Aggro Magazine (Traver)

fall 2015

: GAMer GIRL it’s a mans world

02

letter from the editor When I think back to middle and high school, I never really h a d a h o b b y . Yo u a l w a y s hear people talking about their hobby, whether it be sports or collecting an item. I wasn’t able to join into these conversations and assumed I n e v e r w o u l d . To w a r d s t h e end of my senior year of high school, I was introduced to the wonderful world of Azeroth and all that it had to offer me. I fell in love, spending days leveling up through the cataclysm to reach maximum level.

World of Warcraft gave me meaning as I became immersed in my main character. Her name is Laeda, and she’s a beautiful max level blood elf rogue. I often think about where, when I decide that World of Warcraft is no longer a game that I can keep playing, I will log her out to live the rest of her journey.

Do I leave her in the Dalaran Sewers or do I log her out in Eversong Woods, the place she calls home?

My blood elf rogue, Laeda, from World of Warcraft

I wonder quite frequently how my life would be different if I had never begun playing World of Warcraft. While my characters have allowed for me escape reality for hours upon end, the support system that I have received from

other players is irreplaceable.

I met some of my closest friends about six months after starting, and they have been with me through thick and thin. Some people may think that video games are an easy way to waste time, but the relationships made through online gaming cannot be explained.

I hope you, the reader, felt alive when you began your first MMORPG. The moment I stepped into Eversong Woods on Laeda, I knew this was where I was supposed to be.

Aggro Magazine is here to be another home – we want the joy you felt logging in for the first time to be felt each time you turn a page.

So grab a soda, sit down and relax as you begin to lose yourself in Aggro. And remember. . .Lok’tar Ogar!

emilee

04

content aggro magazine // issue 1 // fall 2015

GAME

A screenshot from World of Warcraft

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gamer girl: it’s a mans world

13

half my heart is in azeroth

16

new! free to play mmorpgs

05

18

building your perfect gaming pc

22

which console is the best?

tech A screenshot from Guild Wars 2

life

A screenshot from Final Fantasy XIV

25

gaming: good for the brain

28

6 foods to get you through the long grind

10

Kerrigan vs. Azmodan in Heroes of the Storm

: gamer girl it’s a mans world There’s a burly voice speaking through the headphones, asking if the raid is ready to begin. Nine of the ten raid members hit yes on the ready check except for one. The leader asks if they’re ready to go, and instead of writing in the raid chat, a small squeaky voice comes across Mumble.

“Ready,” it speaks, and silence falls among the rest of the m e m b e r s . “ Yo u ’ r e w a y t o o good at tanking to be a girl,” someone comments before the swift sound of the tank leaving Mumble cuts him off.

Men make up the majority of players in MMORPGs, such as World of Warcraft, compared to women, who are about 34 percent of all players. This has created a stigma around

female gamers, creating the perception that they are not able to live up to the same capability of male gamers, whether it be in damage, their relationships in the game or the type of role they are able to perform. In reality, the ability to play an MMORPG is not dependent on your gender, despite many people thinking otherwise.

Ginger Sweet, an avid video game player and an activist for the equality of female gamers, said, “Female gamers in games like World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV are not held up to the same standards as men.” It is very easy for a raid leader to expect a male player to be topping the damage per

b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

second (DPS) charts and for females to be lower on the charts as they are seen as incompetent.

Some players even assume that if someone is not performing to the best of their ability, they are a female player and are unable to understand the mechanics of the game.

Aside from performance ability, there is a clear distinction between how men and women are treated in the game. Mike Colin, a top world raider in the guild Crisp, has noted the differences he has encountered when talking to a male or a female. “There are about two female raiders in our guild because girls are known to start drama. Men go crazy over them because

11 it’s such a rare experience to come across a girl who’s actually decent at the game.”

Colin continued to tell a story of a female healer who applied and was accepted to a guild that unfortunately fell apart.

“She was great; a h e a l e r w h o f i n a l l y h e l p e d us defeat b o s s e s that we had been stuck on for months.

