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Gaming and Gold - An Introduction
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/gaming-and-gold-an-introduction
<b>Arun Menon in this first entry, provides a brief description of the area of study and the questions that need to be engaged with in the course of this study.</b>
<p></p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Center for Internet and Society has initiated a project to study Online Gaming, particularly Mmorpgs. The title ‘Gaming and
Gold’ may throw off the casual reader who is not sufficiently acquainted with
this area. For this reason, the first few blog posts will focus on providing a
contextual background but before that a brief introduction to the theoretical
premise is necessary.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The study ideally focuses on the Mmorpg<a name="_ednref1" href="#_edn1"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[i]</span></span></a>
genre, which is a subset under online gaming (that involves more than two
players over a network, if Andrew Rollings definition is considered). This
would be to effectively locate 'attention' as a currency, a medium that
enables/facilitates the flow of currencies both internal<a name="_ednref2" href="#_edn2"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[ii]</span></span></a>
and secondary<a name="_ednref3" href="#_edn3"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[iii]</span></span></a>.
Attention also influences the generation of in-game currencies and their real
values are often speculated and traded in secondary markets depending on the
flow of material attention. The approach would have to take in Mmorpg games that
have dynamic communities, which are engaged with the production processes in
the game-world. This would throw light
on many other issues surrounding production of virtual resources. Lisa Nakamura
has extensively studied the racialisation of the production processes that are
deployed in the game world.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> This would naturally
involve the technologies incorporated by the developer, since all trade and
financial activities rest on social interaction, which is what eventually
translates into currency both real and virtual. Social interaction therefore is
dependent on how well the in-game communication system is developed. The lack
of social interaction would generally imply a lack in any form(s) of trading.
The Theorization of the Gaming space would necessitate the adequate placement
of the contextual area that surrounds it.
An examination of what this space constitutes is important - the
definitions, the terminologies, the backgrounds, the people, the developers,
the communities, and the developments in online gaming (Mmorpgs) - would form a
relevant background to the study.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To begin with what is Attention Economy? What is Attention
Currency and why is it relevant to my study? ‘Attention economies’ and ‘attention
currencies’ are terms that are largely associated with marketing and
advertising terminology. Thomas H. Davenport discuses Attention Economies and
Attention Currencies in detail and defines attention as ‘focused mental
engagement’, which is treated as a scarce commodity, particularly one that is
spent in the act of consumption (of information). Could this concept be used to
read market transactions (both internal and secondary) particularly in
community-based online gaming? The use of this concept would naturally have to
be very different from the way it is construed in advertising and marketing.
The examination of the economies surrounding gaming and how gamers interact
with their virtual world may be better articulated by placing attention as the
mediating force, and the facilitating conduit which enables then the flows of
real and virtual goods and services. Such a reading breaks away from the way Davenport addresses this issue. Davenport
discusses attention economies and currencies elaborately, but his perspective
does not suit an application to Gaming economies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Exploring the activities of the internal markets and the
trading that takes place, outside of the internal markets, i.e. in the
secondary markets places two things in perspective a) Trading as an activity
that increases the ‘value’ of the account/identity and b) Trading as an
activity that enhances rankings and gameplay. The questions that arise out of
these trading activities alone would directly place attention in a seemingly
material form on the one hand which then enables non-material gains on the
other hand. What are the gains of trading online? Are they only material in the
form of virtual currency and virtual goods? Studies surrounding these concepts
rely largely on a marketing perspective and how attention should be approached
as a scarce commodity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Watch this space for more posts on Online Gaming, Reviews on
a few Games and the current ‘scene’.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<div><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a name="_edn1" href="#_ednref1"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[i]</span></span></a>
