How Is the Current Recession Acting Like Free Essays

How is the Current Recession Acting like/in contrast to the Great Depression Nowadays, the economy of the world dives into a cumbersome circumstance. The whole world meets a worldwide financial emergency or downturn, particularly in the United States. After World War , this downturn is the greatest downturn for the America. We will compose a custom paper test on How Is the Current Recession Acting Like or on the other hand any comparative point just for you Request Now The majority of individuals express stressed over this downturn; totally they review the memory about the Great Depression which was the most tremendous monetary emergency in the American history. They are on edge since it appears as though the United States is experiencing another Great Depression or will experience another Great Depression. From the history, everybody knows how genuine the outcome came out from the Great Depression; it confounded human beings’ advancement. Nobody needs to witness another Great Depression once more. Be that as it may, there are adequate motivations to help open individuals to stress over the Great Depression will happen once more, since present downturn and the Great Depression, them two have some comparable qualities. In the interim, them two have a lot of not at all like focuses additionally can demonstrate the Great Depression won't occur once more. In this paper, I will investigate the current downturn and the Great Depression, I will demonstrate the current downturn causes the impacts will substantially less than the Great Depression, and the Great Depression won't replay. Back to 1929~1933, on October 29 1929, the â€Å"Black Tuesday† went to the United States. On this day, American monetary world slammed, the stock’s value tumbled through and through, fell 40 rates from 383, additionally the Dow Jones stock list fell 22 percentages(Baidu, 2009). From this date to November thirteenth 1929, there was thirty billion vanished in the market, this number equivalent to the all out costs of World War?. In any case, the accident of the securities exchange was only the start of a ghastly financial emergency. Indeed, even through the Great Depression started at the breakdown of the securities exchange; numerous specialists despite everything thought the impact from the breakdown of the financial exchange was constrained, in light of the fact that stock was only a little piece of family’s property, it can't influence Marginal Propensity to Consume(MPC) without question. Be that as it may, the â€Å"Black Tuesday† was only the start of the horrendous issue, was only scaled down of the Great Depression. The Great Depression caused a lot of amazingly genuine social issue, for instance, there were around 2 million to 4 million understudies needed to drop their school. Indeed, even a few people couldn't experience the ill effects of attitude and physiology then self destruction. The most huge issue was that 8. 3 million individuals lose their employment; the joblessness rate arrived at such a significant level which was 25%(Xu, 2009). Nearly in each city, the destitute individuals who were in line at the food bank as long concerning a few squares. Before the finish of 1932, absolutely, there were around 2 million individuals meandered in the avenues, there were no home for them. In September 1932, magazine Fortune assessed that 34 million individuals had no salary; this populace was 28% of the entire populace of the United States. What's more, at any rate 15 million individuals were searching for an occupation, yet there was no proposition for employment to them around then (Baidu, 2009). Change the view to the economy. Toward the starting year of the Great Depression, since the economy became shortcoming, it was difficult for bank to get back of their advance, and the open individuals were restless so they went to the bank to pull back their store. In this manner, around then half was shut. The legislature took preservationist measure, diminished the cash flexibly with the goal that an ever increasing number of banks must be shut. Thus, 9000 banks had just shut and 130 thousands endeavors went to bankrupt. The complete yield of industry and country pay (NI) diminished half, the exchange cost of products decreased 33% and product exchange additionally cut 66% (Techcn, 2009). In 1920s, the people’s certainty of the forward economy was communicated in the securities exchange. From 1921 to 1929, Dow Jones Indexes expanded from 75 to 363, normal development rate (AVGR) was 21. 8% which was a fantastic number (Su, 2009). Under this prosperous circumstance hided plausibility which can cause the Great Depression. Toward the start of 1929, the financial exchange of United States of America was insane, the cost of stock raised occasions by times. As I referenced previously, as opposed to state dark one day, I might want to state dark week or dark month. On October 24th 1929, the market of New York trade out of nowhere got an accident, the speed of falling stock cost too brisk to even consider catching up by the ticker. Despite the fact that some consortiums and the president came out to attempt to spare the market, it didn't work. On October 28th and 29th 1929, Dow Jones Indexes fell 38. 33, 13. 47% and on Tuesday fell 11. 73% (Black Tueday, 2002). During this brief week, American individuals lose 10 billion dollars in stock trade. Time went to the center of November 1929, the stock’s cost in New York Exchanges fell 40%, lose 26 billion dollars. A great many open individuals lose their entire life’s cash. During the Great Depression, the stock cost of US steel tumbled from $262 to $22, and the stock cost of GM tumbled from $73 to $8 (Techen, 2009). Total national output (GDP) fell 25% during 1929-1933, and Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) of 1933 diminished 24. 