Why Not Online Gaming
I don’t very much enjoy playing games online. To the point where I have a game that is designed to be at least half if not mostly online (Torchlight II) but I prefer to play solo because I don’t enjoy the interaction. However, playing games with friends (mostly board games but also computer games) is one of the most enjoyable things I can think of. And I’m not the only one with that mindset (Wil Wheaton, for example) and some take it to more of an extreme and some to less. Yesterday I watched this lecture by Jane McGonigal about making games that have meaning, purpose and impact other than escapism. And in the section about testosterone, she quoted a study that explains that biologically. It says that when we win over someone we don’t know, our testosterone spikes and we’re more likely to assert dominance – rub it in their faces. When win over someone we know, our testosterone drops and we’re more likely to be nice and comforting – trying to make them feel better about themselves. Maybe I caught on that subconsciously but I don’t like that feeling, when I have it but mostly when it’s directed at me. I enjoy the battle of wits, I enjoy the banter, I enjoy collaboration (which is why I always prefer cooperative to competitive) and players online tend to rush things, take a lot personally and mostly not be sportsmanlike and considering. And it’s very hard to talk to them Continue Reading →
Posted in Gaming, Humanity, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.
Corporate Hijacking
Microsoft has been recently accused of trying to hijack another company’s private property, NoIP’s DNS service. While that is definitely not a good thing, if looked at just on its own, it is important to remember that Microsoft is, currently, one of the biggest and more active players in the fight for internet security and safety. They are running multiple operations to take down botnets and disable malware running systems all over the globe. So, dear legal system, don’t let a company order another company to hand over property but let’s try and do accommodate the, maybe self-appointed, sheriff trying to bring order to this wild west country we call the internet even if they do need a slap on the wrist every once in a while to figure out how to actually get things done properly.
Posted in IT, Less Interesting News, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 3 comments.
Selling Overhead
Is what this Gamasutra article called the recent trend in game development to sell “the things that usually end up on the game studio’s cutting room floor”. It’s talking about things like Early Access, selling the game while it’s being developed, and mostly about selling the “Prologue” to Metal Gear Solid V and selling access to Double Fine’s Amnesia Fortnight. First of all, I don’t think it’s really surprising in this age where Publishers are mostly going the way of the dinosaurs and more developers retaking control of their creations and trying to hit the audience directly, saving money while still trying to make hiqh-quality (i.e. expensive) titles. The money has to come from somewhere. The writer stresses the Double Fine and Metal Gear Solid V angle a lot, Double Fine selling access to their prototypes (things we usually couldn’t, and probably shouldn’t see) and Metal Gear Solid being split into (at least) two parts with the first one serving as “prologue” whose content might or might not later also appear in the full game, but I would like to point out two counter examples and say that, once again, when satisfaction is concerned, it’s all about expectations. The current customer expects that when she pays 60$ for a new game it will contain at least 10-20 hours of meaningful gameplay. Whether this is reasonable considering what we pay for movies, music, etc… is a different discussion – this is what we currently expect. In the days of the first StarCraft it Continue Reading →
Posted in Gaming, IT, Practice, Programming, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.
משחקים אלימים הופכים אנשים למוסריים יותר
אלו הממצאים ממחקר שנערך באוניברסיטת באפלו. למען האמת, לא נורא מפתיע אותי. מה שהם מצאו הוא ששחקנים שמשחקים במשחקים אלימים, בין אם בצד “הטוב” או בצד “הרע”, כאשר סיימו לשחק, חשבו יותר על המוסריות של עצמם ושל מה שעשו. אני גם דוגמה לזה, כמו שציינתי בעבר. אז אני נשארתי בדעתי, כאשר לי תהייה ההחלטה האם לאסור או להתיר משחקים אלימים, אני אתיר כל עוד ההשלכות המוסריות עולות לדיון לאחר מכן.
Posted in Gaming, Humanity, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 1 comment.
My Posting Policy
It revolves around the idea that the most valuable resource any human has currently is time and that I respect that time by trying to waste as little of it as possible. So, to not make the select few who decide to watch this space decide to leave it, I try to keep my posts as short and to the point as possible and only post something when I have something important I want to say. And even when I have a lot, I try to space it out to allow the time to do other things. Thanks for watching.
Posted in Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.
Quote
What disturbs men’s minds is not events but their judgements on events. To accuse others for one’s own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse one’s self shows that one’s education has begun. To accuse neither one’s self nor others shows that one’s education is complete. — Epictitus
Posted in Humanity, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.
