DOCSLIB.ORG

Biting the Hand: a Compilation of the Columns to Date

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Biting the Hand: a Compilation of the Columns to Date Biting the Hand 6/12/01 Jessica M. Mulligan Page 1 Biting the Hand: A Compilation of the Columns to Date Copyright 2000 by Jessica M. Mulligan Table of Contents 1 YEAR 2000 COLUMNS ...................................................................................................2 1.1 RANDOM THOUGHTS ....................................................................................................2 1.2 BUDGET MADNESS: BEGINNING THE YEAR WITH A RANT...............................................4 1.3 FABIAN, HARVARD, AND YOU ......................................................................................6 1.4 CPIS: THE DEADLY DISEASE.......................................................................................8 1.5 PANEM ET CIRCENSES.................................................................................................11 1.6 CATCHING UP ............................................................................................................13 1.7 THE CONFERENCE FORMALLY KNOWN AS CGDC .........................................................15 1.8 ARE YOU PARANOID ENOUGH?...................................................................................17 1.9 ARE YOU PARANOID ENOUGH? PART II ......................................................................19 1.10 THE COLUMN CALLIOPE .............................................................................................21 1.10.1 X-ing Out the Competition? ...............................................................................21 1.10.2 The Golden Age: DOA?.....................................................................................24 1.11 EULAQUEST: PART ONE ...........................................................................................26 1.12 EULAQUEST: PART TWO ..........................................................................................29 1.13 E3 IMPRESSIONS O H, AND SOME STUFF ON GAMES, TOO ...........................................31 1.14 SOUNDING OFF...........................................................................................................33 1.15 I SING THE MISERICORDE.............................................................................................37 1.16 I M A VOLUNTEER; WHERE S MY CHECK? .................................................................39 1.17 GAMERS ARE HARD TO CONSOLE ...............................................................................42 1.18 ONLINE CONSOLE-ATION ............................................................................................44 1.19 RAISING THE STAKES ..................................................................................................47 1.20 SENSITIVE TEETH .......................................................................................................48 1.21 FREE, AND WORTH IT .................................................................................................53 1.22 DOOMED TO FAIL?.....................................................................................................55 1.23 DOOMED TO FAIL? EPISODE II...................................................................................59 1.24 DOOMED TO FAIL? EPISODE III...................................................................................61 1.25 WE INTERRUPT OUR PROGRAM ...............................................................................63 1.26 DOOMED TO FAIL? PART IV.......................................................................................65 1.27 THE PRESIDENT OF YOUR FAN CLUB CALLED ..........................................................68 1.28 MOMMY, SHE TALKED DIRTY! ...................................................................................72 1.29 MOMMY, SHE TALKED DIRTY! PART II.......................................................................75 1.30 CHECKING BACK ....................................................................................................79 1.31 3D OR NOT 3D? ......................................................................................................81 1.32 NOT ANOTHER CHRISTMAS RUSH?..............................................................................83 1.33 HOT GAME DEVELOPERS: TWO YEARS LATER............................................................85 1.34 HOT GAME DEVELOPERS: PART TWO .........................................................................88 1.35 CASSANDRA SPEAKS...................................................................................................91 Copyright 2000 by Jessica Mulligan. All right reserved. Biting the Hand 6/12/01 Jessica M. Mulligan Page 2 1.35.1 Hasbro To Buy Microprose................................................................................93 1.36 GET RID OF GAME RATINGS........................................................................................95 1.37 OK, WOULD YOU PAY MORE IF .............................................................................97 1.38 OK, WOULD YOU PAY MORE, PART II...................................................................... 101 1.39 THE END OF THE YEAR: THE 2001 H OT LIST ......................................................... 