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MMO Family: The consequences of kids at conventions
As I wound down my time at PAX East recently, I couldn't help but notice how different this convention was compared to when I went a couple of years ago. Yes, the exhibition floor was bigger, and there were many more in attendance, but the overall feel was different as well, and part of that was the increased presence of children. We normally don't think of a video game convention as a family activity, and yet the fact that so many adults brought their children is telling. And whether you agree with it or not, there's something to be learned from the presence of kids at game conventions.
The Perfect Ten: Cutest creatures
I vividly remember a conversation I had with my then-girlfriend's parents back in 1996 about the potential of this growing "internet" phenomenon. With my limited understanding, I made it sound downright noble, a Library of Congress available at the fingertips of the average Joe or Jane. What I really should have said that it would be a tool for the distribution of pornography, nerd rage, and cute animal pictures. I have no idea how big the cute animal picture industry is, but there have got to be millions of aspiring photographers daily who prod little baby critters with encouragement sticks in the hopes of eliciting a few "awws" out of strangers. Even when the serious business of MMOs came a-calling, cuteness infested fantasy lands near and far. Whenever I see something absurdly cute in an MMO, I always smile because I know that somewhere, some uber-elite, way-too-serious player is developing facial tics from being in the same game world as it. So twitch away, as here are 10 of the cutest critters as seen in-game!
MMO Family: How soon is too soon?
You might recognize the pictures above and in the body of the article. The first is from a video of a baby using an iPad while still in a walker. The other is from a viral video that came out a while back showing a baby trying to interact with a magazine as if it were an iPad. A quick search reveals the fact that this is growing more and more common. It's an interesting vignette of how much the digital culture has woven its way into our lives, but it also makes you pause and consider whether it's OK for an infant to already be "plugged in." There are many questions about how early we should introduce children to the variety of devices out there and how soon we should let them start playing video games. And when it comes to MMOs, the issues become even more complicated. How soon is too soon? Let's explore the topic in this week's MMO Family.
MMO Family: What exactly is a kid-friendly MMO?
Recently, Massively's Jef Reahard seemed to revisit his inner-child with his Why I Play article on Clone Wars Adventures and a Daily Grind of a similar topic. He summed up perfectly why CWA, a kid-friendly MMO, is a lot of fun for grown-ups too. There are actually many MMOs that are marketed toward a younger audience but are fun and challenging enough to entertain adults. Meanwhile, there are plenty of kids who have no problem holding their own in "grown-up" MMOs. So what exactly makes an MMO kid-friendly? It might not be as easy to define as we think.
One Shots: Back in the day...
A few weeks ago I asked everyone to send me in screenshots of pre-2004 MMOs... and only Brad delivered. Seriously, people, you've been shown up by Brad. Brad gets the gold star. Brad gets the golden ticket and can come on a once-in-a-lifetime visit to see the fabled Massively word factory. Brad is my hero. Brad (if you didn't catch his name) sent us in this shot of Ultima Online: "So much fun with vendors! This is a shot of Angelica's on the Chesapeake Server -- a popular shopping spot in Felucca to grab gear on the go. It was one of the few player-owned vendor spots in a protected zone near Lord British's Castle. This would have been taken around 2002. Notice the detail of the fish tank made from stacked cloth and the flowers made with an onion and two cooked eggs!" Yes. Notice Brad's eggs, people. In them you can see the reflection of your failure. Aw, just kidding!
MMO Family: Lessons learned from parenting and gaming
If you look at the past two decades, it's really amazing how fast technology has improved. Not that long ago, dialup was common, 3.5" disks were all the rage (so much better than those archaic 8" floppies!), and people were excited to be able to take digital photos (that also used those flashy 3.5 disks with a camera that was as large as a truck). Kids are growing up in a completely different world than their parents did, and that means there's a tabula rasa feel to the rules on parenting and video games. Parenting sites are great at general parenting advice, and gaming sites are great at gaming write-ups, but there aren't too many sites that juggle both. As a result, parents are left with advice that usually falls into one camp or another, and absolutes really don't work well in this challenging area. So this week in MMO Family, I'd like to toss out a few lessons about raising kids in a digital age.
Level 50 player reviews ArcheAge, sees 'issues for the casual crowd'
If you're interested in ArcheAge but you haven't been playing the game's Korean release client, there's a thread at the AionSource forums that demands your attention. It's basically a review of the game by a level 50 player, and he has plenty of interesting details to share about PvP and safe zones, the legal, weather, and land ownership systems, and the significant role that crafting and resource management play in the day-to-day experience. The author illustrates several of ArcheAge's extensive non-combat gameplay options, many of which are focused on crafting and gathering. These take a certain amount of dedication, as not logging in for a few days will result in the deaths of your crops and livestock. That said, it is possible for in-game "family" members to manage things while you're gone. The ultimate takeaway from the piece is that the author is having a great time in an MMORPG loaded with unique features, though he does see "potential issues for the more casual crowd."
