week 7

So we had a midterm last week and it was a touch one luckily, I got enough points so that I could gain points for my grade, our class is on a point system something that I have never had before in any other class. is 406 is a pretty interesting class all together we learn about different forms of games. We hae gone over a lot of differnet things within the past 7 weeks of class. I enjoy class a lot the lectures are very interesting sometimes long, but Prof. Hansen puts the material in ways that you can understand what is going on, especially for a communications major. The most interesting thing I think we hsve covered is last weeks lecture on risk dominance, and coopartive vs non cooperative games. If you think about games work this way, monoploy a great example of a game with opportunity cost, you have to weigh out pros and the cons of each and every turn that you get, when to buy homes, "if i buy this i cannot get this but will this end up being more profitable" a lot of things come into play that was one topic we uncovered. Or how Oxytocin is released with in the body when you trust another person. Professor Hansen put this into perspective as if you were playing a cooperative game and if you can trust one another so you will all survive in a game.
Lots of different things in this class are interesting, the Markov Chain, when we went over Shoots and Ladders. Markov Chain is a theory of probability, for instance maybe the number of times you flip a come, what the total outcome will be.

Week 6

So.. today in class we spoke about resource management. You here this term in economics usually, opportunity cost, you weigh the pros and cons of the decisions we make. Looking at this from a gamers view, cooperative games, resource management is key. Today well now that it is 2:07 am, actually yesterday in class we learned about RPG's, role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons, World of Warcraft games as those and they are in a sense games in which resource managment does occur.


According to BusinessDictionary.com this is the meaning of Resource managment.

The process of using a company's resources in the most efficient way possible. These resources can include tangible resources such as goods and equipment, financial resources, and labor resources such as employees. Resource management can include ideas such as making sure one has enough physical resources for one's business, but not an overabundance so that products won't get used, or making sure that people are assigned to tasks that will keep them busy and not have too much downtime.

You use this not only in games but in real life as well making sure that your company is sufficient in what ever they are trying to produce. Opportunity cost, a big factor in business, you spend your money on a neccessity but have to give something up and make the decsion, "I may need this but if I do this then I will end up with a profit in the long run, yet I may loose business in Boston for example."


Professor Hansen gave the class an exercise in class today having to do with the game Dungeon and Dragons and we had to maximize the number of VP that you will get and by doing so you have to look at the opportunity cost of the items that you can purchase. You are given 5 hit points and 200 gold pieces to start off with.


Here is a list of the items:
Sword 125 gold and you have a 60% chance of defeating your opponent per round
Dagger 25 gold yet you have a 40% chance of beating your opponent per round
Leather Armor 75 gold and you have a 70% chance of being damaged per round
Chain Mail 150 gold and you have a 50% chance of being damages per round
Healing potion 60 gold and you can restore two hit points anytime you would like


You had to roll a ten sided die and beat ten opponents in a row in order to complete your mission and you had to figure out which of these items where worth it to buy so you can get, let's say the best bang for your buck. He explained to me how to figure this out and even though for instance the Sword may beat your opponent 60% of the time it still costs 125 gold and the opportunity cost of purchasing this item may not be to high. Maybe by purchasing the dagger and the chain mail you have a good chance to beat your opponents.


Going on to corporations they do indeed having building exercises and they need to in order for the employees to have trust in one another and be comfortable in their enviroments, communication is important as well as finding the best way to be rescourceful in your company. It makes perfect sense to have to have these books written on this fact. If you can trust your teammates and your fellow game players then you will do a whole lot better than not trusting them. Human beings rely on trust. It is part of our nature.


Cooperative games, the corporate business world, no matter what you are doing weigh out your pros and cons, be resourceful and look at you opportunity cost. Everything is intertwined....and relates to each other. 

Week 1

I havent blogged in a while since the first week but for all of you out there who do not know who I am my name is Collin Hyte and I a current senior at Norwich University in Vermont. I am on the Tennis team here at school and do a lot of outdoor activities, longboard, play frisbee, swim, when I am not playing tennis. I am not really into video games that much, except I play this game for the original XBOX called Topspin and I used to play that non stop with my younger brothers.

I'd have to say that my favorite board game is monopoly, maybe if it is the average person's favorite game, I have played it since I was a kid with my mom and rummy as well. Mostly card games I have been exposed to throughout my life. Othello is a great game as well you can play it when your young or when you are old and it teaches you how to be aware of a lot of different situations when playing a game or just in life in general.

This class that I am taking with Prof. Hansen is very different than the normal 3 hour boring class. The class is not boring at all. I am very interested in what we are talking about because this is a class in which you talk about games in a different prospective. Games and Algorithms is the name of the class and in every board game and video game there is a way to play it no matter if it chance or if it is through an arithomatic equation.

I'm looking forward to seeing what is in store for the rest of the semester.