105 1 Year 2000 Columns 1.1 Random Thoughts Volume Nine, Issue 1 January 6, 2000 I’ll see your host and raise you a Cisco router : I was reading an interview online a couple weeks ago, in which the designer of an upcoming persistent-world, massively multiplayer game claimed that, literally, hundreds of thousands of players would be able to exist simultaneously in their game world. After quelling a sudden urge to giggle hysterically, I begged the question: So what? Now that may sound strange, coming as it does from someone who currently makes her living at persistent-world MMGs. The plain fact of the matter is, however, that anyone can string together enough hardware to host multiple tens of thousands of players; all it takes is the money to buy the hardware and some technical know-how to string it all together. Of course, there is still the matter of how well you string it all together and then configure your server-side software to handle it, but that’s another story. The up-shot is, the information and experience to put together such a host site is readily available. And if you find that you don’t have enough hardware to host your audience, it’s pretty easy to slap some more into the daisy chain. A more salient question would have been: "Technically, how are you going to approach the problem of Internet lag in your game?" There is no real answer to that question, mainly because it can’t be solved today through technical means. Data such as game commands sent and received over the Internet acts like a Jim Bouton knuckleball on a windy day (http://www.velocitynyc.com/ballfour/bio.htm); once it leaves the hand of the pitcher, it moves with unpredictable speed along an only moderately predictable course. It does not matter if you have absolutely zero latency at both the home PC and the game host site; all it takes is for the data to hop through one bad router along the way and your lag rate is well and truly screwed. Since most data has to move through at least nine or ten hops between a home PC and a host site, the chances of encountering one bad router are pretty good. And we haven’t even mentioned what happens when a major data transfer chokepoint such as a MAE-East goes kaplooey This kind of unpredictability is why Bouton’s knuckleball was able to strike out the likes of Pete Rose and why any MMG dependent on even moderate response times for an enjoyable game Copyright 2000 by Jessica Mulligan. All right reserved. Biting the Hand 6/12/01 Jessica M. Mulligan Page 3 session can be a crap shoot. I’d have been far more impressed if the designer had simply said, "Who cares how many we can host? Let’s talk about the game design, which attempts to take into account the unpredictable nature of Internet communications and smooth it out." Riddle me this : The one question most asked of me is, "What will be the next great persistent world online game?" And my answer is always the same: "After Star Wars, Star Trek and/or Middle Earth, your guess is as good as mine." That is not to say that there aren’t other great worlds to license or interesting games waiting to be created from whole cloth. It merely means that there are very few worlds that can stand on their own merit and popularity despite the crushing affects of so-so designers, mediocre programmers and publishing executives who can’t or won’t understand the service side of this business. Developing and maintaining a persistent world is a complex, time-consuming, money-sucking, knowledge-intensive endeavor. If it was easy to do, we’d have 1,000 of them to choose from, instead of a couple dozen or so. All the pieces have to come together more or less in concert and pretty much stay together for extended periods. Otherwise, what you have done is wasted a few million dollars to no good effect. So what I’m really saying is, anyone who puts all the pieces together and maintains them well can have the next great persistent world online game. This is rather like saying that anyone can compete with America Online or Microsoft given two or three billion dollars and some technical know-how. Overheard in a crowded software store on Christmas Eve (I’m not making this up): Middle-aged Customer: "What is this Asheron’s Call game like? Will my 12 year old niece like it?" Young Sales Clerk: "Think of it as Sim City with swords, monsters and
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Incommensurate Wor(L)Ds: Epistemic Rhetoric and Faceted Classification Of
    Incommensurate Wor(l)ds: Epistemic Rhetoric and Faceted Classification of Communication Mechanics in Virtual Worlds by Sarah Smith-Robbins A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Rai Peterson Ball State University Muncie, IN March 28, 2011 Table of Contents Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ......................................................................................................................................... vii Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1: Incommensurate Terms, Incommensurate Practices ............................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study ............................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Theescapist 055.Pdf
    in line and everything will be just fine. two articles I fired up Noctis to see the Which, frankly, is about how many of us insanity for myself. That is the loneliest think to this day. With the exception of a game I’ve ever played. For those of you who fell asleep during very brave few. the classical mythology portion of your In response to “Development in a - Danjo Olivaw higher education, the stories all go like In this issue of The Escapist, we take a Vacuum” from The Escapist Forum: this: Some guy decides he no longer look at the stories of a few, brave souls As for the fact that thier isolation has In response to “Footprints in needs the gods, sets off to prove as in the game industry who, for better or been a benefit to them rather than a Moondust” from The Escapist Forum: much and promptly gets smacked down. worse, decided that they, too, were hindrance, that’s what I discussed with I’d just like to say this was a fantastic destined to make their dreams a reality. Oveur (Nathan Richardsson) while in article. I think I’ll have to read Olaf Prometheus, Sisyphus, Icarus, Odysseus, Some actually succeeded, while others Vegas earlier this year at the EVE the stories are full of men who, for crashed and burned. We in the game Gathering. The fact that Iceland is such whatever reason, believed that they industry may not have jealous, angry small country, with a very unique culture were not bound by the normal gods against which to struggle, but and the fact that most of the early CCP constraints of mortality.
