Friday 17 October 2014

Mini Project: How to be a Game Designer Part 1: Structure and the mind

Every now and then, I hear people ask "how can I be a game designer?" with a conversation that tends to lead to more and more questions. Combine that with a large portion of fan games not having a competent game designer, if not one at all, I thought I'd try and lend a hand with it. Every now and then I'll be posting to here a few tips and tricks I taught myself, and the way I approach my reviews. I should note, this fist post is going to be a long one and may ruin people's ability to enjoy games and to that, I'm sorry. If you're still curious, lets begin.

The first thing that needs to be covered is the best tool at any person's disposal if they want to work in IT, and even other fields: the Problem Solving Methodology. Whenever you're designing anything, you should always keep this tool in mind. The Problem Solving Methodology is devided into 4 parts:

Note: System= any form of hardware/ software

  1. Analysis: What is your problem? how is it caused? Before you do anything, you must know what it is you're going to do, analyze every aspect of the problem. Analysis is what this part is going to primarily focus on.
  2. Design: before you even boot up a piece of development software. Design your system. Have a physical copy of your design documents which should have everything to do with the project, including testing and evaluation requirements (more on that later). Your final product may look nothing like what you design, which is fine, but you shouldn't be designing it on the fly.
  3. Development: The "fun" part, making your system. Your code, your renders, this is when you get to finally see your project take shape. One thing though I can't stress enough, TEST EVERYTHING! this isn't the time to use your testing and evaluating requirements, you're job in this phase is to make sure your system works, not if it does its job. Your testers see if it does its job and your testers should not have any hand in the development of the system (as in they shouldn't be working on it, their job is to test, not make). You are actually the worst person to test your system as you know how its supposed to work.
  4. Evaluation: So your system is out to the public, now is the time to bring out your evaluation documents. After your system has been in the public for some time (a good base is six months after release), you need to look at the public feedback, see how its being used, the common errors people have, find more problems and go back to analysis.
The big thing to remember when working in the IT industry is "Fail Faster". Every fail costs you money, but it also makes your system better. The later into development your failures show up, the harder it is to fix and the more it costs. Fail faster, don't be afraid to fail, it happens. Its better to fail during the design phase then it is to fail in the development and evaluation phases.

So now you have those tools in mind, now its time to play some games... but if your a designer, you not playing them just to have fun, you're analyzing them. You always have to ask yourself "Why did they do this?" "What would it be like if it was like this?". Remember, everything in a game is done for a reason.

Here's a small exercise. I want you to play a game, any game of your choice, for this example, I'm going to use Pokemon Red and Blue versions. Once you've selected a game to play, set yourself a point to finish analyzing, for this example I'm going to go up to (and include) Pewter City, though you can go as far as you want to. Now in Pokemon Red and Blue, during that time, what can and can't you do?

  1. You get the opening intro.
  2. You can choose the name of your character.
  3. You can choose the name of your rival.
  4. You can get a free potion from the PC.
  5. You are given a basic guide of the controls.
  6. You cannot go into tall grass.
  7. You are given your starter Pokemon.
  8. You are introduced to the battle system (when you battle your rival).
  9. You are introduced to NPC's.
  10. You are introduced to Tall Grass and wild encounters.
  11. You are introduced to the Pokemon Centre and Pokemart.
  12. You are introduced a Gym you can't enter.
  13. You are given the Pokedex.
  14. You can choose to have another rival battle.
  15. You can choose to be taught how to use a Pokeball.
  16. You are introduced to dungeons.
  17. You are introduced to eye contact.
  18. You are introduced to Trainer classes.
  19. You are introduced to type match up.
  20. You are introduced to "loot".
  21. You are introduced to Pokemon Gyms.
  22. You are introduced to the concept of Fossils.
  23. You are introduced to Gym Badges.
  24. You are introduced to the concept of TM's and (hinted at) HM's.
Once you have a list of introductions, now its time to ask why and if needed, how?

