Mediating Conflicts in Games

What is the purpose of the presentation?

• Teach players and game organizers how to deal with conflicts between players
• If they players are reasonable people who can solve the problems themselves, you won't need to use this
• This is a toolkit to use when the parties can't reach an agreement themselves

Mediation can be used to solve these conflicts!

What is Mediation?

• a negotiation between at least two parties, or in this case, the players
• assisted by a neutral party - the mediator - who acts without authority to impose an outcome
• the mediator uses various problem-solving tools to get both parties to find a mutually agreeable solution

Benefits of Mediation

• In gaming, these mediated agreements preserve the community and preserve the goal of having fun
• Improves interpersonal relationships
• Gives organizers another way to resolve conflict

Costs of Mediation

• Mediating a dispute is slower than simply making a decision
• Mediation takes more work
• However, in many circumstances, the benefits will outweigh the costs

What are the tools of mediation

Mediation Tool:

Why open communications?

• By having players communicate with each other, they can reach solutions that they are both satisfied with

How do you 0pen Communications

• Get the players to talk to each other, not to the organizer/mediator
• As the mediator, do not intervene unless the parties are not being productive

How do you get players to talk to each other?

• If the parties get off track, redirect them to talking about the game. Redirection can be as simple as saying "Let's get back to talking about the issue at hand"
• If you hear something productive that one party says, emphasize that point to the other party

Mediation Tool:

Why identify impediments?

• By understanding the underlying conflict that is creating the issue in the game, able to direct the conversation to solving the particular conflict

Identifying Impediments

• Interest Conflicts:
• Arise when players' goal are opposed to one another
• Often the result of game mechanics and are often exacerbated by other conflicts

Identifying Impediments

• Relationship Conflicts - often emotional; parties are upset with each other
• Data Conflicts - the lack of complete or accurate information

Identifying Impediments

• Structural Conflicts -impasses in negotiation; often due to unequal bargaining power or perception of conflicting goals
• Value Conflicts - parties' core principles and ideology in opposition

How to Identify Impediments

• Listen to what the parties are saying
• Relationship Conflicts: may arise if the disagreement involves personal attacks or strong emotions
• Data Conflict: may arise If the disagreement involves a concrete dispute about the outcome of a particular event

How to Identify Impediments

• Structural Conflicts: Often overlaps with interest and relationship conflicts. May arise if there are disputes about game mechanics or the relative experience of player

How to Identify Impediments

• Value Conflicts: May arise when there are disputes about the fairness of actions or violations of the spirit of the game, if not the rules of the game

Mediation Tool:

Why Focus on Interests?

• Interests: The deeper goals that a person may have, like fairness or fun
• Positions: Specific goals for the particular dispute. Desire for a particular outcome
• By focusing on the players' interests, rather than their positions, more likely to create lasting agreements about gameplay

Focusing on Interests

• Redirect players towards their underlying goals
• Not their position - their immediate outcome - that usually is a source of conflict
• This helps both players think creatively about what they want and what they can offer the other

How do you focus on interests

• Reframe positional statements as interest statements
• Ask questions directed at interest

Example questions for focusing on interests

• Why do you think your result is better?
• What is the purpose of you asking for your result?

Mediation Tool

Why propose creative solutions?

• If parties and mediator can create creative solutions that are outside of the bounds of the game, more likely to move past issues and keep the game going

What are creative solutions?

• Creative solutions involve not only taking into account the positions expressed by the parties, but their interests

How to create creative solutions

• Ask the players to brainstorm ideas for how they can meet both parties interests
• Ask for concessions
• Create house rules
• If games will continue, agree to a particular rule interpretation in one game and the other in the next game

Mediation Tool:

Reality Testing

• The neutral party questions whether a proposed outcome is actually likely to achieve a player's stated interests
• Helps players identify their interests and allows them to see that an outcome may not be in their best interest
• Particularly useful for impasses - remind players what happens if they don't come to an agreement

How to Reality Test?

• Ask questions to get players to think about how their solutions serve their interests
• If players propose new rules, ask them if the rule make sense with the rest of the game

Take Aways

• You only need to intervene if the parties can't solve their disputes themselves
• Get the players to communicate
• Identify impediments to solve them
• Ask parties for creative solutions
• Reality test these solutions

The End