6% contrasted with 1929 (Hexun,2009). â€Å"In financial matters, a downturn is a general stoppage in monetary movement over an extensive stretch of time, or a business cycle constriction. During downturns, numerous macroeconomic markers fluctuate along these lines. Creation as estimated by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), work, venture spending, limit use, family earnings, business benefits and swelling all fall during downturns; insolvencies and the joblessness rate increases. †(Wikipedia, 2009). This is the meaning of the downturn. Contrasted with the Great Depression, we can make sense of certain likenesses. For instance, GDP, business, and putting spending fall in the current downturn or the Great Depression. In current downturn, GDP fall 2%, joblessness rate is 8. 1%, and Dow Jones Indexes decline 52 % (Xu, 2009). From these information, we realize that in current downturn for the general public, numerous individuals lose their positions, numerous endeavors go to bankrupt just as certain banks. For the securities exchange, the Dow Jones Indexes can disclose to us that the financial exchange don't in a pleasant circumstance. For the entire nation, GDP fall with the goal that American economy gets into downturn. Be that as it may, in the event that we investigate these numbers, we can see these numbers are unique in relation to the Great Depression. As I referenced, during the Great Depression, GDP fell 25%, joblessness rate was 25%, and Dow Jones Indexes fell 89%. These numbers in current despondency are a lot littler than the Great Depression; subsequently, these numbers demonstrate that the current downturn impact will considerably less than the Great Depression. Reason of the current downturn and the Great Depression is extraordinary. The current downturn is brought about by the subprime contract emergency. â€Å"The subprime contract emergency is a continuous land emergency and monetary emergency activated by a sensational ascent in contract misconducts and abandonments in the United States, with major antagonistic ramifications for banks and money related markets the world over. The emergency, hich has its underlying foundations in the end long stretches of the twentieth century, got obvious in 2007 and has uncovered unavoidable shortcomings in budgetary industry guideline and the worldwide money related system† (Wikipedia, 2009). The subprime contract emergency happened due to moral danger. From our course reading we comprehend that the hazard that one gathering to an exchange takes activities that hurt another gathering called moral danger. About the explanation of the Great Depression, it appears the stock market’s crash lead to the awful issue, yet the genuine explanation is the uneven or undesirable improvement of the economy. The methodologies from the administration to manage these two issues are unique. During the Great Depression, the Federal Reserve didn't get the correct procedure to manage the market less liquidity, then again, the current U. S. government decline the premium, make some new methodologies to actuate the market, likewise attempt their best to spare the economy. Additionally, the current government takes out 700 billion dollars to spare banks and insurance agencies. Absolutely, government intend to utilize 787 billion dollars to animate the economy and increment 3. 5 million odds of utilizing (Xu, 2009). Subsequently, the Great Depression won't replay. Be that as it may, even we can anticipate the current recession’s impact will not exactly the Great Depression, we additionally need give enough consideration to the current downturn. Truth be told, the whole world’s economy is certainly not a decent condition, what we have to do isn't only the spare the economy yet additionally forestall the downturn happen over and over. The most effective method to refer to How Is the Current Recession Acting Like, Essay models

Violence In Schools Essays (991 words) - Crime, Violence

Viciousness In Schools Viciousness in schools has spread generally all through the country. This has caused numerous issues among understudies, families, personnel of schools, and inhabitants of the territories. In my paper I will talk about the reasons why savagery in schools exists and what could or should be done about it. Savagery In Schools Violence in schools has spread generally all through the country. This has caused numerous issues among understudies, families, staff of schools, and occupants of the regions. In any case, their are numerous potential ways we can stop this viciousness in schools. Very nearly three-fourths of the United States adolescents fear brutal wrongdoing among their peers(Apfel 23). Brutality in schools has gotten a major issue in todays society. With all the individuals being harmed or slaughtered in schools by firearms and different weapons, an ever increasing number of individuals are getting more weapons to get to schools. About portion all things considered and 33% all things considered counting females said they can without much of a stretch get a handgun in the event that they needed to(Glazer 14). The reason for savagery can be accused on numerous things yet 1 predominantly. What's more, that one thing is medications and packs. Since more individuals are selling and purchasing drugs, individuals are bringing in cash to purchase weapons. Packs, since they came around brutality has been expanding consistently. The spread of packs and medications has additionally been embroiled in the expanding brutality of school youths(Glazer 14). Specialists have likewise said that most brutal clashes among young kids can be followed back to long-stewing disputes(Apfel 21). Conveying firearms and different weapons around schools is turning out to be increasingly more mainstream all around the globe. Individuals feel that hauling weapons around schools with them will make them cool or fit in with others such as themselves. They're