Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny

Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

Observation One
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Time: 3:00 PM-6:00PM

Description of Location: Dark Souls is set in a dystopian world that was once home to Ancient
Dragons who rules over their domain with no one to challenge them. The place was grey as there
was no light or dark until the age of fire came with the first flame. The first humans to arrive
claimed the first great souls that came with the fire. Now that the gods have their new found
power they challenged the dragons and defeated them. Gwynn Lord of Sunlight the strongest of
the gods ushered in an age of fire that brought peace to the land that is until the fire started to
dwindle over time. With a sense of urgency the search for the fuel to kindle the flame begins and
the player takes the role of the Dark Soul who is supposed to either kindle the flame himself or
usher in the age of man with darkness setting in the world of Dark Souls. The World of Dark
Souls is vast ranging from the swamps of the forest to the dark bitter dungeons of the undead
burg. There are mountains and vast amount of clouds covering the landscape and the sky. The
Sun is visible in only a select number of locations which only serves to bring more despair to a
world already filled with darkness. The setting serves to highlight the difficulty that the player
experiences while traversing the mostly dark landscape.


Literacy Practices: The literacy practices that occurred in Dark Souls are a reflection of the
gameplay elements as well as the cryptic story. For gameplay the player slowly adapts to the
surroundings as well as the enemies which enables the player to read subtle queues of what to
expect from the enemy. This ability greatly increases the chances of success for the player. The
bigger part of the literacy in Dark Souls happens with the story. The reason for this is because if
the player does not pay attention to the dialogue and explore further neutral characters back story
that is readily available in Lordran then the player can get lost as to what he or she is doing. The
story within the game also tests the players ability to comprehend different factions within the
game and their role within their world. There are other literacy practices within Dark Souls such
as the ability to write down messages on the ground so that other players within their world can
read it. The messages themselves often hold valuable information that could help the protagonist
on the journey.

The Lingo
(Before I start my observation I have to explain the certain lingo associated with the game
because if I dont the reader can get extremely confused with what I will be talking about. The
game uses terminology often exclusive to this games genre which isnt as well-known as first
person shooters per say. Also a lot of the lingo has to do with the story which is often cryptic so
this should help in getting a better understanding of the story.)

Bonfire: Bonfires serve as checkpoints within the game. You can level up here as well as
upgrade weapons and reorganize your material.

Firelink Shrine: It is the main bonfire throughout the game most neutral npcs are here and this
bonfire serves as a safe haven for the player and all friendly npcs. A lot of the story happens here
as well.
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)


I nvasion: The act of entering another players world for the purpose of to kill the opposing
player and steal their humanity. (Requires the both players to be in human form.)

Humanity: A consumable item that is used to gain health and transform the player from a
zombie hollow to a normal looking human.

Summoning: The act of getting a player to join your world in order for him or her to help you on
your way to beat a boss. (Requires the player to be in human form)

Souls: Souls act like experience which is gained when an enemy dies by the player. Souls are
used to level up and increase stats. They are also used to create weapons and upgrade weapons
and armor.

Vitality: A stat that is leveled with souls and in turn increases the amount of health the player
has.

Endurance: A stat that is leveled with souls and in turn increases the amount of stamina and the
equipment load the player has so the player can carry heavier items and run faster.

Attunement: A stat that is leveled with souls and in turn increases the amount of spells the player
can carry at any time.

Strength: A stat that is leveled with souls and in turn increases the damage dealt with any
weapon that requires strength. Strength is also necessary to be able to wield strength weapons.
Strength weapons include weapons from spears to great swords.

Dexterity: A stat that is leveled with souls and in turn increases the damage dealt with any
weapon that requires dexterity. Dexterity is also necessary to be able to wield dexterity weapons.
Dexterity based weapons include weapons from daggers to straight swords.

I ntelligence: A stat that is leveled that increases sorcery damage.

Faith: A stat that is leveled that increases miracle damage.