Massively multiplayer online games.</p>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a name="_edn2" href="#_ednref2"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[ii]</span></span></a> An
internal market is within the game environment (In-Game) and as such operates
as a system that enables trading within the game between players and between
the game developer and the community. This usage is predominantly used defining
World of Warcrafts market, but can be easily used to define in-game markets on
any Mmorpgs.</p>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><a name="_edn3" href="#_ednref3"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">[iii]</span></span></a> The secondary market is the unofficial market
operating around the game environment trading in game merchandise but is not
officially sanctioned, in fact certain games ban accounts that are involved in
gold farming.</p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"> </p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"> </p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"> </p>
</div>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/gaming-and-gold-an-introduction'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/gaming-and-gold-an-introduction</a>
</p>
No publisherarunGamingAttention EconomyGaming EconomyAttention Currency2011-08-02T05:58:22ZBlog EntryThe Elements of Role Playing Games
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/the-elements-of-role-playing-games
<b>This article, the first in a three part series addresses the definitions of role-playing games (RPGs) and their elements, the integration of elements from other genres facilitating to what might lead to the hybridization of genres and the relation between online and offline games as well as solo gaming with respect to the ‘Alone Together’ phenomenon. </b>
<p></p>
<h3><a class="external-link" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game">What are RPGs? </a></h3>
<p><a class="external-link" href="http://www.rpgfan.com/editorials/old/1998/0007.html">RPGs</a> include a broad family of games where a player assumes the role of a character who interacts with the game(s) world (often imaginary) in some manner. It is to be noted that even an empire building game, which technically belongs to another genre has mild elements of role play where the player is a ruler and certain elements of characterization that follows are noticeable in the Caesar series designed by Sierra. The in-game character from generation (character generation is prominent among most RPGs, particularly fantasy based, and this marks the beginning of a particular route or path that a player wishes to take) to growth and development along various pathways and strands in multi-pathed RPGs would be an interesting read and is duly examined in the third and final part of this series. Role-playing games examined here are not table top games or board games but simulations, which sufficiently justify the basic RPG elements as well as the incorporation of other generic elements from turn based gaming, real time strategy, and simulation.</p>
<p>The ideal examples used are ‘<a class="external-link" href="http://dragonage.bioware.com/agegate/?url=%2F">Dragon Age: Origins</a>’ (DA: O) and ‘<a class="external-link" href="http://www.kingarthurthewargame.com/main.html">King Arthur: The Role-playing Wargame</a>’ (KA).</p>
<h3>What are some of the key elements of RPGs? </h3>
<p>Interviews given by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.develop-online.net/features/529/Bleszinski-Looking-ahead">Chris Beleszinski</a> from Epic Games and <a class="external-link" href="http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2009/07/bioware-muzyka/">Ray Mayzuka</a> from Bioware echo similar statements on the future of shooters (both first person{FP} and third person{TP} shooters), on the lifting of the pillars of RPGs, and the merging of genres, which may inevitably lead to some form of hybridization of genres. The key features among many of RPGs are (also described as the three key pillars, with the fourth pillar being a new addition/merger):</p>
<ul><li>Combat/Conflict: Some of the new RPGs such as Mass Effect, DA: O and KA have options of combat centred on the choices that are made. In KA allies and enemies and such other categorizations depend on the ability of the character. All RPGs have some form of conflict which may present itself in the third person form in DA: O or in the slightly merged Real Time Strategy (RTS) form in KA.</li><li>Progression: Progression is hard to define since there are different levels of progression often simultaneously operating in RPGs. It may be based on Quest/Plot progression without which the game (most if not all) do not progress (for example, finding Dr. Young is imperative in Batman: Arkham Asylum. This quest cannot be overridden or bypassed as is possible in others with a more flexible quest progression system, such as DA: O or KA). Progression may also include character progression in terms of statistics such as health, agility, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, and mana/magic. They are the six main attributes that defer among character classes. Depending on the fantasy game there are considerable differences or overlaps in their attributes (refer the RPG terminologies listed earlier). Progression could also mean levelling in a war game where there are no identifiable characters but cities/towns or some similar collective.