off-base. An ever increasing number of individuals who are hefting firearms around schools today are getting captured and having them taken away. Since schools have gotten metal locators and scanners, they have chopped down the pace of having handguns in schools by almost 58%(Glazer 5). Security specialists have revealed that there is no proof that a metal locator will fathom the issue of brutality in schools, despite the fact that it offers an exceptionally obvious image to the community(Apfel 22). Regardless of whether the schools with all the weapon brutality in their schools do place in metal finders at the front doors of schools, their are numerous ways children can sneak in weapons to class. In 1990 congress made it a crime to bring a weapon inside one-thousand feet of any school under the Firearm Free School Zones arrangement of the 1990 wrongdoing counteraction bundle. This law wont help particularly in light of the way that understudies can sneak in weapons through washroom windows, or an unguarded passageway during recess(Glazer 6). So their isn't generally a sheltered and dependable approach to get weapons far from schools. Security has become a major piece of schools today. An ever increasing number of schools have been getting metal identifiers introduced. The N.Y. city government funded schools report that since the prologue to metal identifiers in 1988, genuine episodes have declined by 58% in schools with scanners and by 43% without them(Glazer 5). Each school ought to begin placing in metal identifiers and scanners on the off chance that they need to chop down brutality. A few schools locale that explored different avenues regarding metal locators for a brief timeframe discovered them a piece frustrating(Gordon 27). It has gotten simple to acquire a firearm. An overview of Baltimore state funded schools understudies demonstrated that the four most pervasive spots to get firearms are city intersections, companions, street pharmacists, and thieves(Gordon 29). Furthermore, kids everywhere throughout the world are getting firearms from all these puts however no one is taking care of business. It is simple for somebody to acquire a handgun. They should simply go to one of these four places and purchase one. Where do they get the cash to purchase these weapons you inquire? From selling drugs. In the event that we could stop the selling of medications just by perhaps 20% or even 15%, their would be an entire less brutality because of the absence of cash. So no one would have the option to purchase a weapon. Educators are in as much peril of being executed or assaulted as children are school. The danger of an educator being assaulted by an understudy has multiplied since 1956(Glazer 20). This is a ton thinking about that you don't catch wind of an excessive number of educator assaults on the news however you do find out about teenagers being executed. Roughly 100 instructors have been attacked yearly in the previous four

Science Essay Writing

Science Essay WritingScience essay writing should be easier than it already is, with the right approach. The topics for this type of essay will vary depending on the topic. If you are writing about global warming, environmental issues, biology, or health care then you need to make sure that your essay does not seem out of place in any way. You will want to make sure that your essay does not appear to be political or controversial.Essay writing is important and will help in a number of ways. It can make or break your grade, especially if it is for a test or a final exam. You may even want to write more than one essay to improve your grade. Many colleges and universities will accept more than one essay for credit.Each student has a unique and specific idea of what the overall theme of their essays should be. Some people believe that if you have a good presentation at the beginning of the essay, it will help to enhance your writing. You should also be certain that your essay has a clear theme. After all, there will be a certain number of topics that are required to be covered in order to earn a diploma from college.One of the best ways to start writing an essay is to outline and prepare a topic list first. The topic list will usually include subjects such as facts, dates, or words. It is easy to get lost on the topic list, especially if you try to be too specific with the topic that you intend to write an essay on.A theme is the starting point for your essay. You should not worry about including all of the facts in your topic, but you should be sure that you include enough information to allow the essay to stand on its own. A theme can include a particular area of science, a variety of subjects within a particular area, or the overall area of science itself.When writing a science essay, be sure that you do not over-think or complicate the topics. This is because science can be confusing, so a lot of people are tempted to try to write an essay by themselves. They a re often successful, but they could be further complicated by doing so. Your goal is to ensure that the science is made simple for the reader and that it is possible to understand.The best science essays are those that deal with the results of scientific research and advancements in science. That is not to say that there are not different types of essay that focus on other areas. But if you choose the correct topic for your science essay, you should find that your audience can easily read and understand the information that you provide.Science has helped us become more efficient, and there is no reason why we cannot make it a little more interesting. There are lots of people who like to write, but when it comes to science, they cannot find the time to write. The proper science essay writing technique is to write something that can be read, thoughtfully written. Make sure that you know what the reader wants before you begin writing your essay.