Note: these are basic investigations on the matter, the more complicated analysis you can provide, the better. I'm just using minimalistic as a example.
  1. Why is there a opening intro? To get people excited to play the game and provide some basic knowledge of the game for first time players.
  2. Why can you choose the name of your character? To make Red the link between the player and the game, so that the player can feel that its them doing these tasks and not another character.
  3. Why can you choose the name of your rival? To make the game feel more unique. It's your adventure, not another's.
  4. Why can you get a free potion from the PC?To reward and encourage exploration along with introducing the player to PC storage.
  5. Why are you given a basic guide of the controls and how? You are never told how to, you are encouraged to look. When you are told, its hidden away to give players a chance to figure it out for themselves, making the tutorial a more rewarding experience.
  6. Why are you denied from going into tall grass? To ensure you get your starter Pokemon, giving you access to the combat mechanics.
  7. Why are you given your starter Pokemon and why can you choose what your starter is? To introduce players to the concept of Pokemon and to give players a stronger bond to the Pokemon, to act as the first step in the player thinking of them as a friend, a partner more so then a tool.
  8. Why are you introduced to the battle system (when you battle your rival)? To allow for players to grasp the basics required to make it through the game and to build up a rival in their minds, more so then just allowing the game to tell them "he's a rival".
  9. Why are you introduced to NPC's? To help encourage exploration and to make the world feel more alive.
  10. Why are you introduced to Tall Grass and wild encounters? To help enforce the skills learned in the Rival battle before introducing the player to the catching mechanic along with showing players places where they can find wild Pokemon.
  11. Why are you introduced to the Pokemon Center and Pokemart? To introduce the player to the different kinds of buildings and what buildings you should be looking for in new cities and towns.
  12. Why can you not enter the Gym in Viridian City? Foreshadowing for the plot
  13. Why are you given the Pokedex? To give the player a in game way of tracking all the different kinds of Pokemon.
  14. Why can you choose to have another rival battle? It is a reward, adding to the intensives to explore before you get to the first dungeon.
  15. Why can you choose to be taught how to use a Pokeball? To allow players who know how to catch a Pokemon to skip it while giving the players who don't know how to the intensive to ask NPC's, adding to the exploration.
  16. Why are you introduced to dungeons? To introduce players to the concept of the game's mazes, along with Trainer battles and introduce the concept of them before taking off the "training wheels" in Mt Moon.
  17. Why are you introduced to eye contact? To allow players the chance to avoid trainers and showing them how far they can see the player, where their blind spots are.
  18. Why are you introduced to Trainer classes? To encourage the player to use a variety of Pokemon, as each class uses different kinds of Pokemon.
  19. Why are you introduced to type match up? To hint to the player that each Pokemon has weaknesses, encouraging the player to investigate each Pokemon's strengths and weaknesses and hint to the player to have different kinds of Pokemon on them at all times.
  20. Why are you introduced to "loot"? To introduce the player to the item system and to encourage exploration.
  21. Why are you introduced to Pokemon Gyms now? To introduce the player to the concept of "boss battles" and provide a ideal point for the player to be at in terms of levels.
  22. Why are you introduced to the concept of Fossils? To foreshadow the event in Mt Moon and eventually the Fossil revival system.
  23. Why are you introduced to Gym Badges? To show the player how to progress to new areas in the game, because you cannot leave Pewter City without Brock's Badge.
  24. Why are you introduced to the concept of TM's and (hinted at) HM's? To show the player another way to teach their Pokemon new moves.
That's a analysis of the first three routes, dungeon and towns/ cities in the game, and where I end this for now. But as a fun activity, either use your list or the one I provided here and imagine what the game would be like if something was changed or removed, imagine how it would have effected the game.

Wednesday 15 October 2014

Kirby Triple Deluxe: Nintendo does have more then one Platformer mascot

Yeah, contrary to popular belief, there are actually more Platformer mascots from Nintendo that aren't Mario. For clarification, a Platformers is a gameplay style, often seen as very arcade in nature as it is getting from point A-B while jumping over obstacles, its the father of Parkour in short.