Rules and Conventions: The rules in Dark Souls are simple in that the player is required to sit
down for an extended period of time and just play the game but it gets more complicated as you
go. The reason is because the game is often described as being incredibly unforgiving that some
players resort to hacking or throwing their controller at anything nearby because of the amount
of stress and anger the game can cause. Now in game the rules shift to fit the figured world
within. The player can play in any way he or she desires as it is an open world game but you
cannot resort to cheating as that would go against what the game is designed to accomplish. The
player can chose to play offline or online and thus have the ability to play with other players
within any players world. You can attack opposing players if you are invading or you can help
other players defeat a boss if the player is summoned. Now in regards to the NPCs within the
game it is generally regarded as negative if the player attacks the NPC for any reason yet that
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

play style is still viable. Do not expect to attack an NPC and get away with it. The player cannot
join more than one covenant at any time. The player can only wield two main hand weapons and
two offhand weapons or shields. The player can wear any armor within the game but heavy
armor will slow down the player exponentially which in turn decreases mobility which often
results in a lot of deaths. Now every weapon can be equipped due to certain minimum stats
needed for each weapon. The final rule is that every death is entirely the players fault one way
or another, the game is not at fault when the player dies due to being too aggressive or careless.

Figured World: a world that is already present yet given meaning by the actors and
artifacts that populate the landscape. The actors and artifacts shape a figured world by
their ideals and sets of rules enforced upon it.

Appropriate Behavior: In this figured world there is no select path to playing the game as the
game rewards exploration with its open world mechanics of the game. The game does not need
to be completed as some people just look to getting to a certain point in order to pvp in the arena.
Others look to complete the game multiple times with dozens of play throughs as with each play
through completed the next play through gets even harder. Yet even with all the different plays
of playing the game there is still a select few rules that the community frowns upon if they are
broken. The rules revolve around hacking in order to gain an advantage within a game that is
designed to be hard in order to function properly. Some hack in order to gain increased stats and
items that are not normally available within the game. The purpose of this is to either make the
game easier or to gain an unfair advantage in PVP. Others hack the game in order to hack other
peoples game by corrupting other players save files thus running the game for other people but
this is a rare case and does not happen very often.

Actors: Someone or something that fits into a specific figured world. They can operate in
any way according to the rules of a figured world. They shape the artifacts and the figured
worlds and vice versa. Artifacts can be actors and actors can be artifacts. Actors also create
the rules and ideals that are accepted within the figured world.

The Dark Soul (player): The player is the chosen undead who by prophecy will take the
place of Lord Gwyn to either continue the age of fire or to end it by stopping Gwyn from
burning himself. The player will kill many bosses and sacrifice many neutral NPCs in
order to achieve the ending the player desires. The way Lordran looks will also change
according to the players actions thus the players actions carry heavy weight throughout
the world.
The Gods: The gods within Dark Souls are giants who have acquired the first great souls
within the first flame. They challenged the Dragons and thus took their place as rulers of
Lordran. Gwynn shortly afterwards ushered in the age of fire with his own soul. Yet after
a series of events the flame begins to fade thus the Chosen Undead emerges to take his
place. The Witch of Izalith is a god that represents Life as she wields flames within her
hands. When the flame began to fade, the Witch of Izalith tries to create another flame
with her own soul yet her soul grows out of control thus consuming her and causing her
to become demented. Gravelord Nito is the god of Disease and Death and resides within
the catacombs which is located deep within the world of Lordran. It is rumored that
Gravelord Nito is one who is responsible for the diminishing of the age of fire and the
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

first flame. The furtive pygmy is an unknown god who hides deep within the abyss. He is
the god who holds the Dark Soul (The Chosen Undead) and thus releases the player when
the flame begins to decline.
Neutral NPCs: Neutral NPCs populate the world of Lordran and for the most part seek
to help the player in any way possible by either allowing them to do certain actions or
trading items for a mini quest that the player performs. Yet killing them also helps the
player albeit only short term as they drop certain valuable items that can be quite
powerful.
Hostile NPCs: Neutral NPCs can be hostile if the player choses to betray them or attack
them. The world of Lordran also has a plethora of enemy npcs who seek to halt you from
achieving your goal by dealing heavy damage and in turn killing the player. Most of the
enemies of Lordran are Hollows who are normal humans who turned undead due to the
diminishing of the first flame.
Real Players: The game is meant to play online as there is pvp which shapes the
landscape in a certain way as well as invading another player who is trying to finish the
games main story line. An Invasion occurs when the player is human and on his/her way
to a boss in order to further the cause. Once an Invasion occurs the enemy player begins
to hunt the player alongside the multiple npcs who also hunt the player within the area. If
the player successfully dispatches the invader, the player is rewarded with experience and
items. If the player dies then they are sent back to the bonfire which serves as a
checkpoint.
Artifacts: Objects or things that are important within a figured world. They also help
the actors of the world shape the figured world with certain rules or ideas. An artifact
can also serve as a precedent to a certain rule created by an actor.