The How Of Happiness A New Approach For Getting The Life...

The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Dr. Sonja Lyubomirsky is simultaneously an academic book and comprehensive guide about positive psychology and it’s applications in daily life. Dr. Lyubomirsky provides not only facts and figures to back up her science but also includes quizzes and exercises for the reader to learn more about himself or herself in context with the book. The book is broken down into 3 different sections: How to Attain Real and Lasting Happiness, Happiness Activities, and Secrets to Abiding Happiness. In the first part of the book, Dr. Lyubomirsky explains her 40% solution. Think of happiness as 100%. 50% of this is based on genetics and this is a person’s set happiness point. Even when a person experiences extreme emotion like winning the lottery after some time his or her happiness level will return to the set point. 10% is based on a person’s life circumstances such as where he or she lives, how much money he o r she has, how you look, etc. The final 40% is where Dr. Lyubomirsky puts her focus because this is the part of person’s happiness that he or she is able to control; this is ultimately determined by a person’s behavior. If someone wants to be happier, he or she needs to make changes to their behavior not their circumstances. Dr. Lyubomirsky goes into more detail about how a person can make this change in the second part of her book. Firstly, though, she provides the reader with a couple exercises and debunks aShow MoreRelatedThree Steps to the Happy Life: Why this Approach Does Not Work1097 Words   |  5 PagesThe happy life. What does this mean to me? Kristen Linker, a third year student at Redeemer University College. It begins with balance: trusting God, finding Joy, having harmonious relationships with the people in my life and doing the best I can with what I have at this stage in life. If I would have had to write this paper at the beginning of this semester, I would have had a completely different view on the happy life. However, through this course, I have learned what I think are the most important

Comparative Essay The Catcher and the Rye vs. The Curious...

The Struggle to Be Normal In today’s society, many teenagers struggle in their everyday lives due to the fact that they have different qualities than others. The novel, Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is about a young man named Holden Caulfield, who suffers from multiple mental illnesses, causing him to be treated different by others. Due to tragedies he has suffered from in the past, and all that is going on in is present life, Holden can no longer cope and runs away to New York. Christopher Boone, from the novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, also suffers from multiple mental illnesses and has experienced life changing tragedies over the years. For many years Christopher’s father has been†¦show more content†¦He rarely socializes when he is at school or out in public, and when he is at home, he prefers to be alone his room with his pet rat. â€Å"And I really like little spaces, so long as there is no one else in there with me.† (Haddo n. 50). In the rare occasion that Christopher associates with people out in public that he does not know, the interaction usually ends quickly due to Christopher feeling uncomfortable and leaving in a hurry. When he had no choice but to engage in conversation with a neighbor who was nothing but friendly to him, he began to think of every possible thing that could go wrong and quickly decided to leave. â€Å"And I thought she might be ringing the police and then I’d get into much more serious trouble because of the caution. So I walked away† (Haddon. 40). Even though Christopher does lack social skills, there are still ways he can learn to become more social and ways of interacting with others to better him. Unfortunately he does not put any effort into increasing his social skills, and neither do any of the few people he has a relationship with, causing him to resource to isolating himself because that is what he has always been used to doing. Overall, isolation plays a major role in both novels, causing both main characters to isolate themselves in similar ways. With both characters choosing to isolate themselves comes a great deal of independence. The amount of independence a person has varies based

A Theological Account Of Death And Dying - 2501 Words

Candidate No: 000648153 TMM2171 Christian Faith Ethical Living Essay Two Martha Grace Weatherill Christian Faith Ethics Essay Two Draft Word Count: 2680 How should a theological account of death and dying shape the morale debate concerning euthanasia The debate on whether it is moral to assist in suicide or euthanasia has been very strong and heated by both sides of the argument, this debate has not gone away although the bill for the arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia was lost in the UK parliament last year.[footnoteRef:1] Using the works of catholic theologians from the fourth century to the twenty first century, this essay gives the theological account of death and dying and aims to shape the moral debate concerning†¦show more content†¦as one identifies with Christ?s suffering, death and resurrection (Hope). Therefore, the Christian understanding is to accept death as natural even though it is a punishment from the fall. This acceptance will help the Christian?s ?journey? with death in their lives and the lives of friends and family, by treating the dying with care and dignity as a community and by addressing and managing the ?total pain? of the individual as practiced in hospices.