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In these days of cinematic universes and endless sequels, stories that used to be simple are becoming increasingly complex, loaded with backstory and lore that practically requires a degree to wrap your head around. But this phenomenon? It's hardly new.To get more news about buy wow gold shadowlands, you can visit lootwowgold official website.
Since at least the days of Tolkien, fantasy-rich tales like Lord of the Rings have relied on cohesive systems of lore, history and universe-building to attract audiences.
But often that's easier said than done. In 2020, as megabrands like Marvel and Star Wars stretch themselves thin across movies, TV, video games, books and comics, someone needs to be responsible for making sure things retain a modicum of consistency.Starting life in 1994, but reaching critical mass with 2004's World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft universe is one of the best examples of a long-running, multimedia narrative. Five core video games, five tabletop card games, over 30 novels, 10 comics, six manga and a film adaptation have all been released in the space of the last 26 years.
We spoke to Steve Danuser, lead narrative designer for World of Warcraft, to find out how one gigantic multiplatform universe can cohesively function across so many different forms of media. "A big part of my job is to focus on the game and make sure that our team is telling great stories within the world, but another big part of it is also interfacing with all the other departments at Blizzard," Danuser said.
More often than not, it comes down to three C's: consistency, context and credible growth. As the story grows, it needs to do so for constructive reasons -- not just for the sake of it.World of Warcraft lies at the heart of the Warcraft universe's continued success. The massively multiplayer online role-playing game has consistently attracted millions of players over its 16-year history.
Danuser's role is to create the story at the heart of this massive universe, from coming up with plotlines and dialogue through to corralling a huge team of writers, designers and other creatives.
To keep the narrative in line with supplementary novels, comics, manga and more, the most critical element is the capacity for intense communication. Establishing the cadence of these supplementary media forms is paramount in evaluating how they fit into the story.When it comes to books, for example, we have long-term strategy meetings where I tell them what's going on in the game and then we talk about ideas for books that can arise out of that," Danuser said.
But this relies heavily on the development of a central narrative, capable of spanning pages upon pages of content, planned months -- sometimes years -- in advance. It's something Tom van Laer, a professor of narratology at the University of Sydney, Australia, refers to as a "signature story."
"A signature story has a couple of features," explains van Laer. "It's perceived as authentic, while at the same time is incredibly involving. There's a lot going on. They tend to be quite epic -- big searches for cradles of knowledge, for example."
Unlike World of Warcraft’s Legion and Battle For Azeroth expansions, which gave players a choice on which zones to level up their characters, Shadowlands’ story campaign is very linear. Fortunately you only have to play through it once. With the new Threads of Fate mode, players who’ve reached max level can skip the story with their alts and get right into the covenant reputation grind. It’s such a good idea. To get more news about buy WoW items, you can visit lootwowgold official website.
Before my colleague, Ashley Parrish, brought the Threads of Fate mode to my attention, I was dreading the thought of having to play through Shadowlands’ linear storyline over and over again to level my alts. While the story is entertaining enough, it’s a straightforward introduction to Shadowlands’ four new adventure zones and the covenants who control them. The real meat of the expansion happens after the story, as players begin forging bonds with the covenant of their choice. The choice between joining the Kyrian, Venthyr, Necrolord or Night Fae determines a character’s identity in Shadowlands. It’s the gear they earn, the additional powers they gain access to, and the activities they participate in.
Threads of Fate mode allows players who’ve already selected a covenant on one character to skip the story bits and get right to the good stuff with their alts. My rogue went through the entire story, learning about the lands of Bastion, Maldraxxus, Revendreth, and Ardenweald while progressing from level 50 to 60. At level 60 she was able to select her covenant, the Night Fae. Thanks to my rogue’s heroic sacrifice, my warlock, a gnome named Murlock, could jump right to selecting a covenant.
Murlock still had to go through Shadowlands’ opening quest, escaping the “inescapable” Maw, but once she hit the expansion’s hub city of Oribos, she was given a choice: replay through the story, or fast track to covenant selection via Threads of Fate.
Nine Chinese schools were ranked in the FT’s top 100 in 2020 (seven in the top 50), compared with just three in 2010.
US schools still dominate the ranking, with 51 of the top 100 from the United States, the birthplace of the MBA degree. But, together with the UK, China is now home to the most FT-ranked schools after the US.
The rise of Chinese business schools in the FT MBA ranking runs alongside China’s rise as a world economic superpower.
A wave of successful businessmen, who got rich quick during China’s boom, demanded more formal management education—and that desire soon spread. The last decades have seen a proliferation of Chinese business schools launching MBA programs and gaining some global acclaim.
The strong performance of Chinese schools in the FT MBA ranking can be explained, in part, by the ranking’s methodology.
The FT places a strong emphasis on jobs data: placement rates and average salaries three years after graduation. It also takes into account measures like career progression, value for money, and the diversity of the MBA class.
Chinese schools tend to perform well for value for money and the salary increases their students—who start from a lower base than their Western counterparts—achieve after graduation.
