Cerise Magazine

From the Editors

Craft Check: Bead Sprite Magnets

Richard shows you how to turn classic game sprites into fridge magnets.

Interviews

Industry Interview: Karen Clark, Project Manager at Bioware

Industry Interview: Britney Brimhall, Himalaya Studios

Articles

A Gaming Con for Tucson

Author: Robyn Fleming
Robyn reports on Tucson’s first ever gaming convention, RinCon ‘08.

This Is Our World Too: Preventing Real Victims of Virtual Rape

Author: Casey Fiesler
Casey reports on the ways in which virtual sexual assault can impact on gamers.

G.I.R.L. Power?

Author: Amy M Hopper
Amy investigates Sony Entertainment Online’s new “G.I.R.L.” scholarship program.

Killing Grannies, Slaughtering Monsters and Leveling the F*** Up

Author: Oliver Saenz
Oliver examines the ways in which games apply different moral and ethical philosophies.

I Am a Gamer

Author: Kialio
Kialio discusses why the behavior of self-identified “gamers” had made her reluctant to embrace the label.

Gamer Stories

The Socially Conscious Gamer’s Manifesto

Author: Andrea Rubenstein

Reviews

The Desolate Room

Author: Richard Pilbeam

Cornerstone

Author: Robyn Fleming

Odds ‘n Ends

The Back Page

The Desolate Room, Windows, Scottgames, 2008

You know those bits in martial arts movies where the impulsive young hero keeps insisting he’s ready to master the ultimate power, but his all-knowing mentor claims he lacks training and discipline? That’s how I feel during the first ten hours of almost every computer RPG ever made. My Baldur’s Gate wizard started with one spell and a piece of wood. My World of Warcraft rogue had to fed-ex parcels before she stood a chance against the local wildlife. Final Fantasy X made me wait until the second last town before I could customize my equipment, made worse by the fact one of my party members apparently knew how to do it all along and had only just twigged that it might be useful. Look, game, I’ve been playing RPGs for over fifteen years now. I, and others like me, am responsible enough to handle more than one new menu option every five hours. The elemental forces of the universe will not be unbalanced by my reckless misuse of the Bard class. (more…)

Welcome to the Back Page! This is where we publish the odds and ends that our readers send in, from artwork and writing, to shout outs, thoughts on gaming, and whatever fun and silly things we can come up with. If you have something you want to show off to the rest of our readers, head over to our submissions page and fire off an e-mail to us! (more…)

Cornerstone, Good Company Games, 2008

My friend Brandy and I sat down at the Good Company Games booth at RinCon (see my con report in this issue), attracted by the brightly-colored pieces of their debut product, Cornerstone, and expecting to spend a few minutes playing a simple-looking game. We got up an hour or so later, and a few minutes after that I was purchasing my own copy.
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The gaming industry is growing up and we — gamers and professionals alike — need to grow up with it. Beyond just asking games to be looked on as artistic expressions, we need to educate ourselves on the issues surrounding games and encourage discourse on those matters. It is not enough for us to be merely gamers, we must strive to be socially conscious gamers and to encourage others to be the same.

The socially conscious gamer is someone who tries to foster an environment where intelligent, respectful and robust conversations can take place. They are not afraid to read, or write, critiques that rip to shreds a game, company, or genre that they love. They are open-minded and willing to learn about how sexism, racism, and other social problems affect and in turn are reinforced by games.

The socially conscious gamer is also someone who is willing to fight for, or, at the very least, support those who fight for, the rights of gamers. They need to be ready and willing not only to challenge those who attack games from a position of ignorance, but also companies within the industry who are more than happy to exploit gamers’ ignorance by adding invasive and unnecessary software.

Ultimately, the socially conscious gamer is someone — whether that be a gamer, industry professional, or simply a lover of art in all of its forms — who loves games and wishes to see the industry flourish.

I’m a socially conscious gamer. Are you?

