f13.net

Link (http://www.gameconference.com/conference/).

So, for anyone not going, is there anything you'd like commented on or videotaped if possible? Maybe just audio?

Also, I'll report on the game writer's conference if I get a chance, as well as the women's conference.

Help me help you.

Hmm...sounds like we need to hook up ;)

Right now I'm on the schedule to go, but of course things may change.

EDIT: Read all the panels. This would be my choice if I had just one body:


About these last two I really couldn't decide. I couldn't miss either.

Btw, the third panel has mistakes. It should say:
"Learn how experienced professionals suppress communication, both to and from the player community."

Give SirBruce a wedgy.

[edit] Oh, and if you videotape it, I'll buy you drinks for the rest of your stay.

I'm going to have a real hard time watching Jessica Mulligan rant. But I suspect Haemish would force my hand.

I enjoyed her "Biting the Hand" colum and out of all the sessions, I wish I could see that one.  Sucks that I am traveling for work for the next several weeks, otherwise I would definitely be going again this year.

There are interesting things to be said, sure, the problem is limits. People in the gaming industry have to hold back. It's one of the...sad truths of public relations. I mean really, I'd love to hear what's actually on Raph's mind. The games he wants to make that SOE would never fun. Or even the truth behind game cancellations like Wish, Mythica, True Fantasy Online, Imperator, etc. You never hear the whole story and when developers rant it's always a sugar-coated rant. Even the most venomous of rants - Costikyan's - wasn't even to the extreme it needed to be (even though he's thankfully putting his money where his mouth is, however fruitless it may be). Jessica is still doing PR for Ryzom, iirc - so I don't suppose she'll have much angst to toss around whatwith that game being on super shaky ground already.

If you stare at her adam's apple, she stutters.

I'd be interested in hearing from Daniel James, and there are some good people from Mythic (not CS -- sick of hearing about CS costs and hand wringing about player issues), but other than hoping Gordon Walton sticks it to SOE, I can't imagine what nuggets might come of this conference.  Quite the Mythic contigent though.  Nobody from Sigil or Blizzard, and only one person from NCSoft?

Oohkay...Guess wedgies aren't very funny around here.

Other than that, I'm interested in the all the Game Writer's Conference stuff more than anything else.

The Vegas one looks intriguing and I'd be interested to hear what Psychochild said (since he's a top bloke).

Apart from that, meh.

Kind of suprising that they don't have anyone from Linden labs on that user created content panel. Why not have someone who's game resolves around it involved? This would be one of the topics that interests me though. Most of my current favorite single player games are favorites because of a strong modding community, I'd like to see how anyone plans to ever make that possible in an MMoG while avoiding the fucktards that would screw it up for everyone else.

Ubiq's Vegas talk sounds like fun. So much fun that I think he should deliver it in Vegas, so I could fly down and hear it  :-D

If you look at my cut/paste you see only my own selection of what's available and I think there are more NCSoft guys (there's a panel again with Garriott). But this year what is interesting is what CCP devs have to say.

Sigil is empty for now. They still have to demonstrate their relevance outside empty hype.

Blizzard has always been outside the "community". They have their own BlizzCon with fireworks where they'll drag the few devs they have left.

NCSoft is having a luncheon. I imagine they'll be more about the chit chat.

Ask NCsoft if they can patch the fun back into Auto Assault...  you know make it a non-EQ clone MMO?

I talked to Steve Snow about Auto Assault at IGC, and he didn't have a lot of time, but "fun factor" was the one and only one reason (he spoke about anyway) they decided to delay release.

I didn't actually know anything about the game so I couldn't ask him any intelligent questions, but both Net Devil and NCSoft are "on it"!

The AA devs need to play some BF2 and Planetside.

Or Twisted Metal. Please?

My thoughts exactly.

I was so expecting that when I came in ( [edit] SILLY ME), which may be why I'm so disappointed.

