The other day I was on Guild Wars. Players as usual are standing around talking in Ascalon. One was trolling for flames. People got upset by his or her verbal abuse of others and started trying to report and get an admin to respond immediately. When they did not, players immediately began complaining about the admin staff.
Ok so, you have a favorite game that you play online. Suddenly something happens or is not working as you think it should be. So what do you do? Maybe you look for an admin. But while one shows as around, they are not responding. What DO they do all day anyway?
Well first let's start with some information. Some games have 1 admin (most likely the owner/designer whatever) while others have 20. Specific tasks differ according to the game, but here are some of the tasks that are assigned to admins on any game.
Read and respond to mail sent to admin.
Check bug reports sent to admin.
Check reports of cheating sent to admin
Prioritize both of the above for action
Ban proven cheaters
Check with other staff members as to actions they have taken
Check change log
Recover/reset passwords
Read complaints about game balancing
Read ideas for game balancing
test and monitor new areas and areas reported as having issues
perform copyovers or reboots as requested by builders or other staff
(and sometimes by the players)
And be visible at times so the players know that the Admin are around.
Getting the idea? Now places with multiple admins split up these tasks, but 10 to 1 they add more such as Play testing, Code review, implementation, coder/builder liaison, etc. Unless it is NC or Blizzard, you can bet that the Admin does all of this unpaid. Some places even ban the admin staff from playing the game they admin. (though this is an unwise move on so many different levels that companies that do this are far and few between.
So please remember before you throw a fit that the Admins on your favorite game are never there, that it may be true - but most likely they are just busy trying to make the game a little more fun and or enjoyable.
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
Showing posts with label communication. Show all posts
12 April 2009
28 January 2009
Gaming addiction - Old problem new awareness?
So a few weeks ago a player on the MUD went postal and started player killing everyone. Some logged off most retaliated. At that point the player started whining that people were cheating and reported to the Administration the perceived cheat.
The admin looked into it, spoke to the players involved separately, spoke to witnesses then ruled it as not a cheat or a rule infraction. The admin then informed the accuser and the accused of the decision. The accuser was upset.
Phrases were uttered like I have spent so much on this game and I do not have a job. I will leave and take my friends with me. This game is my life. I have nothing out side of it, don't take it away.
Obviously this player has issues. The issues are not game related, but personality related. This person (whether it was true or a put on) has now told everyone who plays the MUD that they are not capable of functioning in the real world and has retreated to games as his life. True or not the thought is sad. There are people who rely on outside sources to validate themselves to the world.
We see it in business, people can;t function if they lose their prestige, they fall apart if their department is taken away. In relationships it is what makes people stalkers and in personal ties hobbyists who turn into fanatics.
It is a form of addiction and of escape from reality. So why are there so many these days, or are there? Is it like the perceived increase in woman gamers, just easier to find people or is it truly new phenomenon? Where does the responsibility of the game owners and other players start and finish. Most states have tap laws so that bar tender may not overserve a guest. Should game owners siteban perceived addicts?
On the other hand.. If this is a fairly new problem, why is gaming the chosen form of escape now? What is it replacing? Television, books, or something similar? Or is it because people cannot meet face to face as they did. Are the less tolerant of differences in spite of the lip-service paid and as a result ostracize those who do not fit into a their image of themselves. Or worse does it allow those who are insecure to hide rather than try?
I do not know and am seeking an answer. It worries me that so much mainstream emphasis is placed on gaming lately. All I do know do know that games are supposed to enrich life not be life.
The admin looked into it, spoke to the players involved separately, spoke to witnesses then ruled it as not a cheat or a rule infraction. The admin then informed the accuser and the accused of the decision. The accuser was upset.
Phrases were uttered like I have spent so much on this game and I do not have a job. I will leave and take my friends with me. This game is my life. I have nothing out side of it, don't take it away.
Obviously this player has issues. The issues are not game related, but personality related. This person (whether it was true or a put on) has now told everyone who plays the MUD that they are not capable of functioning in the real world and has retreated to games as his life. True or not the thought is sad. There are people who rely on outside sources to validate themselves to the world.
We see it in business, people can;t function if they lose their prestige, they fall apart if their department is taken away. In relationships it is what makes people stalkers and in personal ties hobbyists who turn into fanatics.
It is a form of addiction and of escape from reality. So why are there so many these days, or are there? Is it like the perceived increase in woman gamers, just easier to find people or is it truly new phenomenon? Where does the responsibility of the game owners and other players start and finish. Most states have tap laws so that bar tender may not overserve a guest. Should game owners siteban perceived addicts?
On the other hand.. If this is a fairly new problem, why is gaming the chosen form of escape now? What is it replacing? Television, books, or something similar? Or is it because people cannot meet face to face as they did. Are the less tolerant of differences in spite of the lip-service paid and as a result ostracize those who do not fit into a their image of themselves. Or worse does it allow those who are insecure to hide rather than try?
I do not know and am seeking an answer. It worries me that so much mainstream emphasis is placed on gaming lately. All I do know do know that games are supposed to enrich life not be life.