[footnoteRef:4] [2: Da vid Albert Jones, Approaching the End: A Theological Exploration of Death and Dying (Oxford?; New York: OUP Oxford, 2007), 24.] [3: Ibid., 37.] [4: Beville, Dying to Kill, 285?301.] For Thomas Aquinas, a thirteenth century theologian, in agreement with Augustine, he maintains that dying is because of sin and is natural when it occurs because of elements in the body that are contrary to existence. He argues that suicide and indeed assisted killing is viewed as death in an ?unnatural state? because what happens is that the individual killed is deprived of their life, the community loses one of its members and the person?s soul is dead in a manner that is not natural. Jones takes this even further by suggesting that it is even worse to kill someone out of mercy because the innocent deserves our protection. Aquinas maintains that this sort of death is against a person?s natural love of self and it questions God?s authority. David AlbertShow MoreRelatedTheology Leads to Interpretation1336 Words   |  6 PagesEmily Dickinson’s extensive collection of poems on the subject of death can be better understood individually once time has been taken to view her works as whole. By viewing the works as a whole, it is possible to conclude a likely theological view point of the author and then apply this theology to the individual works in order to improve interpretation. Emily Dickinson’s poem â€Å"Because I could not stop for Death† is one such poem that when viewed individually is open to a wide scope of readingsRead MoreSignificance Of Christ s Resurrection Essay1630 Words   |  7 Pagescannot be too easy to explain. 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Empowering Others to Empower Yourself free essay sample

People dont like being told what to do. This is a fairly simple concept. If you want people to do what you want them to, explicitly commanding them to do it isnt always the best strategy. Oddly, many companies regularly fail to comprehend or appropriately respond to this idea. Businesses that are out to make a profit are commonly associated with things like salesmen, bosses, CEOs, and in-your-face advertising, all of which carry the idea of telling people what to do. Valve Software is arguably one of the most successful, well-known, and highly commended companies in the video game industry, responsible for incredibly popular titles such as Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Portal, Team Fortress Classic, and their sequels (all of which are just as popular). However, from its very beginnings, Valve has set itself apart from other companies not only through the superior quality of its work, but by the way in which it continually empowers those that are a part of it. This includes staff, as well as community contributors, and even average users of any of Valves services. As Valve continues to empower its supporters, it continues to succeed. This brings a logical theory: empowering people, and therefore not telling them what to do, is a very viable way for a business to increase both its profits and its notoriety. Now, when I think about Valve on a regular basis all of this ambiguous, theoretical junk isnt what goes through my head. When it comes to Valve, the absolute, most important thing for me is that Valve makes amazing games. Valve makes mind-blowingly awesome games. On multiple occasions, Valve has immersed me into video games in ways I had never thought possible. I will never forget one particular section of Half-Life 2 in which I, the player, was required to navigate my way across the underside of a bridge over water, walking carefully on steel girders as enemy soldiers fired at me from the other side. One evasive step in the wrong direction would lead me plummeting to a watery grave below. I had never imagined that a video game could invoke a sudden fear of heights into the player so well. I have played Team Fortress 2 for 300 hours. It was a near daily activity my junior year to play after school with my best friend as we discussed how much we hated our history teacher. I have braved the intense battles against the Combine race, which tried to take over Earth in Half-Life 2. I have spent many late nights fighting seemingly endless hordes of zombies with friends in Left 4 Dead 2. And I have spent hours solving the puzzles in Portal and Portal 2 just to hear the perfectly games perfectly crafted dialogue. I have come to hold Valve in the highest regards among all other developers in the game industry. I have also acquired almost 100 games on the Steam platform, purchasing many games largely because they were heavily discounted (some were only a dollar). I estimate I have spent close to 40 dollars on items for use inside the game Team Fortress 2. I have also recently experienced the thrill in realizing that I can make my own levels for Left 4 Dead 2. I have realized that in many occasions, I have felt empowered by Valve, empowered as a consumer, as a player, and as a community member. In some ways, I could even say I was manipulated, but I am okay with this. In the end, Valves products and services continue to impress me, but I was left wondering if maybe there was a connection between how powerful I see Valve and how powerful they can make their users feel. To start understanding the way in which Valve empowers its patrons, we must first look into the groundwork: Valves employment structure. Valve is known for its complete lack of bosses among its developers. In fact, Valves handbook for new employees refers to this