Clash of Clans

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Clash of Clans
Clashofclanslogo.jpg
Clashofclansfighting.jpg
"Clash of Clans Loading Screen" Clash of Clans
Type Video Game
Launch Date 2012
Status Active
Product Line Clash of Clans v8.116.2
Platform iOS, Android
Website Clash of Clans Official Site
C
lash of Clans
is a freemium MMO (massive multiplayer online) strategy game developed for mobile devices by Supercell. The game was released for iOS platforms in 2012, and later on Google Play for Android in 2013. Players build their own villages and engage in warfare against other players and/or clans. In 2015, Clash of Clans was the top grossing app on both the App Store and Google Play, generating an estimated 1.5 million dollars per day.[1] Despite its success, however, the game is not without its own ethical concerns such as violence, bullying, and video game addiction.
A key component of Clash of Clans is attacking another player's village.

Gameplay

Players can construct a village, set up necessary defenses for protection, gather resources in the form of gold and elixir, and create a powerful army. The object of the game is to build defenses that protect the players' village and resources from other players' attacks, as well as to train and upgrade troops for offensive maneuvers. Players must earn resources in order to build and upgrade buildings, which can be used for a variety of purposes such as storage, training new troops, carrying out research in the laboratory, and defending a player's village. Once they reach a certain level, players can join clans, which are groups of players that pool their resources in order to compete and fight against other clans in battles. While the game revolves around playing with and against other people, the game also features a single player campaign mode in which the player battles against a number of computer-generated goblin villages.

Clans

Clans are groups of players who join together to support each other and fight against other clans. Players can join clans once they rebuild the special Clan Castle building. Clans have four different ranks within them: leader, co-leader, elder, and member. Clan leads and co-leaders can begin wars against other clans, change clan settings, and kick lower tier members from the clan, which can potentially lead to bullying and discrimination. During a war against another clan, each clan is given a "preparation day" and a "war day." Each player is limited to two attacks per war, and can earn up to three stars based on the amount of destruction caused to the opposing clan player's village in each attack. At the end of the war, the clan with the higher amount of stars wins, with players receiving bonus war loot and the clan receiving one more war win in their record. Clans are seen as a status symbol and are ranked based on a weighted percentage of clan players' trophies.

Publicity

Image from Revenge ad featuring Liam Neeson.

Supercell has released numerous television and Internet advertisements for the game, including an ad for the Super Bowl XLIX, featuring Liam Neeson parodying his character from Taken. This ad, titled Revenge, has over 100 million views on Youtube, and was the most viewed Super Bowl Ad in 2015.[2] Clash of Clans also has a Youtube channel with over 4 million subscribers and over 650 million total views on their channel.

Related Games

In 2014, Supercell released Boom Beach on iOS and Android worldwide. Boom Beach is also a freemium strategy video game for mobile devices in which players can build and upgrade their base to attack other players's bases or computer-generated bases. The game has received generally positive ratings. Similar to Clash of Clans, the game offers premium purchasable currency in the form of diamonds. It is often noted as a modern version of Clash of Clans.

Ethical Concerns

Violence

While there is no graphic violence, Clash of Clans contains frequent battles with cartoon-style weapons, explosions, and cries of defeated soldiers. The game's core component is attacking and raiding other villages in order to pillage the resources of other players. Thus, there are some ethical concerns with young children playing the game and being exposed to such violence. Commonsense Media, a website that provides information on family-friendly and safe media and games, states that Clash of Clans is appropriate for those 13+. Both the violence rating and the inappropriate language rating of the game are 2/5. There is no explicit language or sexual references in the game.[3]

Bullying & Cyberbullying

In 2014, a group of students at Ogden International School in Chicago created a clan called the "Jew Incinerator Clan" to bully another student because he was Jewish.[4] The student's wrote that the purpose of the clan was to throw Jews into ovens and put all Jews into an army camp until they were disposed of.[5] New York Times released an article in 2015 on how Clash of Clans is taking bullying to the playground because of its cliquish and exclusionary nature. Examples of middle schoolers using the game to exclude certain classmates or friends reveal the negative consequences of allowing Clash of Clans players to form and enforce hierarchical bullying both online and in real life.[6]

Video Game Addiction

Because of its addictive nature, Clash of Clans raises ethical issues concerning time-wasting and distraction. The game hooks you in early with lots of available resources and low-cost rewards, which starkly contrasts with the much slower sense of progress later on in the game. The game also promises protection from other players' raids while a player is logged on, raising incentive for the game's top players to stay logged on for hours.[7]Clash of Clans addiction was reportedly linked to poor athletic performance by a professional baseball team, the Kansas City Royals.[8]

The game offers large quantities of gems for relatively low prices.

Freemium

Even though Clash of Clans is a free-to-play game, players are tempted by premium currency, gems, to get ahead in the game. While it is possible to advance in the game without paying a single cent, the game becomes more difficult to progress further in the later stages of the game, enticing people to pay real-world money.[9] Gems can be earned through certain milestones in the game, but the primary way to acquire gems is through real-world money. Players can speed up the construction time of a building or boost other resources for only a small amount of gems, creating low-cost yet addictive in-app purchasing behavior. As they become more addicted to the game, many players pour considerable amounts of money into the game in order to get an edge over other players. The accessibility to make these purchases also raises ethical concerns. For example, in 2013 a pair of 7 year-old twins racked up a $3,000 iTunes bill while playing Clash of Clans without their parents' knowledge and consent.[10]

External Links

See Also

References

  1. The top-grossing iPhone app makes a whopping $1.5 million a day, Nathan McAlone, 12 June 2015 http://www.businessinsider.com/clash-of-clans-earns-15-million-a-day-as-top-grossing-app-2015-6
  2. Clash of Clans mobile game was most popular Super Bowl ad in 2015, Stuart Dredge, 9 February 2015 http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/09/clash-of-clans-super-bowl-ad-2015
  3. Commonsense Media: Clash of Clans https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/clash-of-clans
  4. Latest Jr High Rage: “Jew Incinerator," Lori Marcus, 25 May 2014 http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/jew-incinerator-clan-played-to-taunt-chicago-jewish-8th-grader/2014/05/25/
  5. Anti-Semitism Erupts at Chicago Public School with Jew Incinerator Game, Warner Huston, 3 June 2014 http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/06/03/anti-semitism-erupts-at-chicago-public-school-with-jew-incinerator-game/
  6. How Clash of Clans Is Taking Bullying to the Virtual Playground, Nick Bilton, 27 May 2015 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/fashion/clash-of-clans-makes-playground-battles-digital.html?_r=1
  7. Why 'Clash Of Clans' Is So Incredibly Popular, According To A Guy Who Plays 16 Hours A Day, Steven Tweedie, 25 September 2014 http://www.businessinsider.com/why-clash-of-clans-is-so-popular-2014-9
  8. A Clash Of Clans Addiction Nearly Sank The Royals' Season, Barry Petchesky, 12 October 2014 http://deadspin.com/a-clash-of-clans-addiction-nearly-sank-the-royals-seaso-1648848299
  9. Clash of Clans Addiction: Players Beware the Mobile Game Money Pit, Melissa Loomis, May 2015 http://gamerant.com/clash-of-clans-addiction/
  10. 7-Year-Old Twins Rack Up $3,000 iTunes Bill Playing 'Clash Of Clans', Catherine Taibi, 23 July 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/3000-itunes-bill_n_3640842.html

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