</li><li>Exploration: Another main feature of any RPG almost always present in a shooter (FP/TP) also reiterated by developers such as Bioware and Epic Games in their RPG shooters is Exploration! This is most notably found in Dungeon Crawlers (with non-persistent characteristics being the best example), which contributes to replayability. Exploration often contributes to the immersiveness of the game environment in conjunction with storytelling. Exploration is also linked to quest and character progression in that the game does not sufficiently progress without a minimum amount of exploration meanwhile some content/areas are always hidden and accessible only through certain quests and characters. For example - in <a class="external-link" href="http://www.t-o-m-e.net/main.php?tome_current=0">T.O.M.E</a>, an ASCII based game which follows Tolkien’s fictionalized world of LOTR, it is nearly impossible to locate ‘Sauron the Sorcerer’ in the dungeons of ‘Angband’ level 99 without first finding/defeating ‘The Necromancer of Dol Guldur’ in the dungeons of ‘Dol Guldur’. In the LOTR world ‘The Necromancer’ is the disguise Sauron uses to conceal his presence from Middle Earth. In fact Greg Zeschuka developer (and co-founder) from Bioware, mentions ‘developing of vast parts of content that an ordinary player might never see in an <a class="external-link" href="http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4146/building_experiences_the_bioware_.php">interview to Gamasutra</a>. Almost 30 per cent of the content including sub-quests and related content are available but generally not explored by a casual gamer (the distinctions between casual gamers and hardcore gamers is problematic, but in this case suffices to say that the casual gamer would be an ordinary player who spends a few hours a week gaming compared to the hardcore gamer).</li><li>The Story (The Narrative) as the fourth pillar of RPG: Releases such as Mass Effect 2 and DA: O are by the developers own definition catering to a new RPG (shooter) and a more traditional RPG (in terms of classical role-play). The narrative is one of the elements of an RPG that has in recent releases strengthened enough to be termed as a key pillar particularly by prominent developers such as Epic Games and Bioware whose efforts are to create immersive game worlds, which respond to a player’s actions and characterizations.<br />Another feature important to gameplay but which do not possess such commonalities is social interaction. Although focus is given to social interaction in RPGs, there is no identification of social interaction as a relevant feature. This may manifest in two phases, one is the ‘alone together’ phenomenon and the second is the emulation of social interaction through choice (moral) in games such as DA: O.</li></ul>
<h3>The Playing ‘Alone Together’ Phenomenon</h3>
<p> The ‘Alone Together’ phenomenon refers to gaming on and off MMOs in either solo play or in small manageable teams. These phenomena are noticed in MMO Games and multi-player games. ‘Alone Together’ elements are also imported into the offline gaming scene. This is not a new phenomena, rather it is something which has gained more prominence with MMO releases and offline/LAN games trying to incorporate these elements for better gameplay. DA: O has a specific in-game function where you can login and post screenshots/character profiles and achievements online through the game. This is also noticeable in newer releases of T.O.M.E (v2.35 and 3.00 alpha 19 release). Fan content and MODs were usually put up on the Games official website or fans sites, a few games incorporate these modifications as custom maps and thus incorporating fan content into the game. The incorporation of this element in DA: O suggests the merging or the blurring of lines between genres, explored in the following sections.</p>
<h3>Unification and/or Merger of Genres <br /></h3>
<p>Ray Mayzuka and Chris Beleszinski echo similar sentiments. Genres are ‘almost a vestige of the past’, says Mayzuka, and Beleszinski echoes this as he says that the future of shooters is lodged with RPG. Mayzuka stretches this to predict a future, which may no longer subscribe to traditional classifications and have borrowed elements from multiple genres. The rising importance given to story and narrative technique by game developers such as Epic Games and Bioware are telling, since generically opposite developers (Epic works on shooters, while Bioware is renowned for its RPG) are working towards similar goals—goals which focus on creating games which are more realistic and require the addition of elements that traditionally remains the exclusive domain of one genre. Traditionally, Shooters and RPGs have been simulating the same experience (fighting) from two different perspectives, the former focuses on the action and combat, and the latter focuses on development and story behind warfare. The inclusion of the story in shooters enhances its immersiveness. Beleszinski states that the content is there for a purpose just like a script and as such the feedback by the in-game character contributes to the immersive environment for the player/reader. Feedback becomes one aspect of the immersive environment, one that responds and reacts to the player as and when the game is played. The player creates the game as it is played and takes part in the process of authorship of that playthrough. This element of authorship gives an amount of independence and moral choice that allows the player to create the narrative as the game progresses and this among many elements contributes to the immersiveness of the game environment (by environment I mean the game world including all its design aspects as well as the programming aspects which create this world).</p>