as the â€Å"Flatland,† meaning that every employee has the same level of power. Pay is determined by a system of peer review and â€Å"stack ranking,† which is a system by which employees assign values to their peers in 4 categories: skill level/technical ability, roductivity/output, group contribution, and product contribution. The value of each is added together for an employees total measure of worth to give appropriate compensation. Nobody is directly told what to do in the â€Å"Flatland. † The theory is that projects will form if enough people are interested in an idea, and subsequently, group leaders will temporarily form if needed. Ultimately, the strength in this system is that workers will be producing work which had their full dedication from the beginning. Emphasis is placed on finding your own ways to be productive. The handbook highlights the importance of â€Å"T-shaped† employees, workers that have a large variety of useable skills but are a specialist in a certain thing. Because so much responsibility is placed on individual employees, hiring incredibly skilled people who can easily be their own bosses is of utmost importance to Valve. Anybody may conduct interviews with potential employees and use their own discretion on the matter. The handbook stresses the importance of constantly raising the bar and only hiring people that are more talented than the workers already present. This goes against a usual business instinct, in which hiring many cheap, less talented workers is a cost efficient way to get a project done. However if this were to continue, some of the new employees may hire employees less skilled than themselves, and so-on, continually reducing the quality of workers present. When asked if there was any specific inspiration for Valves corporate setup, Gabe Newell, founder of Valve, actually referenced the 1993 shooter, Doom. He had worked for Microsoft and noticed that Windows was the second highest usage application at that time. The first was Doom, which was created and spread by a company of only 12 people (Suddath, 2012). This would instate the idea that having a concentrated group of powerful employees could be much more effective than a large, widespread corporation. Valves runaway success with their no-boss setup may involve a little bit of luck, but there are other companies out there that are finding the same type of success as Valve by eliminating bosses. General Electrics aviation branch and the software company GitHub both thrive with a single or small number of managers which form general goals for production, with the workers ree to organize their tasks however they feel is best. W. L. Gore, creator of the Gore-Tex material, has used a â€Å"lattice† structure since 1958, in which workers â€Å"take on leadership roles based on their ability to gain the respect of peers and to attract followers, † (Silverman, Linebaugh, 2012). Both Gore and Valve recognize that this system leads to a slower process of getting work done initially, as nobody is sure what to do at first. However, in the end employees are working much more optimally to their strengths. Valves commercial success came along early, with their first release actually; Half-Life would be the game of the year for many, if not the game of the decade. However, the success that Half-Life would bring to Valve would come not only from its initial release, but through Valves wise decision to heavily support those who wished to make mods (modifications) for the game. Worldcraft, the level design tool used for Half-Life was released with the game, and a software development kit for the engine, which would later become known as the GoldSrc engine, was released. In 1999, Minh Le and Jess Cliffe would create one of the most popular first person shooter games of all time. Their project Coutner-Strike rapidly became one of the most popular community mods for Half-Life. Valve seized a good opportunity; they proposed hiring the two creators for an official release of the game. This would start what I like to call mutualism between Valve and its following: a symbiotic relationship which is beneficial to both parties. Valve benefits because it is able to cash in on creative work that it didnt have to pay a cent to conceive or create. However, the creators of the mod are not used, given a quick check, and tossed aside. Alongside the notoriety and publicity, which is likely the extent of most modders goals, they are given a foot in the door to the video game industry, and in a fairly respectable door to the industry. Valve continued this tradition of mutualism by hiring the team responsible for a popular quake modification called Team Fortress to create the game as a Half-Life mod known as Team Fortress Classic. Perhaps the most peculiar instance of Valve hiring a team to expand their previous work is in the case of their highly acclaimed game Portal. Many eople are unaware that the games idea started as a student project at DigiPen Institute of Technology called Narbacular Drop (Kuchera, 2012). Upon presenting the game to Valve, the team was apparently hired on the spot by Gabe Newell in order to transfer the essence of the game to Valves Source engine. The important thing here is that the game started out as a student project. It had no budget, no employees, no marketing target. It was made completely for the purpose of showing off an idea. By hiring the team, Valve has the potential to make money on this genius idea, and they did not have to spend any time or money on its conception. Meanwhile, the team that created the game is given the more than sufficient