GottaCon is an annual broad-spectrum gaming convention held the first weekend of February at Pearkes Arena in Victoria, British Columbia.
As already mentioned, I was the Special Events Coordinator for GottaCon 2012. Part of my role as Special Events Coordinator was to moderate the discussion panels.
The second discussion panel was Evolution of Social Gaming. It was held on February 4, 2012. Seated on the panel were Kirsten Andersen (Teen Services Librarian at the Greater Victoria Public Library), Tim Huesken (DJ Arts Games Inc.), Karl Johanson (Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine) and myself.
The panel outline read: This panel will explore how social gaming has evolved from family and group gaming nights around the kitchen table, to MMOs like WoW, to gaming on social networking sites like Facebook, to gaming on smartphones, and how in less than a generation, everyone has become a gamer in some fashion. It will also explore finding a bridge been what is considered traditional MMOs and pop-culture MMOs based on pop-culture icons, and more.
Left to right: Tim Huesken, Julia 'Jules' Sherred, Karl Johanson and Kirsten Andersen. Photo by Karl Johanson
Some of the topics we explored during this panel include: Our social gaming experiences growing up; What type of gamer we are today, if we are one; How we think social network sites and smartdevices have changed the gaming landscape; Times we’ve been an ‘elitist gamer’ or times where we felt we were being pushed out by ‘gamers’ and the bullying that can happen from both gamers and non-gamers; Ways in which hardcore gamers (WoW player as example) and what some would consider casual gamers (Facebook MMO players as example) can find commonalities, instead of the “You’re not a gamer unless…” attitude and why games and gaming are important; Ways to create a dialogue between the different types of gamers, even if the game choice isn’t one we would make; Free gaming resources. After the panel was over, there was a brief Q&A.
Small technical note: I had to re-record the introduction at the beginning of the panel because someone—read me—accidentally muted the microphone.
The panel, including Q&A, is just under 1 hour and 16 minutes. The file size is 69.1 MB. The file type is mp3, 128 kbps, 44.1 kHz, stereo.
You can download the panel here (right click, save as).
Alternatively, you can stream it below.
Podcast: Play in new window
I hope you enjoy!
And if you haven’t yet, listen to/ download the first discussion panel, Making a Player Character That is More Than Just Statistics here.
