The wonder and amazement never ceases… At some part of my deep, dark psyche I actually hoped that maybe this stupid incredulous “study” that I talked about just a week or so ago would actually stop being considered newsworthy and thus just go away entirely. Then came today, while having my morning coffee (as opposed to my commute coffee, or my after-commute coffee, since after all, it IS the weekend) I discovered a featured article right on the front page at MSNBC.com!

While the article is a bit more objective than some of the others, any sort of claim that this “study” gives these crusaders against social sanity any sort of ammunition in convincing the general public of their beliefs is completely not accurate. It’s purely nothing short of propaganda and should be exposed as such. There’s nothing scientific about the study! It’s been disassembled and negated on every possible level, yet articles like this continue to present it as if it’s something worth really paying attention to. Personally, I would love to see a third-party, with no ties to either parental groups or the games industry, take a purely scientific look into this to either prove or more likely disprove this theory once and for all. By purely scientific, I mean using REAL objective data collection and analysis methods that make sense with a vastly larger sample size.

I know I’m not the only person out there who likes to draw conclusions purely based on solid FACTs, as opposed to opinions, or opinions presented as facts.

I picked up word over at Raph Koster’s blog regarding this “Wired” report that indicates that Multiverse may be imminently announcing that they will be building an official MMO world based on Joss Whedon’s “Firefly” using their toolset. Words cannot describe how excited that makes me. Well they can, but nothing I’d want to post here. =P Now if they can just find the right group of people to make the actual game, giving it the love and attention that this great creative IP deserves. It would be a shame to see this one butchered, but it’s a legitimate risk when dealing with licensed IPs.

Honestly, I haven’t looked at Multiverse previously to know enough about exactly what they’re actually talking about delivering here, but I plan on reading up some more just as soon as their site stops getting Slashdot’d, but clearly the idea of an MMO Firefly in itself has a lot of potential.

UPDATE: Found the Multiverse press release. It’s official! “The ‘verse” has just taken on an entirely new meaning! The cheers of millions can be heard nationwide. =)

The nerve of people to purposefully architect facts via skewed unscientific data to prove a completely non-credible and ridiculous belief simply astounds me… on a regular basis no less! Once again, the target is our beloved gaming industry by wackos that continue to think, as they always will, that games are essentially brainwashing our kids to become murders and violent criminals, despite a lack of evidence to support their claims.

Even worse, these so-called “studies” continue to make it to the mass news-media, where more people will be influenced to take it as fact, trusting that the media source would have done it’s due dilligence to report accurately and without bias.

This time Newsweek is the source of propagation for these claims, which are all based on a study funded by this foolish organization! (WARNING: You will be apalled and disgusted if you click the previous link).

Sorry for spoiling the ending, but I still highly recommend that you read the entire story as reported over at Dubious Quality. Direct links below..

• Dubious Quality: “The Stupid Train: All Aboard!”
• Dubious Quality: “A Little More” (follow-up to the above post)
• PlayNoEvil’s commentary on the commentary (Essentially where I discovered this article in the first place)

I just read a short but fantastic article on Gamasutra regarding gameplay progression that really reinforces alot of what I’ve learned about design in my studies and provides solid examples with visuals to drive each point home effectively. If you are a game designer or are aspiring to become one, such as myself, this is a must-read!

Key Elements of Gameplay Progression:

1. Game Mechanics – all controls and interactions within the game, including new weapons, abilities, powers, vehicles, and environmental states or events.
2. Experience Duration – the average time it takes to complete each stage, level, mission (including deaths if applicable) or course (using the most relevant vehicle).
3. Ancillary Rewards (visual, aural, decorative, etc.) – exciting environmental wonders, fancy visual effects, scripted events, etc. It is great to weight some of the more spectacular environmental wonders and effects up front (Medal of Honor style), but an enjoyable game needs to have all the level, course or mission experiences built so that new visual rewards are staggered at a pace that keeps the user interested (in other words with an Environmental Progression in mind).
4. Practical Rewards (gameplay relevant) – new game modes, upgrades and practical unlockable content are very useful as the carrot on the stick that entices users to continue playing the game.
5. Difficulty – not just how hard it is to pass obstacles and NPCs/bosses, but also how much risk is taken with respect to player injury/death, weapon depletion, or vehicle/equipment damage or loss.

Read the rest of this great article @ Gamasutra by following THIS LINK!

A whole lot of heartburn and 9 hours of driving later, I have returned home from visiting my girlfriend’s parents over the Thanksgiving holiday. Per usual, it was great to visit family and be away in a different neighborhood for a few days, but I really didn’t have any time to blog a darn thing.. It would seem that most of the other regular bloggers did manage to find time to jot down their own two copper on the continuing discussion of Real Money Transaction and Intellectual Property (IP) ownership, or lack thereof. Here’s a few links for that:

• Moorgard – “The Truth About IP Ownership”
• Raph Koster – “Are Microtransactions Actually the Future?” ** You are warned. This is more like FIVE copper vs. two.. but though it is long, it remains insightful and worth the read.. just get a coffee first
• Nerfbat – “IP Freely” * Note: I promise this isn’t an article on Ryan’s mens room habits! =P
• Psychochild – “Weekend Design Challenge – All About RMT”

Ok, with that out of the way, I do have something to talk about today.. the Nintendo Wii. (more…)

Looks like Lum has set off the fire of the blogosphere once again with his recent post regarding EA and their implementation of RMT, selling what essentially amounts to “cheat codes” for extra profit.. off of games you’ve already purchased!

