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Owner of 'Gaymer' trademark sends cease and desist to Reddit
In 2007, owner of Gaymer.org Chris Vizzini announced his intent to trademark the term "gaymer," sparking a community controversy: Even though not everyone affiliated with the word itself, it was a commonly used bit of jargon, similar to "pwn" or "noob." Did Vizzini have the right to trademark such a common word?Legally he did. In March 2008, Vizzini's trademark on "gaymer" passed registration and it is live today. The trademark applies to online communities, "hosting and maintaining an online website for others to discuss, receive and disseminate information concerning video games," specifically. In the interest of protecting his mark, Vizzini today sent a cease and desist letter to Reddit community /r/gaymers, which has more than 16,500 members, claiming infringement.Reddit admins don't plan to ban the subreddit, but it will need to rename or find a compromise with Vizzini. This is an "unprecedented" situation for Reddit, but it is a serious problem, admin spladug writes:"I informed the mod team of /r/gaymers that we'd received a cease and desist letter for infringement of the 'gaymer' trademark and that our legal counsel had informed us that the letter presents a real threat that they would sue reddit. I let them know so that they could start planning how to respond (including seeing if there's any way for them to work things out with the owner of the trademark)."Vizzini says he sent the cease and desist because, as a trademark holder, he has to defend his mark or risk losing it. He says he emailed Reddit twice asking for the community to change its name, but got no response. "I started Gaymer.org in 2003 and began to build Gaymer as a brand," Vizzini writes. "Thats why I trademarked and word marked the name. At that time, there was only one other site around dedicated to gay gamers. I have spent countless hours and thousands of dollars on Gaymer.org. I have done so gladly as it's brought happiness to many people."Vizzini isn't pursuing next year's GaymerCon gathering since his trademark applies only to online communities. The /r/gaymers community and other sites, such as GayGamer.net, are discussing the issue and the larger implications of trademarks and online forums. We raised the question of popular phrases being "owned" when Vizzini first announced the trademark, and it's no less relevant now.As of today, Gaymer.org itself is "suspended," though whether this is due to an unintentional DDOS attack or reasons unrelated to the Reddit attention is unclear.
Super Hexagon sells 10K on iOS, ask Terry Cavanagh anything
Super Hexagon has sold "about 10,000 copies in three days and has been in the top 25 on the iPhone charts," developer Terry Cavanagh says on Reddit, where he's currently hosting an Ask Me Anything thread. Personally, we find Super Hexagon to be "beyond ideal for the mobile format," so its success isn't a huge surprise.Cavanagh is looking to make Android, PC and Mac ports of Super Hexagon, and maybe even one for Blackberry Playbook, since a friend of his has one of those. Sales on iOS have been "way beyond expectations" so far."I didn't see that coming at all – I'd really gone into this expecting the game to be a super niche thing that only a tiny handful of iPhone gamers would be interested in, and I'm really glad to be proven wrong," Cavanagh writes.In other news, Cavanagh is interested in board games and has built two, "but neither are very good yet." To learn more about this, Cavanagh's take on Steam Greenlight, or to ask your own question, hit up his Reddit AMA post.
ArenaNet's Regina Buenaobra on Guild Wars 2, Reddit, and community
ArenaNet has, understandably, been receiving a whole lot of publicity in the days following the launch of Guild Wars 2, due in large part to notable events such as the "ask why you're banned" thread on the r/GW2 subreddit. Not everyone, however, is thrilled with the idea that ArenaNet is conducting so much of its customer support and community interaction on Reddit and social media sites such as Facebook rather than on official forums or a well-established community site. If you're someone who has been wondering exactly why ArenaNet focuses so much effort on Reddit and social media, then we're here to shed some light on the issue. We reached out to Guild Wars 2's North American Community Team Lead, Regina Buenaobra, to get the official point-of-view. If you'd like to know about ArenaNet's community and customer support teams (and the differences between the two), click on past the cut for the Q&A.