    [Show full text]
  • Using the MMORPG 'Runescape' to Engage Korean
    Using the MMORPG ‘RuneScape’ to Engage Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Young Learners in Learning Vocabulary and Reading Skills Kwengnam Kim Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Education October 2015 -I- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2015 The University of Leeds and Kwengnam Kim The right of Kwengnam Kim to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. -II- DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP The work conducted during the development of this PhD thesis has led to a number of presentations and a guest talk. Papers and extended abstracts from the presentations and a guest talk have been generated and a paper has been published in the BAAL conference' proceedings. A list of the papers arising from this study is presented below. Kim, K. (2012) ‘MMORPG RuneScape and Korean Children’s Vocabulary and Reading Skills’. Paper as Guest Talk is presented at CRELL Seminar in University of Roehampton, London, UK, 31st, October 2012. Kim, K. (2012) ‘Online role-playing game and Korean children’s English vocabulary and reading skills’. Paper is presented in AsiaCALL 2012 (11th International Conference of Computer Assisted Language Learning), in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 16th-18th, November 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • Real-Time Hermeneutics: Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2015, 1 P
    JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games Esitetään Jyväskylän yliopiston humanistisen tiedekunnan suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston Athenaeum-rakennuksen salissa A103 huhtikuun 24. päivänä 2015 kello 12. Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by permission of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Jyväskylä, in building Athenaeum, hall A103, on April 24, 2015 at 12 o’clock noon. UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2015 Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 250 Jonne Arjoranta Real-Time Hermeneutics Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games UNIVERSITY OF JYVÄSKYLÄ JYVÄSKYLÄ 2015 Editors Raine Koskimaa The Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Pekka Olsbo, Timo Hautala Publishing Unit, University Library of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä Studies in Humanities Editorial Board Editor in Chief Heikki Hanka, Department of Art and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä Petri Karonen, Department of History and Ethnology, University of Jyväskylä Paula Kalaja, Department of Languages, University of Jyväskylä Petri Toiviainen, Department of Music, University of Jyväskylä Tarja Nikula, Centre for Applied Language Studies, University of Jyväskylä Raimo Salokangas, Department of Communication, University of Jyväskylä Cover picture by Jonne Arjoranta. Picture is based on public domain illustration by Jessica Westbrook (http://www.clker.com/clipart-bigps3controller.html) URN:ISBN:978-951-39-6164-0 ISBN 978-951-39-6164-0 (PDF) ISSN 1459-4331 ISBN 978-951-39-6163-3 (nid.) ISSN 1459-4323 Copyright © 2015, by University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä University Printing House, Jyväskylä 2015 ABSTRACT Arjoranta, Jonne Real-Time Hermeneutics: Meaning-Making in Ludonarrative Digital Games Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2015, 1 p.