First Flame: The first flame represents hope for all life on Lordran because if it fades
then eternal darkness will engulf the land thus turning most humans hollow.
Light: Light is a representation of fire as it is what is inside every human within Lordran.
The more light is created the more darkness occurs within the shadow it casts. It is what
guides teamwork within Lordran.
Dark: The dark is what is inside every human and fights with the light for power. It
serves to highlight the evil within Lordran.
Bonfire: The bonfires of Lordran are linked to Gwyns first flame and thus serve as
checkpoints within the world of Lordran. They also help fight off the undead curse that
plagues humans. This is essential because if a human turns hollow then they effectively
become zombies.
Teamwork: Teamwork is important as it serves to help the player finish the game with
help from Neutral NPCs or from online players who can be summoned to defeat a boss. It
is often brought up when the player cannot get past a certain obstacle but can finish it
with the help of another player.
Weapons: The Weapons of Lordran shape the power struggle within Lordran. Each
enemy wields a weapon while each helpful human also wields a weapon for defense.
Without weapons there would be no power struggle between light and dark.
Discourse Communities

Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

Covenants: Covenants are a group of actors who share ideals and use their numbers and
specific powers to further their agenda. There are many covenants within the land of
Dark Souls and each is seen as inherently evil or neutral as they seek to shape the world
around them. Some are designed to help others who struggle with the game while others
seek to make other players suffer even more with added difficulty. Each Covenant has
their artifacts and their own lore to go with it and this Lore is what makes alliances with
others or enemies with the rest.
Players: The game is meant to play online as there is pvp which shapes the landscape in
a certain way as well as invading another player who is trying to finish the games main
story line. An Invasion occurs when the player is human and on his/her way to a boss in
order to further the cause. Once an Invasion occurs the enemy player begins to hunt the
player alongside the multiple npcs who also hunt the player within the area. If the player
successfully dispatches the invader, the player is rewarded with experience and items. If
the player dies then they are sent back to the bonfire which serves as a checkpoint.
Gods: The gods within Dark Souls each form their own discourse community which
makes it so that there are four god based factions within the game. The overall arching
goal of the gods is to preserve the first flame which keeps the world lit as well as keep the
darkness at bay. The gods also have their followers who have special attacks or abilities
because they are aligned with the gods. There are three main god covenants within the
game, some more relevant than others. The first is the sunlight covenant which follows
Lord Gwyyn in his quest to keep the flame going. This covenant is perhaps the most
powerful one as it is aligned with the most powerful god. The second covenant is the
Chaos Covenant, which follows the Witch of Izalith. The Witch of Izalith was consumed
by her own power long before the first player set foot in the game which means that
joining the covenant has no greater purpose other than to access special powers. The third
and least talked about covenant is the Gravelord Covenant which follows Lord Nito who
seeks to spread death and disease through his covenant. Once the player joins the
covenant, the player acquires the ability to spread curses across other players worlds
which in turn makes the game even harder. There are other covenants which follow the
gods yet most of them are not relevant enough in the story to features along the three
main ones.

Observation 1 and Analysis 1
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Time: 3:00 PM-6:00PM

(Note during the observation it is becomes obvious that the observation is rather jumpy and not
as well polished as you would expect of an observation. The reason for this is because that Dark
Souls does not have any way of pausing the game. The game purposely does this to even
increase the difficulty even more than the traditional games. A person can imagine that I couldnt
pause the game to take quick notes of observation otherwise I would surely die by the hands of
the many enemies within the game. The analysis within these observations is also tied in with the
observation itself within the time intervals. They serve as an afterthought to what happened
within the game and to better explain what is happening as well as what I could have done
better.)

Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

3:00 PM: As I started this new play through I was found in the undead asylum only to be freed
by a fellow undead named Oscar. Oscar tries to kick start the prophecy by opening all the cells of
the undead. The chosen undead is then freed and finds himself almost at the door that is the exit
to the Asylum. Yet as the player tries to escape they are met with the Asylum Demon thus being
forced to run away as the player is not ready. The player then finds Oscar fatally wounded by the
Asylum demon previous to our encounter. He gives the estus flask (healing potion) and the
pilgrim key that unlocks the gates of the Undead Asylum. Before the player leaves Oscar tells of
a prophecy which states, Thou who art Undead, art chosen, in thine exodus from the Undead
Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords, when though ringeth the Bell of
Awakening, the fate of the Undead thou shalt know.
3:30 PM: Once the player leaves Oscar dies and turns hollow. After the player talks to Oscar,
the fight with the Demon begins. The Demon has multiple attacks that can quickly drain the
players health bar. Yet armed with a strong weapon the player can quickly dispatch the demon
and thus escape the Asylum. After I escape the Asylum I make my way to fire link shrine which
is the main waypoint within the game. The place is lush with grass and features an expansive
view of the world. There is an NPC there who sarcastically tells me of my quest which entails
me to ring two bells one high up in the undead church and one down below in the ruins of blight
town.

4:00 PM: I scout the area for valuables and quickly replenish my estus flask at the bonfire before
heading out to ring the first bell at the undead church. I find 5 hollows who guard the small
sewer that I need to go to in order to find the undead burg. I kill the first 3 but then die to the
fourth one as they push me off the ledge. I respawn at the bonfire a little frustrated then quickly
make my way up to kill all five of the hollows guarding the entrance. I quickly get inside the
sewer which is grey and filled with shallow dark water. I get to the undead burg quickly as there
arent any enemies there. Once I make it to the Undead Burg I find many hollows that kill me
time and time again.

4:30 PM: The Undead burg is an open world dungeon that is gritty and washed out. There are
many ledges where death is swift and there are many houses that house many enemies with few
rewards. There is one bonfire that is in the middle of the burg off to the left side within a little
cove of a house. I finally kill the many hollows that house the place but find myself at the Tarus
Demon which is a more difficult version of the Asylum Demon as well as a different move set. I
die a total of 10 times at this boss before I kill him with 30 hp left. After I kill the boss I look out
over the bridge where the fight occurred only to find many clouds with the sun shining wildly in
every direction.

5:00 PM: I quickly get passed the bridge and find myself at an even bigger bridge. There are 6
hollows waiting for me there except these hollows are better equipped as they wear more armor
and feature a bigger shield. When I make my way to the middle of a bridge a huge drake that is
covered with red scales, breathes fire and quickly kills me in one go. I wasnt even mad because
the Drake is so well designed that he looks fearsome with the red scales and black eyes that he
features. I make my way back to the bridge that the Drake is now visibly guarding from the other
side. I decide to run as fast as possible and make my way down a set of stairs that is in the
middle of the bridge. As I get to the stairs the Drake quickly launches a huge column of flame in
my direction and Knicks me for half health. I replenish my health and quickly sit at the bonfire
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

that is down the stairs below me. I feel as if Ive accomplished a lot yet I know I havent even
beat a main boss.

5:30 PM: After I barely make it to the stairs in the middle of the bridge, I run down and sit at the
bonfire and find out that I can get past the dragon by moving under the bridge. Underneath the
bridge there are three columns that make it so that there is ample space to walk in between the
columns but since the columns are 20 feet wide I have to walk carefully along the edge of the
bridge carefully not to get knocked off by the two armored enemies that are under the bridge. My
first death happened there when I tried to run past the enemy only for him to shield bash me and
knock me off the edge. I quickly make my way back down there and end up killing the enemy by
getting behind him and hitting him for critical damage. The second enemy blocks the path on a
narrow walkway towards a door. The enemy constantly keeps his shield up so I result to kicking
him off with a shield bash. I make my way inside only to find a ladder that leads up and three
rats that are guarding the room inside. The room itself is dark and brown with one or two crates
on the sides of a wall. I died here multiple times because the rats cause poison with every attack
so I die rather quickly which is unexpected of an enemy that is supposed to be easy. After a
couple of tries at the rats I finally kill them without getting poisoned and I make my way up the
ladder to find steps that lead to an open courtyard of a church. I end up setting the game down
here so I can rest and recollect my thoughts.