reward (in my opinion, and probably many others) of a starting job at Valve. Now, I understand, game companies looking for and supporting the best of the best in the field is not a brilliantly new concept. The impressive thing about Valve is that they extend this â€Å"mutualism† to outside of the best of the best. You dont have to be a prodigy among modders or game developers. If you have a passion for 3D modeling or creating custom maps, Valve also has an interest in you, and you should have an interest in Valve! For over two years now, Valve has opened up to the creative community for their â€Å"hat-themed war simulator† also known as Team Fortress 2. In past updates, Valve would take their favorite hats, weapons, and maps from the contributions page and simply put them into the game. The contributor got to feel really awesome about his or herself. Then on September 30, 2010 one of the most important updates to Team Fortress 2 was released: The Mann-Conomy update, which introduced an in-game store for weapons and hats. The purchase of any community made item would show some profit to the contributor. Later, â€Å"stamps† became purchasable; players could buy them at the profit of contributors of various maps to the game. This circles back to my whole thought of â€Å"mutualism. † The community members creating these models and maps work with extreme scrutiny, not because they’re being paid or because they’re being told to; they work hard to create something more eye-catching or fascinating than everyone else so that they can get just an ounce of notoriety. Valve can easily reap all of this pro-bono work to make some money off of suckers who want shiny hats (including me), and because of the nflux of high quality community contributions, the employees have to worry much less about creating content themselves. The benefit for the contributors is that sweet notoriety (and a nice portfolio-filler), as well as a good chunk of cash they likely weren’t counting on anyway. In fact, more than three million dollars has been earned in total by community contributors to the game (Antista, 2012)! The contributions page for Team Fortress 2 has now been replaced with the Steam Workshop, which has expanded to include mods and maps for other games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Civilization V, Portal 2, and Dota 2. At the moment, only contributors for Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 can hope to see profit from their submissions, but the platform still is a very powerful, centralized step forward in the modding community (which has arguably died down in recent years). It allows for creators of content to be noticed easily by other members of an enormous community. So, Valve has succeeded in empowering the members of the modding, developing, modeling, and mapping communities. But what about the average fan? Well, this is where I believe Valve’s corporate genius really shines. Besides recently being able to say that I’m a student of Game Design and Development, I cannot consider myself any form of developer or contributor of game content right now. However, even I have felt empowered by Valve, have felt truly rewarded by Valve while I was throwing money in their face. Team Fortress 2 is, not only a contender for my favorite game of all time, but what I consider to be one of the most well planned, well executed, well-made, and refreshing games ever made. The game started as a single price-single purchase game, and remained that way for over two years. During this time Valve continued to supply the game with extra content at no cost to the player, and as the amount of content in the game increased, the price actually dropped; its lowest point was $9. 99, disregarding frequent sales. As mentioned, on September 30, 2010, one of the most important updates was introduced to the game, adding the in-game â€Å"Mann Co. Store. † Some people complained, but the reality was that all items exclusive to the store are purely cosmetic or irrelevant to gameplay. Along with introducing the store, Valve also introduced a trading feature between players. Both of these things empowered every player of the game enormously. All new weapons can always be found through random drops in game (and are just as likely to be found as older items). Most of them are able to be â€Å"crafted,† or essentially through the destruction of certain other items. Most of these crafting â€Å"recipes† are completely reasonable in my opinion; regular players will obtain many duplicate items without paying a cent. The addition of trading (and now the ability to trade steam products or items from completely different games) opens near infinite flexibility for those patient enough to find the right trader. The in-game store exists as a means of saving a lot of time, but does not allow for buying of power. Many people will argue that the default weapons a player starts the game with are better than everything else that has been released. â€Å"I think that were going to start to see- maybe not in the next year, but in the near future- games go down the route of smaller up-front experiences and lower prices at the beginning, and then the ability to extend the game through episodic material or future feature material. I think thats a direction were probably heading in. Games are gettting more expensive, and times are tough, and its getting harder to purchase every game you want. So how can we keep people playing and offer them more, but not have to make them break the bank to do it? Its going to be an interesting creative problem for us to solve. † -Jason DeLong, senior