Thesis « Apostolos Koutsokalis

Category Archives: Thesis

Know your enemy

Posted on 25/09/2015 by apo

I was not planning on adding this first part to the intro, but since people are – surprisingly – still asking and one of the reasons I like having my thoughts easily accessible is being able to effortlessly have people refer to them without having to repeat myself over and over, I guess I can squeeze in a couple of paragraphs. They actually should be quite coherent with the rest. The things I am still getting asked are something along the lines of:

-What is/was the army/experience like?
-What did you get out of it?
-Did you make the right choice by going?

So answering in reverse order:

-Yes, there were quite a few pros and cons, after weighting them and considering all circumstances I made a choice. And since it was my choice it was and will be the best. I could elaborate more, but decision-making and reflecting on past actions are solid materials for a proper future post.

-While answering “nothing” always tempts me, it would truly be an understatement. It is in fact possible to get something good out of any situation. And while the Greek army did not offer me challenging experiences in terms of schedules, or having to cooperate, or follow orders, I still managed to get some things out of it. A couple of new friends, some technical work experience, a confirmation on my theory about the world. Which brings me to my next answer. Read more …

The DISlike button

Posted on 04/01/2014 by apo

5 Comments

One of the wonders of living in the 21st century is the seemingly limitless options we have on anything. From shopping to elected officials and from cat pictures to socializing. When presented with such an – at times overwhelming – number of choices one has to be able to keep up with the pace, not so much concerning the quantity but the quality of said choices.

The thing is though, that more often than not, we are offered to just choose what we like best. Think about it. We bookmark our preferred sites, star our favorite tweets, like the best facebook posts and comments, listen only to the music we like, vote for the politicians that we think can best represent us. We only aim towards what we want, what we think is best, while completely ignoring everything else. No ‘but’s no bargaining. Either take it, or leave it.

We are operating under a general lack of dislike means and limited negative feedback options.

I am not saying that positive feedback is a bad metric, but one that is overused compared to others that complement it. Positive feedback alone cannot present the full picture and also usually doesn’t contribute in the creation of new developments, but rather prolongs existing states. Still not convinced? Well, time for the obligatory post example. Read more …

What I learned from TGTSNBN: Metagaming

Posted on 28/12/2013 by apo

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Wikipedia defines metagaming as: a broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. Another definition refers to the game universe outside of the game itself.

In simple terms, it is the use of out-of-game information or resources to affect one’s in-game decisions.

While in other games metagaming is generally more accepted or even “required” (think of famous chess openings, or current stronger deck types in card games, or strategies adopted by professionals in video games), it is a completely different story in RPGs. Read more …