I had the pleasure of being on SUWT #22 this weekend. I was first on SUWT #12, so I guess I’ll get another chance to mix it up with the crew on SUWT #32!
The fights, the yelling, the smashed windows, the death threats and broken relationships that make podcasts fun, are all here. Our souls laid bare. Tune in and listen to the terror that inevitably occurs whenever someone lets me get too close to a microphone.
We talk about how many billions of dollars would be needed to compete with WoW (short answer by our guest presenter, the Ghost of Carl Sagan: BILLYUNS and BILLYUNS), what game we would unmake (my choice: hopscotch, because what is the POINT of that game anyway?), what we’re playing (um, my hopscotch team is first in the league, by the way) and all that drama last week about SOE making an EQ2 community leader into an EQ2 community wiener.
Check it out!
8 thoughts on “Shut Up, We’re Talking #22”
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Did you talk about the new Games as Porn bill being introduced in Massachusetts? I know a couple other bloggers based around the Boston area have mentioned it.
http://gamepolitics.com/2008/03/17/massachusetts-will-consider-video-game-legislation-this-week/
No, we don’t. That would have been a good topic for discussion, though. Luckily, the bill hasn’t got a prayer of passing, but, unfortunately, will cost the citizens of Massachusetts a lot of money and their legislature, a lot of wasted time.
Hey Tipa, I just finished listening to the podcast and I am happy to hear from someone else who understands that “success” with an MMO does not mean it needs to threaten WoW. I also thought your un-making of D&D was very thought-provoking. I think people like to game systems, so in D&D everything is transparent while in early adventure games and IF, the numbers are — as you said — there, but we didn’t need to see them. It reminds me of one of my professors telling me that when he plays MMOs, he likes to turn off the map so that he is much more immersed. It’s not that the map is filled with numbers, but it is meta-information that could otherwise spoil an immersive experience. Anyway, good show and good discussion.
Woot 🙂 glad you liked the show!
Thanks for giving a nod to my idea about the need for creating a DM-like experience in MMOs.
Puzzle Quest DOES cheat. Easy mode is more fair because it will actually make a mistake every now and then.. but the option to set it easy is buried and hard to find.
D&Di looks real cool and I had no idea it was coming. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOqxG3u6Foo
Good show I enjoyed it!
Like I said over at VirginWorlds, it was interesting that y’all brought up The Sims so close to D&D. In a sense, The Sims is a closer realization of D&D than most MMOs, because it emphasizes the imaginations of players over game rules.
Anyway, I’m glad Darren had you on. Y’all had a smart debate the whole way through.
Well, the Sims — like Second Life — isn’t really a game. It’s a sandbox; you use your imagination, but there’s no concept of winning or losing.
Sims 3 was just announced, by the way. I wonder how that will affect virtual world design?
Games can take place in sandboxes. I would say The Sims (The Sims 2, at least… I’ve never played the first) is different than Second Life, and definitely is a game. As you said, games have specific goals, and they also have rules. The Sims 2 assigns both short-term goals and long-term goals (such as “open a business”), and it has many rules (such as timetables for eating, sleeping, bathing, etc). It also places limits on players’ imaginations and creativity (ex: you can steal, but you can’t murder).
I think I can see where you’re coming from, though. If the player becomes so focused on exploring the sandbox that she loses track of the rules and assigned goals, is she still playing the game? I don’t have an answer, off-hand.