With every new Nintendo console, you're going to get your staple franchises. You're going to get your new Mario (sometimes 2 in the case of the WiiU), you're going to get your new Zelda, your new Mario Kart and your new Smash bros (I'll get to that one later), Kirby is one of the franchises you don't hear a lot of because it either gets very little publicity or it appears closer to the end of the console's cycle. Kirby didn't get a main series game on the Gamecube (instead we got Kirby's Air Ride) and didn't appear on the Wii until Kirby's Epic Yarn. Portable consoles have been kinder to Kirby as we got 4 Kirby games for the DS. During the wait for Smash 4, Nintendo was kind enough to release Kirby Triple Deluxe, the pink puffball's first appearance on the 3DS (that doesn't include the Virtual Console), how does it compare to its predecessors? Time to see just how big his black hole of a stomach is this time.


Wednesday 8 October 2014

To Boldly Flee: Because everyone hates plot holes

The year is 2012, Doug Walker has decided to stop writing Nostalgia Critic episodes, but not without leaving on a high note. The team still has a anniversary to release, and what better way to finish the character then with a 3 and a half hour long sci-fi movie. Time to, for the last time, re enter this world, To Boldly Flee.

So how does one go from... whatever you call Kickassia, to medieval in the form of Suburban Knights and then To Boldly Flee? Well...

Wednesday 1 October 2014

Suburban Knights: When a sequel isn't really a sequel

What's the first rule of a sequel... more often then not its keeping the same theme as the first film. One year after the release of Kickassia, the Channel Awesome team bring out a new film that... somehow connects to Kickassia (in other ways besides mentions). The hunt is on for a power of old, time to delve into fantasy with Suburban Knights.

Disclaimer: I know its not the cover, I couldn't find a good image of the cover

Wednesday 24 September 2014

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Seasons 1-4... This is going to be a long week...



When I started this reviews site, I knew this would come up sooner or later. This is one of the reviews that I’m not sure how it’s going to be taken, not by fans of the show or by you who read this, but by people I know in real life. This is also something that I have quite a bit to say so this is one of the reviews that are going to be spread over several posts (five to be precise). I am willing to review other aspects of the franchise at a later time if I get the request for them, especially while I look to see what sticks and what doesn’t. But until then, let’s get this underway, to whatever it gets, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Seasons 1-4.

Disclaimer: No, I am not a Brony and I'm definitely not a Pegasister (though I'm hoping that last one is obvious...)

I would insert a cover here, but I couldn't find a good one so...



Wednesday 17 September 2014

Mario Karts 7 and 8: Time to burn rubber again... and again...

With every new Nintendo console, we are guaranteed a new Mario Kart at some point. From its debut on the SNES, Mario Kart is one of Nintendo's safe console sellers with every iteration managing to push units. While I said I was going to do just Mario Kart 8 (even though I still lack a Wii U, thank you to EB games Swanston Street for having the full version available to play), if you're familiar with the Mario Kart iterations, you'll see why I'm grouping Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS in this review as well. Time to hit the track.



















Wednesday 10 September 2014

Batman Assault on Arkham: I never thought I'd see people breaking into Arkham...

It has been 75 years since Batman first appeared to the world. One the two mascots of DC Comics and one of the most well known superheroes of this day an age thanks to the overall success of his appearances in other mediums (including the Adam West TV show nowadays, the animated TV shows including Batman the Animated series, Batman Beyond and Justice League, the Nolan films (in particular The Dark Knight but I'll save that one for latter) and the Arkham games) it isn't surprising that DC would want to celebrate it somehow. Several animations have been released this year to celebrate the anniversary including the one below...

and the subject of this review: Batman Assault on Arkham. Time to let the Rouges out, the madhouse is open.

