Kind of a funny topic coming from a former hermaphrodite..., by coppertopper
2008-04-22 22:10:06 CST
I mean, you used to be a guy. Having surgery created female parts, does that truly give you a womens prospective?

Another Female's view.. , by Luper
2008-04-23 00:14:08 CST
Heh, I think that this view can be seen not only from a female's perspective, but from a male's as well... why not a hermaphrodite? It's pretty obvious that companies need to make games that reflect the communities wants rather than their own. If a developer wants to make money, they need to make a game that gamers will want to play. It's pretty simple.

Now the other issue is completely the communities fault. Maybe people in general have changed over the past, or perhaps they are trying to do/say things they wouldn't normally IRL ("In Real Life" for those of you who dont know), but why? Why be rude to the people who are developing the game you play? Perhaps, they have nerfed your class, or taken away your class defining skill. Why not give helpful suggestions and be kind to one another? I had asked this in one of my other comments to another article Julie had written.

I think all of the gamers in the world have played a game where the class they played was nerfed for one reason or another. Sure, we get pretty upset, but there are better ways to get around things then crying, or whining. Stating facts, and evidence of why this should be this way rather then the way they changed it.

Blarg! People are animals. Simple as that.

~Luper (Voyages of Vanguard Co-Host)

Generic Columnist's response title, by Julie
2008-04-23 08:14:25 CST
I always read the comments, but I don't always respond to them. Some may ask why? If not I am going to tell you anyway. Often I feel that once I have written the article I have said what I have to say. There are other times when an article engenders an interesting debate which is just fun to sound in on. There are other times (and this is one of those times) when I want it to be known that there is no issue that I am afraid to discuss.

First and most importantly, thanks for the compliments Luper. Coming from the host of one of the shows here that means alot. In fact I have been considering doing a show of my own with a co-host but we have only just begun to work on it.

As to Coppertopper - This answer requires going entirely off topic, so bear with me. My entire lif, as Coppertopper has obviously found, is very much on the internet. It is available for the effort of a google entry. II was even asked by my order to write a book my life (I did. It is being edited). The reason for that is this: many people don't even know what a hermaphrodite is, and almost never have the idea right on the first try (saddly that is the case here). When I write articles or even just play a videogame not all of the conversations are about gaming. Many of them turn to subjects such as religion, and problems people are having. Those conversations have even ranged into conversations by people in the midst of war zones or life threatening situations. In fact more than once has it been the case where someone has come to our order who was considering killing themselves. And that is the crux of the issue brought up by Coppertopper. The general public, on the whole being patently unaware of who others not like themselves are, and what issues they face in life, often (and here I would even say usually) subject those they don't understand to untold grief, whether they mean to or not. It is at that point where many people turn to us and ask how to deal with that grief. In fact I was once out shopping with Mother Superior and her sister-in-law. Rather then turn to her own relative for advice, Mother Superior's own relative turned to me for advice because I was not able to see both sides of a given isue but had even live it.

Yes, perhaps a long answer to the question, but the question deserved a good answer.

I hoped it helped.

Julie

correction, by Julie
2008-04-23 10:23:36 CST
I wish it were able to make a correction on these comment forums. Especially when you type a response before that all important first cup of coffee (God's gift to mankind and the low end of the speed spectrum as George Carlin used to call it). The last part of the above should read as follows:

"Mother Superior's own relative turned to me for advise because I was not ONLY ABLE to see both sides of a given issue but had lived it."

As an addendum Mother Superior read my response and wanted me to point out that Coppertopper doesn't understand what a hermaphrodite is.

Edit button please! =) , by Luper
2008-04-23 14:25:12 CST
No problem. The complement was well deserved. I would love to see you make a podcast of your own! I'd be down for helping if ya need an extra hand.

I was simply stating that it doesnt matter if you're male or female to understand the meaning behind your article.

~Luper (Voyages of Vanguard Co-Host)

Oh I see..., by coppertopper
2008-04-23 19:05:30 CST
Well my questioning of your sexuality came from hearing your voice on the SUWT podcast. So yeah, since you were much inclined towards pimping your projects on that fine show, I did google your name. And lo - the title page of your blog is "former hermaphrodite" among other things. So I wiki'd hermaphrodite, got the basic definition, and deduced that you might have had a partial sexual change operation, then changed your mind (from the term "former" hermaphrodite). Seeing your followup post, I did some deeper research. I see now that it can be a medical condition that people are born with, from which one can choose a sex they feel most aligned with and through clothing, social cues, genital surgery, and hormone replacement therapy, make that final alignment step.

So I jumped at the porn conclusion...in that I probably, sadly, represent the general populace. Sorry!

We'll see, by Solok
2008-04-22 12:48:58 CST
Phrase and word association

No official forums - Horizons

This line of thinking isn't new. What's amazing to me is that having an official forum isn't viewed as a best practice. If they have some other way of communicating with the community then fine. Whether that be developer blogs with no comments enabled, weekly news letters, etc. If they don't have the infrastructure to continuously communicate with the players outside of the game world then they are starting with one hand tied behind their back (metaphorically). It's not like we don't know about metagames. The forums are a huge meta game.

