The short answer is “no.”
One of the interesting questions that came up in the discussions on cheating is basically the issue of whether you can have a game design that limits information flow, in today’s Internet-based social gaming world. Does it make any sense to have games that rely on hidden static info?
Though I found it on CNet. There’s some interesting usage and revenue stats tossed into the mix.
“Get ready for total inundation,” said Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst at the research firm eMarketer, who estimates that 20 million children will be members of a virtual world by 2011, up from 8.2 million today.Worlds like Webkinz, where children care for stuffed animals that come to life, have become some of the Web’s fastest-growing businesses. More than six million unique visitors logged on to Webkinz in November, up 342 percent from November 2006, according to comScore Media Metrix, a research firm.
It’s the end of the year as we know it, and I feel fine.
Well, no, not really. I still have the remnants of a chest cold. I am cancelling plans to head up to LA for a New Year’s Party that is always one of the highlights of the season. Ah well.
With the last blog entry or two, the blog quietly crested 500,000 words in the blog alone. The vast majority of it was about virtual worlds and massively multiplayer games, with a substrain about game grammar and game design. I slacked off hugely on book reviews (my desk is covered in books I was planning to post about — like, 40 of them). I almost might as not bother with the Watching category.
The blog is due for a redesign… it happens every couple of years. Ideas?
PlayNoEvil’s description of ZT Online is worth reading.
As wonderfully described in Joel Martinsen’s translation at Danwei of an article that originally appeared in the Chinese Language Southern Weekly (courtesy of Frank Yu), the ZT Online’s history, game design, mechanics, and experience are revealed.And it is amazing.
Take everything you “think” is good MMO design and turn it on its head.
This here’s a bit of an experiment.
I wrote “Market” originally as a solo guitar piece. It wasn’t anything too complicated — just two lines, mostly. Here it is on piano.
I have been fiddling with this other way, though.