But I don’t want to be a gamer anymore. I’m looking for another term, even a separate but equal term for a person who likes to play all sorts of games. Why? Gamers as a community police each other only when they wish to. They may be rabid about the best this or the worst that, but as a whole they manage to flow together. Say just three words, three simple words and gamers will rise in solidarity. Be he ne’er so vile this phrase shall gentle his condition: video game violence. The bile and froth rise even now to defend, declaim, and defuse this mode of operation of the game industry. Never has so great a battle charge been made as those who ride across the plain to defend the fair Princess Video Game’s honor. (more…)

In 1993, Julian Dibbell wrote about a rape in cyberspace. At that time, the idea was completely foreign to most of the readers of The Village Voice where the article was published, and this was still basically true five years later when it became the first chapter of his book My Tiny Life. Today, the idea of virtual rape hits a bit closer to home, especially for gamers. In fact, just last year, Belgian law enforcement officials investigated a claim of virtual rape in the online game Second Life.

The obvious first question is: wait, how does that even work? Apparently, whereas the sophistication of the technology has improved dramatically since the early nineties, the sophistication of these virtual rapists has not. In Dibbell’s LambdaMOO, an early multiplayer online game, the rape involved a “voodoo doll”; a subprogram that allows for the attribution of actions to other characters that their users do not intend. In the text-based game, this meant text scrolling on the screen while the victim-users were forced to read the awful things that their characters were supposedly doing. In Second Life, a virtual rape can occur in much the same way, with the “voodoo doll” code taking the form of a seemingly mundane Second Life object, such as a book or an article of clothing. When the player uses the item, control of their character is given over to someone else. Granted, in Second Life players do have to give consent for someone else to take that control, but anyone who has ever played can vouch for the fact that the interface can be somewhat perplexing, and persuading a new user to click a certain button would not be a difficult task.

And even though Second Life may not be considered a “game” in the traditional sense, this kind of behavior can happen in less-obvious forms in any virtual world where players have control of avatars. I read in one World of Warcraft player’s blog about how she was approached by two male characters on a boat taking them to another continent and spammed with text about how they were “raping” her while their characters chased her around the boat. Although she knew that neither she nor her character were in any actual danger, she felt a sense of helplessness from being trapped there. In another example, apparently in the World of Warcraft beta – when there was no language barrier separating the two opposing factions – a game named “Strip or Die” became popular. Imagine being a relatively powerless new female character suddenly jumped by a group of much stronger opponents who demand that you strip to your underwear or they’ll kill you. Refusal may not just mean death – a relatively minor inconvenience for WoW players – in this case, but being targeted and continually harassed, essentially destroying your gaming experience for the day.

Don’t mistake me; I am definitely not saying that these events, whether the term “virtual rape” is appropriate or not, are anything like real-world rape. I am not suggesting that abusive WoW players be thrown into jail as sex offenders. However, even if not as serious, these acts do have real impact on the victims. Many roleplayers can attest to just how close they become to their avatars, especially for hardcore gamers; if you spend nine hours of a day as your character, that may be even more of your waking hours than you spend as yourself. The potential psychological damage of watching someone who is basically an extension of yourself in such a position is very real. This is to say nothing of the real life victims of rape and sexual harassment playing these games as well, who might be forced by this type of virtual behavior to re-live real life trauma.

One of the problems with this kind of sexually victimizing behavior is that it can often be incremental. Maybe it starts with the gamers who insist upon asking every character whom they expect is a real-life woman if she wants to have cybersex. Or maybe it starts with “consensual rape” in a game like Second Life, where players can purchase rape pose-balls or hire virtual prostitutes who will allow their character to be controlled. Granted, there are woman who legitimately have rape fantasies and use virtual worlds as a “safe” way to live out these fantasies, but there is no way of knowing that the person the other end is thinking of it as just a “fantasy.” Last year, an investigative reporter infiltrated a group in Second Life who traded in “virtual” child pornography and participated in age-play – Second Life avatars can be made to look like children – and the group eventually offered to put him in touch with real-life child pornographers. If this sort of behavior can leak into the real world, then perhaps the violence against women can as well.

