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?

It could be the case that no amount of compromise will allow you to move forward as a unit, so I need you to note that losing members and officers is a small price to pay for your ongoing happiness in-game. Some people prefer to run “benevolent dictatorships” in which they have overall say on all guild matters and do not use officers or leadership councils because they feel the reward of their effort leading should be having that level of control over their own guild: So long as members are free to leave if their aims change away from what suits the guild without any ill-feeling, I don’t think this is a bad setup, though it admittedly isn’t my style. There are always going to be players who enjoy playing as you do and those who do not: Perhaps the passage of time has simply moved your old guildmates off your trajectory and you need a fresh set of friends to game with. Finally, the very last thing I would do is feel pressured to hand over the reins of your own … [Read more...] about Guild Chat: Rebuilding a real-life home and an MMORPG guild all at once

A Kindness Repaid The entire party is a little blurry and weary after the dramatic exit, but everyone survives the leap in one piece. The strange Charr references nature when she says that her guiding us to safety was just a kindness repaid, and she worries that we have created such a stir that more danger lies ahead of us. She nevertheless agrees that since we have common enemies, she will speak to her village elders for us and see if we can’t help one another. We learn a little bit about her tribe and hear its name for the first time on the journey: The Olmakhan seem to be a breakaway from the Flame Legion who moved south long ago in search of a more peaceful existence. Rox admits to her that she is a gladium, and she reassures her by saying that she had been taught that a Charr with no tribe is simply one who hasn’t found one yet. The guards of the elders eventually allow this Charr to bring one of our party to follow the mysterious Charr, who we learn is called … [Read more...] about Flameseeker Chronicles: Deep-diving Guild Wars 2’s A Bug in the System (Part 1)

If you stay, be assertive Now that I’ve urged caution in trying to battle on within your guild, I’ll do my best to give you some advice in case you can’t bring yourself to move on at this stage. The main thing you need to do is to become the king of serene around your guild: You’ll want to tackle their behaviour in a non-confrontational yet clear fashion, and then you’ll want to disengage and let them decide how to proceed. You didn’t give me many examples of their specific behaviours in your submission, but I’ll go ahead and illustrate what I mean by this. Say, for instance, one sister creates an event and you soon notice a second event of the same type is being promoted in the same timeframe by the other sister: You simply delete the newest event where possible or, if you lack the permissions, you attend the original event and explain clearly why you did so. … [Read more...] about Guild Chat: When sibling rivalry is ruining MMO guild relations