The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games

Author: Christopher A. Paul
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781517900403
Category : Merit (Ethics)
Languages : en
Pages : 245

Book Description
An avid gamer and sharp media critic explains meritocracy's negative contribution to video game culture--and what can be done about it Video games have brought entertainment, education, and innovation to millions, but gaming also has its dark sides. From the deep-bred misogyny epitomized by GamerGate to the endemic malice of abusive player communities, gamer culture has had serious real-world repercussions, ranging from death threats to sexist industry practices and racist condemnations. In The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games, new media critic and longtime gamer Christopher A. Paul explains how video games' focus on meritocracy empowers this negative culture. Paul first shows why meritocracy is integral to video-game design, narratives, and values. Games typically valorize skill and technique, and common video-game practices (such as leveling) build meritocratic thinking into the most basic premises. Video games are often assumed to have an even playing field, but they facilitate skill transfer from game to game, allowing certain players a built-in advantage. The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games identifies deep-seated challenges in the culture of video games--but all is not lost. As Paul argues, similarly meritocratic institutions like professional sports and higher education have found powerful remedies to alleviate their own toxic cultures, including active recruiting and strategies that promote values such as contingency, luck, and serendipity. These can be brought to the gamer universe, Paul contends, ultimately fostering a more diverse, accepting, and self-reflective culture that is not only good for gamers but good for video games as well.

The Shame Game

Author: O'Hara, Mary
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447349288
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description
What does it mean to be poor in Britain and America? For decades the primary narrative about poverty in both countries is that it has been caused by personal flaws or ‘bad life decisions’ rather than policy choices or economic inequality. This misleading account has become deeply embedded in the public consciousness with serious ramifications for how financially vulnerable people are seen, spoken about and treated. Drawing on a two-year multi-platform initiative, this book by award-winning journalist and author Mary O’Hara, asks how we can overturn this portrayal once and for all. Crucially, she turns to the real experts to try to find answers – the people who live it.

The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games

Author: Christopher A. Paul
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452956200
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 283

Book Description
An avid gamer and sharp media critic explains meritocracy’s negative contribution to video game culture—and what can be done about it Video games have brought entertainment, education, and innovation to millions, but gaming also has its dark sides. From the deep-bred misogyny epitomized by GamerGate to the endemic malice of abusive player communities, gamer culture has had serious real-world repercussions, ranging from death threats to sexist industry practices and racist condemnations. In The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games, new media critic and longtime gamer Christopher A. Paul explains how video games’ focus on meritocracy empowers this negative culture. Paul first shows why meritocracy is integral to video-game design, narratives, and values. Games typically valorize skill and technique, and common video-game practices (such as leveling) build meritocratic thinking into the most basic premises. Video games are often assumed to have an even playing field, but they facilitate skill transfer from game to game, allowing certain players a built-in advantage. The Toxic Meritocracy of Video Games identifies deep-seated challenges in the culture of video games—but all is not lost. As Paul argues, similarly meritocratic institutions like professional sports and higher education have found powerful remedies to alleviate their own toxic cultures, including active recruiting and strategies that promote values such as contingency, luck, and serendipity. These can be brought to the gamer universe, Paul contends, ultimately fostering a more diverse, accepting, and self-reflective culture that is not only good for gamers but good for video games as well.

Game Misconduct

Author: Evan F. Moore
Publisher: Triumph Books
ISBN: 1641256850
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 201

Book Description
A bracing call to arms for hockey fans, players, and coaches everywhere Those who have been lured by the the sound of skate blades slicing into fresh ice, by the incomparable speed, split-second decisions, and everything-or-nothing attitude of the game know that hockey can seem like its own world. It's all-consuming and exhilarating, boasting its own language and complex morality code. Yet in another light, that tight community can turn insular; the values of teamwork and humility can manifest as collective silence in the face of abuse and discrimination, issues which have been brought to the forefront of the sport as many share their stories for the first time. In Game Misconduct, reporters Evan Moore and Jashvina Shah reveal hockey's toxic undercurrent which has permeated the sport throughout the junior, college, and professional levels. They address the topic with a level of passion that comes from being rabid hockey fans themselves, and from experiencing its exclusivity first-hand. With a sensitive yet incisive approach, this necessary book lays bare the issues of racism, homophobia, xenophobia, bullying, sexism, and violence on and off the ice. Readers will learn about notable players and activists fighting for transformation as well as those beyond the spotlight who are nonetheless deeply affected by hockey's culture of inaction.Both a reckoning and a roadmap, Game Misconduct is an essential read for modern hockey fans, showing the truth of the sport's past and present while offering the tools to fight for a better future.