After all, it’s not unheard of for the virtual world and real world to collide. In his book I, Avatar, Mark Stephen Meadows wrote about an experience of a female friend who roleplayed as a slave in Second Life. Somehow a group of virtual slave traders found out some of her real information and began contacting her on an instant messenger; though she refused to give them any further personal data about herself and eventually canceled her account to deter them, she found out later that the group was known for collecting slaves through roleplay and then tracking them down in real life. Just this past August, a woman who began a relationship with a man in Second Life drove to his workplace and attempted to kidnap him at gunpoint. The fear of this kind of thing happening suddenly became very real in 2006 when hackers gained access to Linden Lab’s database of the real-world names and addresses of 650,000 of Second Life’s users.

Even outside of Second Life, it is simply becoming easier and easier for cyberstalkers to get information about their victims. In late 2007, a 20-year-old man met a 15-year-old girl through playing Halo, and from some small amount of personal information that she revealed, was able to find her brother’s MySpace page. A few more Internet searches gave him what he needed to drive forty hours to her house, where he left her a text message threatening to rape her. A couple of months before that, a man was charged with stalking a 16-year-old girl that he met in World of Warcraft. He played a female character in the game, and got to know the girl through a guild where he went by the name “Vera” and posed as a female Canadian college student in order to gain the girl’s trust. Once he found out where she lived, he drove thirteen hours to her school, where he tried to pass himself off as “Vera’s” best friend.

As girl gamers, we are used to dealing with certain behavior, and this can cause us to become desensitized to it. After a while, we might get used to the endless offers for cybersex, the lewd jokes and propositions. We may even choose to play as a male character or disguise our voices over chat programs to avoid these things. But as a socially conscious gamer, I think that it is important to be on the lookout for victimizing behavior both so that we can protect not only ourselves, but the rest of the women who play these games. Don’t let other players get away with sexual harassment. If someone does go so far as virtual rape, be sure to report them, and be sure that something is done about it. If the system fails you, look to the community: most gamers (and yes, this includes most male gamers!) don’t want the world to be a place of fear, for women or otherwise. Sometimes the repercussions of a public outcry can be as serious as any official action.

And above all, remember: this is our world too. We will not let our games be a place of discomfort or fear simply because of our gender. The virtual world may be one of the last frontiers where we have to fight to fit in and gain equal footing with men, but we have every right to be here. That doesn’t mean that anyone has the right to make us victims.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Karen Clark, a Project Manager at BioWare, where she is presently working on Dragon Age: Origins. Not only did she humor me by talking about how cool Dragon Age is, she discussed her views on a number of interesting topics, giving answers I think everyone should take a look at. When not working for BioWare, she blogs (at Finding something is losing something else), works with Women in Games International, and gives great interviews. Enjoy.

Thomas Cross: I’d like to ask a few basic opening questions first. How did you first start making video games?

Karen Clark: I have been a gamer since I was seven years old. For some reason, making games didn’t occur to me, so I pursued a bachelor’s degree in Japanese. I soon moved into software and worked for several years before following my passion and moving into a game industry role.

TC: Where have you worked in the past, and what is your present job situation?

KC: I have worked as a technical support engineer, QA engineer, build engineer, release manager, Director of Customer Experience, and most recently as a project manager. My first “industry” job was at Linden Lab, working on a virtual online world called Second Life. I then spent a short time at GarageGames helping to launch InstantAction.com before finally moving to my present role as Project Manager at BioWare.

TC: What exactly is your position, and what duties and responsibilities does it entail?

KC: I’m currently working on Dragon Age: Origins as Project Manager for the In-Game and Cinematic Animation teams. I manage the schedule and act as a communicator for these teams, ensuring that other groups understand our priorities. Conversely, I help my teams understand the requirements for the work they are doing and resolve anything that seems vague. I’ve also enjoyed working with the motion capture studio where we capture animations for the game. This was something I’ve never done before, and I’ve learned a lot about the process of getting animations into a game.

TC: As a hopeless and longtime BioWare fanatic, I’d like to ask you some specific questions, If I may. Were you a fan of BioWare’s work previously, and how does it differ from your previous work?

