[...] We are invited out for dinner to Michael and Anna’s. Elijah, their son, is a regular at the game group, and Michael shows up occasionally, too.No kids this weekend, except Eitan who will be in and out for lunch tomorrow (if that). I know many parents would kill for that, but divorced parents don’t feel that way. Yeah, it’s nice to have quiet, but if we had our druthers we would see the kids more, not less.Is my last post with all the pictures causing any problems? Too large? Too many broken links? I tried to load it on a different browser and had some problems the first time (not the second), but I’m downloading to Israel, after all, which is always a few orders of magnitude slower.I’m working on a post about scoring and winning, which I’ll probably post to Gone Gaming next week. The two questions are:What makes a good score for a game? 0-0-1? 0-1-2? 3-4-7? 10-12-76? 45-163-306? 306-306-307? 4-19-10,0005?No matter what we score in a game, the end result is always 0-0-1 (or sometimes 0-1-1), i.e. winners and losers. Is there anything we can do about that?If you have any thoughts, add them to the comments. You may see your name in print in my next post on Gone Gaming!Links:Rick Thorniquist’s video on the first day of Essen is very well done. He is really upping the quality and professionalism of his reporting.This week’s Vintage Gamer covers some board game books. I haven’t heard it yet, but it’s downloading.Raph points to a MMORPG set in the world of Shakespeare. It’s not built yet, but it’s a great idea.I found a blog devoted to Cosmic Encounter, and the official blog of Cosmic Encounter Online which is updated by Peter Olotka.Oh. And do you want to play Puerto Rico Monopoly?Yehuda [...]

Damn, that sounds interesting. Easy zones to implement: MacBeth (there’s practically a glowing exclamation point above the weird sisters), Midsummer (holy crap elves!), Romeo & Juliet (PKs!!!). Hard zones to implement: Love’s Labour’s Lost (um, panty raid?), Hamlet (you only win if you die).

Seriously, just about everything Shakespeare has done lends itself to a PvP environment, in one fashion or another. To make it truly Shakespearean, there would need to be a sense of beauty to it all. Yeah, beautiful young ladies are dismembered in Titus, but it’s oh so lyrical when it happens!

[...] Raph suggests that it’ll be using the Multiverse toolset, using it to experiment in ways I’d always hoped (the petri dish) and challenging some of the fantasy MMO staples that I’ve wanted to see challenged. [...]

More About Ted Castronova’s Arden MMO

The Shakespearean virtual world being built by Ted Castronova at Indiana University will run on the Multiverse platform, or so hears gamedev Raph Koster. Koster also links to a CNet story by Daniel Terdiman that sheds more light on MMO, which is to be …

I already pointed out to Ted that China, like many other countries, is funding a lot of money in online educational projects and that a world based on Confucius and the Warring States eras could easily be joint-funded in parallel with a world based on Shakespeare.

Hope he get all the funding he needs, if the haven’t already.

Frank

How about bonus personality points for (properly) using archaic shakespearian words and iambic pentameter? Or for speaking in rhyme? Or for quality soliloquies? Or sonnets?

If you want “combat”, why not insult duels like that pirate adventure game series. (Can’t remember the name.)

Not to further the tangent….

“Even in sci-fi/fantasy/gaming I think you could argue that there is a lot of clinging to the past or to past modes of expression (which is ironic for sci-fi given that it is supposed to be about envisioning new futures).”

/agree

I recently had an email discussion with a developer who basically told me he couldnt see how data would help at all, that he wasnt concerned about what people wanted in thier games all he was concerned about was his “Art” and that nothing should interfere with it.

Im not really sure how to take this, I mean I’m seriously at a complete and utter loss, I really value someones ability to dedicate themselves to whatever it is they call thier art, and that commercial considerations shoulnt play into an artists creation. But you know I’m all about advocating for gamers voices to be heard as well, and the “Art” in question is a monetized, commodity that consumers pay for….

I guess its good to make “art” for oneself, I just never thought of that applying to video games.

Back on target:

I cant wait to try out Arden, looks fun.

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