<p><em>The second part will review the debates around narratives and gameplay and focuses on the 'Demands of the story' and the 'Demands of the Game' derived from</em> <a class="external-link" href="http://www.costik.com/gamnstry.html">Greg Costikyan’s ‘Where Stories End and Games Begin</a>’.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/the-elements-of-role-playing-games'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/the-elements-of-role-playing-games</a>
</p>
No publisherarunGamingRPG2011-08-02T05:58:06ZBlog EntryIndia Game Developer Summit Bangalore 2010
http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/india-game-developer-summit-in-bangalore-2010
<b>The India Game Developer Conference held at Nimhans Convention Centre on the 27th of February, 2010 was attended by Arun Menon who is working on The Gaming and Gold Project at The Centre for Internet and Society. The Developer forum brought together game developers from different sectors of the Game Production Cycle, with hardware manufacturers like Nvidia demonstrating their latest 3d technology and Software developers like Crytek and Adobe demonstrating the latest in developer tools for creating and editing games on multiple platforms.</b>
<p></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The India Game Developer Summit
Lite was sufficiently provocative in showcasing the developer community in
India and the latest advancements made by the corporate sponsors. The presentations
did not appropriately address creative development and management except for a few
made by Keita Iida, Carl Jones, and possibly Varun Nair which stood out for the
specific focus on creativity. The overall focus was on PC gaming with inroads
into Web, mobile, and a smattering of social games. Console Gaming was present in a few statistics presented but did not figure elsewhere at the conference.</p>
<p><strong>On Presentations</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One key feature found in the
presentations made by Carl Jones, Keita Iida, and Varun Nair at IGDS was the
focus on creating immersive environments and naturally all the three took
different approaches suiting their areas of specialization. The other
presentations bordered on marketing and sales pitches, promoting the presenters'
products, and were not sufficiently detailed other than pushing the presenter’s
products and services. These three presentations stand out for their focus on
creativity in game development, design, and research with data pertaining to
the industry and not limited to their products or companies.</p>
<p><strong>Carl Jones –
Envision, Enable, Achieve.</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Carl Jones from Crytek made an
excellent keynote speech with a focus on their latest advancement; the CRYENGINE
3.0. A demonstration video showcased synchronous editing capabilities for
multiple platforms as well as real time 'edit and play' functionality. What you
see is [truly] what you get. Their engine is currently not set for a public
release but can handle textures and fluid rendering with amazing ease on a
standard 500$ machine. The detailed and fluid real-time editing cuts
development time from weeks to a matter of days, not a possibility a few months earlier. The technology targets low end machines and has a higher
market but both Nvidia and Crytek made it clear that their focus for
development is going to be high end devices and technology for high end
machines.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Crytek’s entire focus is on the
development and sustainability of creativity, so that new technology could
provide better rendering at better speeds and visuals. Cryengine 3.0’s capabilities
in developing a truly interactive, immersive, and realistic environment were
demonstrated at the keynote speech. The destructive environments and
fluid/texture rendering made designing and editing seem as simple as using a
brush (convinced of its capabilities as an engine but still skeptic about its
simplicity in user interactivity). The dynamic lighting, downward light shafts,
ocean rendering, view distance, soft shadows and particle rendering (fog, etc)
and its real-time synchronous editing capabilities left no doubt as to
Cryengine 3.0’s superiority in the competitive game developer market.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The keynote speech recognized one
main deficiency in game development, there is a problem incorporating graphics
and realistic physics. Jones showcased how at Crytek, the motto ‘the difficult
takes a day and impossible takes a week’ works. Looking at the developer tools
demonstrated at the summit that motto is quite realistic. Crytek’s focus is to
make everything interactive and the CryEngine 3.0 demonstrates that focus. As a
matter of fact Crytek has incorporated Star Data from NASA into their games.