Grandma plus iPad equals artistic expression
Reddit user Oxide42 posted the above photo of his grandmother with the following caption: Bought my Grandma an iPad. She's 84 and never had a tablet, and wanted it for "art." I bought ArtRage for her and left her alone with her new toy for 30 minutes. This is what I came back to. Nice work, Grandma! ArtRage for iPad is currently on sale for $2.99, but talent is priceless (and apparently ageless, too).
Player banks $10,000 with Diablo III
A gamer who says he's been interested in item markets and economics since he started trading in Neopets is seeing that interest pay off in Diablo III. Redditor WishboneTheDog posted some screenshots lending proof to his impressive claim of making $10,000 with Diablo III's real money auction house. Then he invited other players to ask him (almost) anything. He said he'd never botted, scammed, or otherwise cheated at all in his efforts because trading in item markets is part of how he has fun, so it "wouldn't make sense" to cheat. He wrote, Gold is like a foreign currency. It represents value, but only within the specific game world. You can't use gold to buy things in stores in the US, just like you can't use Yen to buy things in those stores. If, however, you can convert that currency to a usable one, it has an "exchange rate." Gold has an exchange rate exactly like a foreign currency has. (Except gold is more easily exchanged than 90% of the currencies in the world.)
SOE's John Smedley tackles an epic AMA
What do you get when the president of SOE steps up to the mic at Reddit and tells the crowd to ask him anything? You get everything ranging from the NGE to former employee critiques to humble origin stories. The crowd didn't waste time getting John Smedley to apologize for Star Wars Galaxies' NGE once again. "Stupid decisions. Complete and utter fail and I am very sorry," he said. After that, the topic quickly turned to SOE's rising star, PlanetSide 2. Smedley said that he's been closely involved with the design of PS2. With the beta beginning on Monday, he also assured the crowd that it should take around two to three weeks to include everyone who has keys. He said that the game's coming along swimmingly: "I play the game three to four hours a day now. It's rough but fun as hell." Smedley also admitted that SOE is working on additional undisclosed IPs. When asked about SWTOR's transition to F2P, he stated, "It is the only way to go for new games. It was the right decision for SWTOR (which is a fantastic game). Wait until you see our next round of games after PS2."
Enter at Your Own Rift: What Scott Hartsman's AMA portends for RIFT
The Trion team is nothing if not persistent. In an elaborate plot involving Dr. Pepper and a one-way locked office, the devs were able to finally get Trion CCO and RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman to participate in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit. It was an engaging discussion that touched on a variety of topics, from up and coming titles such as End of Nations to Hartsman's journey from GM of the MUD Scepter of Goth to his time with SOE and his current endeavors with Trion. We learned that he's a pretty hardcore raider, that he plays incognito, and that his raid drink of choice is Grimbergen Blonde. But the focus of the conversation was RIFT, and while he didn't shed too much light on the upcoming expansion, he did drop a few hints about what we might see in the future. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll look at some of the highlights!
Internet Defense League forms with support of EFF and Mozilla, bills self as 'bat signal' of the web
It looks like the Dark Knight Rises hysteria is affecting more than just spoiler-averse fans. Billing itself as the "internet's bat signal," the newly formed Internet Defense League is a collective of companies, websites and non-profit groups-- including the EFF, Mozilla, Reddit and WordPress -- banding together to nip future SOPAs and PIPAs in the bud. The IDL will officially launch today, and according to its website it's enlisting web denizens to sign up and "broadcast an action" when net freedoms appear to be under threat. The League is really milking that Batman metaphor to full effect; it will broadcast its logo, a cat that looks plenty eager to tackle all foes of speech, into the sky in five cities around the world, including, interestingly, Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
Reddit community launches Game Dev Bundle
Members of the social news site Reddit have launched their own indie game bundle, offering a selection of six titles created by some in the community. Like other indie game bundles, the Game Dev Bundle from Reddit is available as a "pay-what-you-want" set with some proceeds going to charity.The six-game bundle includes Cardinal Quest, Girl With the Heart Of, Pitman, Influence, Auralux, and Astroslugs. Purchasing the bundle enables a direct download of the DRM-free game along with a code for use on PC platform Desura. (A Reddit user said the group tried to get Steam keys, but was unsuccessful.)According to the bundle's site, 12.5 percent of all revenue will go to the digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation.Purchasing the bundle for $6 and more gives users access to a playable prototype, Astroslugs Adventures, and a full game, The Sun is Deadly, along with soundtracks and art from games available in the bundle (though it's unclear if you'll receive bonus content from all six or eight titles).
