War and Order: The Politics of playing an online game; Of racists and cheaters.
Playing an online game today requires a thorough understanding of other people’s culture and mindset, not to mention global politics. Aside from the trivia people usually enjoy during chat, sometimes there are those who prefer serious talks that can range from US politics and Trump, to the crises in the Middle East, to Russia and Putin, to consumerism and even greenhouse gas emissions.
I’ve played games since high school and now that I’m in my first year of University, time and priority has changed. Or does it?
Camel Games, a mobile game developer from China, is the source of my current obsession. The game is called War and Order and is similar to Clash of Kings, an earlier war game that was patterned from quasi-static games like Utopia, Populous, and Civilization.
Orc Knights, Elf Sages, Dragon Riders, and other incredible warriors are waiting to fight for your empire! Raise a massive fantasy army for HUGE, spectacularly animated battles! Axes fly, dragons roar, and fireballs sizzle as you clash with enemies from all over the world in real-time. Call on your allies to rush to your aid on horse- and lizard-back. Repay them with your undying loyalty as you take castles, slay ogres, and stake new territory as a tribe! THIS is the game you won’t be able to put it down as your screen lights up with constant new battles, chats, and upgrades! [ source ]
While you won’t see the dragons roar yet, the game can be addicting (that sounded so cliche’ but it is!).
Those who are familiar with war-strategy games know that a player needs to level up a castle, build troops, gather resources and join an alliance. In the span of 5 years, the need to use real money to be more competitive has quadrupled. There are those who continue to play without spending, but many top players can only attain such high rankings if they spend at least $2000 or more.
Why is that? Well, just like in real life, those with the money gets the throne.
Online or mobile phone games may be a person’s way to get away from stress brought about by pressure at work or at school. However, the experience can turn ugly if you play with someone who has little regard for others.
Realm #262
In our game realm, there is the presence of a strong Chinese contingent- owning top-level castles (the highest so far is a level 30 castle and the Chinese have three, the next most powerful castle is a level 29 and belongs to a rival alliance —Update: the said account is now also level 30).
Players are vocal about the Chinese attacking their castles and farms. However, the Chinese and a strong English-speaking alliance has yet to win the crown. The victors who have occupied the throne are a strong contingent of top alliances (about 6 or more) who banded together and has shared the throne from the start of the crown war.
Reports of cheating have dominated World chat, with accusations that the Chinese are exploiting certain advantages including the use of local apps to channel resources among the top castles. Incidents have been reported and no formal announcement from the developers have been issued as yet. [More of that at end of this article]
Anatomy of a Racist
Since you’ll deal with players from Australia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Korea, United States, Russia, the UK, Germany, India, Mexico, Venezuela, Portugal, Spain, Japan, China and many others, some will get on your nerves. Why? Because some are just not nice (or have an altogether different set of values so alien from what you believe) or some can be racist.
Some of these players don’t even know they are racist and will defend their ideals to the death.
When you call all Asians as stupid or idiot, that’s racism. No matter how you look at it. It gets worst when the leader of the alliance will support the bigot.
By the way, I’m half Japanese, half Filipino.
Racism and how you deal with it depends on you. If you’ve been exposed to it, then you know how to react properly or at least learned from a previous experience. Some would face the person head on and argue with him, others will simply ignore the person.
In my case, I went on full frontal assault. You cannot let anyone get away with racism — especially those who are not even aware that they are committing it.
“But they still can’t spell anything in English. Damn Asians”,
is a general term, as well as saying “All Asian can’t speak good English”. The player insisted that he is not a racist. If you curse Asians and I mean all Asians, is that not racism?
Precisely.
No I don’t want to kiss an Asian because they are ugly <- now that is racist.
For him, that’s supposedly a ‘joke’ but if you’re currently engaged in a heated argument, would you push forward with such remarks? Aside from being a racist, that is also an exercise of intolerance.
Saying ‘I am not a racist’, whether it is independently or as a reaction to something or someone who is engaging in a conversation, is just another way for a white person to state their defensiveness of racism, instead of acknowledging its problem and their role in it. It is better to ask a question in situations like these, rather than refocus the race conversation on you as a white individual, to focus it on the problem of the experience of racism and race itself. [ source ]
The quote above is specifically for a white person, that’s quite obvious I think. But everyone can be biased and can treat other people improperly. So, it should apply to all.
Szymanca said that he’s German. I have a lot of German friends in game and in real-life. But none of them said what he said. The fact that he denies he’s a racist and boasts of his country for not tolerating racism is already quite defensive…
According to a study commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, social prejudice is rife across the full spectrum of German society — ranging from a dislike of foreigners to a resentment of the unemployed. [ source ]
You may read other articles here, here, and here.
