Stanley Yu Galan

Reflection Essay

Before Englcom, I had a very different and frankly quite inaccurate perception of academic

writing. To me, academic writing always seemed stale and stuffy; constantly droning about numbers and

data. The class showed me that the essence of academic writing was the use of well-grounded logic and

fact, not excessive pedanticism. In class, I saw how academic papers act like fascinating windows into

the world around us; presenting pressing and relevant issues that require our awareness. The focus of

the class was teaching us how refine our critical thinking skill, not the adoption of an aloof academic

writing style. What mattered was not proving your superiority through haughty language, but learning

how to present a logical and well thought out point a view.

In both the extended definition and argumentative essays, the greatest difficulty I encountered

was giving a comprehensive and well-defended discussion on polarizing issues without falling into the

trap of personal bias. In topics with two contradictory viewpoints, it is easy to be mindlessly drawn to

one side, leading to bias. In class, I saw that the solution was to gain comprehensive knowledge of the

topic before passing judgment. A full understanding of the issue would allow the opinions you form to

be supported by facts and sound logic. You no longer parroting facts, but present a valid opinion to the

table.

Overall, I felt that the class enabled me to create fair and unbiased discussions. Previously, I

would state an opinion and gather information to support it, inadvertently excluding other viewpoints. It

was through this class that I saw the importance of acknowledging both sides of an argument when

discussing your stand. Looking at both sides does not imply holding no opinion, instead, the bird’s eye

view it gives us allows us to think more logically and understand our own opinions better.

I believe that I achieved all of the objectives of the class and portfolio; having submitted quality

work for all the requirements. I placed my best effort into everything I wrote for class, treating

everything as an important piece of writing rather than as a mere requirement. However, I felt that the

most important thing I took home from class wasn’t the grades. The topics discussed in class could not

just be taken in a vacuum, but taken to heart. The logic and open-mindedness we learned in class plays

an important part, not just in writing, but in all aspects of our lives. Although, I felt I did well in class, I

believe that my real success was being able to apply what I learned in the classroom in real life.

Entrance Essay

Two increasingly common phenomena in the videogame industry are in-game micro

transactions and “Day one DLCs” (Downloadable Content). Ideally these development would be a boon

for consumers, a means to expand and enrich games even after they are released. Unfortunately, that

isn’t always the case.

For example, videogame developers such as Zynga are well known for their use of micro

transactions in their videogames. Commonly, a few dollars spent in a Zynga game would net you a few

items or some in-game currency. This in itself is well and good, but the way they design their games

makes such transactions almost inevitable. Oftentimes, players are faced with situations, wherein

metaphorically throwing money at the screen is the only way to progress. In game micro transactions

capitalize on the human desire to succeed and they do so in order to make a killing. Each day, Zynga

earns about 750,000 a day from candy crush alone essentially milking consumers like mindless cattle.

Another practice is the “day one DLC”, a downloadable content package made available the

same day a game is released. Rather than providing the consumer with a full game for the $60 that they

paid for, many developers ship 6/7 of a game for $60 dollars and offer the remaining 1/7 as a “day one

DLC” for an additional $20. They urge customers to buy both for a grand total of $80 in order to enjoy

the “full experience”. In the past, games were released complete and whole with additional content a

year down the line for a fee. There is nothing wrong with providing expansions to a game and charging a

fee for it. It is the greedy practice of selling incomplete games and “expansions” to make an extra profit

that poses a problem.

These two phenomena show the increasing corruption in the videogame industry. Indeed

videogame developers deserve to be paid for their work, but their methods of making additional cash

don’t sit well with gamers, often these features are implemented into games at the cost of overall

quality and enjoyment. As videogame developers shift towards a more corporate attitude, profits would

come before the consumer and issues like these will become far more common.

Exit Essay

Recently, the videogame industry has drawn ire for its increasingly greedy business practices.

Most notably the use of DLCs (DownLoadable Content) and in-game micro transactions. Ideally these

development would be a boon for consumers, a means to expand and enrich games. Unfortunately,

they aren’t used for such a purpose and their inclusion is often a bane to the consumer.