Observation 2 and Analysis 2
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Time: 3:00 PM-5:00PM


3:00 PM: I get back into the game and find myself within the courtyard there are three
normal enemies, an armored bore, and two crossbowmen that are at the top of the steps
which is near the church doors. As soon as I step into the courtyard the three normal enemies
chase after me and kill me because they cornered me. Frustrated, I respawn at the previous
bonfire and quickly get my way back to the courtyard while staying careful of the rats. I
climb up the ladder to find that there is a weapon that is situated to the right of the courtyard.
I pick it up to find that it is a halberd and that I have the right amount of strength and
dexterity to wield it. I found that this weapon was perfect with dealing with the first three
enemies. Now the armored bore is completely covered in metal except for its back so I dodge
its running attack and stab it in the back repeatedly in order to kill it. I end up skipping the
crossbowmen because it didnt look like they would drop anything other than damaging me if
I get too close. I make my way inside and realize that this is a ruined church and resembles
something of a cathedral. There is no one inside on the first floor except for normal enemies
which I kill quickly. I make my way upstairs and find that there is a knight who is wearing
balder armor which is quite good and carries an extremely long slender sword. With that
sword he kills me six times because this enemy is smarter than the normal enemies and this
enemy also heals when he gets low.

3:30 PM: My first three deaths were because I didnt know how to deal with him and didnt
know his attack pattern. On my fifth and sixth death it was because I got him low enough
which made me greedy and in turn I tried to kill him quickly but he countered my sword and
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

stabbed me for a critical. I end up killing him on my 7
th
try only to find that there is a
sorcerer down the narrow corridor onto of the stairs. He has low health but deals high
damage so I hug the wall which protects me from his spells and wait for him to cast one more
spell which gives me an opening to go and quickly take him down. There are two pathways
from this corridor. One path leads to a room that has a chest in it and leads to a ladder while
the other pathway leads to another corridor with a door that I can open. I head to the pathway
that holds the door and find that there is a neutral npcs within a cell. I talk to him and from
the start I know that something isnt right because he doesnt reveal his intentions and also
chuckles crazily at the end of every line of dialogue. His name is Lautrec of Carim and wears
golden armor with intricate designs. One of those designs appear to be hands on his chest
which appear as if they are hugging him. Anyway I end up freeing him because he wasnt a
threat to me and he promised me a reward in return which he will give me at Fire link Shrine.

4:00 PM: After I free him I look around the area around his cell to find some souls on some
dead bodies. One thing I forgot to mention is that in this whole area there are bodies strewn
around that have souls that I can collect from them and because they are a lot I dont mention
them often. So I head back and head towards the other path and find about 15 normal
hollows. They are easy but because there are so many they act like a mob so they mow me
down quickly so I start back all the way at the bonfire at the bridge which is guarded by a
Drake. So since the enemies respawn I have to fight through all the enemies again and on my
way there I die so much that I lost count. Once I make it back to the church I find that there is
a shortcut which is an elevator that leads to Firelink Shrine. So now if I die I can quickly
make my way back to the church instead of having to start at the bridge. I go to Firelink
Shrine to set my checkpoint there but also so I can get my reward from Lautrec. Lautrec is
surprised to see me when I first talk to him but ends up giving me some humanity and tells
me to leave as he is going on some mission that he cant tell me. Which is true because when
I come back to the bonfire he is gone.

4:30 PM: Back on track I get back to the elevator which leads to the church and fight the
knight that guards the stairs upward since Ive figured out his attack pattern I end up killing
him faster than on my last encounter with him and make my way to find that the sorcerer
from before isnt there which is weird because I thought all the enemies respawn. I go to the
path that has the mob of enemies and I end up using the halberd since it kills each one of
them in one hit while keeping me at a safe distance. I find the ladder from before and make
my way up there. There is a fog door up there and nothing else so I brace myself for a boss
fight on the roof of the church. I equip what I can and head through the door only to find that
there are clouds covering the sky with a nice view of the sun which peaks through the clouds.
I havent seen the sun in this game since I first started the game which shows how gritty this
game is and how hopeless the situation is for everyone within the story of the game. I admire
the view but quickly look around to figure out if there are any enemies. I find that there is
nothing alive up here and across the roof there is this small tower that looks like a lighthouse
except square around the base and has a bell near the top. There are also gargoyle statues on
the outside of the structure near the top of it. I quickly remember why I came here and that is
because I have to ring two bells and one of them is apparently this one. So I run forward and
as I cross the half-way point of the roof an in game cut scene happens and it focuses on the
tower then to the gargoyles they appear lifeless until one of them starts to twitch and comes
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

to life. The gargoyle roars and lands heavily on the roof then the cut scene ends. I decide to
end it right here because I was above my time constraint and I know I was going to die here
multiple times by the looks of this boss fight.

