I am fairly certain that we have covered this topic before, but I feel like I need to bring it up again. Little kids and video games. I don't have a problem with parents deciding that their child is okay to play an "M" rated game. I do, however, take major issue with little kids being all up on the mic.
When a game requires a clan, I see the whole idea as being a way to play together, socialize, group up, and engage with one another. MMOs are particularly meant for a social experience. When you take a game for adults (violence, skimpy clothes, F-bombs) and add small children (ages 12 and below), the parent is doing so at their own risk. Allowing those same small children to get on a mic in clan chat is painful for everybody involved.
Let's start with what should be the most obvious: my age vs their age. I am 31 years old and I sure as hell do not want to hang out with your 7 year old. That's weird. It's annoying to me that I now have to spend time with a small child in order to get things done with my clan of adults aged 40 and up.
Second, what the hell kind of parent is allowing their child to get on the mic and talk to complete strangers? Would you allow your kid to hang out in chat rooms online by themselves? Or approach and converse with strangers in a park by themselves? So why are there people that think it is harmless to allow their small children to be in a public lobby? There is nothing to keep me or anyone else from saying something violent, threatening, or sexual.
Lastly, the adults that allow these kids online are super inconsiderate. I was actually told in clan chat that I need to watch my language because there was a small child in chat. An adult game full of talking adults should be no kids allowed. It makes the game less fun and more awkward for everyone else.
So please, please leave your kids off the mic. It's inappropriate for everyone involved, and I definitely won't be sorry when I teach your kid some new words.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Just Spit It Out Already!
Here's the breakdown of gaming at my house lately: I've been playing Defiance, my husband has been playing Sid Meier's Civilization: Revolution, and my daughters are obsessed with Animal Crossing: New Leaf. We're kind of all over the board. But do you know what the combination of listening to these three games has taught me?
All three games have a different way to handle voice overs. Defiance has inane, repetitive chatter, but it's completely voiced and in English (or whatever language, I'm guessing??) Civilization has constant, interruptive voice overs, but the characters just jabber. Kind of like Sims. And Animal Crossing is completely voiced, but it's just bleeps and bloops, not really word sounds at all, except when you type it says the letters you hit in a majorly robotic voice.
So different, and what do they all have in common? SO ANNOYING.
Of the three, I would say Animal Crossing is the least offensive. I am not crazy about the fact that every time a character talks to you it makes a steady stream of noise not unlike a dial-up modem in the 90's, but it's easily tuned out. Civilization might be the worst. You have advisors helping build your civilization, and they are constantly popping up to talk at you. It stops game play to have you read their blurb and make a decision. But the whole time they're up they are just jabbering away in nonsense. Why? Why did they even spend the time recording this inane blabbering? If you're going to record someone talking away, just have them actually speak the words. It's super annoying to me. I wish they were just silent. My husband stands up for the game by saying this way it could be shipped worldwide without recording multiple languages. It still grates on me.
And Defiance voice overs are annoying in a category all their own. There is tons of voiced dialogue during quest hand-outs and cut-scenes, all voice acted and well done. But during actual game play you have your very own Navi-like computer chick, who talks incessantly but repeats the same lines over and over and over. Everyone who plays can recite EGO's lines. And everyone hates her. I'm not generalizing.
I love the work programmers and designers put into games...but how about going that extra mile, or going a mile less, and just not annoying the gamer?
Voice overs are totally important.
So different, and what do they all have in common? SO ANNOYING.
Of the three, I would say Animal Crossing is the least offensive. I am not crazy about the fact that every time a character talks to you it makes a steady stream of noise not unlike a dial-up modem in the 90's, but it's easily tuned out. Civilization might be the worst. You have advisors helping build your civilization, and they are constantly popping up to talk at you. It stops game play to have you read their blurb and make a decision. But the whole time they're up they are just jabbering away in nonsense. Why? Why did they even spend the time recording this inane blabbering? If you're going to record someone talking away, just have them actually speak the words. It's super annoying to me. I wish they were just silent. My husband stands up for the game by saying this way it could be shipped worldwide without recording multiple languages. It still grates on me.
And Defiance voice overs are annoying in a category all their own. There is tons of voiced dialogue during quest hand-outs and cut-scenes, all voice acted and well done. But during actual game play you have your very own Navi-like computer chick, who talks incessantly but repeats the same lines over and over and over. Everyone who plays can recite EGO's lines. And everyone hates her. I'm not generalizing.
I love the work programmers and designers put into games...but how about going that extra mile, or going a mile less, and just not annoying the gamer?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)