One Shots: Bring out your dead
Ah, nothing like a pile of rotting stiffs to start your day off right, I always say! So nice of considerate readers to send me such pictures in my email. Maybe it's a somber commentary on the fragility of life and the tragedies that go unnoticed around us daily. Maybe it's somebody trying to gross me out. I'm good either way. Reader Volska clues us in: "Talk about morbid. Here's a screenshot of some piles of corpses from the Guardian starter area in RIFT. No happy welcoming party here." With a start like that, what other pictures will we have to share? It's a wild and wooly One Shots, and it all starts after the jump!
MMO Family: Failure isn't just an option; it's a requirement
The other day, I stumbled on an interview of author Paul Tough, who wrote the book called How Children Succeed. He stressed the importance of building grit, curiosity, and character in our children as they grown and learn. In addition, he emphasized the need to let our kids fail as they grow. In an age of helicopter parents and trophies for all, his message is simple but uncommon. It's not unusual to hear people debate whether children are getting soft because of the need to protect them from failure. Could video games actually be the answer? This week, let's look at the topic of failure to see whether it might be more than an option -- it might be a requirement.
One Shots: Slumbering death
Reader John's going to get me to actually say something nice about TERA. Are you ready for it? Because this doesn't happen often. Here's my compliment: It's a beautiful-looking game. Really. I can't deny that there's a special level of polish and eye when it comes to its visuals. Anyway, John sent us in this captivating picture of a place that might look pretty in the daylight, but you probably don't want to be loitering after nightfall. "I just started playing TERA upon hearing about the F2P conversion. This is my Amani Berserker traveling through the low-level Valley of Titans and stopping behind a pair of rock giants. These rock giants are all over the place here -- I wonder what will happen if they ever wake up?" Dance party? That's my guess. See John's full-color photo in all its glory after the break in addition to other terrifying vistas.
Glitch preserves game memories via encyclopedia
It's slightly unusual to get a "post-game update" from a closed MMO, but then again, Glitch always was unusual. Tiny Speck wrote a post to thank players for the support and encouragement received following last month's sunset and also to let everyone know that the team is preserving Glitch's art assets and memories through the website's encyclopedia under a Creative Commons license. "When we shut off the servers on December 9th, players left thousands of notes scattered throughout the world. They were wonderful -- sometimes sad, sometimes funny, occasionally weird, and always heartfelt," the team wrote. To honor the players, the staff has included these notes in Glitch's encyclopedia on the location pages. Tiny Speck says that the encyclopedia and other assets will remain up and running even as the rest of the website spins down in upcoming months.
MMO Family: Why Catfish is a term your kids should know
By now, everyone's probably heard the strange story of Manti Te'o, the football player who had an online relationship with someone who wasn't really that person. The question that people keep asking is whether or not he was in on the hoax, but I think that's irrelevant. The real question is why people are surprised to begin with. Ironically, gamers probably have a leg up on the Catfish scenario, since there are plenty of examples of players misrepresenting themselves through their in-game avatars. And there's often a grey area when it comes to roleplaying and honesty. In this week's MMO Family, let's look at the lessons of gaming, identity, and social media and what children should learn about all three. (And I promise I won't mention Manti again in this column.)
MMO Family: Is the Google generation losing its inventive spirit?
I was witness to an interesting juxtaposition over Christmas vacation. On one end of the breakfast table was my laptop, with an article about an inventor who warns that the "Google generation" of children is growing up "brain dead" and without the ability to invent and create. But right next to it was my son's laptop, and he was deeply engrossed in a game of Minecraft with his sister and two cousins. Are our children really losing their inventive spirit because of the internet? Should kids put down Minecraft and pick up Meccano instead? Let's take a look at inventor Trevor Baylis' concerns.
One Shots: Worlds within worlds
When it comes to winter holidays, I'm always disappointed that they come so darn early in the season. We could really use all that cheer, celebrating, and lighting come, say, February after we've been wallowing in the cold and dark for months. No matter; what's done is done, and we have a giant snow globe as proof. Reader Trevor sent in the following picture from Guild Wars 2's Wintersday, as he took a photo of a world within the larger world and wrote, "Happened upon this giant snow globe amongst the flurry of gifts, giant flying colorful snowflakes, and Wintersday cheer. If you listen closely, you can hear my computer screaming in pain." Oh, we'll make more than your computer scream in pain before this column is done!