Wednesday 3 September 2014

The Lego Movie: No I WILL NOT sing that song



While I can’t speak for everyone, I wish that there was more stop motion animation. I applaud people who go out of their way to make high quality stop motion animation and use the style to their advantage along with the material. Why do I say this, because Lego is generally the standard Stop Motion material as people tend to make their sets, characters and props out of Lego, because its so easy to do (in comparison to other stop motion styles like using Transformers toys). Movies made by Lego on the other hand are... forgettable for the most part. I only know of five other Lego movies, one of which I couldn’t name off the top of my head to save my life. To my knowledge, all of Lego’s films have been direct to VCR/DVD/Blu-ray and none of have come to or launched at a cinema (at least not where I live...)... until The Lego movie. So how does the Lego movie hold up?

Wednesday 27 August 2014

Pokemon Zeta and Pokemon Omnicron: Don't you just love fan games?



Forward: I’ll be changing the format of this review slightly because I couldn’t phrase is any other way. This review is also very long, one of the longest I've written so far.

Ah fan games, a small portion of the gaming community that is more often than not shunned. Fan games are exactly what the term sounds like, their unofficial games based on franchises made by fans of said franchise. I’ve played a few fan games over the years, mostly Sonic games which have been, more often than not, quite good. However I haven’t had a lot of luck with Pokémon fan games. While I have played a few, the ones I remember are Pokémon Quartz version, which I barely got into, Pokémon Platnium for the Gameboy Advance, where I found a game breaking bug that meant I stopped playing it, a few rom hacks like Blaze Black (which I recommend if you want that harder challenge) and Snakewood (a rom hack of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald where Hoenn is infested with zombies...not as good as it sounds, trust me) and recently, Pokémon Zeta (alternate version being Pokémon Unicron Omnicron), which as you know, is the subject of this review. I will openly say that I haven’t finished the game, and I do acknowledge that some of the points brought up in this review could be a result of the development software used, RPG Maker. The game itself is also in “Open Beta” so there is a strong chance these issues could be resolved in the future.  For the purpose of this review, I played the Open Beta 1.4.9 and I will be bringing up comparisons to the main series due to the nature of this game being a fan game.

Tuesday 26 August 2014

Another rant: "Parents" against video game

Ever since I wrote the rant on the R18+ rating in Australia, I've been doing some more research in the matter, and to say that my findings disgust me is a understatement. I know I said that I'd never do this kind of rant again but this is something that truly deserves it. While I'll be focusing on one particular group, do note that this is also targeted towards any other similar group. The target for this is A Twitter group of American and Canadian parents who are obsessed with the, at times, destruction of violent video games. I'm not going to go into all their points because when I read any post on their site, I feel like I'm loosing more and more brain cells that could be used on something that isn't atrocious. As usual, I'm not holding back any punches for this. If anyone wants to argue any of these points, feel free to get in contact with me. Anywhere you see a link to this site with the username of the person posting being some variation of my user name here "Liam Blaster Sanders" is normally me.

I'm pretty much going to be looking at each of the arguments that's being presented at time of writing (25/8/2014). If that's not something you want to read and your not associated with these kinds of groups, leave now.

1. Before I get into the overarching points: YouTube commentators. These people are attacking Youtube content producers such as JonTron and PewDiPie because "there's nothing sadder then watching someone play a video game". Do you people stop and think about what your typing? Seriously? Because I can ask the exact same question about professional sports players. What's the difference in watching people play a video game and people playing any sport? Its the same thing, the only difference is that one of them is becoming a common medium of entertainment and the other is currently a common medium of entertainment. Your attacking people who enjoy making people laugh, who make money off of their own content. These people are entrepreneurs and comedians. Lets plays are also a way of advertising for video games: If people enjoy watching someone play a game, they are more inclined to play that game as its a more reliable form of marketing then a normal review (hypocritical considering the content of this site but the point still stands). Are these people for everyone? No, everyone has different tastes, the same as TV shows.