Teacher uses SWTOR to connect with autistic student
Through Reddit comes one of those truly touching stories that show us just how video games can and do make a difference for the better in the real world. Special Ed teacher Lyobel was having difficulties connecting with an autistic student. After learning that the student was into Star Wars and Star Wars: The Old Republic, she went to Reddit to ask for help in mastering the lingo and game. With her new-found knowledge, Lyobel met her student in SWTOR and found that he opened up through this medium: "This was after all a kid who for the last six months hadn't talked to anyone except over a computer, hadn't left the room except for food and toilet for the same amount of time, and had kicked out and ignored the last teacher to enter his domain. But aha! He is PvPing! And by the looks of it, he is getting his ass kicked. 'Get out of line of sight!' I shout, smoothly positioning myself next to him so I can see better. It looks slightly humorous while he runs around a rock, and when he dies I proclaim a masterful 'stupid smugglers!' Now, I'm not entirely sure if it was a smuggler that killed him, but the ice is broken, and as he runs back for revenge he starts telling me about how long he played, why he is on the dark side, and how the server is PvP-wise. Seriously! We didn't shut up! When the PvP was over, he handed in a few quests, logged out, and focused on my tasks. I hadn't brought much, to keep the first time short and sweet, but when that was done we talked about dogs, games, and made a plan for our next lesson." BioWare caught wind of this story and sent both the teacher and student posters signed by the dev team. [Thanks to Soeren for the tip!]
Ask Ragnar Tornquist about The Secret World via Reddit
If you're interested in The Secret World, and you're not busily playing the public beta tomorrow at noon EDT, you might want to head over to Reddit for an AMA with Funcom's Ragnar Tornquist. What's an AMA? It stands for "ask me anything," and it's basically an exchange of questions and answers between fans and content producers. In this case, the producer is the man behind not only The Secret World but also well-regarded adventure titles like Dreamfall and The Longest Journey. Further info is available via Reddit and Tornquist's Twitter feed.
EVE Evolved: Building stronger communities
When I first started playing EVE Online at the start of 2004, only 40,000 players inhabited the game's 5,000 assorted solar systems. Despite having a peak concurrent user record of under 10,000 players, the game somehow didn't feel empty and desolate. Players built communities all across the map, and the purpose of the game became all about interacting with other players. I've played a lot of MMOs since then, but none has drawn me into its community as deeply as EVE has. I think that's because most MMOs today are aimed more at casual and solo play, and most guilds are glorified chat channels with shared bank space. There's plenty of room for solo players in EVE, but most of the gameplay is aimed at groups with purpose and ambitions larger than any individual can reasonably accomplish on his own. Holding territory and building supercapitals are jobs for large alliances, PvP is rarely a solo affair, and even grinding ISK is more fun in a group. This focus on group activities is usually seen as the driving force behind EVE's cohesive communities, but I think there's more to it. In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I look at what drives EVE to create stronger in-game communities than you typically find in other MMOs.