A DLC is a downloadable videogame expansion that enriches and expands gameplay. There is

nothing inherently wrong with DLCs since they enable video game developers to enhance a game post-

release; the problem however lies in the misuse of this practice. Back in the early 2000s, DLCs (more

commonly referred to as expansion packs back then since they were often sold on physical media) were

released a year after the original game, and added a significant amount of content to the base game

(sometimes enough content to constitute an entirely new game) for about $30. Today, videogame

developers such as EA remove portions of their games, repackage and sell them to consumers as DLCs.

Customers are forced into buying an incomplete game for $60 and must purchase an additional “day

one” DLC for about $15 to have the full game experience. The practice of clipping off content from

games and reselling them as DLCs requires minimal effort and is extremely profitable for game

developers.

Another often misused industry practice is in-game micro transactions. These are small in game

purchases that a player can make to enhance their gaming experience such as items and power ups.

Again, if implemented with restraint, this system provides players a more dynamic and enjoyable

gaming experience. Game developers, however, force this one-sided micro economy upon its customers

in an attempt to make a quick buck. Companies such as Zynga are notorious for making their games

extremely frustrating if the user chooses not to use micro transactions. In its popular game Candy Crush,

higher levels are impossible to win without spending money on power ups and additional lives. This

system feeds on the human desire to win in order to promote binge spending. During moments of

difficulty and failure, windows peddling power ups and lives present themselves to the desperate player.

A single press of a button (and a silent credit card transaction) later, instant gratification… which doesn’t

last long and encourages recurrent spending. The effectiveness of this sly tactic cannot be doubted,

every day, Zynga earns $838k from candy crush’s micro transactions alone.

It is worrying to see how the videogame industry is shifting its priorities from delighting

customers to making a larger profit. Misuse of DLCs butcher games while micro transactions attempt to

swindles customers. The current state of things is deplorable as is and will only worsen if videogame

developers keep a “profit comes first” mindset.

Reference Summary Paraphrase Direct Quote R/C/Q

Internet leaders

speak out on the

need for government reform

of surveillance.

(2013, December 9).

theguardian.

com. Retrieved January 26, 2014,

from

http://www.thegua

rdian.com/world/gallery/

2013/dec/09

/internet-leaders-

speak-out-

on-the-need-for-

government-

reform-of-

surveillance

Various leaders requesting the

government to reform their surveillance

operations Large internet companies claim that user privacy is their utmost concern.

An increase in government

transparency is called for

“'Reports about

government surveillance have shown

there is a real need for greater

disclosure and new

limits on how governments

collect information.”

- Mark Zuckerburg

? People won’t

use technology they don’t

trust” –Brad Smith

The companies

never mentioned

if they actually

participated in the

surveillance.

Is this just a publicity stunt because selling information is very profitable

Qiang, X. (2008,

November 24). How

China's Internet Police

Control Speech on the

Internet. How China's Internet Police

Control Speech on the

Internet. Retrieved

January 26, 2014, from http://www.rfa.o

rg/english/comm

entaries/china_in

ternet-

1124200813410

8.html

Chinese internet is heavily censored

Firewalls and proxy

servers are used to filter traffic.

Fake website does not

exist messages and other fake errors

Blocks sensitive key

terms

Analyze and block even encrypted data if it

contains sensitive terms

Cuts connections between computers

The Golden Shield

Program, better known as the great firewall of

China is used to block and

censor foreign websites

DNS poisoning

works by sending back

false addresses to make the

website inaccessible

The Great

Firewall blocks unwanted IP

addresses

“China

censors

content for a variety of

reasons,

often

because it’s critical

of the

Chinese governmen

t or

contrary to Communist

Party

policy”

A lot of people

don’t seem to mind the censorship

The

controversy is caused by

a vocal minority

Does this censorship really help China

China’s Internet police warn

netizens not to spread “harmful

information,”

Is the information they block

truly harmful

Segan, S. (2011, June

27). Life Behind the

Great Firewall of China.

PCMAG. Retrieved

January 23, 2014, from

http://www.pcmag.com/

slideshow/story/266213/l

ife-behind-the-great-

firewall-of-china

You can’t find Facebook in ShenZhen

Websites are blocked to promote the growth of Chinese knock-offs such as QQ & baidu. People use proxies and VPNs to circumvent the censorship

World news is sporadically

blocked

Terms like “Falun Gong” are blocked

Some

businesses are allowed

unrestricted access to the

internet

“Some foreign-

based social networking sites such as Facebook,

Twitter, and Foursquare

are blocked.”

