Category Archives: Design

A recent post by Tobold on virtual property rights was interesting to me because it’s a very common player perception. His argument, roughly, is that it would be great if the courts could rule on virtual property, so we know whether we … Continue reading →

It can be difficult to discuss MMO design in the complete abstract — there are just too many variables — so today I am going to deconstruct and analyze a specific design in an existing game. My target: Noblegarden, a … Continue reading →

It’s perhaps a bit surprising, but MMOs are dense. It can be hard to find information in context: sure, you can easily find recipes for all the crafted items in a game, but how useful or common or popular are those … Continue reading →

If you’ve ever been taught brainstorming, in a class or program or whatnot, you know that you’re supposed to brainstorm without tight constraints. That is, you don’t hold each idea up to your constraints as you think of it — … Continue reading →

The MMO industry is not a particularly sane place to work. It drives people hard and soaks up their passion like a sponge, giving very little back in return. I’ve noticed that MMO game designers go through certain stages as … Continue reading →

I’ve written quite a bit recently about the situation with Star Trek Online, starting with an explanation of why Star Trek is such a hard IP to make into an MMO and continuing with advice for the team to attempt … Continue reading →

The folks on various Star Trek fansites are not pleased with my previous post, and I can’t say I’m surprised. :) Sorry guys. Here’s the bad news: MMO’s are incredibly hard to make, much harder than you think. Perpetual didn’t … Continue reading →

Well, the writing was on the wall, and now the wall has blown up. Perpetual’s spin-off company P2 is basically dead. They no longer have a game team; there’s just some web-developers remaining now. My condolences to the devs who … Continue reading →