Maybe mmo fiends may like it though.

"- Panel Leader: Richard Weil, Online Community Relations Manager, NCsoft"

This guy is the nicest guy I've met... though we've only met over the phone.  Someone hug him for me.  You.  Schild.  You hug him for me.

Thanks in advance!

No hugging!

Well, if you must......

Just make sure your wallet is somewhere safe.

Addition:
Nicest guy I've met over the phone/online.

Thanks again for all the help during the application process.  Ass kissing ends.... NOW.

... I was gonna say something mean here for humor, but screaming about ED doesn't make much sense, since that was a Cryptic call I believe.  Um.  HOW DARE YOU WAIT SO LONG TO ANNOUNCE MONTHLY PRICING ON COV.

Yeah.  That did it.

In a room full of video game nerds, not even your front pockets are safe.

If I had been able to go, an ass-whooping would have been very likely. Whether mine or his is entirely up for debate.

Also, I couldn't sit through a Jessica Mulligan talk without falling into a tittering seizure.

Based on the pictures I've seen, I think you vs. Bruce might be an interesting fight. Might be one of those featherweight fights that ends in a draw after 15 rounds and 2000 punches though.

Bruce looks like a serial killer (at least in that picture he was using as an avatar for a while).  On the other hand, Haemish is frequently very angry.  It's hard to say which would triumph.

It is probably best to just never have the two meet IRL.  Only bad things could come of it.

Matter/anit-matter type bad I think.

Bruce would fight dirty.  I'm also sure he knows quite a few moves to pin and hold those unwilling to the ground.

Ok. Stop talking about Bruce.

*Drunk women who sober up enough to realize what's going on

Combined with your avatar, that's quite disturbing.

So that IS him in the Avatar then?

Umm...Why?

After working out some schedule problems, I will be attending the AGC along with schild.

Yay me.

I will be working or would attend.  I am open to grab a beer Thursday night though if anyone is up for it.

Hopefully you guys enjoy the conference and Austin. If anyone wants recommendation for bars, restaurants, or cool things to do, post here or message me.

If you do come to town, I have two words:  Alamo Drafthouse.

I will be broke, or I would attend.  Alas, I enjoyed it greatly the first two years.

We'll be staying across town lake a few blocks from the Austin convention center.

Also, according to our NCSoft luncheon invitation, there's a new lead producer on Tabula Rasa.

More fps focus and flying pink guitar wielding space monks plz...?  I dont even remember what Tabula Rasa is about anymore, I'm guessing that is a bad sign.

He might be old, but it's the lead designer. it's some fellow named Paul Sage.

Bah, the southwest. Always you kids with your southwest. I like the northeast, dernit, and I ain't comin' out! Ya hear!? Now git!

Southwest?

Texas?

Nah, we have our own region bud.




Btw, as for bar suggestions: Just go to Emo's.

He's actually been lead designer since at least mid 2004, with Garriot listed as Executive Producer.

Last year at AGC I went with some friends to a bar (I forget which one) that some recruiting agency or something had rented out for the evening and handed out free drink tickets for (ah, now you know why we were there!). Among the features of this establishment was a dance floor.

We took up seats at a table by the entrance to the dance floor and watched dozens of tentative geeks look forlornly at the (empty) dance floor, occasionally tentatively step over the threshhold, but of course never dance. (This includes both males and females, mind you.)

Of course, I'm enjoined from dancing by court order (something about my M:TG card having Trample) but it was still horribly amusing to watch.

Ahh, I know have a purpose at AGC this year: to see Lum dance.