Bushido Mentality
I didn’t go into game development lightly. I thought about it, we thought about it, we know the risks and we know the sacrifices needed. I still do it because this is the best job in the world and I’m willing to do this for a year, knowing it will only be a year, than look for a more stable, higher paying job. I know the competition is hard, saturation is high and it’s difficult to make it big, or even make it something, in this day and age. I came in, at first, because I thought I was so lucky to get this wonderful job. But that’s not why I put in the long hours. I come in early and leave late because I believe. I believe we can make it, I believe what we’re doing is worth doing. I believe this will find and audience and people will enjoy it. But I’m not delusional. I know what’s out there. But I heard a story about Samurais once, probably from Sensei Nico or someone in his vicinity. I looked it up just to be sure and I found this: Uesugi Kenshin, Lord of Echigo in the sixteenth century, explained the samurai’s fatalistic approach to combat: Fate is in Heaven, the armor is on the breast, success is with the legs. Go to the battlefield firmly confident of victory, and you will come home with no wounds whatever. Engage in combat fully determined to die and you will be alive; wish Continue Reading →
Posted in No Category, Practice, Thinking Out Loud, Work by Eran with 1 comment.
My Coding Conventions
When I run my own company or lead a brand new team, everyone will follow coding conventions. My Coding Conventions! Here they are, to the best of my current knowledge and by probable order of importance. Every method will be documented! That includes purpose, parameters, proper usage, etc… Every property will be documented! Yes. Exactly the same. Every class will be documented! Especially about recommended uses and where it is suppose to go. Every public field which is not incredibly obvious will also be documented! Every conditional block will be an actual block, with parentheses. Even if it’s one line! Starting parentheses always get a new line! Exception: if it’s a conditional or property and it fits in one line. Every method shall appear in full before its first use. This makes the code more readable! Do It! Design for any part of the program should be ironed out ahead of time and with as much detail as reasonableness allows. To be continued… (Suggestion welcome)
Posted in IT, Practice, Programming, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 6 comments.
Dice Hunter – A Game
In an article I read about game designers, one tip was to start with tabletop games: Design one dice game, one card game and one board game and show those off. The guy who gave that tip said that that is immediately impressive. And if the games are good, that’s a guaranteed instant hire. So, right after finishing that paragraph the following game popped into my head. Dice Hunter! (Revision 3) This is a strategic guessing, press your luck dice game in which you try to get other player’s dice before they can get yours. Requirements: 2-whatever players and enough six-sided dice to give 3 to each. Setup: Give each player 3 dice and have every one roll them. Highest sum has first Turn. Reroll ties between those players. Game proceeds clockwise. Turn: Everyone rolls their dice in secret. The current player picks a target from the other players and Attacks that target. Attack: Current player selects one of his dice and shows it. If the target has a die with that number, they give it to the current player and game proceeds. If they don’t, the current player could give up and let the game proceed with no penalty (the target reveals their dice to deter cheating) or Press the Attack. Press the Attack: The current player may sacrifice one of his dice to change the number of the first die by +1 or -1. Place it near the first die. The current player may continue doing this until Continue Reading →
Posted in Gaming, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 7 comments.
הילד שקרא “לייק!”
או תופעת דילול העוצמה האישית באינטרנט. הרשתות החברתיות מאפשרות לנו, לפחות מאז הגל השני של התופעה (Facebook, Google+, YouTube…), להגיב על הודעות ב-Like, או מקבילתו. אני רואה את הלחיצה על הכפתור כסוג של “I Approve of this Message”, כמו אמרתי “כן, מה שהוא אמר. אין לי מה להוסיף.” או “כל הכבוד. אני בעדך.” ואצלי, מעט מאוד דברים נכנסים לקטגוריה הזאת. יש כאלו שיגידו שזה בגלל הרגשות נמוכי העוצמה שלי, שאני לא מתלהב כמו בן אדם ממוצע אבל אני חושב שזה לא נכון. או לפחות לא קשור לנושא. זה קשור לנושא של דילול העוצמה. כמו שנאמר, כשכולם מיוחדים, אף אחד מיוחד. או, בהשלכה למקרה שלנו, כשלוחצים Like על הכל then you don’t really Like anything. קוראינו המבוגרים יותר בטח זוכרים את הסיפור על הילד שקרא זאב. לטובת הקוראים הצעירים יותר, הנה התקציר: הסיפור הוא על ילד שמשעמום מחליט לרוץ לכפר ולצעוק שזאב תוקף את העדר שלו. הכפר כולו מתחמש לעזור להדוף את החיה אבל כשהם מגיעים, הילד צוחק עליהם כי הוא עבד עליהם והם האמינו לו. המקרה חוזר עוד פעמיים או שלוש עד שהכפר כבר לא מאמין לו. וחבל, כי זאת בדיוק הפעם שזאב כן מגיע וטורף את כל העדר. המשל שאני לוקח מזה הוא “תגיד משהו בקלילות יותר מדי פעמים, כשבאמת תתכוון לזה אז כבר לא יאמינו לך”. בהשלכה למקרה הרשתות החברתיות, אם לוחצים Like על כל דבר שזז, כשיבוא משהו שבאמת ילהיב אותך, כולם יגידו “כמובן שזה טוב, אתה לוחץ Like על כל דבר.” וזה הכל, זה לא צריך להיות נושא ארוך. רק הסבר ללמה אני ממעט להתלהב. למה Continue Reading →
Posted in Humanity, IT, No Category, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with comments disabled.