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I've been playing Clash Royale on iPad (it's a multiplayer battle game set in the Clash of Clans universe that essentially drops the base building element and c

I've been playing Clash Royale on iPad (it's a multiplayer battle game set in the Clash of Clans universe that essentially drops the base building element and concentrates on the strategic combat). Generally, competitive multiplayer games can be pretty harsh (devolving into toxic) communities. Clash Royale addresses this problem in an interesting way. You're allowed to communicate with your opponent, but only from a fixed vocabulary. There's just no way to be really hostile - the closest it gets is an angry face, which says more "I'm frustrated!" than anything else. There are a few faces and some simple speech -- "Good luck!", "Well played!", etc. This has a really nice effect - it's actually a pleasant game to play and it's pretty common to get a 'Good game' or 'Well played' at the end, or even during the game when you make a good move. It works well in this situation because it's a 1-vs-1 game -- you aren't coordinating complex actions with teammates, which is where I think something like this would fall down. Without hostility being in the vocabulary to begin with, you don't really feel like anything is missing and it gets around the whole hurt-feelings problem of 'banning' nicely in this case.

wildmXranat 11y ago
>... You're allowed to communicate with your opponent, but only from a fixed vocabulary. This is what Nintendo did, at least in online Mario Kart for WiiU, and it's great. I allow my 6 year old get acquainted with this very safe version of online play and she loves saying all the positive things to the other players.
- ethbro 11y ago
  It's like Hacker News for online gaming! :-)
- jacalata 11y ago
  Kids often get around those limitations pretty creatively: http://lanayarosh.com/2014/06/whitelist-chat-as-a-strategy-to-protect-children-online/ http://lanayarosh.com/2014/06/whitelist-chat-as-a-strategy-t...
meric 11y ago
I like using the 'Well played!' when my opponent makes a horrendously bad move.
- Shad0w59 11y ago
  This happens in Blizzard's Hearthstone as well. People enjoy saying "Hello" just as they deliver the finishing blow.
  - smcnally 11y ago
    Interesting: In World Series of Poker, "Thanks!" is one of the permitted auto-texts. I find it annoying when people say "Thanks!" immediately after winning a hand / before anyone compliments them on their play or win. Sounds like Hearthstone's "Hello" deathblows. That says something about language, how the rules affect what's considered "offensive," and how some will work within the rules to create new offenses.
    - meric 11y ago
      I think "offence" is required to build human relationships. I find myself say something in a joking manner to my best friend that would be offensive to anyone else. In a way I think it's a test - you test if the relationship is strong enough to withstand the offence, and if the friend gives the appropriate response to show you he in fact did not get offended, the relationship is affirmed and becomes stronger. Here's an example on a phone call to my friend, who is engaged, on Valentine's night. Me: "whatcha doing?" Him: "eating dinner" Me: "With two girls? You fox" Him: "haha, parents" Me: "Wish them a sexy valentine's day in bed for me" Him: "Haha you fuck." Then we both laugh. And then there are times, when I probe potential new friends with the less intense, but same kind of speech, and they take it seriously, and that's a "test failure" meaning a confirmation it'll be difficult to build a relationship with them. Of course, sometimes it works, and I make a new friend.
      - grahamburger 11y ago
        Ah, now this is interesting. I can see that I often fail friendship tests such as yours. I don't actually tend to take things seriously, but I'm particularly bad at showing that I'm not taking something seriously. Or so I've been told, though I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong. Fortunately I have an amazing wife and a few good friends, so making new ones isn't particularly important to me. Which I guess is likely part of the problem. Anyway - I hope your parents Valentine's day was unique and experimental.
dclowd9901 11y ago
One of the finest multiplayer gaming experiences I ever had was Journey, and that devolved communication to pinging.
gd1 11y ago
Can you at least tell your opponent that they have played double plus ungood?
flashman 11y ago
In Rocket League it's common to emote "What a save!" after scoring a goal past the defenders, or if the keeper was particularly inept.
EvanPlaice 11y ago
Shazbot! This just gave me a flash back to back when I used to play Starseige Tribes. The chat system included quick key commands for a ton of useful voice callouts. The quick keys and audio sampling made them a lot more fun to use and harder to miss than manually typed messages. As a result, it was much less common to see typed messages popup during regular gameplay. Looks like they still use the chat system in the latest iteration of the series. http://www.tribesascendwiki.com/Voice_Game_System http://www.tribesascendwiki.com/Voice_Game_System
- blakeyrat 11y ago
  The company who now owns Tribes is Hi-Rez, and they've also implemented this system in SMITE, A MOBA. (MOBAs are legendarily hostile environment.) Of course, they didn't disable normal text chat, so the game's still full of jerks. I think it does help though.