Civilization 2 10-year-game predicts nuclear wasteland future, Sid Meier 'can't believe' it
A few days ago, a thread on Reddit revolving around a tense Civilization 2 match received quite a bit of attention. Within the thread, user Lycerius detailed a scenario within the game that has been in play for about ten years. The American, Viking, and Celtic nations in his decade long battle remain locked in a 1700-year-long war, fighting over what little resources remain following years of nuclear carnage; in-game the year is 3991 AD. Now Civilization's mastermind, Sid Meier, has weighed-in on the nearly two thousand (in-game) year conflict."My first thought was, 'Wow! I can't believe anyone has been playing Civ II for that long,'" Sid Meier told The Associated Press (via Yahoo) in an interview. "It's been more than 15 years since we released that game, and I don't think any of us expected a decade-long game would come out of it. It would be amazing if we could come back in 2025 and find out if someone's had a 10-year game of Civ V going."We note, for future generations, not to look to the global landscape in Lycerius' Civilization 2 match for hints into our own destiny. It's just a game. We wouldn't want this intense match to become the Mayan calendar equivalent for our family in the far-flung future.
WildStar aims to be 'anything but WoW'
Carbine Studios Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney took the microphone at a recent Reddit AMA (ask me anything), where he addressed several burning questions that the community had about WildStar. Right off the bat, he was asked what sets this MMO apart from the pack. Gaffney had a laundry list in reply, saying that the largely ex-Blizzard team's motto is, "We just crunched for six years, we want to do anything but WoW." Layered content is a big buzz-phrase for WildStar, and Gaffney attempted to provide an example of the game's flexibility. "You're on a mission to kill alien jungle cats. You see one that's irradiated and start scanning it. Or it's too tough, so you scare some prey away from you into the cats, and they start attacking the prey, and then you jump in when everyone is weakened. They're tough, so you see a huntress and drag them to her to get her cheering on for rep -- you see a second huntress and now you're bouncing between them for double rep rewards." Other AMA topics included polish, microupdates, competing with World of Warcraft, bunny ears, the future of the MMO industry, and a hint at an unannounced race.
Jay Wilson and other Diablo 3 developers answer (almost) everything
Three Diablo III developers stopped onto Reddit tonight for an AMAA -- "Ask Me Almost Anything" -- where they answered questions from all over the internet. Most of the questions were gameplay-related, given that these guys are developers and not dudes involved in the creative aspects of the game (story, etc). There are a lot of great answers in here: fixes coming for common complaints, overall design goals for the future, and more. Check out the full transcript after the break, but here are a few interesting points: Non-trash white items like potions and pages will have different item colors in a later patch, and an option to filter out trash white items completely is also being considered. An "auto-skip cutscenes" option is being considered. Bosses will drop rares the first time you kill them on any difficulty, not just normal, in a future patch. Legendary items are getting a big buff to be more attractive and unique. Auctions can be canceled in patch 1.0.3.
Guild Wars 2 devs answer anything, including launch date speculation
ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien and his motley crew of pirates, flibbertigibbets, and developers just stormed the seas of Reddit and fought valiantly through a dynamic event of Q&As concerning Guild Wars 2. No topic was off-limits, although the team didn't necessarily address all of the hundreds of queries put forth. Some of the questions answered included confirmation that there will be a way for guilds to raise their membership cap, word on bug fixes, a detailed explanation of the new trait system, and excitement for the upcoming beta weekend event. For those hoping to hear word on playable Asura or Sylvari, however, the rote response throughout the Q&A was, "Watch this space." What bug will the team actually miss? "Sit jumping," Mike Ferguson replied. "I don't know why, but it seems like everybody loves it (except the guy that introduced it). I'll actually be sad to see it go." O'Brien did directly address the rampant curiosity surrounding the game's launch date: "The fundamental issue here is that we just don't have a release date right now. We're using beta testing in the traditional sense. When beta testing shows that the game is where we want it to be, we'll lock in a release date. We're not that far off. We're obviously going to release in 2012, and any statements to the contrary are absurd."
ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien heading to Reddit for AMA
Guild Wars 2 fans, do you have some deep, profound questions gnawing away at your brain that will simply drive you to the depths of madness if you don't get an answer? Well, we probably can't help you there, but if you've got any questions regarding Guild Wars 2 or its upcoming beta weekend event, there is a solution: Head over to Reddit's /r/gaming subreddit at 3:00 p.m. EDT to catch ArenaNet's latest Reddit Ask Me Anything. Join ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien and other members of the ArenaNet staff who will be on-hand to answer your pressing Guild Wars 2 questions. As we've seen in the previous AMAs with Jon Peters and Mike Ferguson, these events tend to get hectic quickly, so if you've got something you want answered, get yourself over to /r/gaming and prepare your interrogation.