    [Show full text]
  • Studio Showcase
    Contacts: Holly Rockwood Tricia Gugler EA Corporate Communications EA Investor Relations 650-628-7323 650-628-7327 [email protected] [email protected] EA SPOTLIGHTS SLATE OF NEW TITLES AND INITIATIVES AT ANNUAL SUMMER SHOWCASE EVENT REDWOOD CITY, Calif., August 14, 2008 -- Following an award-winning presence at E3 in July, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today unveiled new games that will entertain the core and reach for more, scheduled to launch this holiday and in 2009. The new games presented on stage at a press conference during EA’s annual Studio Showcase include The Godfather® II, Need for Speed™ Undercover, SCRABBLE on the iPhone™ featuring WiFi play capability, and a brand new property, Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. EA Partners also announced publishing agreements with two of the world’s most creative independent studios, Epic Games and Grasshopper Manufacture. “Today’s event is a key inflection point that shows the industry the breadth and depth of EA’s portfolio,” said Jeff Karp, Senior Vice President and General Manager of North American Publishing for Electronic Arts. “We continue to raise the bar with each opportunity to show new titles throughout the summer and fall line up of global industry events. It’s been exciting to see consumer and critical reaction to our expansive slate, and we look forward to receiving feedback with the debut of today’s new titles.” The new titles and relationships unveiled on stage at today’s Studio Showcase press conference include: • Need for Speed Undercover – Need for Speed Undercover takes the franchise back to its roots and re-introduces break-neck cop chases, the world’s hottest cars and spectacular highway battles.
    [Show full text]
  • Cyber-Synchronicity: the Concurrence of the Virtual
    Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material via Text-Based Virtual Reality A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Scripps College of Communication of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Jeffrey S. Smith March 2010 © 2010 Jeffrey S. Smith. All Rights Reserved. This dissertation titled Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material Via Text-Based Virtual Reality by JEFFREY S. SMITH has been approved for the School of Media Arts and Studies and the Scripps College of Communication by Joseph W. Slade III Professor of Media Arts and Studies Gregory J. Shepherd Dean, Scripps College of Communication ii ABSTRACT SMITH, JEFFREY S., Ph.D., March 2010, Mass Communication Cyber-Synchronicity: The Concurrence of the Virtual and the Material Via Text-Based Virtual Reality (384 pp.) Director of Dissertation: Joseph W. Slade III This dissertation investigates the experiences of participants in a text-based virtual reality known as a Multi-User Domain, or MUD. Through in-depth electronic interviews, staff members and players of Aurealan Realms MUD were queried regarding the impact of their participation in the MUD on their perceived sense of self, community, and culture. Second, the interviews were subjected to a qualitative thematic analysis through which the nature of the participant’s phenomenological lived experience is explored with a specific eye toward any significant over or interconnection between each participant’s virtual and material experiences. An extended analysis of the experiences of respondents, combined with supporting material from other academic investigators, provides a map with which to chart the synchronous and synonymous relationship between a participant’s perceived sense of material identity, community, and culture, and her perceived sense of virtual identity, community, and culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Marks Published for Opposition
    MARKS PUBLISHED FOR OPPOSITION The following marks are published in compliance with section 12(a) of the Trademark Act of 1946. Applications for the registration of marks in more than one class have been filed as provided in section 30 of said act as amended by Public Law 772, 87th Congress, approved Oct. 9, 1962, 76 Stat. 769. Opposition under section 13 may be filed within thirty days of the date of this publication. See rules 2.101 to 2.105. A separate fee of two hundred dollars for opposing each mark in each class must accompany the opposition. SECTION 1.— INTERNATIONAL CLASSIFICATION The short titles associated below with the international class numbers are terms designed merely for quick identification and are not an official part of the international classification. The full names of international classes are given in section 6.1 of the trademark rules of practice. The designation ‘‘U.S. Cl.’’ appearing in this section refers to the U.S. class in effect prior to Sep. 1, 1973 rather than the international class which applies to applications filed on or after that date. For adoption of international classification see notice in the OFFICIAL GAZETTE of Jun. 26, 1973 (911 O.G. TM 210). Application in more than one class SN 75-163,780. BAUER NIKE HOCKEY INC., ST-JEROME, CLASS 28—TOYS AND SPORTING GOODS QUEBEC, CANADA, FILED 9-10-1996. FOR SPORTS ARTICLES AND REPLACEMENT PARTS THEREFOR, NAMELY, ICE SKATES, HOCKEY SKATES, ROLLER SKATES, IN-LINE ROLLER SKATES, ICE SKATE BLADES, IN-LINE SKATE CHASSIS, WHEELS, AND BRAKES; HOCKEY STICKS,