wildmXranat 11y ago

>... You're allowed to communicate with your opponent, but only from a fixed vocabulary. This is what Nintendo did, at least in online Mario Kart for WiiU, and it's great. I allow my 6 year old get acquainted with this very safe version of online play and she loves saying all the positive things to the other players.

ethbro 11y ago
It's like Hacker News for online gaming! :-)
jacalata 11y ago
Kids often get around those limitations pretty creatively: http://lanayarosh.com/2014/06/whitelist-chat-as-a-strategy-to-protect-children-online/ http://lanayarosh.com/2014/06/whitelist-chat-as-a-strategy-t...

meric 11y ago

I like using the 'Well played!' when my opponent makes a horrendously bad move.

Shad0w59 11y ago
This happens in Blizzard's Hearthstone as well. People enjoy saying "Hello" just as they deliver the finishing blow.
- smcnally 11y ago
  Interesting: In World Series of Poker, "Thanks!" is one of the permitted auto-texts. I find it annoying when people say "Thanks!" immediately after winning a hand / before anyone compliments them on their play or win. Sounds like Hearthstone's "Hello" deathblows. That says something about language, how the rules affect what's considered "offensive," and how some will work within the rules to create new offenses.
  - meric 11y ago
    I think "offence" is required to build human relationships. I find myself say something in a joking manner to my best friend that would be offensive to anyone else. In a way I think it's a test - you test if the relationship is strong enough to withstand the offence, and if the friend gives the appropriate response to show you he in fact did not get offended, the relationship is affirmed and becomes stronger. Here's an example on a phone call to my friend, who is engaged, on Valentine's night. Me: "whatcha doing?" Him: "eating dinner" Me: "With two girls? You fox" Him: "haha, parents" Me: "Wish them a sexy valentine's day in bed for me" Him: "Haha you fuck." Then we both laugh. And then there are times, when I probe potential new friends with the less intense, but same kind of speech, and they take it seriously, and that's a "test failure" meaning a confirmation it'll be difficult to build a relationship with them. Of course, sometimes it works, and I make a new friend.
    - grahamburger 11y ago
      Ah, now this is interesting. I can see that I often fail friendship tests such as yours. I don't actually tend to take things seriously, but I'm particularly bad at showing that I'm not taking something seriously. Or so I've been told, though I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing wrong. Fortunately I have an amazing wife and a few good friends, so making new ones isn't particularly important to me. Which I guess is likely part of the problem. Anyway - I hope your parents Valentine's day was unique and experimental.

dclowd9901 11y ago

One of the finest multiplayer gaming experiences I ever had was Journey, and that devolved communication to pinging.

gd1 11y ago

Can you at least tell your opponent that they have played double plus ungood?

flashman 11y ago

In Rocket League it's common to emote "What a save!" after scoring a goal past the defenders, or if the keeper was particularly inept.

EvanPlaice 11y ago

Shazbot! This just gave me a flash back to back when I used to play Starseige Tribes. The chat system included quick key commands for a ton of useful voice callouts. The quick keys and audio sampling made them a lot more fun to use and harder to miss than manually typed messages. As a result, it was much less common to see typed messages popup during regular gameplay. Looks like they still use the chat system in the latest iteration of the series. http://www.tribesascendwiki.com/Voice_Game_System http://www.tribesascendwiki.com/Voice_Game_System

blakeyrat 11y ago
The company who now owns Tribes is Hi-Rez, and they've also implemented this system in SMITE, A MOBA. (MOBAs are legendarily hostile environment.) Of course, they didn't disable normal text chat, so the game's still full of jerks. I think it does help though.