Tweeria is self-proclaimed 'laziest MMORPG ever'
If you like the idea of MMOs but don't want to actually have to do anything to progress in one, then Tweeria may be the answer to your weirdly specific situation. The game, such as it is, draws from your Twitter account to create a character and go on missions. Players go on raids, engage in PvP, loot, and level up based on everyday tweets. According to the game's developers, Tweeria's proven to be pretty popular, with over 14,000 registered users. The application reads your tweets, sees who you follow on Twitter, updates your profile, and posts tweets for you over the course of the game. The game's blog said that Tweeria began as a "private, non-commercial, and mostly experimental project," and was not prepared for the current level of popularity. There are some issues with player-submitted artwork and possible copyright violations that Tweeria's creators are trying to smooth over with future policies.
MMO Family: Roblox CEO David Baszucki talks mobile app, plans for the future
A few months ago, we looked at Roblox, a kid-friendly MMO with an emphasis on user-generated content. With the help of Roblox Studio, players have made some amazing worlds, ranging from peaceful playgrounds to intense PvP battlegrounds. Recently, Roblox officially launched a free mobile app that lets fans play Roblox through their iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Massively had a chance to talk with CEO David Baszucki about the new mobile app, and he gave us some insight into how it works and what it means for Roblox. He also spoke about an exciting new change to the Roblox economy and hinted at plans for the future.
One Shots: Laser light shows
Ancient civilizations always seem to have the flair for the dramatic, especially if they were sitting on suspiciously advanced technology. We begin our trip through One Shots today with a look at Star Wars: The Old Republic's newest PvP warzone and its so-called "ancient" artifacts. Reader John was captivated by the look of this machine: "It would be fair to say that much of SWTOR looks like either the traditional fantasy MMOs we've all played before or a series of corridors. With Ancient Hypergates, however, BioWare has delivered an incredible-looking area that feels perhaps like a cross between Mass Effect and Halo, though of course the lightsaber battles that take place across this arena add the necessary 'Star Wars' touch." Carry on, my wayward sons and daughters, and join us as we dive further into the visuals of MMOs than any who have come before.
The Daily Grind: How much game time is just right?
The comments on an article earlier this month made me realize that somewhere between "too casual" and "too hardcore" lies a vast, undefined region of acceptable gaming habits. In that comment thread, one gamer who admitted to playing Lord of the Rings Online for 40 hours a week for three years was picked on for spending as much time playing as you might expect out of a full-time job. In the same thread, several people made reference to "idiot casuals" who are ruining the MMO experience in World of Warcraft, the implication being that casual play alone makes one an idiot. Both of these comments prey on ugly gaming stereotypes: the guy who plays so much that he neglects the rest of his life and the guy who plays so little that he bumbles along incompetently at the expense of skilled players. I might be naive, but I don't think either one of these guys is the norm. I've always assumed that most people out there are playing as hardcore-casuals with reasonable levels of both competence and time invested. What do you think -- how much game time is "just right" to become skilled at MMOs without degenerating into the basement-dwelling-loser archetype? Is "just right" even possible? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
'Casual content' might account for only a small part of gaming industry's revenue
Monetisation of online games has been a hot topic for the past few years, fueled by the rise of the free-to-play business model and the undeniable accessibility of mobile gaming. At the Digital Game Monetization Summit in San Francisco, developers shared insights into the source of their revenue and recent development trends in social gaming. Rumble Entertainment CEO Greg Richardson argued that only 10% of the $50 billion spent on games last year was spent on "casual content" like social and mobile games. He believes that the tricks early Facebook and mobile games used to spread themselves virally may no longer work and that as a result, the future profit lies with people who self-identify as gamers. Online gaming website Kongregate revealed a detailed breakdown of monetisation and performance stats from its games, noting that its top games get the majority of their revenue came from people who spend $500 or more. Commitment was noted as the key to having successful game, with 84% of revenue coming from dedicated fans who played a game 50 times or more. [Thanks to Segun Adewumi for the tip!]
One Shots: The hills have eyes
Do you ever get the feeling you're being watched? It's because you are, fool. Everything has its eyes on you, even the mountains themselves. Case in point: this screenshot from reader Chris, who found himself amazed at the artistry of Guild Wars 2 and the slight creepiness of mountains with facial features. "In a quest during Guild Wars 2 around level 60," Chris writes, "you are asked to go up a big hill into the face of the mountain (literally) and shutdown the machine. I took the screenshot at the start of the quest because the world is so beautiful." If our games are going to look at us, we might as well return the favor! Hit the jump for more excellent screenshot submissions.