2. Minecraft is a violent video game. I'm still recovering from the bruising on my forehead because of how hard I slammed my head on the nearest wall. With the amount of people playing Minecraft, you people should feel ashamed of this misconception. For the .01% of people who have never heard of the game, Minecraft is a open world sandbox game, where your free to build whatever you want to build. This is why I slammed my head against a wall several times because Minecraft has been given the nickname "THE VIRTUAL LEGO GAME". If your going after Minecraft, then your also going after other creative medium. Yes there are monsters in the game that you do need to kill (for the most part), but this is because of the game's survival mode, WHERE YOU NEED TO DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE. Are their guns in the game? If you mod the game, but its not in the vanilla game. Are their builds out their that are inappropriate? Yes because someone decided to build it. That's not the game's fault. I also want to bring attention to this post chain ( https://twitter.com/dankmtl/status/503750987837095936/photo/1 ) because this pretty much summaries the misconceptions about the game. Fans of the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic will also notice the error in the image. I looked up Tara Strong's career as a voice actor, and the funny thing is about this (almost certainly fake screen capture because it's easy to edit your name on a iPhone) photo, Tara Strong never voiced the character "Rainbow Dash" in the show. She is a voice actor, but of the character "Twilight Sparkle", something that took me all of 20 seconds to find. Want to know what also took me no time to look up? Minecraft being used in education, helping children learn skills that will help them in society, or how about Computercraft and qCraft? Mods that are raising the next generation of computer programers and Quantum physicists. How about all the marvelous, gorgeous builds that people have built in the game, from small shacks, to gigantic cities. From a simple target practice mini game to roller coasters and adventure maps. Or how about all the fan made mini games you can find on Minecraft Relms? Survival games, capture the wool, spleef.

3. The assault on "White male gamers" and gamers in general. While I will openly admit that the behavior of most of the people who reply to post and the account in general is disgusting, the people that their using to highlight their point is a small minority (that are unfortunately the loudest). Yes, the gaming community has people that I'd be ashamed of knowing personally. But that's not the community. Gamers are also (for the most part) nerds in general so these kinds of attacks are going after everyone who classifies themselves as geeks or nerds. I am personally insulted by these people because its people like this Twitter group that makes me not want to be apart of the real world. Its these kinds of people that have bullied me since I've gone to kindergarten. They say that they are "afraid of white male gamers", the last time I checked, the dictionary definition of fear wasn't "to provoke a particular audience to prove a point". I ask you, to the people who are afraid of gamers, to the ones who say that "Parents who spawn white male gamers are little different from producers of biological weapons.", go to a nerdy event. Go to a gaming convention, a tournament, even a small club and see what these "terrifying" white male gamers are really like. Anyone can be someone their not when their hiding behind a keyboard and monitor. Most gamers actually hate the kind of people your promoting, we're ashamed of those people because they give fuel to people like you. You want to know what "Gamers" are actually doing? They are the ones making games memorable, the Smooth McGrooves and the Glitch City's who make our favorite game songs even better, the Extra Credits and Game Theories who analyze games, to find out where they falter and where they thrive. They are the ones who help charities like Child's Play and TLC for kids who help make children's lives better when they are in hospitals thanks to video games. The Sonic-a-thon, a marathon of Sonic games, played by sonic fans, earned over $20,000 dollars for Child's play, none of the commentators got a cent of that money. they are the aspiring developers who, like the developers of today and in the past, will expand the medium. Gamers are not the people your promoting, what your promoting are nothing more the trolls and griefers.

4. Violent video games. From what I've read, you people define EVERY GAME AS VIOLENT (something that I know no one actually thinks because I'm willing to bet that you've played at least a game in your lives). You people think that "People who play Mario games are violent and are encouraged to take drugs", "That Pokemon and Sonic encourage animal cruelty", "That every person who plays racing games are reckless drivers", "That every gamer plays Call of Duty and GTA". Hell, why not go further: Kirby encourages cannibalism, Phoenix Wright is nothing but violence, Mass Effect promotes same sex relationships, Samus is oversexualised. Let me just rip all these arguments apart, shall I?

