Tattered Page

Ok, I may have brought up the GLS conference once before. Rather old news- it’s been months now, but they don’t let me out much. One of the events there tied in rather well to a recurring rant of mine. It was the “Fireside Chat” with Richard Vogel entitled, “So you want to design an MMO for learning?”

I fully expected to hear a cautionary warning of the challenges involved in making such a dynamic MMO, but hearing your thoughts validated by one of the bigger names in the industry is a good feeling- even when they’re really obvious thoughts. Besides, Rich has had a hand in so many titles and is now Co-Studio Director at BioWare Austin. The stories he might have- the hints he might leak about BioWare’s secret MMO…. I couldn’t pass up the chance.

Now, I swore I’d sit there, politely listen, nod a few times, and keep my trap welded shut. Sure, this was a fireside chat, but I’m the non-game-dev there. This is the time to listen and learn. I’d behave.

I didn’t.

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I didn’t forget the holiday… it just took an unscheduled turn of events that left my originally-intended message lacking.  More on that later, though.

Here’s to wishing all of you a very merry Christmas season… remember, it isn’t over yet.  The stores may have taken down the decorations and moved on to the next big sales event, but the twelve days of Christmas START December 25th.  They don’t end there.

Keep celebrating, keep sharing that little bit of cheer.  Keep those holiday decorations up a little longer.  You worked hard on them.

Relax and enjoy.

Zubon has a little comment about Niche Games & Mass Market.  It’s a rather solid post, but I can’t get over the opening:

Everyone likes boobies. Everyone likes huge phallic swords that burn with purple fire. Everyone likes blowing up the bad guy.

Now, far be it from me to disagree.  I have to admit to finding a certain aesthetic satisfaction in the female bust… and ever since my life as a combat engineer explosions have had a special place in my heart.

But the comment bothers me.

Usually I wouldn’t bring attention to this, but this birthday is something special.  See, last year, my sister told me I’m not getting any older.  She’d reached that stage of womanhood that many do: “permanently 34.”  She won’t admit to getting any older.  She’d decided. Final answer. 

Now, I’m only a year & 3 days younger, so I’d have to stop aging too… otherwise it’s be too weird.  Her younger brother couldn’t be older than her, after all.

Unfortunately for her, I’m a bit forgetful in my old age… or maybe she forgot that “weird” is where I thrive… so today I turned 35. 

Oops. 

She now has an older younger brother.

There’s only one way to remedy this paradox. 

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Moorgard’s posted a bit about an alternative content model, and it dovetails rather well with some thoughts I’d been having after reading the Forge’s interview with Multiverse’s co-founder, Corey Bridges.

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While I was off pretending to know something about that mythological thing called “reality,” Psychochild started a decent debate on complexity as it relates to games… a lot of good points all around- in the article and in the comments. Psychochild advocates against oversimplification, while others point out that the broader market can’t grasp games as complex as Monopoly or program a VCR… or that those of us with less gaming time prefer less complex games.

As a kid, I sought the most complex games under the assumption that the more complex, the more challenging; the more challenging, the better the game. Certainly, a game as simple as tic-tac-toe is rather unchallenging. We move on to Connect Four until it too becomes predictable. We see Chess as a more complex advancement from Checkers. Axis & Allies can be seen a more complex version of Risk.

At each stage, the increased complexity brought more of a challenge, gave us another variable to plan against, and kept us on our toes.

Taking it to the Extreme

I never leave “good enough” alone. At one point, a group I frequented took the classic Axis & Allies board game and replaced the combat resolution with rules akin to Squad Leader. (I think it WAS squad leader for the ground, but I can’t remember the naval rules.)

If you know anything about those games… well, I’ll pause here so you can wipe the tears away. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

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