Star navigation based on the digitally (re)created skies in their games is
possibility. The elements they bring in to build in realism to gaming will be interesting to
follow, since realism often meant higher graphics requirements.</p>
<p><strong>Keita Iida –
Technology and Market Trends in the PC game Industry</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The focused session by Keita Iida
of Nvidia placed the growth of Indian markets in perspective including online markets (and digital releases) and offline growth plotted through hardware sales. The numbers and
statistics presented showcased the strength of the growing gaming market particularly
in Asia. The revenues of the Asia segment in the entire MMOG revenues is 76.6
percent globally, the United States and the West is lagging in terms of revenue
generation in the MMOG segment but their recent growth is set to shoot up to
1.3-1.5 billion USD by 2013. Similar numbers in the social gaming segment was
also reiterated by Sumit Gupta (the CEO and founder of BitRhymes). What they
both articulated differently was that there was tremendous money in gaming both
online and offline and India had sufficient infrastructure to capitalize on the
gaming markets for online as well as offline products and releases.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Keita Iida argued that the online
gaming market in India was in excess of 60 million USD assuming that these
games were serviced locally. This still leaves out contribution from the Indian segment globally, such figures are also hard to plot out. Some of the numbers that Nvidia made available
were from their own sales and marketing statistics. The DX10 capable computers
globally were 171 Million as of 2009 and DX9 capable machines around
102million, which had a Geforce installed base. Keita Iida's statistics pointed
to one thing - the Asian markets were far ahead of the other markets both in online and offline releases. Nvidia as an organization and developer would provide an ideal
space for game developers to reach out to a larger global market provided they
were Nvidia technology compatible. Keita Iida made an effective marketing pitch
for Nvidia and provided enough data and statistics globally and locally as well
as company specific data that made the presentation more accessible. This
presentation was one of the few that involved industry movements and statistics
with a focus on creative development.</p>
<p><strong>Varun Nair - Quality Asset Creation & Sound as a
Storyteller</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The most creative presentation
was perhaps the one made by Varun Nair on 'Sound as Storytelling and Quality Asset
creation'. We had interacted prior to the conference as well as during the
presentation and he provided a lot of information on the pre- and post-production cycles where sound design and incorporation was most effective. His
presentation was remarkably different and stood out from the others largely
because his focus was not on pushing his own projects or company agenda, rather
he attempted to place the relevance of the sound design industry in the
creative processes of the game’s design stages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The session focused on the
relevance of sound and visuals and the effective placement and modulation of
sound to the visuals to communicate the desired effect. The main example used was an
FPS where the ambient sounds and the player sounds had to be placed in
perspective with the enemy sounds to create an immersive environment. This translates into sounds being modulated and dynamic as gameplay progresses to effectively create immersive structures. The lack
of this immersive effect will create confusion and destroy the effect even if
the visuals are designed effectively. This is interesting largely because if
you hear gunfire not represented in your visuals - as a character - you’re able to react
effectively to the enemy based on sound alone. Quite a few games use this
strategy to provide and create an immersive structure. There was a good
emphasis on the development of sound particularly since it enables a certain
human emotional response to that sound and developers of successful AAA games
have used this strategy to create emotional engagement of the player with the game narratives. Varun Nair also pointed
out the relevance of sound in making connections and here he mentioned using
real world sounds and digitally created and re-engineered sounds. The effects he
demonstrated with a training exercise, where he played out real world sounds
and enhanced sounds to create a suitable environment. On making connections with
the ‘experiential residual narrative’ as the Videogame theorist Henry Jenkins
would put it, Varun Nair pointed out how sound design is created effectively to
cater to certain specific feelings encountered before. Artificial sounds are
specifically created to suit the artificiality of an environment and here he
used the example of ‘Transformers’, the movie to explain artificial sound
