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Game Design

Games and Fairs

I went to Brat Fest this weekend with my daughter and some friends, it was a good time all in all. I was watching my daughter and the number of other kids riding around the Carousel smiling in delight and I couldn’t help but think of the age of this type of entertainment. I mean…Continue readingGames and Fairs

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Game Design

In Game Calendars Law

In honor of one of my favorite holidays, Cinco de Mayo,  I have decided to get back into my MMO Laws series and talk about one of Raph’s minor laws the in game calendars. This particular law actually saddens me to a great degree as I love the concept of holidays and special calendars in…Continue readingIn Game Calendars Law

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Game Design

Weapons in MMORPGs

I recently read an article about how weapons in modern MMOs are all starting to look identical to each other and how unrealistic and uninteresting this is.Continue readingWeapons in MMORPGs

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Game Design

MMOs and Social Networking

MMORPG developers have a crap load to learn from the social networking movement that is currently swarming the internet. Heck, they have a lot to learn from the internet itself and how people communicate and mesh. If you really sat down and looked at it, MMOs are just sad when it comes to human interaction…Continue readingMMOs and Social Networking

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Game Design

The Average Hero Paradox

I would be remiss if I didn’t follow up my previous post with a new rule. I apologize to whomever if I am stealing this rule from someplace, but I haven’t been able to figure out reference to it. I very well may have found it somewhere previously and just forgotten where, or I came…Continue readingThe Average Hero Paradox

Categories
Game Design

The Laws of Player Justification

Three of Raph Koster’s MMO laws are explained that share a common theme in game design. This theme is why a player plays online games in particular. What do they want and what are they hoping to get out of their experience?Continue readingThe Laws of Player Justification