Here is what I'm going to try and get to next week:

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

9:30 - 10:30 am       Gaming the Narrative
Much has been made of players' desire to "game the narrative"-to find ways of bending a game until its narrative content breaks or takes on a more interesting form. Far less has been said about the ways in which a writer can bend the rules of development in order to make a story that satisfies something more than the minimal generic requirements of narrative that the industry so far demands. With asides and examples from the development of Half-Life and Half-Life 2, and by looking at various other story-rich games, Marc Laidlaw will talk about the sort of mischief writers should be getting up to.
- Marc Laidlaw, Writer/Game Designer, Valve

Wednesday, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Games for a Diverse Audience
This exciting panel examines the need to develop games for a diverse audience and how to find the audience for an increasingly wide variety of titles.
- Sheri Hargus, Her Interactive
- Alexander Kopelman, Girls Incorporated
- Suzanne Freyjadis-Chuberka, Women's Game Conference
- Libe Goad, AOL Games
- Monica Vallejo, THQ, Inc.

Wednesday, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
Sex in Games
This is an adults only talk!
Before Hot Coffee, before Playboy: The Mansion, even before the 1980's Leisure Suit Larry series, there was sex in video games... and lots of it. From flirting in MUDs to hardcore sexual simulators to the emerging field of teledildonics, sex in games is nearly as old as the medium itself. Sex isn't limited to the games themselves, of course. The infamous E3 booth babes are as much a part of sex in games as the characters that walk through game worlds. Sexual content found in video game advertising has as strong a place in the discussion as emergent sexual content in MMORPGs.
- Brenda Brathwaite, Cyberlore Studios


Thursday, October 27, 2005

9:30am - 10:30am
The Future of Online Games
John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment
John Smedley is President of Sony Online Entertainment and co-founder of Verant Interactive, Inc. He has over 12 years of experience in the gaming industry. Mr. Smedley's start in the gaming industry began in 1989 when he worked as a programmer for ATG. Shortly after developing his first game (QIX) for the Apple IIe, Mr. Smedley founded and his own company called Knight Technologies. At Knight Technologies, he developed various contract games like Double Dragon (Atari Lynx), Dirty Larry Renegade Cop (Atari Lynx) , Qix (Atari Lynx) , Keys to Maramon (Amiga) and Kawasaki Carribean Challenge (SNES). Mr. Smedley also served as Director of Development for five years at 989 Studios and began a PC Group that evolved into Verant Interactive, now Sony Online Entertainment.

Thursday, 11:00am - 12:00pm
ROI: The Economics of MMOs
How are MMOs making money in today’s market? What are the opportunities when it comes to retail distribution, subscription, ancillary revenues, overseas licensing and emerging models like that of Guild Wars for example? How much should be spent on development, marketing and services? These panelists are experts on these issues and communicate the state of the market today.
- Moderator: Gordon Walton
- Jon Grande, Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, Sigil Games Online
- Robert Garriott, CEO, NCsoft
- John Needham, Sony Online Entertainment
- Jeff Anderson, President & CEO, Turbine

Thursday, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
“I’m Bid Four Quatloos for the One Ring; Do I Hear Five?”
Controversy reigns over the so-called ‘secondary market’ of online games: the buying and selling in-game items for real world money. It is loathed publicly by many developers and players for the effects it has on game play, balance and customer service and more than one lawsuit has been filed by players against publishers to curtail it. Despite that, this worldwide, multi-million dollar business appears to be growing and may reach hundreds of millions in USD over the next few years. Are the nay-sayers just a vocal minority? Is the secondary market good or bad for the industry? Just who owns these in-game items, anyway? Is there room for compromise or will this turn into an all-out war? These are some of the questions our panelists, chosen from both sides of the controversy, will seek to answer.
- Edward Castronova, Associate Professor of Telecommunications, Indiana University
- Daniel James, Designer & CEO, Three Rings
- Steve Salyer, President, IGE
- Jeff Anderson, President & CEO, Turbine

OR

Thursday, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
Feature Postmortems
In comparison to single player games, developing or upgrading technologies for MMOs present unusual and not so obvious challenges. This talk will highlight some of the pitfalls Mythic has seen through many expansions and specifically how Mythic overhauled the several year old character rendering system in Dark Age of Camelot to bring it up to current standards.
- Matt Shaw, Director of Technology, Mythic Entertainment, Inc.

