This is a nice blog anniversary surprise! Dette er en pæn blog-årsdagen overraskelse!

I don’t know for how long, or why (maybe the publisher stuff is sorted out? Maybe someone found a cache of them hidden under a mossy rock north of Pirate Cove) — but it’s claims 1-3 weeks shipping time, and it’s $17.24, and it’s not used copies. Jeg ved ikke, hvor længe, eller hvorfor (måske udgiveren ting er sorteret ud? Måske har nogen fundet en cache af dem skjult under en mosbegroet rock nord for Pirate Cove) - men det påstande 1-3 uger shipping tid, og det er $ 17,24, og så er det ikke bruges eksemplarer. As you may or may not know, it’s been out of print since last October or so, and copies have been going for as high as $300. Som du måske eller måske ikke kender, har det været ude af tryk siden oktober sidste år eller så, og kopier har stået for så højt som $ 300.

If you’ve been waiting, now might be the time to order it! Hvis du har været ventet, nu kunne være tid til at bestille den!

Theory of Fun for Game Design @ Amazon Theory of Fun for Game Design @ Amazonas

BTW, if any current owners want to review it, it could use some fresh reviews… BTW, hvis alle nuværende ejere ønsker at revidere den, den kunne bruge nogle friske anmeldelser ...

The banner today Banneret i dag

The first posts on the ancestor of this site went up ten years ago today. Det første indlæg på den ane af dette websted gik op for ti år siden i dag. The site was dark blue. Webstedet var mørkeblå. It used this newfangled HTML tag called frames, and I added each post by handcoding the HTML and uploading the file to the server. Det benyttede denne newfangled HTML-tag kaldet frames, og jeg tilføjet hver post ved handcoding HTML og uploade filen på serveren.

I feel old. Jeg føler mig gammel.

Some of the oldest things on this site date back before the site itself, to when I was a young punk designer of 25 or 26, cocky and arrogantly sure I knew everything. Nogle af de ældste ting på dette websted dato tilbage, inden anlægget selv, at da jeg var en ung punk designer med 25 eller 26, kphj og arrogant sikker på, at jeg vidste alt. I turn 37 in a week. Jeg vender mig 37 i en uge. I like to think I’m still a young turk tilting at the windmills. Jeg kan godt lide at tro, jeg er stadig en ung Turk tiltning ved vindmøller.

Ten years ago, I started the site to archive some of the things I was telling the UO community and the LegendMUD community, things about the ways in which online communities can self-determine, things about how virtual worlds can serve as bridges, as ways to connect. Ti år siden, jeg begyndte at webstedet til arkiv nogle af de ting, jeg sagde UO samfund og LegendMUD samfund, ting om, hvordan online-fællesskaber kan selvstændig bestemme, ting om, hvordan virtuelle verdener kan fungere som broer, som måder til at oprette forbindelse. To talk about how something people see as “mere games” can mean much more. At tale om, hvordan noget, som folk opfatter som "rene spil" kan betyde meget mere. I eagerly read everything I could by people like Randy Farmer & Chip Morningstar, Richard Bartle, and other pioneers. Jeg ivrigt læst alt, hvad jeg kunne med folk som Randy Farmer & Chip Morningstar, Richard Bartle, og andre pionerer. I collected aphorisms from mailing lists and gathered them into a reference source. Jeg indsamlet aphorisms fra adresselister og samlet dem i en reference kilde. I tried to share it back, to do my learning in public. Jeg forsøgte at dele det tilbage, at gøre min uddannelse i offentligheden.

The previous banner, aka "the pixelly look" Den tidligere banner, alias "den pixelly se"

In some ways, the site has become a book — most literally, in the way that A Theory of Fun was born from blog posts and snippets from MUD-Dev, but also in the over half a million words I have written here. På nogle måder, webstedet er blevet en bog - mest bogstaveligt, i den måde, A Theory of Fun blev født af en blog-indlæg og uddrag fra MUD-dev, men også i over en halv million ord jeg har skrevet her.

"Wood site #2" -- there was a wood site #1 before that one. "Træ site # 2" - der var et træ site # 1 før, at en. This is where the knotwork thing came from. Dette er hvor knotwork ting kom fra.

