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Towards gaming with more Strife, less abuse

SINGAPORE — Ever wanted to start playing a competitive game, only to be hurled a diarrhoea of verbal abuse? Are the words ‘noob’, ‘feeder’ or ‘just quit the game’ all too painfully familiar? In games that are intense, team-based and having a list of unsaid rules, players are emotionally-invested and all out to win. Letting down teammates and facing the wrath of the infamous ‘keyboard warrior’ is something most would not want to experience.

SINGAPORE — Ever wanted to start playing a competitive game, only to be hurled a diarrhoea of verbal abuse? Are the words ‘noob’, ‘feeder’ or ‘just quit the game’ all too painfully familiar? In games that are intense, team-based and having a list of unsaid rules, players are emotionally-invested and all out to win. Letting down teammates and facing the wrath of the infamous ‘keyboard warrior’ is something most would not want to experience.

So, are neophytes never going to get the chance to join in the fun without getting thrashed out?

For those unfamiliar with the genre, two teams of players compete with each other, with each player controlling one character (also known as ‘champion’ or ‘hero). They play cooperatively with their teams to push objectives, taking the enemy’s towers down to infiltrate their base and destroy their Nexus to win.

The first-generation of MOBA games, namely Defense of the Ancients (Dota), Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and League of Legends (LoL) have been around for awhile that the character pool has evolved to become more complicated to use (to the point where some of the ‘weaker’ or ‘older’ heroes are left out), and the emergence of tournaments around the world has raised the bar. More complex strategies, higher expectations and increased skill level of the community are superimposed on newcomers.

Imagine entering a game and be immediately flamed for using a character whose skillset doesn’t complement the rest of the team well, only to enter the battlefield getting killed by the enemy who is not only merciless but has been a master of his hero for years. It’s easy not to enjoy the game, throw it down and never pick it up again.

Strife, S2 Games’ collaboration with Asiasoft, aims to rid the toxicity — cyberbullying, verbal abuse and unsportsmanlike conduct — of the hostile environment inherent in the first generation of MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games. It offers beginners and professional gamers alike an equal hand at the battlefield, and lets them play according to their comfort and level of skill without any consequences.

“What we have done is to take all that we’ve learnt, all that experience we’ve had from HoN (Heroes of Newerth) and built it into Strife. We’ve held on to what players like about the game, and we take out the bad stuff,” said Mr Tim Shannon, Producer of Strife, S2Games.

In terms of base gameplay and concept, Strife covers familiar ground well-beaten by predecessors like Defense Of The Ancients (DOTA), League of Legends (LoL) and HoN. Mr Shannon says the second-generation MOBA sports what ‘Pixar-like graphics which are original and robust’, a shop to purchase items, towers to defend and take down, and a large terrain map with three lanes.

But it’s a highly-competitive genre, and Strife differentiates itself by trying to eliminate a key factor that kills game enjoyment: Players getting into fights with other teams, and even their own teammates.

Strife does this by distributing gold and experience points attained in the game among members of the team. Also, players might be surprised to enter the battlefield and find no chatbox available. Instead, clearly-communicated game mechanics alert the player to the danger in most situations, such as when the hero is sustaining damage from turrets. With these improvements, Strife eliminates battles over resources, roles and ‘kill-steals’, reducing the number of things that player can do wrong.

Mr Andre, 19, a student at Temasek Polytechnic, was at first puzzled by the lack of a chatbox in-game. “There’s no chat, but it makes it more interesting compared to the other games I’ve played. It makes players fulfil their roles independently, without having to be yelled at or told to. Less anger, more enjoyment!”

The system does the legwork in fostering a friendly community that is self-regulated. However, Strife does have one last line of defence — a social system called Karma.

Karma points can be accumulated through winning the game (players get a few Karma points for just playing the game!), having a good attitude and cooperating with your team (getting appreciation Karma points from your teammates), or basically not getting your Karma points decreased through downvotes by not being a jerk. When players reach a certain number of Karma points, they can spend it to unlock treasure chests for special in-game items.

And because Karma is directly tied-in to rewards, players might find a way to abuse the system by trading Karma points. To counter this, the more a player votes, the less it counts for.

If you start spamming votes for your friend in exchange for his to get the rewards, or if you decide to downvote everyone you come across just because you can, your votes will have an increasingly less-obvious and visible effect on their overall Karma score (to the point where it becomes negligent).

However, if you store your votes, and you come across this player who really helped you out and contributed to the victory at the end, voting him up is going to see a significant increase in his Karma score (or a huge dent in Karma if he is nasty).

That is not all that Strife does to stand apart from other MOBA games. Strife controls the character pool, making the heroes different in terms of variety of abilities and builds. Coupled with the option of being able to customise them with different items (crafting) and counting pets into the equation, the heroes become flexible and versatile, allowing players plenty of room to experiment according to their unique styles of playing.

Christopher Leong, 18, student, is an avid LoL player. “The new pets are really a cute and unexpected addition to the game. The character design is really rich, and even though you might go ‘hey, this hero looks like that one from LoL’, it doesn’t really feel like a copy.”

If you enjoyed games within the MOBA genre, like Dota 2 and LoL, Strife will not disappoint you. Out-of-combat regeneration and auto-purchase of items while on the battlefield allow for a longer time in the action with your team. Shrinking focus on pushing objectives such as taking down the enemy team’s turrets and penalty on the team when one makes a mistake takes away the negative implications of stress and pressure on the players, allowing room for fun and leisure.

New to the world of MOBA? Do not worry: Whether you are just looking to play a light-hearted game before bedtime, or seeking a challenge to test and hone your skills, Strife matches you to players at your level and goals similar to yours for the best compatibility, and the best time.

The free-to-play MOBA Strife is scheduled to enter Beta in Q4 this year with a full release early next year. For more information about the game, visit to www.strife.com or www.facebook.com/StrifeSEA.com for news on Strife community activities in SEA.

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