Social Informatics

Author: Luca Maria Aiello
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319151681
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Book Description
This book constitutes the proceedings of the Workshops held at the International Conference on Social Informatics, SocInfo 2014, which took place in Barcelona, Spain, in November 2014. This year SocInfo 2014 included nine satellite workshops: the City Labs Workshop, the Workshop on Criminal Network Analysis and Mining, CRIMENET, the Workshop on Interaction and Exchange in Social Media, DYAD, the Workshop on Exploration of Games and Gamers, EGG, the Workshop on HistoInformatics, the Workshop on Socio-Economic Dynamics, Networks and Agent-based Models, SEDNAM, the Workshop on Social Influence, SI, the Workshop on Social Scientists Working with Start-Ups and the Workshop on Social Media in Crowdsourcing and Human Computation, SoHuman.

Get in the Game

Author: Jonathan Stringfield
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119855373
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Book Description
An essential guide for marketers and execs wishing to integrate their brands with modern games and esports In Get in the Game: How to Level Up Your Business with Gaming, Esports, and Emerging Technologies, decorated gaming and social media research and marketing executive Jonathan Stringfield delivers a roadmap to understanding and navigating marketing and business integrations into the gaming ecosystem: who plays games (and why), how modern games are created and oriented around the world of esports, and where brands can get involved with modern games. This book explains the breadth and depth of the gaming audience, describing the rapidly changing demographics of modern games and the various motivations gamers have for playing games. It also unpacks the history of gaming and how it has impacted the creative processes and output from the industry. Finally, it offers a practical guide for brands wishing to integrate themselves into new gaming environments, with an emphasis on maximizing success for marketers, developers, content creators, and fans. Get in the Game provides: A thorough introduction to why marketers and executives must pay closer attention to gaming, as well as existing roadblocks to understanding the gaming industry Comprehensive explorations of the psychology and motivations of gaming, and implications towards messaging and brand safety. Practical discussions of gaming as a competitive platform or streaming viewing experience. In-depth examinations of gaming ad placements, deep marketing integrations between companies and games, and future directions for the industry and how it relates to the emergence of the metaverse. Perfect for marketing strategists, brand managers, and Chief Marketing Officers, Get in the Game will also earn a place in the libraries of executives seeking to connect with the misunderstood yet largest segment in consumer entertainment.

Working with Toxic Older Adults

Author: Gloria M. Davenport, PhD
Publisher: Springer Publishing Company
ISBN: 0826117236
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 311

Book Description
Older adults, like all individuals, have different personalities and temperaments. According to Dr. Davenport, toxicity in older adults manifests itself in negative behaviors and attitudes that can adversely impact interactions with health professionals, caregivers, and family members. Davenport presents theories and case examples to help us understand this phenomenon and provides useful techniques for caring for toxic elders. A valuable practical guide for social workers, therapists, caregivers, and students.

Toxic Masculinity, Casino Capitalism, and America's Favorite Card Game

Author: Andrew Manno
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030402606
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Book Description
Poker is a centuries-old American game. Why has it become so popular in the twenty-first century? What does current interest in the game tell us about ourselves and some of our most pressing social issues? In this timely and thought-provoking book, Andrew Manno offers important insights into the intersection of gaming, gender, and capitalism that illuminate how the shift to a casino capitalist economy—combined with a culture of toxic masculinity—impacts workers and how it has led to the rise of populism in the United States that manifested in the 2016 election of Donald Trump.

HCI in Games

Author: Xiaowen Fang
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031606957
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Book Description

Gaming Democracy

Author: Adrienne L. Massanari
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262380323
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 124

Book Description
How play and gaming culture have mainstreamed far right ideology through social media platforms. From #Gamergate to the ongoing Big Lie, the far right has gone mainstream. In Gaming Democracy, Adrienne Massanari tracks the flames of toxicity found in the far right and “alt-right” movements as they increasingly take up oxygen in American and global society. In this pathbreaking contribution to the fields of internet studies, game studies, and gender studies, Massanari argues that Silicon Valley’s emphasis on meritocracy and free speech absolutism has driven this rightward slide. These ideologies have been coded into social media spaces that implicitly silence marginalized communities and subject them to rampant abuse by groups that have learned to “game” the ecology of platforms, algorithms, and attention economies. While populist movements are not new, phenomena such as QAnon, parental rights activism, and COVID denialism are uniquely “of the internet,” with supporters demonstrating both technical acumen and an ability to use memes and play as a way of both building community and fomenting dissent. Massanari explores the ways that the far right uses memetic humor and geek masculinity as tools both to create a sense of community within these leaderless groups and to obfuscate their intentions. Using the lens of play and game studies as well as the concept of “metagaming,” Gaming Democracy is a novel contribution to our understanding of online platforms and far right political activism.