Unfortunately, a few of our other raid members had taken a liking to her, and she played along with all of them.” This new healer pitted friends against each other for her own entertainment, eventually causing the demise of the guild.

roles also force their way into the game where it should not be. This can be seen in a study conducted by TheMarySue. com, where there is a generalization that healers can be men and women but all other roles are solely just for men.

Healing is a delicate practice and, as most people see females as d e l i c a t e beings, it only makes sense that they be placed into that role. The tank and damage dealing classes could be much too difficult for females to grasp the concept.

“It’s such a rare experience to come across a girl who’s actually decent at the game”

There are always two sides to every story, and this one isn’t different. While from one side it seems as if she wanted to destroy the guild, Colin admitted to seeking out the healer to find out what had happened. “She knows that she flirted with many of our guildmates, but thought it was harmless fun. She never knew that there were feelings growing and never intended for those conversations to lead to more than just flirting.”

In fact, the healer was as shocked as everyone else by the sudden outburst between these two members.

Not only are female players made the scapegoat for problems they don’t realize they have caused, but gender

These fantasy worlds are created for everyone to escape reality. While we are facing gender inequality in our real lives, we want to be able to enter a world where gender roles disperse and we can be anything we want to be. A female gamer does not log onto World of Warcraft wondering which guild she can ruin that evening; they log onto the game because they enjoy the storyline and want to have fun. When all of these negative annotations are associated with being a female gamer in MMORPGs, it makes them not want to p l a y . Ye t , a c c o r d i n g t o N i c k Ye e , a s c i e n t i s t w h o s t u d i e s the interactions within virtual worlds, a healthy video game should have almost equal amounts of each gender playing and not an overabundance of one.

Sylvanas Windrunner in World of Warcraft

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half my heart is in h t o r e z a b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

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Te l d r a s s i l , t h e s t a r t i n g a r e a f o r n i g h t e l v e s i n W o r l d o f W a r c r a f t

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Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci Phasellus ullamcorper ipsum eget eros faucibus tincidunt. rutrum nunc. Nunc nonummy Vestibulum volutpat Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris metus. sit amet nibh. pretium libero. Cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla.

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16

NEW!

free to play MMORPGS

b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

visit OUR app for more!

A screenshot from the new MMORPG, Skyforge

skyforge take on a larger than life role as an immortal with incredible powers battling to protect your world from the armies of hostile gods, eventually becoming a god yourself

guild wars 2 elder dragons sleeping beneath the continent have awoken, causing widespread destruction to tyria and corrupting its inhabitants

neverwinter based on a modified version of the Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition rules set; form factions and fight against the risen dead

a i o n :; u p h e a v a l; w h e n t h e g o d a i o n c r e a t e d the world of atreia, he created the drakan. the drakan once obeyed aion, but over time they began wreaking havoc on the world

aura kingdom features strong PVE elements, a uniquely detailed world and an engaging, well-crafted story; empowers players as envoys of gaia, gifted individuals that take the role of one of the thirteen classes

wildstar on the recently discoverd planet of nexus, the eldan have disappeared, leaving two factions fighting to control the concealed technology of the planet

planet calypso features a real cash economy and can be explored on all levels as an explorer, entrepreneur or in a number of other professions and roles

firefall in the year 2178, an asteroid crashed into earth, sending it into a dark age known as the nine year winter. in 2233, a large hole is ripped into space, allowing for the melding, whom create the chosen. be a hero and defeat the chosen while repelling the melding.

tera rising based on a non-targeting system, where players will have direct control over their character’s combat

rift

choose

your

side.

fight

the

invasion

18 “Big Red,� an ultimate gaming pc

r u o y g n i d l bui gaming pc

t c e f r e p b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

A comparison between minimum and maximum graphics in the Elder Scrolls Online

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Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo.

Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium.

Integer tincidunt.

Cras dapibus.

Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus.

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Phasellus viverra nulla ut

metus varius laoreet. Quisque rutrum.

Aenean imperdiet.

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Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi.

Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus.

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Nullam accumsan lorem in dui. Cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; In ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum.

