I’ve said in the past that levels suck.
A few things that have been written about lately, however, prompt me to dig a little bit more at that long-held tenet of mine, because while constant self-doubt is debilitating (trust me), it also often opens up surprising new doors.
My objection to levels in the past has been based around the following:
I added a button to the sidebar on the right so that all of you Johnny-and-Jane-come-latelies can go see what I am referencing constantly, and get a taste of why I say that MUDs are basically the same as MMORPGs, and have a look at old-school text gaming. Let me know what you think. 🙂
My friend Masaya Matsuura, he of Parappa the Rapper fame, tells me
Yesterday, I got the japanese version of “A Theory of Fun.” It is a “red” book instead of blue, and looks a little different from the original, but I think people from O’reilly Japan has been committed to make good book. Only one thing I told them was about the japanese title. Original title they named was “Omoshiroi game design” This sounds a little like, “fun of game design” So I said was, “Omoshiroi-no game design” sounds like “how game design can make fun?” also this sounds a little like strange japanese, english person speaks.
So if you are in Japan, this might make a lovely gift. 🙂
Also, I see that Amazon.com is almost out of the American edition, so if you want one for the holidays, you had better buy it now!
I hesitate to include this link because it demonstrates, in a nutshell, everything that is wrong with how the gaming industry markets in order to garner larger audiences. By the way, the link is Not Safe For Work.
The irony is that it works. I just linked it, it’s #9 on the viral charts, and I am sure that it connects strongly with a certain demographic.
An immature demograhic, mind you.
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I thought it was time for another piece of music. This song is off of After the Flood, which is available right over there to your right. The CDs are for sale via CafePress, but I might re-release it under a Creative Commons license, since it is after all 6 years old (and never sold much anyhow!). We’ll see.
That said, CDs do make lovely Christmas presents, if you know someone who’s into blues and folk rock. 🙂
