As the time drew near to start building our demo, we elected to partake of an exercise inspired by the guys responsible for the Experimental Gameplay Project: Build a game in 7 days. The point is to dust off the cobwebs and throw ourselves into the thick of actually building a game, and teach ourselves the tools we've not used prior to now (namely Torque). The rules are simple: We spend day 1 deciding what we're going to build and familiarizing ourselves with the tools, day 2 we start crankin out, and on day 8 we do a post-mortum.

Of course nothing ever goes exactly as planned. Most of day 2 and 3 was spent ironing out kinks in our tools, which while are amazing for the most part, have some seriously sharp edges that will cut you so fast you won't even know you're bleeding profusely until you look down and realize the pool of blood your standing in is your own.

But I love it. It's -the- reason I started doing game development: It's the best of both my passions. Coding is like writing poetry for me, and seeing that poetry brought to life in an experience that's fun and exciting is indistinguishable from watching a miracle be preformed.

I implemented the Pythagorean Theorem for the umpteenth time yesterday in a new language for me (Torque Script). It's the one equation that is completely unavoidable whenever your dealing with stuff moving around, and I found myself chuckling at the fact that despite the presence of a similar built in function (VectorDist) that I still needed to do it by hand in order to get the desired result, and that I've run into this EXACT scenario with every other game I've worked on. I guess some things will never change?

I am sure the blogs will be heated up about this gamasutra article that discusses Sony's Station Exchange service.

I do not even know where to begin to be honest. I am passionately in favor of micro-payments and currency exchanges. I think that Sony is absolutely correct in saying that there is "rampant farming in these games". These games are, of course, MMO games, particularly MMORPGs, and gold farming is not just rampant, it is pandemic. The monthly statistics on how many accounts are banned from World of Warcraft alone tell us that gold farming is a massive industry. But is it a disease, or is it a symptom?

The article and Sony's white paper are getting at a lot of whats, but not a lot of whys. Why are the statistics showing that 18-22 year olds are selling, while 33-38 year olds are buying? Why are people using third party sellers or Station Exchange? Why did Station Exchange not drive third party sellers off Everquest II? But most importantly, why are players going outside of game mechanics and in-game economics?

The tail end of the white paper takes a stab at the reasons, and they are solid attempts at why and really do start to get the point. Especially with statements like: "Players are making purchases to stay aligned with friends who are spending more time playing the game".

Of course they are! The entire focus of these games is social interaction, that is what an MMO is all about. That is the heart and core, and when silly things like a players available time to play the game forces them out of their social group they will naturally find the fastest solution to that problem. If they have to grind away at coded mechanics, they will find someone with more time to grind for them. If they have to grind for money to get gear, they will pay someone else to do it.

I will shamelessly admit to doing this. It was the third major thing I did on World of Warcraft after I started taking a beating in group raids because of my poor gear. I went to a third party and shelled out $25.00 US for 600 gold. A steal! 600 gold would have taken me around three months of monotony based gameplay to get. Three months of not running raids with my friends. Three months of mindless drudgery. Three months of subscription fees at $14.99 US a month. That works out to three months of boredom from what should be entertaining, all for a cost of $44.97 US. I saved myself that dull experience and $19.97 US! I have absolutely no regrets. I came to WoW to play the game with my friends and colleagues, I started because all of them were playing and having fun together. I certainly did not join WoW to run around for three months collecting herbs and fish.

Sony still seems to think this is a bad thing. Something to be afraid of, something they'll dabble in like naughty children :

...we should work to include some element of this in some games, but do a better job of cracking down on it in a big way. I have personally had it affect my gameplay and I think it's very negative.

And you are absolutely right Mr. Smedley. It hits your gameplay in a negative way because your gameplay does not address the full social and product needs of your customers.

Events on EVE: Online in the last few days have certainly been interesting to watch. For those unfamiliar with the situation, the creators of EVE: Online are currently facing a community backlash nightmare after allegations of developer misconduct within the game. Full details are still emerging, but a good solid understanding of the situation and the issues can be found on the Escapist website.