12 September 2008
Thinly Disguised Marketing
DIGG started out as a geek site. Participants mainly dugg articles that pertained to technology. Of course there were videos, high weirdness and games but lately it seems to be a site for people to promote their own products. I started shying away from DIGG this year when articles on the presidential primaries and videos on YouTube became the predominate additions.
I started hanging around sites like GamerDNA, JSGames, WGFriends and (shudder) Gamespot for gaming info Castlecops and Bleeping Computer for tech stuff. But it is getting discouraging. You see people are too into marketing themselves and their games, addons or own gaming sites on these.
Most of these places have an area where you can submit news (if they are not flat out like DIGG and are social bookmarking sites.) Yes, people need to market the games they create and play. Lately, all I see are list articles (the 10 Best Games for Your Goldfish to Watch); videos of someone reviewing a game or ranting about what lousy parents gamers make while their child sets fire to the trash can behind them; spam for Wow gold, leveling, and other forms of account theft; Ventrilo logs of people hacking or cracking the server with not so hilarious results; videos of dancing and teabagging toons; YouTube 'reviews' of systems by someone's hot sister; and thinly veiled promotions for games developed by the poster with fake controversy and/or rave reviews. These articles. with the possible exception of the true spam, get voted up in the list by meat and sock puppets and articles of true value: reviews on games not posted by a minion of the publisher, good game releases, and real game demos wallow at the bottom of the pile.
How about some moderation on these sites?
I started hanging around sites like GamerDNA, JSGames, WGFriends and (shudder) Gamespot for gaming info Castlecops and Bleeping Computer for tech stuff. But it is getting discouraging. You see people are too into marketing themselves and their games, addons or own gaming sites on these.
Most of these places have an area where you can submit news (if they are not flat out like DIGG and are social bookmarking sites.) Yes, people need to market the games they create and play. Lately, all I see are list articles (the 10 Best Games for Your Goldfish to Watch); videos of someone reviewing a game or ranting about what lousy parents gamers make while their child sets fire to the trash can behind them; spam for Wow gold, leveling, and other forms of account theft; Ventrilo logs of people hacking or cracking the server with not so hilarious results; videos of dancing and teabagging toons; YouTube 'reviews' of systems by someone's hot sister; and thinly veiled promotions for games developed by the poster with fake controversy and/or rave reviews. These articles. with the possible exception of the true spam, get voted up in the list by meat and sock puppets and articles of true value: reviews on games not posted by a minion of the publisher, good game releases, and real game demos wallow at the bottom of the pile.
How about some moderation on these sites?
03 December 2007
Gamers of the world Unite!
Once upon a time a gamer joined a strat game on a morpg that has servers all over the world. Here is a short discussion of what happened
The tone of the linked article is not what I would like but the issue is a real one. The gaming community is worldwide. Morpgs require teamwork in some way. Not all members of a server speak the same language. So What should we do? Withdraw into our own little English/French/Spanish only world or seek a solution?
To me the solution is not to set up barriers or isolate people according to the language they speak, but rather to provide an environment in which all CAN communicate. Impossible you say? Not so. Take into consideration game players who are visually impaired. They use something called a speech client. The most commonly used speech client worldwide is Jaws. A gamer with whom I am acquainted lives in Brazil. She uses Jaws with an app that helps with translation from English to Portuguese. Now it is not perfect and honestly she spends a lot of time honing her English skills, but wouldn't it be nice if a gaming company partnered with a translation company to create an interface where we could understand each other?
I don't mean complex communication. I mean things like Leader: "Kasuke go around the west, make noise, draw them off. VerdeLapin you go right and sneak up behind them. Zwei you support him. The two of you take out any remaining guards." Global cooperation through gaming - Making friends around the world and being able to play with them because you can communicate via the game effectively. Call me a an old hippie type if you want but seems to me that might just be one of the first steps to understanding people and cultures - being able to communicate with them.
Of course this is just a pipe dream. Heavens forefend a gaming company actually or ANY company for that matter, actually adding a useful feature to an established product. That would mean the end of the world.
The tone of the linked article is not what I would like but the issue is a real one. The gaming community is worldwide. Morpgs require teamwork in some way. Not all members of a server speak the same language. So What should we do? Withdraw into our own little English/French/Spanish only world or seek a solution?
To me the solution is not to set up barriers or isolate people according to the language they speak, but rather to provide an environment in which all CAN communicate. Impossible you say? Not so. Take into consideration game players who are visually impaired. They use something called a speech client. The most commonly used speech client worldwide is Jaws. A gamer with whom I am acquainted lives in Brazil. She uses Jaws with an app that helps with translation from English to Portuguese. Now it is not perfect and honestly she spends a lot of time honing her English skills, but wouldn't it be nice if a gaming company partnered with a translation company to create an interface where we could understand each other?
I don't mean complex communication. I mean things like Leader: "Kasuke go around the west, make noise, draw them off. VerdeLapin you go right and sneak up behind them. Zwei you support him. The two of you take out any remaining guards." Global cooperation through gaming - Making friends around the world and being able to play with them because you can communicate via the game effectively. Call me a an old hippie type if you want but seems to me that might just be one of the first steps to understanding people and cultures - being able to communicate with them.
Of course this is just a pipe dream. Heavens forefend a gaming company actually or ANY company for that matter, actually adding a useful feature to an established product. That would mean the end of the world.
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