effects as well as information overload. The focus of designed sounds is
largely towards creating an environment in which the main focus is to reiterate
the environments artificiality largely used in Sci-Fi media and gaming.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Most sound designers only receive
images and they have to create sounds often from scratch to suit the
environment. In his demonstrations he showcased the kind of creativity that
sound designers and engineers are capable of in designing the environments we
hear and interact with in gaming simulations. Varun Nair also focused on
Information Overload and how the effective blend of sound and visuals would
form an ideal blend to counter this overload. He went has far as saying that at
certain points an underload was preferred since there was less player fatigue
due to overload. The design structures have to be suitably different
particularly for non linear media such as gaming. Varun Nair mentioned the
cocktail party effect where the human mind is able to focus on a few important
sounds and tune out the rest as well as the 2.5 theme rule. The 2.5 theme rule emphasizes the perfect Balance between Visuals, Audio, and Sound effects. Among
others were quality asset creation and the involvement of the sound designer in
the early stages of the game to capitalize on creative development.</p>
<p><strong>Sumit Gupta from
BitRhymes and Hemant Sharma from Adobe</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The presentation by Sumit Gupta
was very detailed, with a focus on audience interactivity. The data Sumit used
was excellent and placed the entire scenario in perspective; perhaps the
overwhelming response to his presentation may have overwhelmed him a little.
The data on social gaming in India and the lack of monetization in the current
market scenario and the possibilities of monetization was explored in detail.
The problem if any was in setting up these structures and infrastructure
backing in India which was lacking. Payment systems and methodologies would
ensure the creation and transaction of virtual goods. The data on the Chinese
and Japanese markets and the Asian and World trends was extremely detailed, so
much so that some of these statistics were scary. Most social gamers do not realize that data is being collected on them as they play and this was
demonstrated in some of the internal statistics that Sumit presented. The
information presented included age groups of the users, their purchasing power,
spending power, and the relationship between the users who trade is almost
totalitarian in terms of information collection. Privacy laws allow that
generic data are collected but the presentation of these data and statistics
reminds the viewer on just how much information is accessible to these
developers. Hemant Sharma’s presentation later was highly technical and
demonstrated the development of games for mobile devices on Adobe Flash CS5
which is currently only out on a beta release. The presentation there also
talked about the ways in which a mobile app could gain access to the OS
features to run better. Most of these features give undue access to the app
developer to geolocationary movement information. Along with access to other
apps which may store generic information which is user specific. This talk shed
light on the amount of access that a mobile app developer has to the
geolocationary and personal data stored on the phone. Although the perspective
was to showcase the functionality of Flash Professional CS5, currently released
as a beta version, details emerged on the kind of easy access a developer has
to change mobile app settings to gather data. The possibilities that a
malicious use of the data would compromise user security emerges strongly when
reflecting on this presentation.</p>
<p><strong>DSKs Presentation –
Sell your Game, Adopt a Game Designer!</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">DSK Supinfogame had a booth at
the India Game Developer Summit along with AIGA the Asian Institute of Gaming
and Animation. DSK’s presentation was to be held by Philippe Vachey but a
change in schedule had another member from DSK make the presentation. Their
focus rested on Gamespot reviews and game journal rankings to showcase the
problems that arise due to the lack of relevant design in games that would
otherwise have been AAA releases. They had some really important points to
make. A 30million USD project is not going to have developers and designers
with one year experience and without a cohesive unit centered on design aspects
a game may as well not make an AAA rating let alone an A or a B rating.</p>
<p><strong>Networking @ IGDS</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Networking at the India Game Developer
Summit was one of the main benefits of the summit. The presentations, other
than the few mentioned here in detail, were largely oriented towards marketing
their own companies and products or sales pitches to this effect. I had already