Observation 3 and Analysis 3
January 30, 2014
3:00 PM-5:00 PM

3:00 PM: Getting back into the game I had a lot of time to recollect my thoughts so I thought
up of a strategy to kill him except that I didnt live long enough to try it out. After the cut
scene ended the dramatic music started playing which set the scene and this gargoyle that is
about ten times my size flies at me to do a ground slam with its tail. Its important to note
that its tail is a great axe which is cool and terrifying at the same time. I barely dodge the
slam and I go in for quick hit before the boss recovers. I did about 75 damage which looked
like I did about 1/75 of his health bar. I cant change weapons to see if something else is
better because not only is the gargoyle constantly attacking me with his halberd that he
carries but also because in Dark Souls you cannot pause the game. I recollect my thoughts
and focus on dodging and blocking his attacks with my shield.

3:30 PM: The gargoyle has a lot of moves he uses that quickly deplete my stamina which
leaves me stunned and his attacks also take away big chunks of my health. The gargoyle does
an overhead slam which I dodge and in turn I go in for a hit but I didnt realize the boss had
already recovered and just slashed me with his tail. I have half health now so I back off and
wait for an opening so I can heal. The boss stays on me the whole time so I couldnt heal
without taking a hit from him which would be pointless. So I kept looking for openings when
the gargoyle would fly away from me to do a ground slam that I could dodge. I hit him
around 8 more times before the gargoyle started to dodge my attacks. It seemed that the boss
was learning my behavior but I didnt realize this till the gargoyle baited my attack only for
him to counter me and kill me with one hit. I spawn at Firelink shrine and change my gear to
a more damaging but slower weapon, the halberd. I quickly get back up there and kill the
enemies on the way to the boss fight.

4:00 PM: I find myself at the fog door and get ready to fight as soon as I step in. There is no
cut scene this time. The gargoyle was waiting for me at the beginning of the fight and
immediately flies to me to get a hit but I raise my shield to block it which leaves both me and
the gargoyle staggered. I run away to recover and heal as his attack went through my shield.
The gargoyle is now on me now and I decide to be aggressive this time instead of waiting for
an opening which proved successful enough as I end up taking off about 25% of his health
using this strategy.

4:30 PM: Yet I got hit with his tail towards the end which took almost all my health so now I
am back on the defensive and fighting an uphill battle. I wait for the gargoyle to attack so I
can back off and heal which I do after he attacks. Then I go back to finding openings to
attack him. At this point Im actually winning and quickly draining the gargoyles health but I
quickly find that everything I did was pointless. This is because as soon as I get him to 50%
health another gargoyle flies down from the tower and now its a two on one fight. To add to
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

that both gargoyles not only attack with their halberds but they also breathe fire. I dont know
who to focus first so I end up dying quite a lot.

5:00 PM: Skipping to the fight that I won! Which puts me at 1 kill to 32 deaths in favor of
the gargoyles. I quickly once again head back up the desolate church stairs that has the all too
familiar undead knight blocking my path. I have memorized every action that he has which
makes it so that it is all too easy to kill. Once he comes in for the familiar attack I quickly
parry his attack and hit him in the back once for a one hit KO. The Knight falls to the ground
on one knew then vanishes in a cloud of smoke and dust. Once I make it up the stairs I have
one more obstacle before I fight the gargoyles. The horde of hollows wait for me in an open
area which blocks the ladder room. They are positioned in a way so that they would quickly
ambush most players. I decide to skip them and run past them as fast as I can while taking
little damage. I climb up the ladder as the hollows are behind me. I heal up once again before
the fog door and hope for the best. I step in this time hoping it would be my last only to have
the Gargoyle fly in the air for the familiar slam attack. I dodge almost as if it is routine at this
point and quickly go in for multiple hits.

