Clash of Clans
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Contents
Gameplay
Players can build a community, train troops, and attack other players to earn gold and elixir. The object of the game is to build defenses that protect the player from other players' raids, and to train and upgrade troops.
Clan Wars
Clans are groups of players who join together to support each other and fight against other clans.
Publicity
Clash of Clans has released countless advertisements, including an advertisement 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. Clash of Clans also has a Youtube channel with over 4 million subscribers and over 650 million total views on their channel.
Related Games
On March 26, 2014, Supercell released Boom Beach on iOS and Android. Boom Beach is a strategy game. 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 education and information for safe technology and media, 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. [2]
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, using Clash of Clans as a vehicle for bullying online and in real life. [3] 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. A ten year-old boy named Luca felt the full effects of exclusion and abandonment after he demoted a classmate from a clan that a few students belonged to. Luca’s classmates subsequently created a new clan, and the members refused to let him join. Luca asked repeatedly to be allowed in to play, but was ignored, revealing the negative consequences of allowing players to form and enforce hierarchical bullying. [4]
Video Game Addiction
Clash of Clans is an extremely addicting game, which raises ethical concerns of time-wasting and distraction. The game hooks you early with lots of resources and low-cost rewards, which starkly contrasts with the much slower sense of progress later on in the game. It also gives players an incentive to play by promising protection from attacks from other players while logged in and playing the game. There are even stories of marriages and relationships suffering from Clash of Clans addiction, as evidenced by this unfortunate woman and her husband's video game addiction. [5]
Freemium
Clash of Clans is a free-to-play game, with microtransactions available to buy gems for faster progression. While it is entirely possible to succeed in Clash of Clans without paying a single cent, the game makes it significantly more difficult to progress further, especially in the later stages of the game. [6] Aside from gold and elixir, the game also uses gems as a type of currency, which can be earned through certain achievements or milestones. The main way to acquire gems is through in-app purchases using real world money. Players can usually 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 and more addicted to the game, many players pour considerable amounts of money into the game in order to get an edge over other players.
External Links
See Also
References
- ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/clash-of-clans-earns-15-million-a-day-as-top-grossing-app-2015-6
- ↑ https://www.commonsensemedia.org/app-reviews/clash-of-clans
- ↑ http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/jew-incinerator-clan-played-to-taunt-chicago-jewish-8th-grader/2014/05/25/
- ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/fashion/clash-of-clans-makes-playground-battles-digital.html?_r=1
- ↑ http://www.olganon.org/forum/i-need-help-spousessignificant-others-open-forum/my-husband-addicted-clash-clans
- ↑ http://gamerant.com/clash-of-clans-addiction/
