isn't worth that premium and in the end is just a bit of plastic or paper? The Japanese take this to absurd extremes - almost every game and anime you could name that's been released as some sort of limited edition and has some extras attached. They do it so often, it's hard to name a retail boxed item that doesn't do this. But what many people forget is that particularly in the advertising and marketting space, it's rarely about being rational, and you tend to be much more successful forcing an emotional message. It's better for people to feel something about a product, than to think something, because if you're thinking about it, you can at least detect you're being advertised to. If you're feeling something, you aren't usually thinking about if what you're seeing is an ad to get you to buy something. There's the thing. Japan has held its entertainment market captive for a long, long time, and as we well know, there's a lot of crazy fans who apparently have really deep pockets, or will move Heaven and Earth to get the collector's editions of anime, games and other entertainment. When a limited edition comes out, the yen get slammed on the table, and it moves stock. It doesn't work all the time, but that's the nature of business, isn't it? And that there shows that the big entertainment companies have something there to teach Apple, because they've done the one thing Apple hasn't really branched into yet - branded, paced yet constant exclusivity. At the moment, we see Apple as a cultural badge. There are businesses that purchase the iphone as well and you'd argue that having any 'limited editions' would not work. So can be learnt from the Japanese model? Partnerships of brand promotion, and the constant promise of having something unique and so like them to keep them coming back. For those who want to make statements for personal use, recreational iphones and accessories would work wonders, and profit can be made for all, as long as Apple figure out exactly who they want to be associated with in partnership with. From a personal point of view, I'd easily would drop $3000 AU to pick up an idolm@ster or Atelier Rorona themed iphone (Currently the most expensive iphone is $1040 AU. I should know, considering I'm commissioned to buy one for someone else.), even though I have as much of an interest in a phone as a jellyfish has in a blast furnace. If Namco-Bandai partnered up and it was done properly, I'd wager the iphone would be sold out within the week, and Apple would have a market value far greater than Microsoft's, right there and then. You'd pick your alliances carefully, but not so carefully you don't change often enough. You'd pace it so that consumers could upgrade their iphone up every so often with selections which spell out exclusivity. They don't all have to be physical, just things that people can collect and associate with them. Make it theirs, make it regular and make them expect it. But you ask, what on earth would Apple offer to Businesses who issue out iphones to its staff? A significant amount of sales go towards business users after all. Advertising doesn't need to be large scale - it can be focused to impress a few people, and it doesn't need to even be aimed externally. Brand the phone with the company, and have a bit of customisation to make the phones owned by the company, given to the individual. I'm sure if you worked at Google and you walked into the meeting and used a phone that was distinctly Google's, and happened to have some custom software which could do things that the iphone standard didn't do, people would be impressed. Internally, people would feel that the company gave them something, giving them a reason to stay a little longer. Not that it'll happen because of Android, but it's certainly something to keep in mind. So yes, the question remains, Apple has gone a long way, but why haven't they asked the questions to an industry which has practiced exclusivity to an absurd length, and have done so for so long and gotten away with it while conditioning consumers to keep an eye out for it? Funny how sometimes the best answers come from sections you wouldn't expect. | | Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | | 11:19 am |
Boxes arriving... on Saturday.
Well, just the one, but it's a fun one. For those interested, here's the content list: Atelier Marie - Light Novel (1 I think?) Atelier Marie Drama CD 1, 2, 3 and 4. (Complete set!) Im@s Pro765 1/28 scale Subaru WRX RC car. (Well, yeah.) Green Tea Kit Kats. (Hey, I wanted to try some!) Now, I'd tear up the book, if I could con someone into translating it, and the Drama CDs sound fun. The Kit Kats? I have a sweet toothm but if it's sweet and chocolate I don't really discriminate. It's not too bad though. | | Thursday, June 25th, 2009 | | 9:30 pm |
Well, put your hands up if you didn't see this one coming...
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.htmlI've got a ruler to clip your fingers with. Really, who DIDN'T see this one coming? It's probably a good thing that due to the controversy regarding the juristiction of Section 7 of the Act, if a game is RC'd by the AMCA, there's enough grounds to argue that as a game title. (Remember, the Act itself says that the Classification Board has juristiction over all video games and it's really broad. No one's actually taken the definition to court, short of Blizzard being sued by the NSW AG for penalities and watching that play out in court. At the moment, Blizzard argue that as a digital download, they're covered by the broadcasting acts, not the Classification board, and hence the AMCA.) And since they're USING the classification board's ratings (Anything over MA15+ would be RC'd and they're saying any game outside that would be blocked under the filter to comply to law), it's safe to say that an agent of the Classifications board can put in an appeal as necessary. It would not be fair if they were NOT allowed to get a reassessment, because they have to have redress particularly if they feel the decision was made in error. Remember the training I went through in Feburary? Yeah, that one, the Authorised Assessor Training? The one that gave me authorisation from the director of the board to submit reports to be considered by the board? They legally can't stop me, as an agent of... well, actually, I could represent anyone I feel like, since I could be appealing on behalf of the content creator or a third party, to access the disputed material and make a recommended assessment to the board. To do that, I'd have to be legally allowed to see it, right? If they block my access to view or obtain such material, they would be blocking my requirements to carry out my mandate. Now they could try anyway, but THAT would prove to be an interesting case to play out.. | | 12:11 am |
Atelier Rorona is out.
Can't wait until I get my limited edition. Where's my time travel delivery option? *sigh* As I said, there's very few things I'll melt into fangirling over - The main Atelier series is one of the very few things where I'll throw all rationality to get my hands on it. You could probably guess at least two of the other triggers, but they're actually few and far between. | | Wednesday, June 24th, 2009 | | 7:20 pm |
Okay, I must have been alive for too long...
It's the only explanation for what I'm seeing here. History can't go full circle so quickly. http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/slideshow/photo//090622/ids_photos_india_wl/ra3301157545.jpg/See if you can spot what the problem is with the photo. The photo was taken on the 21st of this month. Done? No idea what the telling point is? Okay, time for me to crack out basic Middle Eastern History 101. What is wrong with the picture is simple. It's the flag. Still no clue? That's the flag of the Shah, that ruled Iran until the mid 1970s, until the Iranian Revolution, which involved the Iranian US Embassy hostage crisis. Don't know the guy? Well, let's put it this way. You heard of Pinochet of Chile? You know, that dicator? I'm sure you've heard of the guy, I hope. The Shah of Iran was described as worse than that guy. And people are waving HIS flag around? Even though it's only been 30 years since the guy was last around with his feared secret police? If this isn't some sort of setup, then the Iranians have to had collectively brainwashed themselves into forgetting their history, because well, it's well within human memory. If it IS a setup, it means the CIA and Mossad have their hands in Iranian politics again. (If you're asking why I say 'again' it's because of the fact that what happened was that the Shah took over an elected President of Iran's spot by force, with help from those two outfits.) I didn't expect history to turn full circle that quickly because it shouldn't revolve that quick, or I must be getting really old, really fast and I haven't noticed. | | Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 | | 6:56 pm |
| | 6:08 pm |
|
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
