How many F-bombs do I get to use?
-Was not actually what I said when my editor asked if I’d be interested in writing an editorial discussing the massive layoffs in the games industry.
Flavortext
I recently wrote about Avabel, a beautiful tablet MMO with a truly terrible UI, for Geek. I struggled to describe the frustrations of a gorgeous gameworld made fairly inaccessible by almost incomprehensible localization and an awkward UI, and hoped that the game points to great new development for tablet MMOs.
But if you don’t feel like reading the article, this screencap sums it up.
I can’t see the world because almost-sentences and abbreviations are covering it!
Related: People actually do read game text!
This is Why I Don’t Want To Connect Submittable To Facebook
This picture is for my returned expat friend Gabrielle Olexa, who’s currently chronicling her rejection letters on her blog. These aren’t actually all my Submittable rejections but trying to shrink the font size to fit more rejections in the screencap was just depressing. (Like Gabrielle, I think constant rejection means you’re trying.)
Submittable (formerly Submishmash) is still my favorite way to receive rejections, I mean, my favorite way to submit to fiction contests and manage my submissions.
Gemini Rue
The iOs build of Gemini Rue is out today!
The iOS version is very true to the original’s point-and-click interface, while still taking advantage of the touchscreen’s capabilities. Players will navigate similar screens and will tap to investigate areas or items. The iOS build will go for $4.99, but the game launches at a discounted price of $3.99.
Wadjet Eye typically develops and publishes PC games, like Resonance with XII Games, Primordia withWormwood Studios, and the Blackwell series. Apparently, we’re all huge Wadjet Eye fans at Indie Game Mag — a quick search of the name turns of dozens of glowing posts! This build of Gemini Rue is Wadjet Eye’s first iOS release.
Also, I helped out beta testing, and played through several times without getting sick of the game! In my testing experience, that has not often been the case.
Via ‘Gemini Rue’ Out Now For iPad on Indie Game Magazine
Posted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Tagged Chapel Hill, games, Gemini Rue, IGM, Indie Game Mag, North Carolina
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Life Milestones: My Blog in MLA Format
So I was idly auto-Googling, the way you do when it’s three A.M. and your fiance is snoring (to wake the dead) (in graveyards several states away), and I came across this list of sources for a discussion of women in gaming at Bento Miso in Toronto.
It was pretty awesome to see my blog in MLA format, but being listed between Erin Robinson of PuzzleBots and IndieCade, and Roberta Williams of King’s Quest was really stunning.
Slow Boat
Got a review copy from an editor today. Sometimes Harold tells me that Brooklyn isn’t all that far away, but seeing a book that took two weeks to come from New York, and somehow got smashed, creased, and water damaged on the way to Chapel Hill makes it seem really distant. And only one of the two books sent was still in the package when it arrived. The post office did put a stamp on the package saying it was damaged in transit, in case I thought my editor was sending me an unsubtle message by mailing me a crushed book. (This is actually something I would worry about, so thanks, USPS!)
When I lived in Yantai, my mail arrived battered after a trip to the other side of the planet, and it was usually opened, searched, and halfheartedly resealed at customs. Sometimes books and other printed matter just never turned up.
I wonder if I should go to the Chapel Hill post office with a red gift box of bai jiu for next time.
Beijing Tech Report
Really excited to hear about my former student presenting her start-up pitch at Beijing Tech Hive! My old student is, of course, the woman in front.
What The Heck Am I Going To Do With A Vegi-Magical Degree?
Another of my favorite screens from Lili. Just used this as the accompanying art for a piece on the possible definitions of indie games, because I giggled to see an indie game character wondering if her education is a good foundation for meaningful employment.
Posted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Tagged Chapel Hill, games, Geek magazine, indie games, Lili, North Carolina
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A Design for Boring: The Freemium Model Problems
New piece talking about freemium games on DragonBlogger. Bad freemium frustrates me, although I think games have value, developers should be paid for their craft, and freemium is not automatically evil. After many rounds of editing, and many discussions with Al Jackson over at Hardcore Droid, I was finally able to clearly articulate what’s so frustrating about the pay-to-skip monetization method.
While good IAP adds value to a solid game experience, bad freemium demands players spend money to adjust the difficulty balance in order to create a more solid game experience. There’s an unappealing dishonesty in a game that’s billed as free, but requires additional purchases to make the game experience playable. Pixonic’s Robinson is free-to-play if you don’t mind waiting to acquire dozens of needed materials from a random drop that refreshes every 24 hours. I noted in an article I wrote for Hardcore Droid that Zenonia 5 is free-to-play, if you don’t need any armor or weapons from the merchants, and your character never dies in battle. Thousands of games use a painfully slow and repetitive grind as a motivator for premium purchasers, deliberately boring and annoying players into paying. There is something deeply flawed about designing gameplay so dull that it begs to be avoided.
And that’s what’s most upsetting about bad freemium content. Good games offer so much artistry to enjoy, with intriguing puzzles, engaging characters and storyline, and combat action that it’s disappointing to see games designed to bring players a boring grind, and then monetizing by asking players to pay to avoid it. It’s a disappointing trend to watch as a hobbyist. As an industry, we can all do better. With creativity, the freemium model can mean offering great additional content, and monetizing successfully on extras that add to gameplay, instead of designing to bore.
Via A Design for Boring: The Freemium Model Problems » Dragon Blogger.
Posted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Tagged Chapel Hill, games, Hardcore Droid, North Carolina
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