Meta

05 Jan 2008 9:44 (Edited: 05 Jan 2008 9:44)

Spoiler ALERT!
If you haven't seen From Dusk Till Dawn (IMDB) and you want to watch it later, don't read beyond this point or open that IMDB link I gave to you.

First some copy-paste from Wikipedia.
In epistemology, the prefix meta- is used to mean about (its own category). For example, metadata are data about data (who has produced them, when, what format the data are in and so on). Similarly, metamemory in psychology means an individual's knowledge about whether or not they would remember something if they concentrated on recalling it. Furthermore, metaemotion in psychology means an individual's emotion about his/her own basic emotion, or somebody else's basic emotion.
Meta

I am going to talk about knowledge and how it affects to games (Metagaming) and movie experiments. Most of my examples are related to vampires and other undead creatures because they really show this aspect of meta I mean.

Keyword one, Alucard. If you recognize word Alucard then you might skip this paragraph and congratulate yourself because knowing meta. If you don't know Alucard then read it backwards. Alucard -> Dracula, if you don't know Dracula then I suggest checking out entry from Wiki. Why I chose Alucard has nothing to do with Hellsing anime serie. Reason is is our famous Mickey Mouse detective comic which has one story about man who injects antidote to people's neck using mouth operable syringe. That man goes by name Alucard which Mickey later discovers is Dracula reversed when he accidentally sees name via mirror. So long story short, I figured something before the story told me because early NES Castlevania game had character Alucard and gaming magazine told it is Dracula backwards (I have never played the game).

Something like that has happened to everyone. You know something beforehand and it spoils your gaming, reading or watching experience. It can also be a positive thing or it can ruin the whole thing.

One thing is gaming. When playing computer games metagaming is very common. It also causes some serious issues to pen and paper games. As example I am going to use vampires from AD&D (or D&D) universe. They are (near) impossible to kill with normal swords, maces etc. You need magical weapons. In AD&D based computer games this fact is always known because of help screens or some helpful NPC. With pen and paper version situation is different. It is really hard to play character when you know something important but your character doesn't know that.

And lets continue with vampires. How do you kill a vampire? Stakes, silver, sunlight, holy water, crosses, decapitation, garlic etc. are very common in vampire themed movies, books and games. But it all depends about the lore which does vampires are based on (references to vampires can be found on almost any folklore). When vampires are evil who fight against the church you can use holy water and crosses. When they are just genetic freaks you can always trust to sunlight or UV light. So if vampire would attack you, how would you defend yourself? Do you trust your local lore or are you going to trust science, friends or unknown traveler who gave you some tips?

Same applies to turning (is biting enough or do victims have to drink blood of vampires) etc. White Wolfs pen and paper RPG Vampire: The Masquerade is nice about this, because it gives so many options to players who can choose which rules they are going to use.

But back to (off)topic. Now the From Dusk Till Dawn. When I saw the movie I didn't know it was about vampires at all. So it was quite surprise when those bloodsuckers attacked everyone inside the bar. So if I had known it was movie about vampires would I have watched it differently? Prolly yes. Because people know what to expect they aren't at same level with characters and it is hard be one with characters.

Same applies to Zombie movies. (bonus meta, why do they stitch zombies mouths if they are magically created zombies?)

Many games have this issue when someone is a traitor and know it (pure guess, friend/internet/magazine told you, you have played ealier) and you still have to help him even if you know his/her/its real alignment because creators of game made that choice.

Tags: buffy dawn dracula dusk till undead vampire zombie

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