I thought a good way to celebrate might be to turn things around on you. Jeg troede, en god måde at fejre kunne være at vende tingene rundt om dig. I am pretty sure that there are plenty of folks who haven’t been here that long — given that the site has gained several thousand daily readers in just the last year. Jeg er ret sikker på, at der er masser af folk, der ikke har været her så længe - i betragtning af, at webstedet har fået flere tusinde daglige læsere på bare det sidste år. So I thought I would ask some questions and use the anniversary as a chance to point people to some of the older material they might not have read. Så jeg troede, at jeg ville stille nogle spørgsmål og bruge jubilæet som en chance for at folk hen til nogle af de ældre materiale, de måske ikke har læst.

So I want to turn it around on you! Så jeg vil vende det rundt om dig! I have questions for you! Jeg har spørgsmål til dig!

I don't seem to have the old art for wood site #1anymore... Jeg synes ikke at have den gamle kunst til træ-site # 1anymore ... and there was one design older than this, all dark blue. og der var en konstruktion ældre end denne, alle mørkeblå.

• So, how long have you been reading the site? Ja, hvor lang tid har du været læser websted?
• How did you get here? Hvordan fik du her?
• What’s your favorite post? Hvad er dit favorit-post?
• Favorite game essay? Favorit spil essay?
• Favorite Sunday Poem? Favorit søndag digt?
• Favorite piece of music? Yndlings stykke musik?
• Favorite presentation or speech ? Favorit-præsentation eller tale?
• Most outrageously wrong thing I have said? Mest skandaløst forkerte ting, som jeg har sagt?

I have my favorites and am thinking of showcasing some of them over the next week, but I am curious, because I suspect that to some degree I am better known to many of you for what I have said than what I have done. Jeg har mine favoritter, og jeg tænker på fremvisning af nogle af dem i løbet af de næste uge, men jeg er nysgerrig, fordi jeg har mistanke om, at man på en vis måde er jeg bedre kendt til mange af jer for, hvad jeg har sagt, end hvad jeg har gjort. So many of the things I have done aren’t really there to see anymore, but the things I have written and said are still here, for better or worse. Så mange af de ting jeg har gjort, er ikke virkelig, at der skal se længere, men de ting jeg har skrevet og sagt stadig er her, for bedre eller værre.

So thanks for coming  on the journey! Så tak for der kommer på rejsen! Here’s to another ten years, another half a million words, and more learning in public. Her er til en anden ti år, en anden en halv million ord, og mere læring i det offentlige.

Kim's surprised by the giant PC game rack that has 1/3 casual titles and 1/3 adventure games Kim's overrasket over den gigantiske PC spil rack, der har 1 / 3 casual titler og 1 / 3 adventure spil

Holy balls! Hellige bolde! Look at the PC game shelf! Kig på den PC spil hylden! Approx 1/3 traditional PC hardcore fare (not shown), 1/3 kids & adventure (eg Dora, Nancy Drew, etc - also not shown) and 1/3 $20 casual download titles. Ca. 1 / 3 traditionelle PC hardcore billetprisen (ikke vist), 1 / 3 Kids & eventyr (f.eks Dora, Nancy Drew, etc - heller ikke vist) og 1 / 3 $ 20 tilfældige hente titler.

…on pampers, programming & pitching manure: Evolution of retail ... Om pampers, programmering & pitching gylle: Udvikling i detailhandel

See now, what have I been saying? Se nu, hvad har jeg været sige?

Though when I point this out (as I did most recently in my criminally underreported, one of the best talks I have ever given, go watch the video now Sandbox/Web3d speech), I usually focus on adventure games, not the casual games. Selv når jeg opmærksom på dette (som jeg gjorde sidste gang i mit strafferetligt underreported, en af de bedste samtaler, jeg nogensinde har givet, skal du gå se videoen nu Sandbox/Web3d tale), vil jeg normalt fokusere på adventure-spil, ikke tilfældige spil.

The point is the same though — a misread of what the average consumer is purchasing. Pointen er den samme, selv om - en misforstået af, hvad den gennemsnitlige forbruger køber. Target has plenty of data on this, they make their living from it. Target har masser af data om dette, gør de lever af det. First fact: the PC rack is large, despite what anyone may say about PC gaming dying. Første faktum: PC-rack er stort, på trods af, hvad enhver kan sige om PC gaming dør. And what they stock tilts pretty heavily towards game cards, adventure games, and casual games. Og hvad de bestand Hælder temmelig kraftigt i retning af spil kort, adventure spil, og casual games.