This is far from the first time developers have had to deal with backlash when they play the games they create. There have been any number of situations, from tiny communities playing text based MUD’s to claims of misconduct in massive games such as Star Wars Galaxies. I have seen this happen many times, and in each situation the pattern has been virtually identical.

1) Player(s) uncover what looks like misconduct on the part of a developer with an account in the game.
2) Player(s) react, either by contacting the developer or in a knee-jerk manner.
3) Player(s) reactions are ignored, denied, or hidden by the developer.
4) Player(s) spread their opinions and findings through the larger community.
5) The developer takes active measures to block the spread of information.
6) The community violently reacts.
7) The developer is forced into a situation where they are in direct opposition with the game community.

I have not only seen this pattern many times, I have been a participant in this pattern on BOTH sides of the equation, community and developer. As a player my reactions were always volatile, I called for blood, I joined the mob, and satisfaction was impossible to get. As a developer I hid information, deleted forum posts, and made the standard placating comments. Looking back it is easy to see how both of these response patterns are counter productive.

So what is the solution to these sorts of problems? And more important, what is the solution to these problems when you have a large and highly active live team of game masters who are constantly involved in playing the game? It would be so very easy for me to do a post about legitimizing certain game design practices and changing the rules of MMO game development. Rather than that, which I may do in a later post, lets take a look at how I think these conflicts should be dealt with once they arise.

First, the problem should be tackled immediately and in as personal a manner as possible. When a player allegation comes forward it needs to be handled in a serious manner, preferably over the phone. A simple email or message stating ‘we will look into it’ has almost no impact, having a company representative call up a player and say ‘hey, lets talk about this’ has far more positive impact. In short, it should immediately enter a conflict resolution scenario. If Uncle Enzo has to fly to the players’ house in person, then Uncle Enzo does so.

Second, the –worst- thing a developer can do is try to hide ANYTHING. The player base will already be angry and instantly assume you as the developer are 150% guilty, no trial, bring out the pitch forks and nooses. I’ve learned this one the hard way. Rather than hiding or censoring aspects of the community that are laying accusations, developers need to address these problems in an open and frank manner. That means giving the community information about what is going on, and often giving them time-frames for further updates.

Ultimately these situations have to become a dialogue between the parties involved, and when necessary, with the entire community. If there is not a dialogue things just end in a big tangled mess. That is a lesson I’ve learned, and a lesson that CCP is quickly learning.

Perhaps after events on EVE: Online wrap up I’ll do a post about some changes in game design that I think would help. I honestly hope CCP and the player community come together and solve this problem in an equitable manner, it would be a shame to see EVE: Online fall prey to this situation.

Ok... so, Real Life packman? When do I get to play!

We're finished putting together our schedule for the Game Developers Conference 2007, and it's going to be a whirlwind of a ride! The way they do it is they schedule a bunch of things on top of each other so you have to pick and choose what you want to attend. My agenda includes brush-ins with the likes of Raph Koster, Introversion Software, Bigworld, Shigeru Miyamoto, Haden Blackman, and the guys from Three Rings to name a few. Not to mention everyone who's anyone in the game industry with booth crawl.

We decided that some of the round table subjects were just a little too juicy and dear to our hearts to not attend, especially the ones about microeconomics in MMO games, and fund raising for startup game developers.

Somewhere in there we're expected to eat and schmooze too, but I suspect we'll be spending a lot of the time running back and forth trying to decide which event/speaker/discussion is more interesting/important/inflammatory.

Just 2 weeks after eBay dropped all auctions for virtual goods, a new company called Sparter.com with an executive team of solid brass has launched a new Peer-to-Peer service for sale and escrow of virtual items within games.

Very interesting concept, but as long as they are taking 10% as their cut, it still leaves a wide open margin for someone clever to come in there and eat their lunch with something that costs the user nothing.

It's like ads on a new website: If your thinking small, it's the first thing you put on there, but if your thinking big, it's the very last.

So, happy V-Day to all those suckers who went out and shelled out money for candy and gifts. A happy B-Day to one of our staff here at Verse Studios, congrats on making it to 30.

So, since it's a bit of a silly day, here is a silly video for you all to enjoy. It is minutes of pure fun, and really shows off what you can do with a game engine and way too much time on your hands.