Me and my friend left that Alliance but after I wrote the leader a PM expressing my thanks for all the help and support. I do think that’s a good way not to burn bridges…
I’m Asian: 6 Forms Of Racism I Deal With Every Day- In case my last name doesn’t give it away, I’m Asian. And as you might have heard, for non-white people like me, life in this country hasn’t always been the mushiest of oysters. We’re mostly past the days when some random bigot will yell “Chink,” “Jap,” or “Gook” at me on the street. (If you’re an asshole, I’m officially only one of those three.) In 2016, no one sees me and thinks my only viable career option is to be their personal laundromat. [ read article ]
I’m surprised and so is my friend that they continue to talk about us. The leader, who continues to decry that her alliance will not tolerate racism is contradicting herself, simply by not acknowledging that a member has committed it so. Maybe she did so since she thinks it’s not true? I’m not going to lecture a full-grown woman… but a leader should be fair to all his/her ‘subjects’ and address issues that may affect her and her alliance’s standing in the community. Anyway, that’s none of my business and she certainly has her own means to manage her team.
Latino women are volatile I can relate
I view that response as nothing to do with the generalization that Asian can’t speak/write English. Of course, you can tell yourself you’re volatile because you are describing your own behavior. To equate that with the insulting phrase, including “They still cant spell anything in English” “Damn Asians” is a bit off. Of course, she may be trying to diffuse the tension, I give her the benefit of the doubt.
Anyone can be a racist, but what is worse is if you tolerate one and let him get away with it.
The only way to push towards ending racism in our community is to fight against it and to refuse to allow/tolerate it. Racism is also not something that just comes out of nowhere. It’s something that is taught and accepted. Somewhere or somehow this kind of behavior was demonstrated as acceptable to the student whether that be from home/family life, the people he is surrounded by, etc. People need to be educated and taught that this IS NOT OK or acceptable. [ read more ]
While the quote above applies to a school, it remains applicable to any community — even an online game.
I’d like to end this part of the article by quoting Dr. Ellen Hendriksen:
Engaging in a long, serious discussion about race can be exhausting and infuriating, so pick your battles. Just as you don’t speak for your entire race, you’re not expected to educate every tactless person who crosses your path. If it’s someone important in your life, it’s probably worth the energy. But don’t waste your breath on internet trolls, people at parties you’ll never see again, or folks you just know are never going to change. [ source ]
I’ve moved on when I joined another Alliance. I don’t know if the game will permit me to play forever (or if I remain with them) but suffice to say I have learned a few valuable lessons. I need to be more tolerant and understanding of other people since they come from different and diverse backgrounds. But I will never back down from arguments especially if I feel I’m being slighted, or insulted.
No self-respecting individual should allow another person to discriminate and get away with it.
The Last Word: There is a big difference between my former alliance and the current one — most of the players will talk to you and express themselves as honestly and as truthfully as they can. You know they value your friendship because they would take the time to talk to you at length and send you long-winding PM just so you understand where they’re coming from.
Cheating and What it takes to be called a Game Cheater
Due to the competitive nature of War and Order, one may be inclined to do ‘certain’ things to outlast the competition.
Take the following cases for example:
- Creating Farms — when a player makes other accounts within the game and limit the level of the castle and exclusively gather what his main castle needs;
- Attacking Farming Hives — when a player moves to a target hive and attacks low-level castles (or even high-level ones) to get the resources he needs for himself;
- Buying RSS from Fruit-sellers — when a player moves to a farm hive owned by someone who offers them for cash;
There are other practices that can be considered legal or illegal and you may want to consult the game’s policy for that:
We will enforce strict and consistent consequences for cheaters! If you’ve discovered or suspect a player is cheating, please contact our support team ASAP. To assist their investigation, please provide as much detail as possible, including the player’s in-game Lord Name, server, city coordinates, etc. Please also provide screenshot evidence whenever possible. We’ll investigate as quickly as possible, and if the report of cheating is proven, we’ll respond by banning the account. [ source ]
Unfortunately, the definition of a “cheater” is not exactly defined. I have browsed the official Camel Games forum and there are some topics about cheating, but unless an official rep comes out and put on something solid, I have to reserve my full judgment.
FORBES ARTICLE: Many in the West have long disdained Chinese firms as copycats. Some believe that no innovation from China can be called original. Baidu looks like Google, they argue, Alibaba is a version of Amazon, and Tencent imitates Facebook
Wrong. In the example of Tencent’s WeChat, the Chinese social media platform, Western equivalents such as Facebook Messenger, What’s App, or Twitter look hopelessly inferior. [ READ MORE ]
However, if I’m a player I’d frown upon hearing someone paying money to another player just so he can get RSS. There is obviously an unfair advantage to it, but then again, how about those who created a dozen farms for himself? I guess, the big difference is that the game developer gets compensation when the account buys directly from the game via the different packages it offers.
If you pay another player money, then the game developers will not benefit from it. I have seen some announcements where players are suspended or banned due to “fruit selling”. This practice has divided the realm with the most vocal opposing. “Proof” and screenshots have been sent and we await for results.
