Tropes vs. Women Does Not Go Far Enough

I have watched the first two videos in the Tropes vs. Women series by Anita Sarkeesian. While I have found it interesting to look at games I have previously played in a different light, this project does not go far enough. This is because it only covers a small portion of the games released.

In both videos Anita stated how the games she explained to have these tropes in them were just some of the examples, but we really need to know how many videos have these tropes compared to all the games released. This would give us a percentage of games with these tropes. Only then would we know if these tropes are so prevalent as to be a problem.

As a hypothetical example, let us say in the non-gaming forms of media, tropes vs. women appear in 50% of all products released. If video games are sitting at 40%, we are actually in a better spot, at least better than the average. If it turned out that video games were above that 50%, only then can we say that tropes vs. women is a problem in video games. You see I am not convinced that it is such a big issue without hard data. A few examples shown in a video is entertaining but does not cover enough to tell us the answer.

I realize that playing every game released to look for these tropes would be too much for a single person, but maybe all games that sold more than 100,000 at retail would be a start. Maybe Anita is already doing this, but I have not found any information on her methodology for picking games to play and study. I have noticed many popular games but also some lesser well known games. There does not seem to be any rhyme or reason so far.

I did not donate to the Kickstarter myself. Actually, it was already over by the time I heard about it. Maybe this video series was not meant to be comprehensive, just an entertaining series to start the discussion on the issue. I do not know. If, however, Anita Sarkeesian’s goal was to prove that tropes vs. women are a problem specific to the video game industry, the Tropes vs. Women series does not go far enough.

Maybe the money would be better spent as part of a university research project. Get a bunch of college graduates to play games and submit information on all the tropes they find. Or maybe even a crowdsourced project. Get gamers to submit the tropes vs. women they experience in games, though there could be problems if players submit false information.

Now, the video series will not be over for a while. I will keep up with them to see if anything changes, but I cannot see a video series possibly covering all the games released. We need hard statistics, hard data that objectively proves there is a problem. Maybe that is part of the problem too. Not everyone agrees whether a trope is bad or not, but that is a much bigger issue.

Microsoft and Sony after E3

If you remember my last post about Microsoft and Sony, I mentioned Microsoft might focus on games at E3 to make up for not showing much of them at the initial Xbox One reveal. Microsoft did just that yesterday at E3. Their E3 conference was almost entirely about the games. They did not mention Kinect really at all, and none of the TV show stuff was mentioned. Sony focused on the games mostly too, but they also announced some non-gaming features like being able to rent and digitally buy TV shows, movies, and songs. If that were it, I would put both companies even for who will win the first round of the new console generation. However, there are two big issues that are favoring Sony.

Ever since the Xbox One reveal event, gamers have been criticizing Microsoft left and right for the online connection requirement and for essentially banning used games. Until yesterday, no one was sure exactly how Sony would treat used games. They had said it would be up to publishers, which I believed to mean the console had the technology to ban used games, but it was up to each publisher to make the decision for each of their games. Well, Sony announced that there is nothing in the console against used games, and the console does not require an internet connection. This is huge plus for core gamers. Sony has a leg up over Microsoft, but it gets worse for Microsoft.

Both Microsoft and Sony announced the prices for their new consoles. The Xbox One, $500, and the PS4, $400. That is another huge boost for Sony here. I believe both consoles are using roughly the same hardware, so Sony is definitely taking a big hit here. That is going to greatly increase their installed base compared to Microsoft, and Sony hopes those gamers will buy enough games to make up for that loss. If you remember the last generation of consoles, the most popular PS3 model cost $500, and the most popular Xbox 360 model cost $400. Microsoft and Sony have truly switched places this eighth generation.

I think this is very bad for Microsoft. We can already see from history what happened to the PS3 after trying to own the living room, but it could be even worst for the Xbox One. The Wii U was also going for a wide audience and mostly failed. Sure, the Xbox One will have better graphics and more exclusives for the core gamer, but that $500 cost is a huge deterrent. Right now, PS4 appeals to the core gamer, Wii U appeals to the gamer family (young couple with kids), and tablets/smartphones appeal to the casual gamer. That does not leave much for Xbox One.