Thursday, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
Community Relations: Talking to the Masses
Learn how experienced professionals promote communication, both to and from the player community. These experts will discuss using e-mail, chats, boards, official sites, fansites, community leaders, etc. within an overall communication strategy, how to encourage more player input for longer, especially from the silent majority, how community development is evolving, and more.
- Sanya Weathers, Internet Relations Manager, Mythic Entertainment
- EM Stock, Online Community Relations Lead, NCsoft
- Jonathan Hanna, Director of Community Relations, Turbine, Inc.
- Cindy Bowens, Senior Manager, Community & Events, Sigil Games Online
- Moderator: Richard Aihoshi, IGN Vault Network

Thursday, 4:30pm - 5:30pm
What Vegas Can Teach MMO Designers
(and how to take a design lesson from almost anywhere)
Las Vegas is the original massively multiplayer fantasy world, and every step of the visitor’s experience has been meticulously designed to enhance their enjoyment and desire to lay money down. By taking a close look at the guiding design philosophies behind these highly successful social gaming spaces, massively multiplayer designers can enhance their own designs, even in traditional MMOs with no obvious similarities to smoky gambling halls. In this lecture, we will look at how casino design informs some classic massively multiplayer design questions, often unexpectedly. What do modern casinos teach us would make good massively multiplayer world genres? What do poker rooms tell us about dungeon instancing? How does your rewards schedule affect how players play your game, and feel about it? Can casinos explain why players who prefer solo gameplay purchase and play MMOs? What can Harrah’s teach us about designing the social flow through your game world? Can lessons from Vegas help us break people out of unhealthy play patterns and keep them mentally engaged? What can Vegas teach developers about service, metrics, and security? And where does Vegas get it wrong? Attendees should come with open minds and be ready to challenge the status quo.
- Damion Schubert, Lead Designer, Wolfpack, a Ubisoft Company


Friday, October 28, 2005

9:30am - 10:30am
Why Are We Here?
Dr. Richard Bartle, Visiting Professor in Computer Game Design, University of Essex, U.K.
 Dr. Richard Bartle co-wrote the first virtual world, MUD ("Multi-User Dungeon") in 1978, and has thus been at the forefront of the online games industry from its very inception. A former lecturer in Artificial Intelligence and current Visiting Professor in Computer Game Design (both at the University of Essex, U.K.), he is an influential writer on all aspects of virtual world design, development, and management. As an independent consultant, he has worked with most of the major online game companies in the U.K. and the U.S. over the past 20 years. His 2003 book, Designing Virtual Worlds, has already established itself as a foundation text for researchers and developers of virtual worlds alike.


Friday, 11:00am - 12:00pm
Who Owns My Lightsaber? IP and Ownership in MMOs
The increasing complexity of social interactions in virtual worlds has given rise to competing visions of the role of "ownership" in fostering player creativity and play. Typically game companies assert an ownership right in everything that takes place on their servers via real-world intellectual property law, but this leads to treating everything that happens online as property, including those aspects of player interaction and creativity, including on-line identity and conversation that can not be "owned" in the real world. An alternative model has been to allow players to retain intellectual property rights in their own digital creations. But this approach, while affording players greater ability to translate their virtual intellectual property into real world intellectual property, does not do much to help them control how their digital creations will be used within the virtual world. It gives rise to complexity in trying to administer the treatment of works created and used by numerous collaborators. The recent "Marvel v. NCsoft" case highlights the need to address the kinds of creativity that are being enabled by online world design. This panel will address the impact of "ownership" on the design and management of virtual worlds and MMPORGs. Through discussion with experts from law, economics, technology and game development, we will talk about how to properly balance the use legal code, software code and social code to meet the needs of particular worlds and game designs.
- Moderator: Beth Noveck, New York Law School
- Edward Castronova, Associate Professor of Telecommunications, Indiana University
- Raph Koster, Chief Creative Officer, Sony Online Entertainment
- Dr. S. Gregory Boyd, Associate, Kenyon & Kenyon