So, as everyone knows, Doug Lowenstein is leaving the ESA. This news has been laying about for a long time, and I have been digesting it slowly. I'll be honest and frank, in the last three years I have been a wee bit out of the loop when it comes to the politics of video gaming. I've been far more focused on what the government is doing with wars and tax dollars. Plus, I'm a Canadian, and most Mr. Lowenstein's work deals with the USA.

But, I just finished reading some snippets from his speech at D.I.C.E. this year, and he's hitting the nail on the head. And, frankly, as a Canadian I really don't have any excuse for not being more politically active when it comes to the industry I am in. He makes a lot of good points, particularly about the need for political action on a mass scale. Soldiers in an army type stuff.

So, if you are in the industry, and you are not actively fighting the good fight, what are you doing?

Furthermore, his comments about controversial producers not being able to deal with things when the 'shit hits the fan' are dead to rights. I've read article after article griping and moaning about censorship of game content, yet where are the producers? They duck and cover so fast you almost forget they made the controversial content. Come on, grow up a bit. Drives me as insane. If you are going to push controversy as your art form, you better well be able to stand up to the bullets and arrows, because the press will come out shooting, and they'll hunt you down.

If you don't have it in you to stand up for what you say, and what you believe in...well, best go back to making 3D koopa-troopas chummer.

So, Mr. Lowenstein, hats off to you man. You did a lot of good for the gaming industry, and you fought our wars in the trenches for a long time. You forced us to grow up a little bit, like any good parent should. Cheers man, cheers.

Everyone knows that the biggest challenge in any business venture is scraping together enough money to get your idea off the ground. When it comes to funding a video game start-up it seems to be twice as hard. Some of the woes I regularly face come from unexpected fronts, such as my family. Many a time I get a confused 'I don't get it' or on occasion 'why can't you be a plumber?' It seems that we are not the only ones talking about this issue right now.

Where is this whole notion that video games are not an actual industry coming from? I can understand it from my mother, a 50-something baby boomer who is terrified by ethernet cables, but why is the investment community looking at gaming companies in the same manner? Clearly the problem extends well beyond our company fund raising activities, there are a series of round table discussions planned on this very topic at GDC 2007. In fact, if you do a search on funding on the GDC website you come up with dozens of lectures, round tables, and panel discussions.

Is it really worth all this effort?

Maybe the problem is less "outsider" perception of the video game industry, but the people in the industry and how they act. Perhaps it is a simple need for business plan writing and Toastmasters courses. I know as a company this is one thing we have learned the hard way, particularly in the area of business plan writing. The rub of the whole thing is you spend weeks or months building what you think is a work of art business plan only to find out that the angel or VC firm you are pitching to want a seven page mini-plan. Careful though, that business plan you just wrote is probably going to be just what the next pitch needs, only they will also want a power point slide show. Perhaps the real problem is that as an industry there are a lot of people without the skills to build these materials, and the investment community is getting sick of seeing what they did not ask for.

Judging from the titles of the lectures at GDC the investment community is interested in funding, perhaps as an industry we need to learn how to talk in the right language.

In talking to investors the question of our outgoing money is frequently mentioned, and it's always met with some level of surprise or respect when the answers to the questions like, "Do you have any office space your renting?", and "Do you have any debt?" and "Do you have any other reoccurring expenses other than your employee's salary?" all come back "No.". We do have a few company purchased computers and a printer for spitting out Business Plans and Pro-formas at a rate which doesn't have us going out of business before they're through printing, but the underlying ethos has been with us from the beginning: invest in your people, because they're investing in you.

It was well understood at the beginning that the best (and only realistic) way to make this happen was to take on as many of the expenses of running a business as we possibly can personally, like having a place to work and a car to drive, and to keep the company expenses to a bare minimum. And sometimes that sucks a little, because you want your people to know their valued and that their efforts are worth more than just a crappy salary, and there's alternatives like 'sweat equity' which we're doing, but it doesn't completely alleviate the fact that you can't value your team how you know they deserve to be valued.

Fortunately I'm blessed with a team who is keenly aware of the potential in everything we're doing, and who personally supports me and what we're doing better than we're able to financially support ourselves from doing this.

You can't put a price tag on that.