5:30 PM: At this point Im so fed up with this fight that if I dont win soon I might as well
quit the game just because of the amount of frustration that this fight causes. I end up going
in for full on damage as I rush in tanking some of his light hits only for me to discover that if
I damage him enough in quick succession I can stun him for a couple of seconds. I didnt
know how to react as I see the gargoyle fall down on his hands and knees while barely
clutching his halberd. I just keep hitting and hitting till I get him to 1/3 his total hp. Im
screaming on the inside but now the second gargoyle dropped down from the bell tower in a
smash and is readying his fire breath attack that will surely kill me if I dont get out of its
way. I run across the roof perpendicular to where the gargoyle is breathing fire in order to get
away. The sun is shining across the sky which contrasts heavily to the brown ceiling tiles as
well as the gritty church. I rush in to the wounded gargoyle and quickly kill him in 5 quick
hits. I couldnt believe that I dodged both gargoyles in that little Rambo rush. Now its one
on one and it becomes easy to dodge the fire when there is only one target to worry about.
Once he breathes fire I go in for multiple hits a couple of times until the last gargoyle is dead.
The gargoyle falls in a shriek and vanishes while leaving behind his helmet and his halberd. I
put on both the helmet and the weapon and only just realize that I beat the boss. I climb up
the longest ladder to ever be featured in a video game only to cut to a cut scene which
focuses on the surrounding sun and the tower which means that I am victorious.

The Interview
February 3, 2014

Ive chosen to interview a friend of mine who also plays Dark Souls and so happens to be my
gaming buddy. The reason I chose to interview him over creating a character that is in game
in order to conduct the interview because I would rather interview a person experienced with
the game in every aspect rather than having a made up character portraying thoughts I
already know and create.

Me: Which path do you take in order to beat Dark Souls? Which ending did you chose?
Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)


Me: By ending I mean like your 1st play through

Austin: I take kindling the flame over being a dark lord

Me: How come?

Austin: Because I see it as a good ending and the fact that youre just extending the age of
fire. Id rather help the people within the game in any way I can than just abandon them and
let them die.

Me: But arent you prolonging their suffering.

Austin: Thats a different argument all together and has tons of speculation.

Me: But doesnt the age of fire die off one way or another?

Austin: Yes it does

Austin: Regardless of what happens the age of fire will die out

Austin: I just wanted to extend it for humanity to live for a bit longer

Me: Okay gotcha but did you help any npcs along the way or did you try to steer away from
any npcs in the area?

Austin: I did interact with the npcs

Me: Which covenant did you stay with towards the end and why not chose another?

Austin: Near the end I jumped to different covenants just to see what they had but in the end
I stayed with the way of white because I wanted to help friends out

Austin: but thanks to a mod I was about to be summoned by my friends without the
covenants help so I mainly stay in the dragon covenant

Me: Okay now talking about friends and pvp what group of players do you most fit in with in
regards to pvp?

Austin: Well what types?

Me: Hacker, Casual, hardcore, or just to have fun.

Austin: Im in between hardcore and casual.

Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

Austin: Because Im still looking for a job and trying to focus on keeping friendships alive at
the same time

Me: Okay now since you've played Dark Souls a lot what do you think separates Dark Souls
from other games within its genre?

Austin: Dark souls is a game that depends on your skill and knowledge of the game

Austin: But the difficulty is what makes the game stand out

Austin: Its unforgiving but it keeps to what makes the game good story graphics and
gameplay

Austin: Story is pretty interesting and it lets you understand what the situation of the world is

Austin: Graphics pretty good

Austin: And gameplay is amazing

Me: What aspect of the game do you enjoy more, pvp or story?

Austin: the pvp aspect

Me: Alright now if you could fix anything in Dark Souls and put them in Dark Souls 2, what
would be the 5 most important things to fix and why?

Austin: Okay

Austin: The 5 things they should do

Austin: 1. they need to fix the backstab and parry hit boxes because of lag stabs or just plane
reverse back stabs

Austin: 2. Increase a bit of story and add a pvp side for like maybe an arena that would be a
dlc
Release.

Austin: 3. I would probably see if you can put more time into stopping hackers or modified
files from popping into the pvp and standard game play

Austin: 4. The customization of skills and keep a help like selection up to tell you what they
are but have it on the main menu so it isnt something that doesnt bug the player with in
game playing

Austin: 5 make more areas to explore and add more pvp spots

Observation Assignment Mahmoud Alhousseiny
Location: Dark Souls (Lordran)

Me: Okay thanks a lot man this really helps.

Austin: your welcome and I hope you are getting Dark Souls 2 when it comes out.

Me: Of course I have to get it.