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22

which console is the

best?

b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

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Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo.

Final Fantasy XIV on a PC

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Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus.

Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. Maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. Donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. Nullam quis ante. Etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. Duis leo. Sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh.

Donec sodales sagittis magna. Sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero.

Fusce vulputate eleifend sapien.

Vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut,

what about both?

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Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor.

Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.

Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem.

Nulla consequat massa quis enim.

Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, Using a PC and PS4 interchangeably playing FFXIV

Final Fantasy XIV on a PS4

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Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim. Donec pede justo, fringilla veljusto.

25 A student at Shippensburg University experiencing World of Warcraft for the first time

: gaming good for the brain

by Kayla Corbin

V i deo g aming h as a b ad r eputation. In t h e aisle s o f W al -Mart or Targe t , y o u se e pota to chip s and o t h e r ju n k f o o d s under ne wly release d gam e s. I n the eyes of many , v id e o gam e s ar e j u st a way to pro crast in at e o r pa s s time .

To the surprise o f m an y , re c e n t r es earch has sho w n t h e re are cogni tiv e be nefi t s to v id e o ga m i ng. According t o P sy c h o lo gy Today, an expe rime n t co n d u c t e d by a group of p sych o lo gist s f o u n d i m pr o v e ments in b asic v isu al pr ocesses, atte nti o n span an d vi gi l ance, incre ased u se o f m e n t al r es ources (such as m e m o ry ) , an d i m pr o v e ments in jo b - re lat e d sk ills.

Dr . Shannon Morti m o re - Sm it h , an E ngl i s h teacher a t Sh ippe n sb u rg U ni ve rsity in Pennsy lv an ia, t e ach e s a vi de o g ame co u rse an d gav e s om e p e rsonal insig h t o n t h e t o pic.

She i s an av id v ideo gam e play e r, her f av orite s bein g ro le - play in g Gam es and MMO RP G s ( M assiv e ly Mul ti playe r Online Ro le - play in g Gam es). “ As a teac h e r e d u c at o r and an av id g a m e r, I ’m v e ry i nter e sted in the w ay t h at v id e o ga m es inform g o o d t e ach in g pr a ctice s,” she said.

She credits the wor k o f a part ic u lar s chol ar, James Pau l G e e . G e e is t h e author of What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy In his book , h e t alk s ab o u t the l earning principle s t e ach e rs

c an u s e t h r o u gh v i d eo g a m es in t h e c l a s s r o o m . F o r ex a m p l e, a t e ach e r c o u l d u s e v i d eo ga m es t o c h alle n g e s t u d en t s a n d m o t i v a t e t h e m t o t r y a n d b ea t t h e g a m e a n d sh o w o t h er s h o w t o d o t h e s a m e.

a r e a g o o d wa y t o r ela x . J ust l i k e r ea d i n g a b o o k is a n ou tlet f o r s o m e p eo p l e, other s, lik e M o r t i m o r e- S m i t h , p r e fer pla y ing v i d eo g a m es . Th e busy moth er o f t wo u s es t h i s t i m e to r ela x a n d es c a p e t h e w or ld wh er e s h e i s a l s o a tea ch er a n d s c h ola r .

“the average 21-year-old has already spent more than 10,000 hours gaming”

Mortimore-Smith spe aks o n h o w, as a so c i et y , we c an n o t ignore t h e pre s en c e o f v id e o g a m es i n o u r c u lt u r e. S h e c it e s a n o t h er au t h o r, Jane Mc G o n i ga l , w h o w rit e s i n h er b o o k Re alit y i s B r o k en , t h at the a v er a ge 21 - y e ar - o l d h a s a l r ea d y spe n t m o r e t h a n 1 0,000 h o u r s gam in g. In c o m p a r i s o n , t h i s i s h o w m u c h t i m e y o u s p en d i n s c h o o l f ro m k in d er g a r t en t o g r a d u a t i o n .