If you do venture into the “core games” shelves, by the way, what you find is that there are two shelves of Sims stuff, two shelves of Blizzard stuff, and a smattering of current popular titles. Hvis du ikke vove sig ind i "kerne-spil" hylder, ved den måde, hvad du finder, at der er to hylder af Sims-ting, to hylder af Blizzard ting, og en lille smule af den nuværende populære titler.

The in-game economies of virtual worlds are being hijacked by criminals who attempt to hide their profits through the exchange of virtual currencies, Dr. Igor Muttik, a senior architect at McAfee’s Avert Labs says in a white paper entitled “Securing Virtual Worlds Against Real Attacks–The Challenges of Online Game Development.” Inde i spillet økonomierne i virtuelle verdener er ved at blive kapret af kriminelle, der forsøger at skjule deres fortjeneste gennem udveksling af virtuelle valutaer, Dr. Igor Muttik, en ledende arkitekt på McAfee's Avert Labs siger i en hvidbog med titlen "Sikring af virtuelle verdener Mod Real Angreb-Udfordringerne i Online Game Development. "

Rising fraud threats in virtual worlds | News - Security - CNET News . Stigende svindel trusler i virtuelle verdener | Nyheder - Sikkerhed - CNET News.

The PDF is here. PDF er her.

Saturn's Children Saturn's Children

I just finished reading Saturn’s Children , Jeg har lige læst Saturn's Børn, and enjoyed it quite a lot — Charlie Stross manages to nail the late Heinlein voice quite thoroughly, and although some of the late Heinlein books are vilified in some quarters, I liked quite a lot of them. og nydt det en hel del - Charlie Stross forvalter til søm slutningen Heinlein stemme ganske grundigt, og selv om nogle af de sene Heinlein bøger er vilified i nogle kredse, jeg kan lide en hel del af dem. Here Stross is clearly going after Friday. Her Stross vil helt klart efter fredag.

There’s quite a lot of Heinlein’s children around these days; not just stuff like the recent Variable Star Der er en hel del Heinlein's børn omkring disse dage ikke bare ting, som de seneste Variable Star posthumous collaboration, but also stuff like Scalzi’s “Old Man’s War” books (the latest of which, Zoe’s Tale , I haven’t read yet), and of course the outright homages than John Varley has been writing ever since Steel Beach . posthume samarbejde, men også ting som Scalzi's "Old Man's War" bøger (hvoraf den seneste, Zoe's Tale, jeg ikke har læst endnu), og naturligvis den egentlige homages end John Varley har været skriftligt nogensinde siden Steel Beach.

Now, Charlie dedicates Saturn’s Children to both Heinlein and Asimov, and it made me wonder — who is writing the Asimov homages? Nu, Charlie dedikerer Saturn's Børn til både Heinlein og Asimov, og det gjorde mig så mærkeligt - der er at skrive Asimov homages? I mean, aside from a few of Cory Doctorow’s short stories (thinking here of “I, Rowboat ,” one of my favorites of his shorts, though of course “I,Robot”, also in that book, is a more direct homage), it doesn’t seem like there are a lot of folks who consciously work in this mode. Jeg mener, bortset fra et par af Cory Doctorow's noveller (tænker her på "I, Rowboat," en af mine favoritter af hans shorts, men naturligvis "I, Robot", også i denne bog, er en mere direkte hyldest), det ikke ud som om der er en masse folk, der bevidst arbejder i denne tilstand. Charlie is after exploring Asimovian ideas, just in Heinleinian dress, but you don’t see Asimovian dress these days. Charlie er efter udforske Asimovian ideer, bare i Heinleinian kjole, men du kan ikke se Asimovian kjole i disse dage.

