Psychochild's Blog

Sara Jensen Schubert points to a recent Gamasutra article where, as she put it, "Former EQ GM complains that we keep rehashing the same old shit." The blog entry is appropriately entitled "Not Again".

The interesting thing is that the author of the original article showed up to defend try to defend himself. Or, as we say in the business "to chum the waters." I figured I'd give Mr. Sorens a small education about MMO games that he seemed to miss in his time as an EQ GM.
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So, let's get serious. I know, I know, what a switch. ;)

But, let's put our thoughts towards designs for serious games. What are some worthy goals, and how can we make effective games?
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The amazing Juuso over at GameProducer.net interviewed me a little while ago. It was a fun interview and covered a nice variety of topics.

You can see the full interview at: http://www.gameproducer.net/2007/03/20/interview-with-brian-psychochild-green-near-death-studios/

We'll go practical this week. Let's say you're working on a typical combat-focused online RPG. One feature requested on the forums is that players that take wounds should perform worse than a fully healed character. Your job is to design this system to work within a game.

A few thoughts below.
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I was talking with the super-awesome Chris Peterson from Heavy Melody Music last week at the GDC, and he mentioned something really interesting. He was talking about one panel he attended on audio where someone advised that musicians try to retain the rights to music they make for games so that they can use it again or gain royalties from the music.

That's a great idea. Now, answer this question, "How?"
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I'm going to go off the beaten path here a bit. Given my thoughts on the GDC, and the impressions of other people (particularly Raph's lament that it was "too E3ish", I think it would be good to think about what goes into a good conference.
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Posting might be a bit slow next week because I'm heading to Shanghai for my current project. We'll see how much jet lag kicks my ass. :) (My money is on: a lot...)

I'm going to do something a bit impolitic: I'm going to criticize the GDC. In a small industry, this can be a dangerous thing to do.

But, I want to provide a counter opinion to Damion who says he loves the GDC. I'm going to explain why some of us don't particularly like the Mecca of game developers. I'll try to be constructive and keep the swearing to a minimum.

...maybe.
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Given that it's GDC travel season, here's a challenge that will probably strike a chord with most people.

Your challenge: Create a game that can be played on an airplane during takeoff or landing.

Some constraints to consider after the break.
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Since I have a nice, long-term paying gig and I'm not speaking (and I refuse to pay those prices), I'm not going to be attending the GDC proper this year. However, I will be up in the area on Thursday. If anyone wants to meet in the late afternoon or evening, drop me a line. :)