Game talk

This article originally appeared in Massive quite a while ago… the mag seems to be undergoing some changes, including editorial turnover, alas.

Why Have Gold Anyway?

What with all the talk about RMT, how it affects a game, whether it’s something to be banned or embraced, and so on, it’s easy to lose sight of fundamental matters. Why is there gold in these games anyway? Should the games be about chasing wealth, or are we missing out on other styles of gameplay by focusing so much on acquiring shiny fake currency?

It’s worth stepping back and thinking about how these games work overall from a design perspective. After all, the games can mostly be boiled down into a pretty small and repetitive set of activities:

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There’s been talk around the Valley for ages about how Google Earth will go multiuser, making Google instantly a major player in the virtual world space.

Well, they took too long. ‘Cause here’s Unype, a mashup of Google Earth and Skype, that accomplishes that very thing. They even have a Facebook widget.

War of the Worlds is one of those “hot or not” style apps, but for virtual worlds. Which is better, BB Tanks or Red Light Center? If you don’t think that is a non-sensical question, you may want to give it a try. 🙂

Audio of the SXSW panel I was on is up now.

Matt Mihaly reports that you can buy treats for your virtual pet dogs. Such as chocolate.

Don’t try this at home, folks.