XCOM uses a technique that Firaxis also used in Civilization games since Civilization III to prevent save-scumming: the seed used to generate psuedo-random numbers is saved along with your scenar...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/10/save-scumming-is-perverse-optimization.html
In order to understand game design, you must first understand play. Play is experimentation. The concept of playing with your food and the concept of eating food are distinct because playing wi...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/09/games-from-ground-up-primordial-play.html
This is a response for a discussion in the comments on Spinks' post Bring on the clones . I find that both the ways in which players interact and the game systems (not necessarily just Combat)...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/07/stagnant-mmos.html
Spinks pointed out the irony of WoW's 10-man raids: namely that the raids are too small to sustain a guild around a 10-man raid team. Raids were reduced in player count because of logistics and ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/07/uncapped-pve-content-and-prestige.html
The typical way that I see loot working in ARPGs is simple randomization of attributes based on item type and a percentage chance. Roll a many-sided die and look up the result in the table, repea...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/06/towards-smarter-loot-systems.html
A trap that many ARPG designs fall into is overspecialization in the face of relatively permanent character advancement decisions. Path of Exile is a great illustration of the pitfalls of optima...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/05/specialization-trap.html
I prefer to analyze games as mechanical systems that can aim to produce certain kinds of experiences that fall in the group of experiences we classify as "fun." You can also analyze games along...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2012/05/fun-biases-and-game-design-analysis.html
I've been playing EVE for over four months and really enjoying it. Although I only have a couple hours a night to play, I don't think I could handle more time with it. PvP and piracy can be inten...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/12/horrible-ball-of-fire.html
World PvP comes in many forms, yet there is a simple environment model that gets used over and over again. It can be seen in World of Warcraft, EVE, Darkfall, Dark Age of Camelot, and many other...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/12/world-pvp-common-model.html
During my definition of World PvP , I explained that PvP in an MMORPG is inherently unfair, and World PvP is simply a mindset. It isn't knowing how to attack, but when, and for what purpose. Wor...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/12/world-pvp-case-study-eve-online.html
During my definition of World PvP , I explained that PvP in an MMORPG is inherently unfair, and World PvP is simply a mindset. It isn't knowing how to attack, but when, and for what purpose. Wor...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/11/world-pvp-case-study-wow.html
I am a huge fan competition in video games, both direct player vs player and cooperative competition. Competition creates efficiency; it catalyzes and motivates the exploration of a game system. ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/11/defining-world-pvp.html
> We don’t want level-85 players to have a reasonable shot at > level-90 dungeons and raids (or PvP opponents) just because that > content is balanced for gear that ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/11/theres-something-in-water.html
With all the WoW and SWTOR news, something just hit me. I knew this was true, but it didn't really set in until now. It's been seven years since WoW released, and SWTOR is about to launch as the ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/10/get-your-story-out-of-my-mmo.html
The success of Minecraft severely damaged its development. When minecraft went viral and became a cash-cow, Notch decided to make Mojang into an honest-to-goodness software company. Mojang would ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/10/mojang-up-minecraft-down.html
This Bethesda v. Mojang "Scrolls" lawsuit is completely ridiculous . I didn't know Oblivion was actually titled The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion until this nonsense started to appear on Notch's tumb...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/09/bethesda-copyright-nonsense.html
Posted from our server, I don't think I've ever seen a more majestic screen shot. It captures the essence of TF2: one man with deer antlers wielding a pickaxe sailing towards another man wearing ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/09/tf2-screenshot-of-year.html
This weekend was wholly uneventful in EVE which is 100% my own fault. EVE requires players to actively engage it, and that's what I did tonight. I convinced myself to pick a fight (and most likel...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/09/biting-bullet.html
A month ago I began my third trial of EVE Online after reading a convincing article (part 2 , part 3 ). I decided to jump in the deep end and stir up trouble. Previously, I had fallen into pitfa...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/09/month-ago-i-began-my-third-trial-of-eve.html
Final Fantasy XIV has been undoing many changes over the last year. It is slowly letting itself become... *dramatic pause* Tyler Durden FFXI. Most recently in development has been an official Jo...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/09/you-dont-talk-about-ff14.html
This seems like the quickest way to make sure no one reads your painstakingly created cut scenes and dialogue trees . I don't listen to my friends' stories unless they entice me with candy. ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/08/power-of-external-rewards-compels-you.html
A discussion of the Diablo 3 $AH took place on our TF2 forums , and someone commented: > it all just seems silly to me.. why play the game if you're going to > buy your way to...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/08/time-money-and-journey.html
What of heroin's merits as a drug? Does it do a great job of expanding people's minds and letting them see mundane experiences in new and interesting ways? Does it bring people together to help o...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/07/farmvilles-merits-as-game-do-not-matter.html
I stopped playing Vanguard the day I wrote my previous blog post . I chose to partake in some other activities, and by the time my friends and I had an evening together to play, none of us cared ...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/06/investment-hurdle.html
I have been struggling with how to actually quantify micromanagement in strategy game design. Which designs lead to more required micro and which kinds eschew micro for broader strategic manipula...
http://www.thatsaterribleidea.com/2011/06/measuring-micromanagement-in-design.html