KC: I am a huge fan as well! Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal are two of my favorite titles of all time. I’m a big RPG fan, and was blown away by the experience of playing the entire Baldur’s Gate series. It’s really a dream come true that I’m working on Dragon Age: Origins, the “spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate.”

My previous work in the software industry, and even at game or game-related companies, has definitely prepared me for the challenges of working on a “AAA” title. I’ve worked with everyone from tech support to CEOs, technical and non-technical people alike, and that has given me the chance to refine my communication style to suit whomever I am working with on a project. BioWare has a very open and congenial environment, so I feel right at home. It’s an amazing job, an amazing team, and an amazing company. I’m very lucky!

TC: Have you been able to try Dragon Age: Origins out yet, and if so, did you enjoy your experience, and if so, why? How does it compare to earlier BioWare RPGs, not design-wise, but on personal level, experience-wise?

KC: I’m happy to say that part of my job is to play Dragon Age: Origins! Unfortunately, I’m playing for work and not for myself — I don’t play for hours and hours like I would if I were at home. Even under those conditions, where you run through the same level over and over, it’s still a great deal of fun.

Much of my job is a sneak peak at a game that I am very much looking forward to, where I get to see unfinished cut scenes and animations, and other things that aren’t in place in the game yet. The cut scenes are a great example of the power of the game — even seen alone, and out of context, several cut scenes that I’ve reviewed carry real emotional weight. The story is deep and intricate, and these scenes create a sense of immersion in the game.

All of the groups working on this project really know and love the genre, which will make for an unforgettable experience. I can’t wait to see the final game!

TC: Do you consider yourself a feminist/to be pro-feminist? Can you tell me a little bit about how that impacts the way you approach your work and your blog writing?

KC: I’ve been giving this a lot of thought recently as I’ve been preparing for my keynote at the Women in Games Conference 2008. I have done some research and found a name for my beliefs. I am a “third-wave feminist,” meaning that I don’t consider there to be a single feminine truth that needs to be promoted. I am more interested in promoting the rights of all human beings, regardless of gender, orientation, ethnicity, or association. I am grateful for the progress that has been made by women who came before me, to be sure. However, I don’t want to be trapped in the same old arguments, but rather take a positive approach and help women to move even farther forward than we’ve already come.

TC: You’re a Mentor Program Coordinator for Women in Games. What are your responsibilities, and what do you enjoy about working with Women in Games?

KC: I am working with Women in Games International, an American organization that was developed in partnership with the Women in Games Conference. The mentoring group started as a conversation between Sheri Graner Ray and I at GDC 2005 when I asked why there was not a mentoring organization for women in the video game industry. Sheri suggested we form one, and my work began. I’ve organized a Google group to support our efforts, and am currently investigating options for our group to join a larger mentoring organization. I’m very passionate about supporting women in the video game industry as we are still in the minority. However, every year we gain numbers and increase awareness of our contributions to the industry, and I hope that I can be a part of that movement.

TC: What do you think about gender-inclusive game design? Do we need to see more of it, or is what we have currently just fine?

KC: I think all ideas are fair game! I don’t believe in making a game that caters to stereotypes; make a good game and people will play it. I think there is enough room for talented designers to create excellent experiences for us regardless of the subject matter.

TC: When you play other games, how do you see them? Do you keep an eye open for ideas that you could include in your own work?

KC: As a project manager, I tend to look for inspiration in the project and organizational management fields. I spend a lot of time reading articles on websites like Gamasutra.com and GameStudies.org to learn how other teams are organized, managed and inspired. I bring that knowledge back to my organization to help improve ourselves and the game.

TC: Women in the video games industry are outnumbered by their male colleagues. Is there any advice you would give to someone, male or female, who is trying to get into the industry?

KC: Of course it’s great to have a passion for playing games, and employers do look for that. However, you should develop real-world skills as well. I learned a lot in the software industry that is immediately applicable to my work here at BioWare. Employers need to know that you have not only passion but skills, and that you can bring something tangible to the business. The other piece of advice I have is to learn to network. Be comfortable walking up to a complete stranger at a party and starting a conversation. That is how things happen in this industry — deals are made, careers are started, ideas are shared. Be courageous, open and friendly, and learn how to sell yourself and your ideas.