Maybe the infrastructure surrounding games, with the large gaming websites/blogs, that the infrastructure does exist and EA/Mythic is basically outsourcing the forums for free. I guess time will tell.

I think they'll have official forums within 6 months or that WAR won't be as successful as they think and they'll wonder why. If they don't have offical forums then one of the reasons is interdependent systems. I think Raph just wrote an entry on that :)

Thought Provoking.. , by Luper
2008-04-22 21:46:54 CST
Great analogies by the way. I always love listening to any podcast you are in and reading your blogs, Julie. You inspire me. =P

I understand the reasoning behind not allowing their developers to be subject to open flame wars, but it is also depriving the gamer of the inside view. Perhaps, this is just another "one rotten apple spoiled it for the rest of us" moments in gaming history.

Are all gamers "juvenile" in behavior? Probably not. So what is the correlation between people and video games that makes them act so? Certainly, coffee is another realm within itself. But.. Why can't gamers be as passionate and friendly toward one another as coffee fanatics!? Maybe you could answer that for me. I try to be friendly to my fellow gamers, and understand their perspectives.

I still think that game developers should seek ways to listen to their game communities. I think it's important to know what the gamer seeks from the game, as well as what the developers have in mind for the game. As a gamer myself, I seek games that are going in the direction I want. I dont want to sink money and time into a game that is going for a different vision. I think gamers these days dont realize how lucky they are to have the game developers at the click of a button!

Quite a generation we've got going.

~Luper (Voyages of Vanguard Co-Host)

Well..., by Wilhelm2451
2008-04-23 01:07:48 CST
The comparison between the Starbucks idea site and an MMO game forum is something of a stretch. Starbucks has their site locked down tight and heavily moderated. There is a lot of Starbucks hate in the world, more than a company like SOE could ever hope/fear to generate, but their site is sunny in its disposition. Somebody might say and idea is "dumb," but that seems to be about the peak of incivility.

But maybe that its the only way for gaming companies to run forums the average player would want to use. (And I hope nobody believes that what goes on in the forums in anyway represents the average player.) Lock it down, moderate it heavily, and enforce a code of behavior.

Hey Wilhelm2451, by Luper
2008-04-23 01:18:33 CST
Wilhelm2451, I think that... sure we "hope" that the forums for games are a representation of the "average" player of that game, but I have seen many times.. where there are people posting on a game forum that dont even play the game! Or they quit, and all they bring is negativity with out offering helpful suggestions. Many gamers that play.. Vanguard: Saga of Heroes for instance.. might not even know that there is a VG Forum, or they just never visit it.

Most of the games I've played have heavily moderated forums. I do think that is an important aspect to have on a forum. As well as on my own forums (www.vgbloodmages.com), I try to make sure everyone is following the forum rules. Any gaming site can easily find a few players, or people to help moderate their forums. I think the problem that many game developers/forums are having is that people are negative, but not creative. They'll give you negative feedback with no suggestions.

Just thought I'd mention that...

~Luper (Voyages of Vanguard Co-Host)

I hate this title maker, by Fayth
2008-04-26 06:28:40 CST
Wilhelm2451 said "Lock it down, moderate it heavily, and enforce a code of behavior"

you know I think I could work with that. better to have that than nothing. I know there are player made fan sites ,but it's never as good as the official forum.

I pray to GOD that it never gets to the point that we only have DEV BLOGS for our games.

I am one of them people that only hit the official forums every now and then ,but dang it when I want to know some thing the official forums is where to find it. oh fan sites may have it. thay may have it wrong who knows.

bottom line the official forum sucks ,thay are full of bad shit ,and people hating on each other ,but its still the best place to find what you are looking for.

A revelation!, by Wilhelm2451
2008-04-10 12:54:56 CST
What an amazing passive-aggressive concept! I will have to remember that next time I am going to miss a project date that has been announced. I will just blame the customers for having such high expectations!

Setting expectations, by Sente
2008-04-10 19:02:21 CST
And who is responsible for setting the expectations and the hype for any game being developed? The game companies and their marketing.

It is rather an exercise in risk management, trying to find some middle ground with lower risk to loose a lot of money and higher chance of earning a bunch of money.

I do not follow Warhammer Online and have no interest in the game, but a few others seem to show some interest in it. Getting and keeping people interested is part of the work there to get the initial games sales up to lower the risk of loosing too much money.

hello!, by Token
2008-04-11 04:29:32 CST
I really don't agree that the blogosphere builds up expectations, if anything the blogosphere tends to expect the same old game mechanics, possibly to recapture some nostalgia from when most of them were in college playing Ultima. Mythic said they could deliver the game in two years iirc and they didn't do this, people have a right to be disappointed. I'm constantly disappointed when my bus is late and it's not because I built it up too much. Of course I don't mind waiting, there are plenty of quality games out right now.