a. Mario games are violent and are promoting drug use: I DON'T KNOW ANYONE WHO THINKS THAT JUMPING ON PEOPLE, RUNING INTO THEM WITH THE POWER OF A STAR, THROWING BOUNCING FIREBALLS AND SHELLS ARE ACTUAL WAYS OF KILLING PEOPLE. No one can jump high enough to seriously hurt anyone and if they fall, they themselves are going to be just as hurt as the intended victim. The Starman power is impossible including the ability to throw bouncing fire. Shells might, at the most, break a bone but they can't die from one. As for the "drug use", the intended market for the games wouldn't know that a Mushroom could be a drug and the game actually promotes eating healthy mushrooms (trust me, it works).

b. Pokemon and Sonic encourage animal cruelty. I'll answer Sonic first as that's the shorter of the two. If your familiar with the early games in the series, then you'll know that YOU'RE FREEING ANIMALS FROM THE ROBOT, NOT SHOVING THEM IN, in fact, this promotes anything but animal cruelty. As for Pokemon, the intention of the games is to encourage a bond between you and your Pokemon. If people do think that it promotes animal cruelty, then their forgetting the core reason of the game. The game was based on bug catching, a hobby of the game's director Satoshi Tajiri, and with the latter features of the games (including Pokemon Amie which is literally putting Pokemon into Nintendogs, a game that if you say has any negative repercussions then you really need to rethink your life) helps encourage a bond between you and your Pokemon. I still have several Pokemon I caught in my original play through of the first Pokemon game I ever owned, Pokemon Emerald because I'm attached to them.

c. Every person who plays any form of racing/ driving game is a reckless driver. You're pathetic if you actually think this. I shouldn't have to rip this argument apart because if this was true, then the population wouldn't be anywhere near as big as it is. This is just stupidity talking rather then actual fact. People are more willing to take risks in a video game because their isn't any real danger when comparing video games to reality.

d. Every gamer loves GTA and Call of Duty. Two words. I don't. I've barely played GTA because I couldn't get Vice City to work on my previous laptop and I couldn't be bothered trying again. I might play 5 someday but it isn't on my priority list. As for Call of Duty, I hate it, I think its overrated and that there are better First Person Shooters out their because they don't try to hide the fact that they are retextures (this is based on my experiences with COD 4, Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops).

e. Kirby promotes Cannibalism. KIRBY HAS INFINITE FLIGHT, YOU CAN FLY OVER ALMOST EVERY "ENEMY" IN THE GAMES. And the same as Mario, unless people have developed the ability to inhale creatures like a vacuum cleaner and replace their stomach's with a Black Hole, no one should think this is a valid way of killing someone or something.

f. Phoenix Wright promotes murder. Yes, because its a murder mystery story. Your trying to figure out why they died and make sure that the person who actually did do it is sent to jail.

g. Mass Effect promotes same sex relationships. What I want to know is why people think this is a problem. Same sex couples shouldn't have to deal with what they have to deal with now. The only problem with this is that people think that same sex couples are the devil incarnate and the entire problem is because of what should realistically be nothing at all.

h. Samus is oversexualised. The actual statement is that Samus, without her power armor is oversexualised. Aside from spin off games, Metroid Zero Mission and Metroid Other M, when you see and play as Samus, she's in her armor, the armor that made every person who played the original Metroid game think she was a guy. The oversexualising of female characters is a actual issue with games, I will admit this, and the only reason why this is the case is because of the old ways of development and design. In my personal opinion, if your complaining about the main character, weather its because they are oversexualised or because they are a specific gender, then your not getting the point of the character. The point of the playable character is to be the link between the player and the game, the playable character should be designed based on what the rest of the game is and if it means that they are a specific gender, WHO CARES. I don't care what gender the character is, all that I care about is "does the design match the world" and if it does, great.

