Zen Of Design

The design and business of gaming from the perspective of an experienced developer

Page 99 of 125

The Least Downloaded Patch In History

August 11, 2005 /

On the day that Rockstar is downloading what may be the least downloaded patch in history, which will ‘fix’ GTA:SA so the Hot Coffee mod will no longer work for it, it’s pleasing to note that a jury of our peers has rejected the claims of an Alabama man that GTA made him kill 3 cops.

While the judge barred jurors from hearing testimony linking the 2003 shootings to the game, defense lawyer Jim Standridge reminded them that Moore, after his arrest, told police “Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime.”

But don’t worry, the victims are still going to try to sue Rockstar. Nice position to be in – BOTH sides try to blame you.

Hot Coffee Panel

August 10, 2005 /

Tonight I did the Hot Coffee panel. I think it went well. I was smart enough to get one panelist who clearly wanted to agitate – which was a good thing. Nothing’s more dull than watching a panel with three guys who agree with each other. Still, I think there were some people in the crowd who were shocked that a game industry professional under the age of 40 would be preaching the need for social responsibility. Continue reading

The Costs of CS for NCSoft Titles

August 8, 2005 /

Will Leverett and Rob Simpson of NCSoft recently did a lecture to our local community college about the ins and outs of running the service side of MMOs (customer service, account management, etc). J. over at Damned Vulpine went and took copious notes, and the result is a good primer on this oft-forgotten and underestimated aspect of running an online business. Included is a breakdown of how calls get routed through an outsourced India office, and the difference between supporting a PVE game like City of Heroes and a PVP game like Lineage 2. Come to think of it, I wonder how the introduction of City of Villians will change that equation.

One interesting nugget: according to Will and Rob, the customer service costs of running Guild Wars is considerably easier than for CoH and Lineage 2. They attribute that to lower expectations due to the lack of a monthly fee.

An interesting read. And I’m not just saying that because he p1mp3d my upcoming panel.

Just How Far Down Do You Want To Go?

August 8, 2005 /

We worry so much about the children playing too many games. This Smoking Gun arrest report shows that perhaps some ADULTS need to be reeled into reality.

McClain retreated to his basement, where he donned a chainmail armored vest and leather gauntlets to protect his arms. He also added a giant wooden mallet to his arsenal and beckoned officers to come downstairs and get him. “I’m gonna crush your fucking skulls,” McClain warned. Then, in a nice rhetorical flourish (for a lunatic, at least), he added, “I have a thousand years of power.” That omnipotence, however, was no match for a police Taser

If the Internet has a moral, it’s Scott’s maxim that people are broken.

Collection of Hot Coffee Links

August 7, 2005 /

I’ve been collecting links and whatnot related to the Hot Coffee Incident for my own research purposes, and to share with others who may be looking for a cohesive timeline and some of the more coherent analyses on the subject. If anyone has any good links, or compelling points in the timeline I missed, noting them in the comments would be dandy. Continue reading

MMO Designers Can Learn from LARP

August 3, 2005 /

A documentary about LARPers.

MMO designers should study LARPs more. If you think about it, they’re actually a much better analog to MMOs than the tabletop experience everyone tries to emulate. Tabletops are about cooperative storytelling. LARPs are much more self-running, with a small cabal loosely managing a large herd following fairly simple and cut-and-dried rules. They also do a better job of thinking of events that involves the whole populace, and still feel world-changing.

But this is all from anecdotal data – I’ve never taken part. Humorously enough, though, I had a girlfriend once who swore she would dump me if I ever LARPed. I’m pretty sure she meant it, too.
The original comment thread is here.

China Bans Children Player Killing

August 3, 2005 /

Sara points out that China has just banned children playing games where they can Player Kill.

Effective immediately, all minors are banned from playing online games in which players are allowed to kill other players, an activity that has been termed Player Kills (PK). China’s Ministry of Culture (MOC) and Ministry of Information Industry (MII) have also ordered the country’s online game operators to develop identity authentication systems that prevent minors from playing games These authentication systems would require all players to first enter their Citizen ID Card numbers before being allowed to play games that allow Player Kills. No timetable was given for when these authentication systems must be implemented.“Minors should not be allowed to play online games that have PK content, that allow players to increase the power of their own online game characters by killing other players,” Liu Shifa, head of the MOC’s Internet Culture Division, which drafts policies governing the online gaming market, told Interfax.

“Online games that have PK content usually also contain acts of violence and leads to players spending too much time trying to increase the power of their characters. They are harmful to young people.”

Say what you will about Jack Thompson and Hillary Clinton — at least there’s a debate over here.

« Older posts Newer posts »

Find me on Mastodon

© 2024 Zen Of Design

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