I grew up reading them both. Jeg voksede op læser dem begge. I fact, I make the claim to having read everything of Heinlein’s — yes, even Take Back Your Government and Tramp Royale , every short story, everything; and every scrap of Asimov fiction , even all the Lucky Starr books and all the Black Widowers (though I think I may prefer The Union Club Mysteries ), even Murder at the ABA (reading all the non-fiction being unattainable). Jeg faktisk, jeg gør det hævder at have læst alt for Heinlein's - ja, endog Take Back Din regering og Tramp Royale, hver novelle, alt, og hvert skrot af Asimov fiction, selv alle de Lucky Starr bøger og alle de Black Enkemænd (selvom jeg tror, jeg foretrækker måske Unionen Club mysterier), selv Mordet på ABA (læser alle de ikke-fiktion er uopnåeligt).

To me, they have always represented two poles of SF. Til mig, at de altid har repræsenteret to poler af SF. Is the Asimovian style simply more dated, or is it that the other influences of Heinlein, such as his politics and quotability, have made him more prominent in an Internet-based world and culture? Er Asimovian stil bare mere af, eller er det, at de andre påvirkninger af Heinlein, såsom hans politik og quotability, har gjort ham mere fremtrædende i en Internet-baseret verden og kultur?

BTW, Charlie swears to me that few people get the terrible terrible pun about the chicken. BTW, Charlie sværger til mig, at nogle mennesker får den frygtelige frygtelige ordspil om kylling. Keep an eye out, and don’t be drinking something when you reach the page with the chibi dwarf ninja attack. Hold øje med, og ikke skal drikke noget, når du når frem til side med chibi dværg Ninja angreb.

The book's cover Bogens dække

Gosh, i am behind on reporting stuff. Gosh, jeg er bagud på rapportering ting. Anyway. Settlers of the New Virtual Worlds is out. Alligevel. Settlers af den nye virtuelle verdener er ude.

It’s sort of my book, because I have a chapter in it. Det er sådan min bog, fordi jeg har et kapitel i den. But it isn’t really mine. Men det er ikke virkelig mine. it’s more Erik Bethke’s and Erin Hoffman’s. er det mere Erik Bethke's og Erin Hoffman's. And really, my chapter is just another reprinting of the Avatar Rights piece , which at this point is in a lot of books . Og virkelig, min kapitel er bare en anden genoptrykning af Avatar rettigheder stykke, der på dette tidspunkt er i en masse bøger.

As you may or may not know, they’ve been spearheading a project called Better EULA which tackles the is Som du måske eller måske ikke ved, de har været i spidsen med et projekt kaldet Bedre EULA, som tager fat på det er sues of user rights in virtual worlds (there’s a blog too). anlægger af brugerrettigheder i virtuelle verdener (der er en blog alt for). I am on a panel with them about it at AGDC in a couple of weeks. Jeg er på et panel med dem om det på AGDC i et par uger.

Once upon a time, there was an acronym we used for certain sorts of virtual worlds. Engang var der var et akronym vi anvendes til visse former for virtuelle verdener. We called them PSW’s, for “persistent state world.” Vi kaldte dem PSW's, for "vedvarende tilstand verden."

Most virtual worlds today don’t actually have persistent state. De fleste virtuelle verdener i dag faktisk ikke har vedvarende tilstand. Oh, your characters do, but not the world. Åh, dine karakterer gøre, men ikke verden. In fact, the ability to affect the world has fallen dramatically since the days of Meridian 59 and Ultima Online . Faktisk er evnen til at påvirke verden er faldet dramatisk siden de dage af Meridian 59 og Ultima Online. M59 featured shifting political balance, and UO had full world state persistence. M59 funktioner skiftende politiske balance, og UO havde fuld verdens tilstand udholdenhed. If someone killed Bob the baker, he was gone . Hvis en person dræbt Bob bageren, var han væk. If you dropped something on the ground, it stayed there until it rusted away (or more likely, someone came along and grabbed it — and that someone was just as likely to be a monster as it was a player). Hvis du faldet noget på jorden, men opholdt sig der, indtil det rustent væk (eller mere sandsynligt, nogen kom sammen og tog det - og at nogen var lige så godt være et monster, som den var en spiller).

It took half an hour to 45 minutes to save all of the world state in UO, by the way. Det tog en halv time til 45 minutter for at redde alle verdens tilstand i UO, ved den måde. Which meant rollbacks to your character if the server crashed. Hvilket betød rollbacks til din karakter, hvis serveren gik ned.

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