producer EA Canada, Gameinformer issue 202 This quote represents a fairly accurate anticipation about player empowerment from two years ago. DeLong believes that episodic content will be the way of the future, reasoning that we need to have multiple ways for people to be able to pay for a game, so that buying a game you’re not even sure you will like is not such a large investment. The point he presents is critical; episodic content is not quite catching on yet, but another flexible business form is: free-to-play. Less than a year after Team Fortress 2 had implemented its in-game store, a surprise announcement was made as part of the June 2011 â€Å"Uber Update. † The game would now be completely free to play for anyone with a working computer. This decision to make this move certainly could not have been an easy one for Valve; switching to free-to-play usually signifies that a game is making a last ditch effort to regain its player base or revenue, neither of which Team Fortress 2 has had a problem with in the past. The decision would end up paying off for everybody. The switch to free-to-play would â€Å"increase revenues by a factor of twelve† for Valve (Curtis, 2012). This would also empower anyone with a computer that could run the game; there was nothing stopping them now. It is crazy to think, but in this case, giving people stuff for free yielded significant returns. The success that Team Fortress 2 has had as a free-to-play game is an excellent case of empowering and almost manipulating customers to gain revenue. Valve did nothing immoral, they gave players a lot of choice, but they gave players so many choices that it became difficult to say no to every single one. I found a highly intriguing blog post from â€Å"The Psychology of Video Games† by Jamie Madigan discussing the mind tricks behind the â€Å"Mann Co. Store;† in short, it brings up two great points. First of all, the item store has implemented a feature letting players test out certain weapons for a week, and putting them at a 25 percent discount for this duration. Valve is in no way forcing you to buy the item; letting you try it out is a pure generosity. However, the sudden discount is tempting along with something the writer calls â€Å"the endowment effect† which essentially states that feeling that you own something makes you value that thing more. If you’ve already tried out an item in a few games, it might seem difficult to part with, when you could buy it for less than a buck! The other point that the writer brings up is that by selling some items at seemingly ridiculously high prices (a ring that makes an announcement to the entire player base for 100 dollars) it makes lower prices seem trivial. One cool hat you really want might be seven bucks, but there’s another decent one next to it for only two. If you imagine how much more money you could be blowing, it makes you feel less guilty for spending a couple dimes or dollars on a nice hat or weapon (Madigan, 2012). The final topic I want to touch on is something I find rather impressive. Valve’s efforts to empower its patrons may well be an effective counter to piracy. This is important to recognize when most companies try to deal with piracy through extreme force, which falls under the category of telling people what to do which will often just provoke them more. Robin Walker, Valve employee and creator of Team Fortress, has stated that countering piracy is best done by attempting to offer benefits that pirates cannot (How to beat pirates, 2011). Obviously, the largest benefit when it comes to Team Fortress 2 is being able to play online with everyone else who has the licensed game, but Robin also points out that the continuous updates to all of Valve’s games would be tedious to access frequently if you pirated the games. Steam itself is also a great asset. There are many who justifiably criticize Steam for its strict digital rights management; namely, it is difficult to play a Steam-purchased game outside of Steam. However, Steam itself is still a great tool for centralizing your gaming experience, staying connected with friends you play games with or even just regular friends. Steam is the easiest and fastest way for me and my best friend to see when we are online and able to talk. It provides powerful tools for creating community content and discovering indie games. The newest community update shows popular screenshots and discussion topics on the community page of each game. Such a centralized and empowered community is something that those who pirate games would have to work very hard to achieve. Some people have their complaints about Valve, and I cant say that Valve is anywhere near perfect. However, I cannot think of any other company that has inspired me on such a deep level. Firstly, Valve is an enormous artistic inspiration; just when I think my creativity is dead; Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 remind me of how limitless the game industry can be. Second, Valve is a landmark for success. But theres something else; theres just this feeling I get that every person working for Valve has a sense of inherent good. And that is why I have no problem dumping buckets of money on them. Thats the best way I can wrap it up, even if it sounds so stupid. Valve just knows how people work. You dont need to be a psychologist; you just have to have some common sense about what makes people happy. I look to Valve as an inspiration because I want to be creative, I want to be successful, I want people to do what I want them to do (like throw money at me), but I want to make people happy as well.