Now, I have a few comments on some of these individual blogs, listed below that you may feel free to read, but just to summarize my overall feeling on this issue. I’ll state the following..
(more…)

I recently had the discussion with a friend of mine about this issue, which I’ve decided to blog here.. It all started with this statement: “Role-playing is viewed as undesirable by the vast majority in current-gen MMORPG games.” You might ask me why do I suppose that is? Well of course, I’ll tell you …while there’s no simply one-off answer, part of it is due to drastic changes in the social-environment as far as what is “expected” and what is “accepted” behavior in the game.

For example:

• Out-of-Character chat has completely replaced in-character conversation in all chat channels, with few exceptions.
• There seems to be a misconception that the fun in MMORPG games is at the “end-game” (another misconception altogether since there is never truly an “end” to an MMORPG) and as a result, these players burn through a content like a California wildfire, giving no mind to what they’re missing in the rush.. and instead, believing what they’re doing to be “progression”.

Also at fault is a real lack of immersion at the heart of current-gen MMORPGs, which is somewhat ironic considering we’ve seen developers discussing this for some time now. This is something that I expect to touch upon quite often, as it’s one of those things that really seem to be “easier said than done”, but I have more than a few ideas of how to pull more players “into the world”.. so let’s start right off into one of them, shall we?

Players can change the world..

I recognize that there is a balance between a world simulation and a game, but what if two were really intertwined and dependent upon each other? (more…)

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…
All work and no play make… aww screw it!

In response to: Psychochild’s recent post about playing games as a designer.

You’ve got work to be able to play, and if you work or want to work in game design, you HAVE to play or at least keep a working knowledge of various game play elements to be able to keep your own ideas fresh. That said, it’s a definite balance, but an important one to maintain. I kind of like Moorgard’s idea of convincing somebody else you trust to play through games FOR you that you don’t have time to play then report back.

I know that I myself struggle with the lack of time-per-day constantly, for both work AND play! I love EverQuest II, but can’t play very often, or for very long when I get to play.. thus, my handy portable Nintendo DS Lite (or PSP if that’s your thing) has become my best friend due to the fact that I can play it for the 15-20 minutes or so that I have on the train every day and still feel some satisfaction out of it. That’s a big reason why the market for reduced play-time / fast pay-off games has taken off and continues to grow. Cell phone games are a good example of this as well, for killing time.

This is an endless struggle that isn’t going away for sure.

I just heard the news that Green Monster Games (GMG) in Boston, Mass has picked up some serious talent for their new game (currently in pre-production). A few folks from Sony Online Entertainment have recently joined the fold, including Ryan Shwayder (former SOE Community Manager for EverQuest II and keeper of the NerfBat, Steve Danuser (a.k.a. Moorgard, former SOE Community Manager, and most recently, Designer on EverQuest II), and Erik Theisz (Former SOE Design Supervisor and Associate Producer of the original EverQuest II and all expansion including “Echoes of Faydwer”, which released today). Normally, I don’t plan on reporting on who’s where, but I personally feel so excited for these guys that I couldn’t help but post about it. That and the fact that I lived in New England my whole life up until June of this year, so I’m happy to see the gaming industry taking off more and more on the east coast! Anyways, I just want to extend a heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to those picked to be a part of this exciting project! Great job guys!

Check out the Press Release

Inspired by the recent brief post on Nerfbat regarding the political impact of the recent election on the gamers of the world. Feel free to check out the post and the post on “Wired” it refers to. For now though… my 2 copper:

The whole politicizing of video games has always been a frustrating thorn in my side, as I’m sure it has been for many of us. Of course, there are alot of attempts at “moral” legislation that have failed, and there will be many more to come. The defining and teaching of morals begins at home. The government does not have control over morals. Society as a cohesive unit, though dysfunctional one, has that power and the results one would expect to ebb and flow for a variety of reasons.

On the one hand, I find some odd, sick consolation in the fact that politicians talk alot of action, but rarely really DO anything that they say they’re going to do. It’s generally alot of outrage and calls to action, but then issues are forgotten and tossed aside, only to suffer renewed outage and calls to action later down the road.

Then there are those rare occurrences when action is actually taken when most politicians have not done their due diligence to actually UNDERSTAND that which they are attempting to legislate, thus creating a bunch of complication and “action”, but never really accomplishing anything. That, my friends, is what really scares the hell out of me.

The only advice that I can offer.. keep up on what YOUR politicians are doing with issues that matter most to YOU, video games included! If there’s a bill coming up to further regulate the video game industry, make your voice heard! Write to your representatives from your state and tell them how you feel. You can’t change anything by doing nothing, so do your part! =)

Here’s a couple of related links that I recommend for people to keep up with politics as it relates to the game development industry:
GamePolitics.com
VideoGameVoters.org