talked to Varun Nair (from bluefrog presenting Sound as Storyteller and Quality
Asset Creation) prior to meeting him at the conference and discussed mutual
interests in gaming and narrative communication in gaming. Before his
presentation I had the opportunity to get a preview of his presentation and its
main focus on presenting the relevance of sound design and its ideal placement
to create an immersive environment which can be effective or confusing
depending on how the visuals and sounds interact with each other to create an
ideal immersive environment rather than information underload or worse overload
and player fatigue. The discussion also revolved around my current research
project and research interests in the Indian Gaming scene. Varun Nair is based
in Bombay and works for Bluefrog, a company which specialises in sound creation
for games.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Prior to the conference, Rev
Lebaredian and Simon Green from Nvidia Corporation were available at the Nvidia
booth and right after trying out Batman Arkham Asylum in 3D (with the Geforce
3D stereoscopic vision kit); Varun Nair joined us and we discussed my research
interests as well as my project at the Centre for Internet and Society and its
requirements. Rev and Simon were very accessible (not mobbed yet) and gave me a
lot of details on their partnership programs and their products and upcoming
releases. Being engineers they had very little data on the Indian market both
virtual and offline, and the approximate industry revenues. Rev and Simon
offered details on who might have access to the information I needed and told
me some information pertaining to Nvidia might be shared but large part is
internal and not for public access.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The interaction with Kiran was
the most productive and engaging we discussed games of mutual interest and the
goldfarming activities on his own server (one of the highest bids on eBay for
an account on his server was above 566 pounds [GBP]) he also focused on
goldfarming in India and how that is very little documentation of any sort on
these activities. His own research is on improving design in online games to
provide better retention, higher virality, and immersive environments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Post the key note session, the
opportunity to speak to Philippe Segard and Lionel Chaze from ‘DSK supinfogame’
presented itself. They were designers engaged with game design training and
also had modules that addressed the online gaming segment. On hearing about my
project they assumed that I was adopting a critical theory approach to a single
game and its content and examining only that (which is also something I am
doing as a part of my research read more on <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/gaming">my blog</a>).
I explained some of my research interests and those of the project in examining
the gaming ecosystem in India both virtually and offline, this was more
appealing to both Philippe and Lionel who agreed to give feedback on the
project as it proceeds. Robin Alter from Kreeda Games was available after his
presentation and spoke to me about the future for the Indian markets and the
growth they were expecting in the online as well as offline game segments, as
publishers most of their focus was on offline products. Robin also spoke about
Gold farming in India and how most of it is undocumented and has very little
studies conducted on them particularly in the Indian context. Gold farming
itself is prevalent in India and is not as minor as thought earlier looking at
the responses by Online Server statistics only in India. Playdom’s Business
operations manager Nagabhushan Rao also reiterated that there are cases of gold
farming on their servers and few cases are logged in India as well. However, as
developers they have very few mechanisms to control this activity, largely
since their user base is approximately around 2.5 million (aggregate). He also
happened to mention how Zynga could afford to proactively target such practices
since their large user base would sustain these mitigating blocks. Playdom is
developing a few mechanisms to track such usage and abusage of their credit but
as of early 2010 they have very few mechanisms that would ban player activity
for these practices.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The next Game Developer
Conference is expected around the latter part of this year or early next year.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"> </p>
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<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/india-game-developer-summit-in-bangalore-2010'>http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/histories-of-the-internet/blogs/gaming-and-gold/india-game-developer-summit-in-bangalore-2010</a>
</p>
No publisherarunConferenceGamingSocial mediaIGDSRPGGame Developer Conference2010-03-09T16:55:33ZBlog Entry