As always, Microsoft could make changes over time. Even though the Xbox One is $100 more, I still think the used game and require online are the bigger issues. People just do not want anything getting in between them and their games. Relaxing their stance on those issues and some price cuts could even things up again.

My Time as a Volunteer Game Master

A lot of players in MMOs think it would be cool to be a game master. Well, I got that chance for about a year a while back, and now I am sharing my story. The year was 2003. My console of choice, the GameCube, was not living up to my expectations. I felt like I was always waiting for the next game to come out that would end up getting delayed or cancelled. My PC had become outdated. I did not have the money to buy a different console or a new PC. I still loved gaming though.

As I got bored with my existing game library, a friend told me about a free online game called Mu Online. I liked some things about that game, but its importance is that it introduced me to the Asian MMO beta. I had never really known there were free betas online before. I ended up trying out many of them including Kal Online, Knight Online, and Risk Your Life. These games really were not that great, but I could not afford the subscription MMOs. I did not even know an MMO could be better.

Risk Your Life was a game made by a Malaysian company. It had many of the same characteristics of other Asian MMOs, but shortly after I started playing, I heard there was an American company that was going to publish the game for America. That company was Planetwide Games. They created a website with some forums, and I started posting while I continued to play the Malaysian version. I was excited at the possibility of better connection quality to the servers located in America and a better translation into English (Asian translations were pretty bad).

The Closed Beta for the American version was delayed many months. Finally, the first invites went out in the summer of 2004. I remember anxiously waiting to see if I would get a beta invite. I did not get in the first few rounds but did get an invite by the end of the week. At this point I quit the Malaysian version and just played this Closed Beta. I truly wanted it to be a good game. I became more active on the forums and sent in bug reports whenever I found one. The Closed Beta was three or four months. Then, it was time for Open Beta.

Some of the beta testers had suggested a helper system. They had played other MMOs where veteran players could assist others in the game and on the forums. Those players got a special title for other players to recognize. Planetwide Games liked this idea, so they created the Guide system. This happened just at the beginning of Open Beta. As I had been active on the forums and submitting bug reports, my application to be a Guide was accepted. All of the Guides got the “Guide” title in front of their name on the forums and in the game.

I had a lot of fun as a Guide just helping people out. I learned as much as I could about all the classes, character stats, game environments, and more. Whenever someone asked a question in the global chat, I wanted to be the first to answer it. At some point the company decided to add some volunteer Game Masters. These would be like the employed Game Masters but with fewer in-game powers. Naturally, I applied the first chance I got. I was accepted a few months later. Now I could help other players in a more official capacity.

They did not have any backend tools for the GMs, so every day I would log in with my GM account and announce that I was available to help with any problems. Everything was done through in-game whispers. I became an expert at managing whispers with multiple players at once. If I could not solve a player’s problem with my limited GM powers, I would contact one of the employed GMs to handle it. We opened up a free IRC chat for players to get tech support. I would have that in the background. When I heard the little sound that someone had posted something, I would tab out to help there. It was a lot of fun “GMing” for many months.

I did get bored eventually. None of us volunteers got any money. We did get unlimited free access to the game when it launched though, but it was not enough for me. Some good GameCube games had come out by then, and I was done. It was 2005 now. I quit my volunteer position that summer.

Those who know their video game history know that World of Warcraft came out at the end of 2004. Planetwide Games went with the same model as WoW. You had to pay $50 for the box. The first month was free, but then you had to pay $15 per month. I thought it was a mistake to charge the same amount as WoW. I knew by then that Risk Your Life did not compare. It did not stand a chance. Its only hope was to have a discounted subscription.

To shore up interest, the company attempted to do a player vs player tournament with an unprecedented prize of $1 million. This grabbed many headlines, but the game engine was not in any shape to prevent the eventual hacking and exploits that occurred from all the people eyeing that money. The tournament was cancelled after thousands of people had bought the game for that sole purpose. Within a year the game was shutdown.

A game failing is not a happy ending, but I value those memories. I got a chance to see what it is like “on the other side”. My Game Master account being hacked was a big wake-up call on security, how not to trust random people online to be who they say they are. I am always skeptical now, always watchful. It also gave me an interest in the game community. I chatted a bit on forums before that, but ever since I like to get more involved. I do not want to just sit on the sidelines. I give feedback in the hope that the games will be better. I have this blog to give my opinions on the game industry.