5. Violent video games. VIDEO GAMES ARE NOT TOYS, VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS ARE NOT TOY MAKERS. Everything I would say in this I've already covered in my last rant so I'm not going to bring it up again. What I am going to do is show you this:

And say this to prove a point: going back to the sports example (using American Football and AFL as a example). Why is it that people think its fine for kids to watch grown men beet up fellow players for what is realistically pieces of rubber stitched together and filled with air and then encourage or make their kids play those games, but its suddenly a crime when they need to stab a rat to make it through a sewer? Why is it ok for people like Michael Bay to destroy Chicargo, complete with racial stereotypes, but wrong for me to build something in Minecraft, fill it with TNT and see it blow up? What is the difference? Why can films and TV shows bloom as a artistic medium but Video games must always be for kids? Is it just something that I'm missing, some core aspect of artistic mediums that Video games don't have. Oh wait, that's it, its RESPECT. Their are people that respect the medium, know its potential and want to see it bloom into something that no other mass medium can do. But its groups like these that hold us back because of that old stigma of "video games only being for kids", that's pathetic. As i said before, you could argue every game is violent or praises something negative to children, that's when you have to be actual parents and teach them.

Finally, Video games addiction. How insensitive can you people be. Aside from the fact that the actual term is Video Games Compulsion, you people are making it out to be the equivalent of drugs and alcohol and while that might be the case for some, for most people its, once again, thanks to people like you, along with gamers in several cases, that are the reason why it exists and for you to be stating that "You know the answer" is atrocious. These videos are probably the best summary of the actual situation.




I'm not going to do a final summary of this, I don't think I have to. All that I will say is this. If you read this, please spread this. I'm not saying that just for more views, in fact that's not even my priority for this. The reason why I say this is so that people who think the thoughts I've attacked can see these, so that people can actually learn. Its thoughts like this that have brought out the absolute worst in humanity before. To the people who think that the destruction of violent video games is the best way of stopping these problems. read these:

  • “The burning of a book is a sad, sad sight, for even though a book is nothing but ink and paper, it feels as if the ideas contained in the book are disappearing as the pages turn to ashes and the cover and binding--which is the term for the stitching and glue that holds the pages together--blacken and curl as the flames do their wicked work. When someone is burning a book, they are showing utter contempt for all of the thinking that produced its ideas, all of the labor that went into its words and sentences, and all of the trouble that befell the author . . .” ― Lemony Snicket, The Penultimate Peril 
  • “Books can not be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can abolish memory... In this war, we know, books are weapons. And it is a part of your dedication always to make them weapons for man's freedom.”
    Franklin D. Roosevelt 
  • “If people wrote their reviews on paper and put them into a real, physical library, I am sure that the Goodreads administrators would be very reluctant to pull them down from shelves and burn them. When you can get rid of a piece of writing just by clicking on a few links, there’s a temptation to believe that it’s less serious. But it isn’t. It’s just less clear what you’ve done.”
    G.R. Reader, Off-Topic: The Story of an Internet Revolt  
  • "Once, long ago, A great man said this to his colleagues, to remind them that killing an idea was as much a sin as killing a man. 'for books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them. I know they are as lively, and as vigorously productive, as those fabulous dragon’s teeth: and being sown up and down, may chance to spring up armed men. And yet, on the other hand, unless wariness be used, as good almost kill a man as kill a good book: who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were, in the eye.' If that's true of books, can it not be said ten fold regarding games?"
    -- Daniel Floyd, Extra Credits: Free Speach
  • Man has always been afraid of the unknown, of change. What man might see as negative, they will want to eradicate, to keep things the same, even if what they might think is change isn't change at all. I once saw a swastika in one of their posts, trying to connect it, the once symbol of peace that is now used to remind people of the horrors of war, of the men and woman killed because they were Jewish. How ironic that the symbol that they are trying to shove on a entire interactive medium actually better represents the people themselves and not their target.
    -- Myself, Liam "Blaster" Sanders, in this post
To the people who are, like me, just as angry at these kinds of people. If your going to attack them, don't give them the fuel they need. When you go after them cursing, swearing ect, your helping them prove their point. These people are like fires, give them the fuel they need and they'll keep doing this. Debate them though, fight them with intelligence and they won't have the fuel they need.