Psychochild's Blog

Games are supposed to be fun, duh. It seems to be a regular comment that if something isn't fun, it should be removed from a game. Why are game developers so stupid to leave in systems that nobody finds fun? Or, just look at those EEEEEVIL free-to-play games with their "pay to win" strategies, forcing people to pay money to avoid the parts that aren't fun, amirite?

Except, there's a good reason why games have parts that don't seem fun on the surface, but that build a long-term feeling of satisfaction. Let's take a look at satisfaction and why it matters in games.
(more...)

I'm probably not going to shock anyone here by saying that MMOs aren't living up to their potential. I've said before that there's something missing our games. I think that while games are offering a little more of that spirit of adventure I mentioned in the previous blog topic, we developers still have a ways to go to realize the full potential of MMOs.

One of the biggest problems is how we design the game to allow interaction with other people.
(more...)

Over the weekend I got to chat with Adam "Ferrel" Trzonkowski and Chris “Syeric” Coke. We chatted about Storybricks, the tabletop RPGs I've supported on Kickstarter, and you'll hear me totally geek out about the cosmology of the old World of Darkness from White Wolf.

You can listen to the podcast at: http://epicslantpress.com/blog/2013/04/08/game-on-esp-edition-02-brian-green/

A few more thoughts after the jump.
(more...)

What makes a game successful? Well, if I had the answer to that, I'd be bottling it and selling it and buying a gold-plated sports car. The reality is that there are a ton of little parts and pieces that contribute to the whole. You have to figure out each of those little elements (and have a healthy dose of luck) to succeed

Let's take a look at one particular aspect: how much of the game should be new, compared to how much should be familiar to your players.
(more...)

I decided to sign up as a soldier in the secret war. It was pretty appealing when The Secret World was only $10 after they dropped subscriptions. Cheapest entry into an exclusive club, ever!

And, to answer the burning question: Dragon. You may congratulate or boo me in the comments section. ;)

A more substantial review beyond the jump.
(more...)

One recurring complaint of MMO players is the "grind". It's interesting taking a look at the history of MMOs, because it becomes obvious that it's mostly player perception that determines what is a grind. Every mechanic that people deride as a grind started out as something fun. In fact, sometimes it is a particularly new or novel feature that eventually becomes the dreaded grind.

Let's take a look at how something fun devolves into a grind.
(more...)

Okay, I made a big deal about the economy of Guild Wars 2 and how I did not view it as a fun system supporting to the game. Given that there was a lot of discussion about this, and that I'm an MMO designer, I figured I should post something detailing what should go into the design of an MMO economy.

What are the goals of economic design? What are the important factors? What should be avoided?
(more...)

This is a continuation of the last post about my experiences in Guild Wars 2.

I talked about the good and the bad, time to talk about the ugly, the things that make me weep in anguish that lessons from the past decades of MMO development have simply not been learned.
(more...)

For my birthday, a good friend of mine got me Guild Wars 2. Being the obsessive gamer, I decided to play it. :)

What is GW2 like through the eyes of a game developer? Happily for you, dear reader, I'm here to share that with you.
(more...)

I had occasion to go to Las Vegas recently. I'm not a big gambler (at least not when it comes to risking money), but I did go see a show. I went to see Tony and Tina's Wedding, a show I had wanted to see for a while. I particularly wanted to see this show because of the possible lessons one could learn as a game designer for stories in a multiplayer environment.

Let me explain a bit more about this show and what I learned.
(more...)