Trouble in paradise

» MMO social communities—is there one that isn’t toxic?

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor
& lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

A sa lover of video games, |
ave had a long standing
adoration and desire to play
MMOs, a.k.a. massively
multiplayer online games.
Recently, I was looking to
get back into them, but I was
completely at a loss as to which
one was worth my time.

The issue with these types
of games is that their social
communities are an integral
part of whether the game is
enjoyable or not. You can’t play
an MMO by yourself; you have to
communicate with other players
even if you manage to master the

 

a steady group of play-buddies.
The problem is that games in
general are competitive, so this

or an elitist mentality between
long time players and people
who have just started the game.
This leads to segregation based
off of timeline, which is never
good. There are ways around
this, however, and developers
are constantly trying to find
new ways of making their online
community the best and most
accessible. So what did this mean
for me? A lot of trial and error.

I began by looking back into
rejoining World of Warcraft.
It’s hard to deny this game’s
impact on the world, and it is
the biggest MMO out right now.
World of Warcraft is not the best
MMO available, and its social

 

: community is extremely hard to
: break into. Blizzard’s efforts to

: make the game more accessible

: to new players may have made

: the learning curve a little easier,
: but it also bred dissent among

: the ranks—more specifically the
: long-time players. People who

: have been playing this game since :
: its first incarnation say that the

: game itself has been massively

: dumbed down in order to appeal
: to new generations of gamers.

: All of this drama and a hefty $15

: amonth price tag for less-than-

: stellar graphics—yeah, I crossed
: this one off my list pretty fast.

Next was Tera. I will admit, I

: did play this game for quite a bit.
: The animations were a bit clunky,
: and the online community is
game without ever having formed : pretty null and void if you're

> under the character level cap,

: which is the max level you can
: be before your character stops
can foster toxic online interaction | 8¢4N8 experience and becoming
: more powerful. I was willing to

: forgive most of this since the

: game is actually free, and the

: combat in it is really fun. But I

: hit a brick wall when it came to
: their customer support. To put

: it very bluntly, it’s awful. They

: treat you like you're computer

: illiterate and constantly blame

: your computer for any issues

: that arise, even when it’s clear

: that there are problems on their
: end. Eventually I got fed up

: and just deleted the game.

After Tera, I played other

: MMOs like Elder Scrolls Online,
: Neverwinter, and The Old

: Republic—and quit them all for
: various reasons. What I did find
: that they all had in common is

: that none of them were able to
: bridge that gap between long-
: time players and new players.

Asa last resort, I headed

: back to another MMO I had

: enjoyed in the past, but required
: amonthly fee. Final Fantasy:

: A Realm Reborn (ARR), and its

expansion Heavensward piqued

: my interest yet again, but I fully

: expected the social community

: to be the same as it was when I

: left about a year and a half ago.

: At that time it was no better than
: any of the others. Long-time

: players basically ignored the up-
: and-comers. Well, apparently the
: developers took note of this and

: decided to fix it. They created

: various incentives for people

: to help lower level players out

: through use of various bonuses

: and currency to purchase rare

: items, and by making their

: servers universal, which means

that console and PC gamers

: can play together rather than

: having separate servers for

: Playstation, Xbox, and PC players.
: Socially this is great, because

: not everyone I know plays on

: the same system. Don’t get me

: wrong, ARR does have its faults.

: Their private messaging system is
: filled with spam, and if you don’t
: havea “free company” (player

: run clubs), you might feel a bit

: like somebody taped a “virgin”

: sign on your back at the frat

: party—propositions are constant!

Overall, I enjoy the

: game, and the majority of
: the players are super friendly
: and willing to help you out
: instead of calling you a noob.

  

Illustration by Ed Appleby

Indie fashion feature:
super Orange

» Anime love with minimal tentacles.

Brittney MacDonald :
Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca

 

he geek community has
been steadily growing
since “nerd” became the new
“in” thing a few years ago—but
even now, anime lovers have
a pretty bad rep. In the sub-
culture, our passion is seen
asa little too niche. But with
Hollywood suddenly interested
in some of our favourite
storylines such as Ghost in the
Shell and Akira, change is in
the air—so you better brace for
impact, and declare yourself
loud and proud now. But how?
If you haven't heard of
it, Super Orange is a fashion
label dedicated to bringing
you quality casual wear that
will scream your anime love
to the world—with some of
the best anime in-jokes that
the community has to offer.
Think your “waifu” (favourite
female anime character) is
better than everyone else’s?
Declare it in garment form
with an adorable “Your
waifu is garbage” crop top.
Headed by self-proclaimed :
“weeb trash can” Zee, Super
Orange designs are a staple
to see at conventions as well
as all over the Internet. It’s
sort of hard to deny the fan
love this brand receives over
social media—every time
I log into Twitter it seems

: that someone new is posting

a picture of them in their

: favourite shirt, hat, sweater,
: or leggings from the website.
: And with the majority of the
: designs hitting under $70,

: it isn’t hard to see why.

Quality-wise, from what

: P've seen, most of the garments
: are on par with or better than

: similar online shops. The

: leggings, for example, are

: actually better than ones I’ve

: received from Romwe. Sure,

: they might bea little more

: expensive, but they'll bag out

: less which means they'll last

: longer and probably be cheaper
: for you in the long term.

As I watched the brand

: grow and become more

: popular I have seen the

: products and designs become
: more diverse, which excites

: me. Even now the options

: available speak to a fun,

: humorous, and approachable
: aesthetic that prioritizes

: comfort. In turn, Super Orange
: has been embraced by the

: anime community for catering
: to our needs as fans, but also

: our need to be adorable.

You can find Super

: Orange’s products at their

: website www.superorange.

E net, or at various conventions
: in the United States. For

: information on new designs,
: or to follow availability of

: certain items, you can check

: their Twitter and/or their

: Instagram at @superorangepdx

&

ee?

Image via superorange.tumblr.com