Comments for Words on Play

Comment on Books: Steal Like an Artist by Jason Alan

Jason Alan — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:37:48 +0000

I totally want to steal this book!

Comment on The Secret Books of Game Design by Books: 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School « Words on Play

Books: 101 Things I Learned in Architecture School « Words on Play — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 07:11:27 +0000

[...] is undoubtably another title to add to my “Secret Books of Game Design” list, and I’m sure I’m not the first person to notice it. There is a lot of [...]

Comment on Ethical Choices in Videogames: Lessons from Moral Psychology by heavy rain | petrostudio LLC

heavy rain | petrostudio LLC — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:33:53 +0000

[...] moving. Hell, it’s next to impossible. Even those touting “choice” and “morality“, in the end, just come up short 99% of the time. It’s not often you even find a movie [...]

Comment on Emergence and Game Based Learning by Randall

Randall — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:03:19 +0000

Excellent article! I’m a designer of educational alternate reality games and this article gets to the heart about how educational ARGs can be more challenging to design that a traditional entertainment ARGs.

In traditional ARGs, emergent gameplay is easier to design for that in educational ARGs, which are forced to cover specific learning objectives. The statement, “When designing for emergence, the designer gives up some of their control over the result,” speaks to this point. It’s difficult for educational ARG designers to design for emergence because they cannot give up control over the learning objective goals.

However, maybe there are some clever ways that educational ARGs can be designed for emergence and still have control over the results. Maybe one way is to design for multiple learning objectives and let it be OK to not meet all of them. Any other ideas from anyone reading?

Comment on Emergence and Game Based Learning by Malcolm

Malcolm — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:27:43 +0000

I haven’t played the latest version of the Sims but you’re right, what you describe is more like the low-level mechanics of social interaction that I am talking about. You lose a lot of precision in what is being said, but people are good at reading meaning into ambiguity. I wonder if there is a way for the player to interact meaningfully in this kind of system, as a character rather than as a director.

Comment on Emergence and Game Based Learning by Piyush

Piyush — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:02:56 +0000

Very interesting Malcolm. As I was reading your thoughts on the difficulty in representing the low level mechanics of social interaction, The Sims came to mind. It seems to eschew concrete and well defined interaction for a series of hand gestures and squeaks, forcing the player to apply meaning to it and potentially change their play style. What do you think of the approach taken by The Sims.

Comment on Books: Impro by Still on hiatus « No Time To Play

Still on hiatus « No Time To Play — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 15:52:46 +0000

[...] earlier post, but the Rampant Coyote also chimed in, even twice, not to mention this post on how improvisational theater can inform game stories. And it just happens that storytelling is the one other skill (beyond coding and art) I need in [...]

Comment on Ethical Choices in Videogames: Lessons from Moral Psychology by Interactive Games Design - Ethical Choices in Videogames

Interactive Games Design - Ethical Choices in Videogames — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 21:20:34 +0000

[...] wanting to see their work grow beyond pure action and address deeper aspects of our lives. Want to know more? No Comments » Click here to cancel [...]

Comment on On moral detachment by Fallout 3 | Ludonarratology

Fallout 3 | Ludonarratology — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:02:26 +0000

[...] and that this slippery moral perspective is absent from the karma math. Malcolm Ryan, in his essay “On Moral Detachment” argues that explicit karma systems eliminate moral force by giving every choice a gameplay [...]

Comment on Ethical Choices in Videogames: Lessons from Moral Psychology by Fiumi di porpora e pagine ingiallite - Analisi dei morality system

Fiumi di porpora e pagine ingiallite - Analisi dei morality system — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 11:56:21 +0000

[...] concludere con alcune parole tratte da un eccellente articolo di Words On [...]