E17: (Anti) Social

Recorded on March 11th, 2013 with Brian Fife, James Fingal, and Thomas Westberg.

Online games purportedly exist to bring us together and create memorable communal experiences. Few mainstream games actively cultivate positive interactions among their players. Players, particuarly when they are fired up and competitive, can get pretty rough.

Tom reminds Brian and Jim that they are all elitist jerks, and Brian discusses his internal conflict when players use certain types of language while they trash talk.

It is good to take a stand and to shift social norms, but it is not clear how to find an effective way to engage players in this context.

Referenced items:

World of Tanks, Halo, Skype, Ventrilo, Teamspeak, League of Legends, PA Report - Riot Games, World of Warcraft, Journey, Little Big Planet 2, Left For Dead, Valve Anti Cheating, EvE online, 4Chan, Stack Exchange, Call of Duty, Modern Warfare, Not in the Kitchen Anymore (NSFW), Fat, Ugly or Slutty (NSFW), Tropes Against Women in Video Games, Barrens Chat, Counterstrike, Street Fighter Two, Farmville, Simcity, Copenhagen Game Collective Johann Sebastian Joust, Dark Room Sex Game, Guitar Hero, Rock Band.