Take, for example, the MBA at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s Antai College of Economics and Management, one of the oldest and most prestigious schools in China. Antai is ranked the 37th best business school in the world and third in mainland China by the FT. But it’s when you break down the FT data that you discover the true value of the MBA.
While you can get a new job and a higher salary out of most MBA programs, studying an MBA in China offers something that schools in the US and Europe can’t: Direct access to the world’s fastest-growing economy.
In China, students get access to a changing business environment, where schools focus chiefly on technology and entrepreneurship, and, with Chinese business society’s strong reliance on personal relationships, where building a network during your MBA really matters.
Doing an MBA in China is a way for professionals to get their feet in the door of Chinese firms. Antai, for example, is partnered with organizations like Ant Financial, the world-leading financial technology company, and the Bank of China.
MBA students at the school get to network with senior executives and attend major events like the Antai Symphony summit, where business leaders discuss the latest developments in fintech and mobile payments.
As the Chinese government invests abroad and Chinese companies like Alibaba and Huawei become global behemoths, knowledge of China has also become importance wherever you work. While Chinese business schools have traditionally struggled to attract international students, they are growing increasingly diverse.
According to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), 41% of MBA programs in China saw growth in international applications in 2019, with a further 23% reporting stable international applications.
Antai is the school with the most international MBA students in mainland China (43% of the MBA class), according to the FT. Chinese schools also have a strong representation of women on their MBA programs. 51% of MBA students at Antai are women and 35% of faculty are women.
Held at the CREATE Tower, the unveiling ceremony was officiated by Hong Xiaoyong, Chinese ambassador to Singapore. Hong and SJTU Party Secretary and Chairman of University Council Jiang Sixian jointly inaugurated the new institute.
Ong said in his speech that SJTU is one of the first universities to bring its programs outside of China, benefiting nearly 600 graduates in Singapore.
SJTU-APGI is a strong indication of SJTU's commitment of nurturing business and research talents in Singapore, he added.
The education minister expressed hopes that the new institute will spark more collaboration, promote exchanges between Singapore and China.
Hong said in his speech the institute will provide a new platform for the exchanges between SJTU and Singapore and inject new blood into the cooperation between Chinese higher learning institutions and their Singapore counterparts.
In his keynote speech, Jiang reviewed the history of SJTU and looked forward to the future of SJTU-APGI, which he believes marks a new phase of international education of SJTU and friendship between Singapore and China.
Vice Dean of SJTU-APGI Dong Ming, said the institute positions itself as an extension of SJTU's education and research efforts, as well as a platform for overseas resource integration and internationalization. The overall goal of SJTU-APGI is to promote the innovation of systems and integration of resources, and in turn, open up new global prospects in the fields of education and research, according to him.
The main operational body of SJTU-APGI includes the General Affairs Office and four other centers - Antai Asia-Pacific Center, Urban Governance Research Centre, CREATE Program Management Center, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Southeast Asia Affairs Center, Dong said.
Shanghai's biggest international airport momentarily descended into chaos Sunday night, after authorities ordered a mass testing drive-in response to a small outbreak of COVID-19 linked to several cargo handlers.To get more news about shanghai coronavirus cases, you can visit shine news official website.
Since the beginning of November, seven cargo workers and their close contacts at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport have been diagnosed as confirmed coronavirus cases, including two reported on Sunday.
In a bid to contain the cluster, authorities ordered all cargo staff at the airport to undergo coronavirus tests overnight and set up a temporary testing site on the second floor of a parking garage, according to a statement from the Shanghai government.
Photos and videos circulating on Chinese social media show hundreds of people packed closely together inside the garage -- the opposite of social distancing -- with a line of people in hazmat suits trying to hold back crowds pushing forward.
The laminated glass is formed by compressing the glass and wire mesh through metal rollers. Generally, the glass often adopts annealed glass or tempered glass; the embed wire mesh often adopts the decorative wire mesh or architectural wire mesh.Mesh Laminated not only has excellent ability of anti-attack and anti-seismic, but also protects people from injury. Thus it becomes a fashionable and practical decorative material in modern interior and exterior design.
Fused between glass, these mesh interlayer weaves and patterns can be spacious and loose or tightly woven, and can be applied in exterior glass curtainwalls as part of an effective daylighting strategy. Many of the materials have the option to be printed with UV resistant colorant added strength of design.
Its functions as tabletop, cabinet top, furniture decoration, window screen, door screen, sloped or overhead glazing, cladding, ceiling, sun screening, translucent canopies, space divider, curtain wall, etc. The application area can be for residential homes, restaurant, buildings, opera theater, music hall, museums, prisons, office buildings, government buildings, jewelry stores, banks, airports, schools, hospitals, hotels, high-end places, etc.
There is a mix of glass and metalized meshes to create one of the most stunning architectural products available today. It is available in varied range of Aluminium, Bronze, Gold and Copper Mesh laminated glass products.
process
Laminated glass is the process by which two or more layers of glass are bonded together using PVB (polyvinyl butyl) or EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) using heat and pressure. This process can be carried out using annealed or toughened / tempered glass of any thickness to create safety or acoustic glass in large panel sizes.
dimensions:
Minimum thickness 14 mm (6+6mm glass + laminated interlayer) dependent on mesh.
