Tina lauro

All about the Fair Play Alliance The Fair Play Alliance has a simple mission statement: It is a coalition of companies that are both committed to developing quality games that are free of harassment, abuse, and discrimination and also are healthy communities that encourage fair play and self-expression. At GDC, the first Fair Play Summit happened on Wednesday 21 March, and I was thoroughly impressed with the breadth of the topics covered in this first rotation of their work. Dr Kimberly Voll of Riot Games led the keynote and also gave an interview to Kotaku to discuss the rationale behind the movement in more detail, which is a great read if you’re curious as to the roots of combating toxicity in online games. Voll is both humbled by the failures Riot has faced when dealing with toxicity and optimistic about the changes a collaborative effort could make to the industry. … [Read more...] about MMO Mechanics: The Fair Play Alliance and mechanising fairness

MJ Guthrie (@MJ_Guthrie, blog): Me? Unhealthy video gaming moments? I might have had my share of one or two. They feel pretty minor, though. I’ve slept gamed at the keyboard before (auto-follow and one-key healing ftw!), forgotten to eat more times than I can count (can’t really blame gaming though since I just don’t experience hunger), and gotten emotionally wrung out thanks to crazy people and their drama. Any marathon gaming sessions can lead to these. But the one thing that comes to mind for recently is streaming for 14 hours on Tuesday! Oh my goodness: Even with short breaks between the three streams and quick breaks during the longest ones to stand up and stretch and such, my back and backside were both sore by the time I finally went to bed. My wrists are still aching. I literally went to lay down between two streams for two hours just to really stretch out on my memory foam. … [Read more...] about Massively Overthinking: How do you maintain your health while binging MMORPGs?

Jeez, Jase: This is a really crummy situation you’ve found yourself in, and that’s before I even consider the guild situation! I’m so sorry about your home and am so glad to read that the rebuilding efforts went well for you. I can’t even begin to imagine the scale of the losses faced by those who were hit the hardest by the hurricanes, and to have that hurt compounded by the resultant in-game woes is shocking. I’m hoping that, with some direct and balanced communication and a heavy dose of compromise, my offerings can help you rebuild your guild from the ground up, either with your existing members or without. Choice and consequence will be a recurring theme in my advice: Ultimately, you have little to no control over how others play and how they’ll interact with your guild, but that isn’t to say that their choices don’t have consequences in terms of their ongoing membership and access to guild management tools and resources. I’ll … [Read more...] about Guild Chat: Rebuilding a real-life home and an MMORPG guild all at once

Season 4 of Guild Wars 2 Living World was off to a roaring start with Daybreak so I was expecting a solid follow-up in A Bug in the System, and I can now say I wasn’t left disappointed. ArenaNet‘s focus on interesting story delivery hasn’t waned with time and the narrative is greatly improving as a result: Moreover, the teaser trailer for this episode was stronger than any of the Daybreak or even Path of Fire marketing content in my humble but honest opinion. I’ve rambled on about this before, but the trailer had a smooth delivery and polish that simultaneously captivated current players and contained enough information to entice newbies. The episode is gritty, dangerous, and humorous, and I’m delighted to share its twists and turns with you. In this edition of Flameseeker Chronicles, I’ll discuss the main plot points for this episode and will share my highlights with you. This article is best read after completion of the episode if … [Read more...] about Flameseeker Chronicles: Deep-diving Guild Wars 2’s A Bug in the System (Part 1)

“Tina, my guild leaders are driving me freaking crazy and I can’t see how to solve it. Two sisters who will remain unnamed run my guild and I am an officer. We do have a couple officers other than that, but we three mainly do it all because the others can’t deal with the drama caused by the sisters. I don’t know how to describe it, but basically every decision one makes causes a row with the other one and they just disagree like crazy about every little thing no matter how small or how reasonable the idea. Like if one runs something, the other tries to create an event that conflicts with its time or something, or if one punishes a member, the other will defend them. The guild is fairly basic but close, but now members are leaving because of it. I am also always in trouble with one or the other because they make me sort out who is in the wrong all the time, so I am always yelled at by someone. What do I do?” … [Read more...] about Guild Chat: When sibling rivalry is ruining MMO guild relations