    [Show full text]
  • ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. (Exact Name of Registrant As Speciñed in Its Charter)
    UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 FORM 10-K ≤ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the Ñscal year ended March 31, 2003 OR n TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 For the transition period from to Commission File No. 0-17948 ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. (Exact name of Registrant as speciÑed in its charter) Delaware 94-2838567 (State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer incorporation or organization) IdentiÑcation No.) 209 Redwood Shores Parkway Redwood City, California 94065 (Address of principal executive oÇces) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (650) 628-1500 Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: None Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: Class A Common Stock, $.01 par value (Title of class) Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has Ñled all reports required to be Ñled by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to Ñle such reports), and (2) has been subject to such Ñling requirements for the past 90 days. YES ≤ NO n Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent Ñlers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in deÑnitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.
    [Show full text]
  • Player, Pirate Or Conducer? a Consideration of the Rights of Online Gamers
    ARTICLE PLAYER,PIRATE OR CONDUCER? A CONSIDERATION OF THE RIGHTS OF ONLINE GAMERS MIA GARLICK I. INTRODUCTION.................................................................. 423 II. BACKGROUND ................................................................. 426 A. KEY FEATURES OF ONLINE GAMES ............................ 427 B. AGAMER’S RIGHT OF OUT-OF-GAME TRADING?......... 428 C. AGAMER’S RIGHT OF IN-GAME TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENT?......................................................... 431 D. A GAMER’S RIGHTS OF CREATIVE GAME-RELATED EXPRESSION? ............................................................ 434 III. AN INITIAL REVIEW OF LIKELY LEGAL RIGHTS IN ONLINE GAMES............................................................................ 435 A. WHO OWNS THE GAME? .............................................. 436 B. DO GAMERS HAVE RIGHTS TO IN-GAME ELEMENTS? .... 442 C. DO GAMERS CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS?................ 444 1. SALE OF IN-GAME ITEMS - TOO COMMERCIAL? ...... 449 2. USE OF ‘CHEATS’MAY NOT INFRINGE. .................. 450 3. CREATIVE FAN EXPRESSION –ASPECTRUM OF INFRINGEMENT LIKELIHOOD?.............................. 452 IV. THE CHALLENGES GAMER RIGHTS POSE. ....................... 454 A. THE PROBLEM OF THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR. ................ 455 B. THE DERIVATIVE WORKS PARADOX............................ 458 C. THE PROBLEM OF CULTURAL SIGNIFICATION OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS. ....................................... 461 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................. 462 © 2005 YALE
    [Show full text]
  • Disruptive Innovation and Internationalization Strategies: the Case of the Videogame Industry Par Shoma Patnaik
    HEC MONTRÉAL Disruptive Innovation and Internationalization Strategies: The Case of the Videogame Industry par Shoma Patnaik Sciences de la gestion (Option International Business) Mémoire présenté en vue de l’obtention du grade de maîtrise ès sciences en gestion (M. Sc.) Décembre 2017 © Shoma Patnaik, 2017 Résumé Ce mémoire a pour objectif une analyse des deux tendances très pertinentes dans le milieu du commerce d'aujourd'hui – l'innovation de rupture et l'internationalisation. L'innovation de rupture (en anglais, « disruptive innovation ») est particulièrement devenue un mot à la mode. Cependant, cela n'est pas assez étudié dans la recherche académique, surtout dans le contexte des affaires internationales. De plus, la théorie de l'innovation de rupture est fréquemment incomprise et mal-appliquée. Ce mémoire vise donc à combler ces lacunes, non seulement en examinant en détail la théorie de l'innovation de rupture, ses antécédents théoriques et ses liens avec l'internationalisation, mais en outre, en situant l'étude dans l'industrie des jeux vidéo, il découvre de nouvelles tendances industrielles et pratiques en examinant le mouvement ascendant des jeux mobiles et jeux en lignes. Le mémoire commence par un dessein des liens entre l'innovation de rupture et l'internationalisation, sur le fondement que la recherche de nouveaux débouchés est un élément critique dans la théorie de l'innovation de rupture. En formulant des propositions tirées de la littérature académique, je postule que les entreprises « disruptives » auront une vitesse d'internationalisation plus élevée que celle des entreprises traditionnelles. De plus, elles auront plus de facilité à franchir l'obstacle de la distance entre des marchés et pénétreront dans des domaines inconnus et inexploités.