Chinese surveillance

is quite covert

Scherer, M. (2013, June

24). The Geeks Who

Leak. Time, 181, 22.

Bradley Manning leaked documents and was

sentenced to life imprisonment 3 years

ago

Edward Snowden’s leak implicated Google,

Facebook and Microsoft as participants in the NSA’s spying program

Google claims to have nothing to do with the internet surveillance

project

Bradley Manning

Supposedly violated the

anti-espionage act of 1917

The country had a split

opinion on the discovery of

the NSA’s surveillance

programs

“only 43% of the country thought the government should ‘cut

back on programs

that threaten privacy’ “

According to

Lindsey Graham, the

south Carolina

republican on the armed

services committee “I

don’t care what we

need to do. We need to bring this

guy (Edward Snowden) to Justice for deterrence

sake

The US government seems very harsh when it comes to information

leaks.

Grossman, L., & Newton-

Small, J. (2013,

November 11). The Deep

Web. time, 182, 24.

Ross Ulbricht known online as the Dread

Pirate Roberts created an illegal online bazaar called the Silk Road.

Jihadists sometimes used

the Deep web to communicate

Transactions are made in bitcoins, a new internet

form of internet currency independent from banks

and countries

Ross Ulbricht possesses a reputation as an

antiestablishment hero due to his creation.

Silk Road sells drugs, Fake IDs, hacking software and even assassination services

An internet service called Tor allows users to covertly access the deep web.

“Technically the Deep

Web refers to the

collection of all websites

and databases

that search engines like Google don’t

or can’t index.”

“7,500

Terabytes” of data is not

indexed

It’s surprising how little we know about the internet.

It is

interesting how the

deep web is similar to the more

private and less

connected internet of

old.

Kelley, M. (2013, June

15). The Best

Explanation Yet Of How

The NSA's PRISM

Surveillance Program

Works. Business Insider.

Retrieved January 24,

2014, from

http://www.businessinsid

er.com/ how-prism-

surveillance-works-2013-

6

User data is gathered from Apple, Google,

Microsoft, and Facebook.

The government does not collect everyone’s

information. It claims to only gatehr information

regarding suspicious individuals

The courts allow the

government to collect user data freely

"the NSA copies In

ternet traffic as it enters and leaves the

United States, then routes it

to the NSA for analy

sis,"

“So PRISM leverages the direct access

the NSA has to the Internet's

major pipelines and

then uses court orders authorized by Section 702 of the

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance

The government claims to be very precise

and unintrusive with their

surveillance but it

probably isn’t the

case.

Act (FISA) to collect

specific data from tech

companies. “

MacAskill, E. (2013,

August 23). NSA paid

millions to cover Prism

compliance costs for tech

companies. The Guardian.

Retrieved January 26,

2014, from

http://www.theguardian.

com/world/ 2013/aug/23/ns

a-prism-costs-

tech-companies-

paid

Tax money was utilized to fund this program.

The NSA collects about

56,000 US based communications every

year.

The Prism project breaks the 4th amendment

which protects against unlawful searching and

seizure

The companies claim no

involvement with the

government surveillance

program.

“The National Security

Agency paid millions of dollars to cover the costs of major

internet companies involved in

the Prism surveillance progr

am “

"Federal law requires the

US government to reimburse providers for

costs incurred to respond to compulsory

legal process imposed by

the government.

We have requested

reimbursement consistent with this law."

The government

and its partner

companies will

continuously deny the

spying allegations

Sarlin, B. (2014, January

24). RNC condemns NSA

spying in huge

turnaround. MSNBC.

Retrieved January 26, 2014, from

http://www.msnbc.com/

msnbc/rnc-condemns-

nsa-spying-shock-

turnaround-0

Government surveillance intrudes on individual

freedom.

The NSA’s program also intrudes on

the privacy of innocent citizens

“the Republican

National Committee

voted Friday to adopt a resolution

demanding an

investigation into the

This shows that not all politicians

support the NSA’s spying

projects

National Security Agency’s

spy programs.”

“I have to

thank Edward

Snowden for bringing forth the blatant

trampling of our First and

Fourth Amendment rights in the

guise of security,”-

Diana Orrock