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Raph Koster

Raph Koster

Game designer, author, speaker

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Raph Koster
Raph Koster
Game designer, author, speaker
  • Here in London

    Hours October 5, 2008 Categories Game talk
    Comments 4 Comments
    Platform 9 3/4, King's Cross, London
    Platform 9 3/4, King's Cross, London

    It is rainy and yet quite warm outside.

    I was told to take the Heathrow Express into town, but instead I went by Underground just so I would end up at King’s Cross so I could take the photo that is to the right of this post. My kids should be much happier now, because I’d told them i didn’t know if I would have the chance to go by there. There were a fair amount of people there taking pictures, so I had to be patient to get a shot without anyone else in it.

    The wall seemed quite solid to me, so I suppose I am a Muggle.

    Normally, I combat jet lag by walking. But it’s so dreary out that I am not sure that’s the right solution today! Although the hotel did supply a complimentary umbrella.

    I think I am going to go find some lunch instead, and then maybe brave the elements after.

    Read More Here in LondonContinue

  • Speaking at Virtual Worlds Forum Europe — off to London

    Hours October 3, 2008 Categories Game talk
    Comments 4 Comments

    Tomorrow I fly off to London for the Virtual Worlds Forum. I will be in London until Thursday morning, when I fly back.

    I am looking forward to exploring London a little bit — I have never really gotten to wander around it very much, for a variety of reasons. I have some free time on Wednesday, if anyone wants to tour me around or meet up.

    I’ll also be at the SXSW party. And I do expect to corner Richard Bartle and recite poetry at him for hours and hours.

    More directly related to the purpose of the trip, the conference looks quite good. I will be on a couple of panels with some great folks. i am sure that VWF would love some late registrants, so if you are up for flying to London on short notice, or if you happen to be in the vicinity, I recommend stopping by.

    Read More “Speaking at Virtual Worlds Forum Europe — off to London”

    Read More Speaking at Virtual Worlds Forum Europe — off to LondonContinue

  • Economics of Virtual Worlds: The Rarest of Lawyers

    Hours October 3, 2008October 3, 2008 Categories Game talk
    Comments 24 Comments

    Economics of Virtual Worlds: The Rarest of Lawyers.

    Great graphs there explaining why it is that a microtransaction-based model ends up hitting a far larger market than a sub-based one.

    Read More Economics of Virtual Worlds: The Rarest of LawyersContinue

  • Enterprise VWs — do they suck?

    Hours October 3, 2008October 3, 2008 Categories Game talk
    Comments 6 Comments

    Second Life technology continues its slow move towards being an enterprise solution with the announcement that the SL-derived OpenSim project is getting commercialized by 3Di.

    Enterprise was a big buzzword this year at the Virtual Worlds conf in Hollywood. (Of course, in the midst of it, someone had to ask “what is enterprise anyway?” It means “selling VWs to businesses”). The penny has also dropped for some users that SL itself seems to be trending in this direction — as Tateru Nino writes on Massively,

    When you look at the hiring of Tom Hale, the ongoing hiring of enterprise sales and marketing staff, and the licensing of the Immersive Workspaces product from Rivers Run Red, this all seems to signal a clear direction for where Linden Lab is taking Second Life. Clearer than anything else we’ve seen in a year, certainly.

    Of course, we have also seen Forterra and their OLIVE platform (derived originally from the There.com codebase) continue to focus on this area over several years, with particular success in work for the military.

    Is all this a surrender of the dream? What about user-creation virtual worlds for consumers?

    Read More “Enterprise VWs — do they suck?”

    Read More Enterprise VWs — do they suck?Continue

  • A Metaplace world on Worlds in Motion (!)

    Hours October 2, 2008 Categories Game talk, Gamemaking
    Comments 2 Comments

    If you go to the front page of Worlds In Motion right now, you see successive screenshots of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Virek Online, and World of Warcraft. What’s Virek Online? It’s our most recent community spotlight. 🙂

    Kinda cool to see this completely user-built Scandinavian folk music RPG (no, I am not making that up) side by side with the big boys. 🙂

    Direct link to the article is here.

    Read More A Metaplace world on Worlds in Motion (!)Continue

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  • Blog
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  • Game Design
    • Game Design Home
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