The Daily Grind: Can there be too much community interaction in public?
There are varying schools of thought on interacting with your community in public, but the two main ones consist of either answering every question or giving the silent treatment. Blizzard was notorious at one time for not responding to any community feedback in public, presumably to keep the trolls at bay, but that studio's opened up considerably in the last few years. On the other end of that spectrum is ArenaNet, whose reps answer just about every single question they get on Twitter. This makes for an open line of communication with fans but seems to be ineffective when the same questions are being asked and answered multiple times a day. So where do you stand on the issue? Do you think a simple FAQ on the website should be referenced and a support team should answer questions privately, or do you think something like Twitter, Facebook, or even a Reddit Ask Me Anything is the best place to answer questions and address concerns from the community? 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!
Reddit user wins AV like a real champion
Alterac Valley has been a brutal contest between the Alliance and the Horde since the beginning of World of Warcraft. The Battleground has gone through radical redesigns over the years, but one thing has remained the same -- Alterac Valley has always held a powerful, destructive secret for the brave to exploit when there was otherwise no hope for victory. Reddit user frodwith posted a tale of an epic AV battle, an Alliance team on the ropes, and a force awakened in the snowy chasm that has not seen the light of day in long, long time. When a full team of Horde multiboxers (players who use multiple characters simultaneously) garrisoned themselves into Drek'thar's keep to farm honor, the Alliance had to take drastic measures. Some people do not even know of the existence of Ivus the Forest Lord or Lokholar the Ice Lord, two nasty NPCs that are spawnable by turning in the faction's respective items. After a summoning ritual, the faction's NPC will spawn and set upon a path of destruction all the way to the enemy leader's keep. I think you can see where this story might go. With Drek'thar heavily guarded and an expert team of computer-assisted players between the Alliance and victory, everyone worked together to begin the summoning rituals. Read the full story on Reddit for a fun, nostalgic time of triumph and PvP adversity.
Indie Megabooth devs let anyone ask them anything
At PAX East this weekend, 16 popular indie developers (plus one "bonus" developer) will congregate into a super-giant indie creature in the first-ever Indie Megabooth. Developers include Ska Studios, Strange Loop Games, Retro Affect, Dejobaan Games, Fire Hose Games, DrinkBox Studios, Pocketwatch Games, Carbon Games and the rest -- to get the indie love flowing, the previously mentioned developers are running an "Ask Me Anything" thread on Reddit, right now. So far, we've learned that each developer gets 99 bitches a day and that most of them cried while playing Journey. Andy Schatz of Pocketwatch Games, Eitan Glinert of Fire Hose and Retro Affect's David Carrigg have also offered differing perspectives on the possibility of indie development for the Wii U, or any Nintendo system in general. Said Glinert: "We're not. I don't know any small third party companies that make any serious money there. Nintendo sadly isn't serious about supporting non-Nintendo companies, and so it's not worthwhile for us to spend the time and effort bringing our games to their platform. Sad face." Schatz disagreed with the doomsday sentiment: "Speak for yourself Eitan! I haven't announced platforms for Monaco yet, but WiiU is still a possibility! Nintendo is slow to change (which is weird given the crazy innovation on their software side), but the boulder is finally starting to move wrt their digital sales storefront."Carrigg said Nintendo's eShop is "far behind" the XBLA and PSN competition, but Retro Affect has been talking to Nintendo and would "really like to work with them. I would not be surprised to see a Retro Affect game on a Nintendo platform sometime in the future."James Silva of Ska Studios addressed the lack of deadly dishwasher games on PC, saying he wants to make PC titles, but for now that would be a problematic process. The AMA is ongoing (as of this posting) so head on over and uncover some you-specific bits of information from this mega-group of indies.
