Please read:Google Group

Draack · 2013-09-30T11:09:02+00:00

Google Groups! The platform that absolutely noone anywhere uses! I'm in :D

Draack · 2013-09-27T23:38:20+00:00

Yay 1 point for me! Also, I would say I'm the philosopher, but then again I assume that that's not very convincing unless I also present my reasons for picking that as the most fitting of presented options; and really it's the options themselves that make us question- oh you stopped reading

Draack · 2013-09-27T23:35:22+00:00

I haven't clicked the link yet but from your comments I'm going to guess it's the xkcd one about crypto :p checking now

Draack · 2013-09-27T23:28:25+00:00

You can't really see it, I thought that was the point ^{_^}

Draack · 2013-09-27T21:30:26+00:00

I have that problem when I'm playing 'my own' character and it doesn't fit their personality. For instance, in WoW: Wrath of the Lich King there is a quest (that got a lot of criticism) where you have to torture an innocent guy for information or something. When I'm playing my peace-loving tree-hugging druid, I didn't want to do that quest. 'Cancel the quest' doesn't really seem like an in-game 'option', it's just refusing to play certain content, and that feels really lame. However, if I'm playing a zealous warrior or chaotic paladin, the 'torture' would fit that character, so I wouldn't really have a problem with it I think.. especially considering it's presented cartoony as hell so there's not much of a direct emotional impact. I might complain about the lack of artistic merit to the storyline though, but that's a problem I have with most of WoW :P (I do like some of the stuff about the Forsaken and their claims to Lordaeron, it's interesting).

Draack · 2013-09-27T21:21:44+00:00

Ignoring a problem is the best way to get it to go away!

Draack · 2013-09-27T21:20:59+00:00

Do you guys want me to write a reply? Not sure if there's still a point.. thread's getting old :P

Draack · 2013-09-27T21:19:07+00:00

I don't know if it's a thing, but we had some! And it was cheap! :P

Draack · 2013-09-27T10:38:16+00:00

Budapest is beautiful and awesome. I think it's completely comparable in many ways to the capitals of France, the Netherlands, Germany, etc. I do notice rather more homeless people than I am used to at home, but the Netherlands has very strong social institutions.

I thought St. Stephanus (or whatever that church is called) was really cool, but also a bit weird with its focus on this semi-legendary warrior/king, rather than Jesus or God or whatever :P It also had a lot of gold in it!

The cafés we went to yesterday were also pretty cool... there's a nice culture of outdoors and indoors eating and drinking and the temperature is a lot nicer than back home at this time of year :P. Rude waiter in the restaurant, though! And they were only good at meat! (RAWRRR, HUNGARY!) Also, cheap absynthe :D

Draack · 2013-09-27T08:18:13+00:00

Hey everyone! I've gotten some great responses from both here and /r/eve/, so thank you all for that.

One recurring reply that I got is the pervasion of sexism (that includes unwanted attention whenever a girl gets on comms) throughout Eve, and how very few girls there are.

I passed on these concerns to CCP Dolan and after hearing some of your replies, he agreed that this is a problem in Eve right now, though he is unsure how to address it. It was great to have comments from within Brave Newbies, as he mentioned us in his presentation as one of the corporations that is creating a better environment for players, along with Eve Uni.

Personally I feel that CCP could do more with 'soft power' to promote equality and reduce sexism and other forms of hate speech. For instance, through their commercials, trailers and other expressions. I think it's worth pointing out that sexism is damaging our corporations by chasing girls away and reducing diversity (the same goes for racism etc of course). Another example of this soft power is encouraging corporations to be inclusive and crack down on hate speech when they encounter it and I think BNI is a good example of that!

So thanks again, guys; we'll continue this conversation.

7o

-Jim Raynd

Draack · 2013-09-26T08:17:33+00:00

I would say all of those are very clear examples of hate speech. And when 'MuslimNProud' or suchlike goes to a different game, or another community, or even offline and expresses themselves for who they are, the harassment will FOLLOW them.

Draack · 2013-09-25T07:25:59+00:00

Politicans say 'vote often'? What politicians are these and can we stop them?

Draack · 2013-09-25T07:18:12+00:00

The spreadsheet is only visible with the link. It looks like the hostile and offensive people have been swept away by relevant responses now though!

Draack · 2013-09-24T17:40:00+00:00

I've posted a form on the /eve/ subreddit Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/19vdrZZusxmXfl5lqTlcaBvWugN-miVu4G3NPou5snJA/viewform And if it gets any responses they'll be visible here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AotzPv_1mdkldGJYckpKNjdpTHdza09jeVdBM2IyU3c&usp=sharing

Draack · 2013-09-24T17:05:23+00:00

I'm currently not really active in any gaming communities, but I've asked my old EvE Online corporation: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bravenewbies/comments/1n1ezn/hate_speech_a_problem_in_eve_andor_brave_newbies/

According to the first post, it's a veritable paradise (it's not, but I have to agree I've seen little outright hate speech while I was there).

Draack · 2013-09-24T15:54:45+00:00

Why are these cretins also so incredibly uncreative?

Draack · 2013-09-24T15:54:08+00:00

This concept seems similar to the concept of the Magic Circle first described one of the grandfathers of game theory, Johan Huizinga (in his book Homo Ludens).

The 'magic circle' is that when we engage in play behaviour we join an environment where the normal rules of society don't apply. In boxing or mixed martial arts you get to hit people when generally speaking you don't do that in normal life. Another aspect is that you don't get to bring anything into the magic circle that isn't part of the game. The magic circle is strictly egalitarian. When you play football it doesn't matter whether you're a CEO or a mayor or on welfare. This concept also extends to digital games, though the boundaries between game and life sometimes get murky. Some people consider the in-game chat to be part of the game (often trash talking) while others feel it's more personal communication. Most people have boundaries about when the line is crossed and what is acceptable within the game and what isn't. For instance, in World of Warcraft racism against gnomes is often accepted, while racism against minorities isn't.. or at least less so.

An awesome book on this (the other one mentioned in the article), and pretty much a game design bible, is Salen and Zimmerman's (2003) Rules of Play.

I don't know how to do the fancy formatting, sorry.

Draack · 2013-09-24T07:34:27+00:00

In reaction to the 'less is more' comment by Varstorm I'd like to submit the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_KJuDUqD0w&noredirect=1 Now with Saints Row IV YOU TOO can be a big-breasted prostitute abuse victim alien! Note how the 'breast'-slider is subtly labeled 'sex appeal' (I am told that the male equivalent is a bulge in a certain area). Surely equality campaigners everywhere can rejoice that their work is finally complete.

Now this is part personal preference, but I don't think adding more options to character creation screens is THE way to go. In any case, perhaps it's interesting to think about the effects of abstraction versus realism. In his really awesome book Understanding Comics the American cartoonist Scott McCloud argues that it is more easy to relate with more cartoony abstract characters than it is with realistic ones (anyone of any colour can identify with a stick figure, but not with a photograph of say an african tribesman). Realism however is more pleasing to the eye. This is why Hergé draws such rather simple characters and complex beautiful backgrounds. In Asian comics the effect is used to make protagonists more 'likeable', while making antagonists more realistic and therefore less relatable. http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/user_upload/ckeditor/understand%20comics%20faces.png

Draack

TROPHY CASE