Mortimore-Smith is very passionate ab o u t u s i n g v i d eo g a m es a s t e ach in g a i d es b u t r ea l i z es t h er e sh o u ld b e l i m i t a t i o n s . B o u n d a r i es , in clu d in g h o w l o n g a c h i l d p l a y s a gam e a n d w i t h w h o m , s h o u l d b e e n f o r c ed t o m a i n t a i n a s t a b l e m in d . “N o t a l l ga m es a r e g o o d gam e s, n o r a r e t h ey a p p r o p r i a t e f o r all pl a y er s ,” s h e n o t ed . Wi t h t h e righ t t e c h n i q u e a n d s u p er v i s i o n , a gam e c a n b e a n i m p o r t a n t t o o l i n a c lassr o o m .

No t o n ly a r e v i d eo g a m es i m p o r t a n t f o r e d u c a t i o n a l p u r p o s es , b u t a l s o

“M y own i m mer sion in v i d eo g a mes p r o vid es me w i t h a n outlet for ex plor in g tremendously b ea u t ifu l a n d va st n ew wor ld s, ” sh e said.

V i d eo ga m es a r e a n i mpor ta nt a nd a p p a r en t p a r t o f o u r s ociety toda y .

We c a n n o t i gn o r e t h e pr esen ce of v i d eo g a m es a n d s h o u ld u se them t o t h ei r f u l l p o t en t i a l . M or timor eSmith b el i ev es more ga mes i n v o l v i n g r ea l wo r l d pr ob lems will em er g e a n d h el p u s contin u e to grow.

M en t a l h ea l t h a n d video g a mes wi l l b e d i f f er en t for ever y i n d i v i d u a l . If u s ed c or r ectly, we c a n i m p r o v e t h e w a y we lea r n for f u t u r e g en er a t i o n s .

28

6

foods to get

you through

b y E m i l e e Tr a v e r

the long grind

check out our mobile app

oatmeal Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis.

nuts Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis.

or

sweet potatoes Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis.

eggs Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis.

melon Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis.

black tea Donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu.

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want recipes?

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30

dictionary

avatar a player character, usually customizable. come in many flavours, occasionally including tall and blue, but none worse than that M. Night Shyamalan movie buff a beneficial effect placed on a character to make them stronger or shinier. debuff is the negative, yet debuffest is highly regarded cooldown the amount of time you have to feel depressed between using cool attacks class in which the vast possibilities of the universe are condensed into a few more easily balanced archetypes, the female variants usually wishing they got proper armour difficulty level a decision you’re asked to make by psychically predicting what the developer’s definition actually entails, and are then stuck with even if they turn out to be sadists dungeon a sprawling world of monsters and treasure and occasionally a cell. It is rarely particularly clear who built these things and why. but on the plus side, loot!

art of making any escort mission the game suddenly excruciating by putting the player’s success in the hands of an uncontrollable, useless, usually suicidal aI idiot exploit a cheat that you’re not supposed to use, especially if it reveals developer sloppiness. can result in a ban if online, often more out of pique than actual damage done farming the art of standing around and gathering the same item or killing the same monster to progress through the game without having new experiences or fun

grinding the art of turning a good eight hour game into an excruciating twenty hour one by padding out fun with calcified notfun

lag the ultimate excuse for poor performance, whatever you think it means nerf your favourite character/weapon sucks now, while everyone else’s remains OP npc a non-player character. often has a missing dog or cow you need to find; sometimes sells you things pve player vs. environment, where players team up against enemies rather than each other; trying to overflow landfills with empty bottles of mountain dew pvp player vs. player. a staple. of action games, and every forum/comment thread speed run the art of using in-depth knowledge of games and glitches to break them over an expert’s knee and finish them faster than you can say “good grief, the final level alrea-“ sometimes assisted by tools and scripts, other times mastered by players for whom hitting a button at the correct eighth of a second is no big deal theorycrafting replacing the magic of a game’s world with hardcore maths and an army of people who will tolerate nothing beyond the current one true build in their teammates WA S D c o n v e n t i o n a l c o n t r o l s o n a u s / international keyboard, where w is up, a and d strafe, s goes backward, and most other keys are chosen at random

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