Additional thickness on request or glass specification required.
Width dependent on mesh. Max length 4700mm.
glass type:
Float glass -slightly green tint.
Low iron -crystal clear.
Metal meshes laminates can also be combined with silvered/mirrored or opaque backing layers of glass for use as cladding, or when fixing back to structural substrates.
additional information:
Glass can be toughened / tempered or laminated to required national & international safety standards.
Tailor - made to clients' requirements, including curved to radius, cut to complex shapes and drilled or countersunk.
Glass is made from liquid sand in the form of an amorphous (non-crystalline) solid that displays a glass transition near its melting point at around 1,700°C (3,090°F). It is typically transparent or translucent, and its most common form is silicate glass, which consists mainly of silica or silicon dioxide (SiO2).To get more news about wired glass, you can visit boegger.net official website.
Glass is a very commonly used material because, whilst still molten, it can be manipulated into forms suitable for a very wide range of uses, from packaging and household objects to car windscreens, building windows, and so on. There are many different types of glass, depending on the use required.
Wired glass (sometimes referred to as Georgian wired glass or GW glass) was invented by Frank Shuman in 1982. It has a wire mesh embedded within it during the manufacturing process and the glass is generally obscured (it has a visually distorting rolled surface pattern). The wire mesh does not improve its impact resistance, but it ensures that if the glass breaks, the broken pieces are retained by the wire mesh and do not fall out, which could create a hazard. It can also ensure glazing retains its overall shape, continuing to form a barrier even though it has broken.
Wired glass typically has a grid size of around 12.5mm and is used as a low-cost fire resistant glass in which the wire holds the glass in place if high temperature causes it to break. It can also be used for security reasons, or in areas where impact is likely and it is commonly found in doors and windows.
Wired glass is less visually attractive and not as strong as laminated glass or toughened glass. There have also been safety concerns in relation to wired glass, as the shards of glass remain in place after breakage, which can cause injury. Alternatives include glass reinforced by a polycarbonate mesh which is lighter, easier to cut and more difficult to break.
In the story, 18-year old high school student Sean Lloyd in Burlington, Ontario, pushed open a hallway door glazed with wired glass. His arm not only broke the glass, but penetrated it, causing severe injuries to the muscles, tendons and nerves in his right arm. Even after major surgery, he still has functional limitations in his arm and will most likely have permanent nerve damage. Lloyd’s family has now filed a $5 million (CAD) lawsuit against the Halton Catholic District School Board in Ontario for negligence regarding the risks of wired glass.
Unfortunately, wired glass injuries similar to Lloyd’s case happen more that we think, even here in the United States. In June 2013, Kent (WA) Unified School District paid a $2 million (USD) settlement and issued an apology to the student who was injured when he fell into unsafe wired glass.
Keeping students and the general public safe from traditional wired glass has been a cause for myself and my company, SAFTI FIRST, for many decades. In the early 1990s, we had filed a petition with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to remove the exemption that allowed wired glass to meet a lesser safety standard. This petition was prompted by two things: first, independent testing performed on traditional wired glass demonstrated that it fails with as little as 50 ft. lbs., a force easily created by a five year old pushing on the glass. Second, new and fire and safety rated glass products that outperformed traditional wired glass was now available (download our white paper for more information).
After years of further testing, gathering testimonies from various experts and wired glass victims and continued product development on our part, traditional wired glass lost its exemption from meeting safety glazing standards when used in educational and athletic facilities in the 2003 IBC. In the 2004 IBC Supplement and the 2006 IBC, traditional wired glass was no longer exempt when used in any hazardous location for all new construction and in all types of occupancies.
Now we are embarking to make the same change in Canada in order to keep school children and other building occupants safe from accidental impact with traditional wired glass. Currently, the only fire rated glazing product recognized in the Building Code of Canada is “wired safety glass,” but as we’ve seen here in the US and recently with Lloyd’s suit, traditional wired glass is not safe. We have submitted a safety glazing code proposal that is currently under review by both Standing Committees on Fire Protection and Housing and Small Buildings.
The proposal will upgrade their outdated safety standards to current requirements applied in the International Building Code (IBC). This includes deleting the existing table for maximum area of individual lites; suggesting new language that provide for permanent identification of safety glazing; deleting any language referring to the old standard and any references to “wired safety glass” and suggesting language that matches the human impact hazardous location requirements currently applied through the IBC. Our code change requests (CCRs) were reviewed by both Standing Committees on Fire Protection and Housing and Small Buildings. Each Standing Committee agreed to the need to update the codes and requested approval to add these issues on their respective work plan. The committees will be working on the code changes this year.
Enacting change at a national level demands tremendous time and resources, and that is something that we’ve experienced first-hand here in the US and now again in Canada. However, when the safety of children and the general public is at stake, eliminating the danger from traditional wired glass is something that we have always been passionate about, and fight that we will continue to carry on.
With it's versatility, unique texture, variety of colors, durability and flexibility, metal wire mesh fabric offers a modern decoration style for constructions. When it is used as curtains, it offers a variety of color changes with light and gives unlimited imagination.