In the which I throw together a collection of links and comments, with the vague notion that it may be consumable, or at least instructive. (You should see my Rice Crispie Treat recipe… it’s never the same twice.)
The Art of Game Design looks interesting to this old hack. I don’t have it, so I can’t vouch for it, but it may be worth exploring a bit, during the off moments. Curiously, they use games to make a point, sometimes. Too meta? *shrug*
Bartle and Lum don’t agree. How odd.
I’ve never actually played Stranglethorn Vale, so Scott, I won’t speak to the specifics on this one. Let it merely be noted that I think designers and players don’t always speak the same language, and in something with a clientele the size of an MMO will inevitably see variation of opinion. How… unusual, here in the internet. Can’t we all just mold ourselves to the hive mind and pony up our $15/month to be good little WoW cogs?
Following up a bit on my occasional rants against game scoring and reviewing, there’s this interesting bit of data:
It’s a good bit of data, even though it assumes a few things, notably among them that metacritic aggregate scores actually indicate “quality”. Still, it’s a good read. And it has a zombie in the header. What more do you need?
Gevlon makes a few assumptions of his own about the value of money and the “poor”. He has a few decent points, but as always, the Goblin philosophy ignores much of reality. Still, trying to understand his points might just make for a useful framework to challenge your own assumptions. Reading about his antics and philosophy isn’t really an exercise in sympathy for me, since his mindset is so far from my own, but it’s nice to come at things from a different angle to clarify the view at times.
Another housing article: Catching a Knife? It’s a good read, with a bit of an unspoken plea for people to pay attention, since things are kind of crazy out there. Remember, Obamabots notwithstanding, Hope is not a strategy. (Expect me to revisit this soon in a more general form. Hope is an interesting thing.)
Hatch wonders about WoW quitters, and cites a Spinks rumination on the same. Those are good reading, and an interesting bit of theorizing that could bear further study. This is what game journalism should dig into, rather than wondering about the Freudian implications of Velvet Assassin or gushing about pixel shaders.
Some interesting indie games:
Time travel as a game mechanic? Chronofragging? Interesting…
4 Dimensional gardening? Brain twisting goodness.
More on the future of gaming:
And a hint at another future article I fully intend to write:
Heavy Golden Necklace of Battle
This looks like a great comic… I might just have to check it out at the bookstore. Or comic shop. Whichever I get to first.
Heh, when it comes to STV oddly enough I agree with both Lum and Bartle when I view the thing from their respective viewpoints. I think it’s a very well-designed area in theory, but in practice it doesn’t translate to a fun area to play.
I bought The Art of Game Design a few months ago, and it’s a very good read. I don’t have the Lens pack add-on thing that accompanies it, but it’s not essential, since they are listed in the book and introduced as you read it.