TC: What do you think would be a good way to change the aforementioned imbalance, and encourage more women to enter the industry?

KC: Even though I’ve played games for most of my life, it never occurred to me that I could work in the video game industry. That might have been because I grew up in a small town, or because video games weren’t as prevalent as they are today. Whatever the reason, we should let people know that the game industry is a serious business where you can have a real career. The stereotype is that video game companies are filled with guys running around shooting foam darts at each other and there definitely is a playful aspect to working in this industry. However, this industry is driven by business and companies must produce on a tight deadline. Without professional, intelligent and dedicated people, we can’t succeed. It’s up to us to educate all types of qualified people who may avoid the industry because of these preconceptions.

TC: What do you think about the video gaming Internet community? Do you consider yourself to be part of it? If not, is there an online gaming-related community that you do consider yourself to be a part of?

KC: Working on Second Life gave me an up-close-and-personal look at one very large online community. I wouldn’t trade my experience at Linden Lab for anything, to be sure, but I don’t find myself spending time in Second Life the way I did when I worked there.

Outside of that, I have played some MMOs but frankly don’t have the time to dedicate to them given my schedule. I have played World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online and Vanguard, and can certainly see the appeal, but again I just haven’t been able to make the time for the grind.

TC: I’d like to change the direction of the questions just a bit. What is it that you enjoy most about gaming?

KC: I enjoy the immersive aspect of games. Even simple ones allow me to put my day-to-day concerns on hold while I play. I tend to be a completist, so I enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that video games provide. I gravitate towards fantasy settings — I’m a big fan of the writing of Ursula LeGuin, J.R.R. Tolkien, Michael Moorcock, Garth Nix, Robert E. Howard, and others, so playing RPGs and becoming the characters I read about is a big draw for me.

TC: Are you a devoted gamer, or do you only game as much as your job requires you to? What games are you playing right now?

KC: I am a devoted gamer, for sure. When I thought a flood had claimed my original Intellivision a few years ago, I cried! Right now I’m playing several titles: Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360), Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift (Nintendo DS), Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard, Super Paper Mario (Wii), Boom Blox (Wii), Dungeon Lords: Collector’s Edition (PC), and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox).

TC: What do you think is most worth defending, when it comes to any avoidable (or inevitable) workplace compromises?

KC: Negotiation is a key skill for anyone on a large project. There’s a saying which is “you have to pick your battles.” This is very true. You must be flexible, but be sure to hold your ground on the few things that mean the most to you. If a game feature you proposed and implemented is going to be cut, ask yourself how it contributes to the overall quality of the product. If the contribution is great, then you can probably find a way to make the case for keeping it. If it provides a lesser contribution or if you are only attached to it because of your ego, then you should let go and save your energy for something more important.

TC: Is there a game that you’d love to see made, or that you think needs to be made? Is there any sign that people want to make this kind of game, or is it something that no one there has thought of approaching yet?

KC: I’m still waiting for a fully virtual environment that I can plug into a’la The Matrix or the Star Trek Holodeck.

During your internet wanderings, you may have come across “bead sprites”; recreations of classic 8-bit video game sprites made using plastic beads which fuse together when heated. This month, I’ll run through both how to make your own bead sprites and how to turn the finished result into fridge magnets.
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After a prolonged break over the holiday season, Cerise is back in 2009 with “The Socially Conscious Gamer.” Addressing the issue of where social issues and gaming intersect, Casey Fiesler discusses the politics of online sexual assault, Amy M Hopper investigates Sony Online Entertainment’s “G.I.R.L.” scholarship program, Oliver Saenz analyzes how different video games represent different philosophies, while Kialo and Andrea Rubenstein take a broader view and discuss the topic as a whole.

We also have interviews with gaming industry professionals, reviews, a report on the RinCon convention and a step-by-step guide to turning your favorite 8-bit sprites into fridge magnets.

We hope you enjoy the issue, and don’t forget to check out our submissions page to see how you can contribute to future issues of Cerise!