    [Show full text]
  • 8 Guilt in Dayz Marcus Carter and Fraser Allison Guilt in Dayz
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Sydney eScholarship FOR REPOSITORY USE ONLY DO NOT DISTRIBUTE 8 Guilt in DayZ Marcus Carter and Fraser Allison Guilt in DayZ Marcus Carter and Fraser Allison © Massachusetts Institute of Technology All Rights Reserved I get a sick feeling in my stomach when I kill someone. —Player #1431’s response to the question “Do you ever feel bad killing another player in DayZ ?” Death in most games is simply a metaphor for failure (Bartle 2010). Killing another player in a first-person shooter (FPS) game such as Call of Duty (Infinity Ward 2003) is generally considered to be as transgressive as taking an opponent’s pawn in chess. In an early exploratory study of players’ experiences and processing of violence in digital videogames, Christoph Klimmt and his colleagues concluded that “moral man- agement does not apply to multiplayer combat games” (2006, 325). In other words, player killing is not a violation of moral codes or a source of moral concern for players. Subsequent studies of player experiences of guilt and moral concern in violent video- games (Hartmann, Toz, and Brandon 2010; Hartmann and Vorderer 2010; Gollwitzer and Melzer 2012) have consequently focused on the moral experiences associated with single-player games and the engagement with transgressive fictional, virtual narrative content. This is not the case, however, for DayZ (Bohemia Interactive 2017), a zombie- themed FPS survival game in which players experience levels of moral concern and anguish that might be considered extreme for a multiplayer digital game.
    [Show full text]
  • Network Software Architectures for Real-Time Massively-Multiplayer
    Network Software Architectures for Real-Time Massively-Multiplayer Online Games Roger Delano Paul McFarlane Degree of Master of Science School of Computer Science McGill University Montreal, Quebec, Canada Feb. 02, 2005 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. Copyright © 2005 Roger Delano Paul McFarlane. All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, Abaynesta, for her support and encouragement. Undertaking a full-time graduate degree while maintaining full-time employment and trying to be a full-time husband would have been an impossible challenge without your love, patience, and understanding. I love you. To my supervisor, Dr. Jörg Kienzle, I would like to express my thanks for taking on a student with a research area only somewhat related to your own, Software Fault Tolerance, and granting me the latitude to freely explore massively multiplayer game infrastructure. In the course of pursuing my graduate degree and writing this thesis, I was employed by two supportive organizations. To the management of Zero- Knowledge Systems Inc., most notably co-founders Austin Hill and Hammie Hill, I express my profound gratitude for your support and encouragement to pursue my academic goals. Thank you for allowing me the flexibility of schedule to take on a full-time course load and for your understanding and encouragement when the time came for me to move on to other opportunities. I would also like to thank the management of the Ubi.com group at Ubisoft Entertainment Inc. for recognizing the potential of this graduate student with no direct gaming experience and giving me the opportunity to learn from and contribute to your game projects while completing my thesis.
    [Show full text]