 Friday, 1:30pm - 2:30pm
User Created Content; Boom or Bane?
Venture capitalists and lawyers are excited about the potential scaling opportunities and legal bills to be gained from the use of player-created content in online games. What are the pitfalls, and are there genuine benefits? Is the Metaverse already here, and if not, when is the ship date? If the players make and own the content, how will the poor game companies make a bean? Join the conversation with believers and sceptics on the next great thing in MMO world design.
- Moderator: Daniel James, Designer & CEO, Three Rings
- Andrew Tepper, eGenesis
- Richard Vogel, V.P. of Production, Dauntless Entertainment
- Walter Yarbrough, Producer, Mythic Entertainment

 Friday, 3:00pm - 4:00pm
MMO Rant
Though our medium is becoming more significant yearly, we still have a long way to go to fully realize it's potential. The panelists are going to unleash their inner anguish on an issue they believe is holding back our industry. Our goal will be to challenge ourselves and the audience to look beyond the current industry results.
- Gordon Walton
- Brian Green, Near Death Studios, Inc.
- Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer & VP of PQ and CS, Mythic Entertainment
- Jessica Mulligan, Executive Consultant, Online Games

Actually, Thursday at 4 we'll be in an interview. And Friday from noon - 1:30 we'll be drinking on someone else's dime.

You might have to catch the interview yourself then and I'll have to stop drinking early.

Please take and share notes during:

Gaming the Narrative
and
Community Relations: Talking to the Masses

I would very much like to hear these two, but am unable to attend.  You are my eyes and ears, whether you want to be or not, do well and you shall be rewarded! With... uh... hey, just do it.  Please?  I mean, if you were cool... and, and you're cool right?

If you happen to find out some super-dorky stuff like hardware/software infrastructure... that would be cool.

Lum's the person to talk to about that. He's on a panel about databases and MMOs.

I hope to get to this on-time since Calandryll is on this panel, but schild and I have an interview that may run over the start of it. As for notes I'll do what I can.

Wow, I was expecting you to tell me to fuck off and take my own goddamn notes on my own goddamn time.

I appreciate it!

That's always what I mean when I say 'I'll see what I can do.'

 :-D

No, no. I was sincere this time. Really.

Unfortunately I had to cancel my trip. :(  Just too much going on between DDO Alpha and Live Producer stuff on AC1. It'll be a great panel either way though!

Well, if anybody is still in town on the 29th, they might want to head over to the Alamo Drafthouse to see Chris Elliot hosting a showing of "Cabin Boy".  I plan to be there if for no other reason than to see if beer and crowds makes Cabin Boy funnier.

Unfortunately Shockeye, Boutney and I are leaving on the 29th - midday. There's nothing funnier than watching complete has-beens though.

I am in pain. I need to see if I can get my ticket changed.

Must... see... Cabin Boy...

Urk.

9:30am - 10:30am
The Future of Online Games
John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment
John Smedley is President of Sony Online Entertainment and co-founder of Verant Interactive, Inc. He has over 12 years of experience in the gaming industry. Mr. Smedley's start in the gaming industry began in 1989 when he worked as a programmer for ATG. Shortly after developing his first game (QIX) for the Apple IIe, Mr. Smedley founded and his own company called Knight Technologies. At Knight Technologies, he developed various contract games like Double Dragon (Atari Lynx), Dirty Larry Renegade Cop (Atari Lynx) , Qix (Atari Lynx) , Keys to Maramon (Amiga) and Kawasaki Carribean Challenge (SNES). Mr. Smedley also served as Director of Development for five years at 989 Studios and began a PC Group that evolved into Verant Interactive, now Sony Online Entertainment.


If somehow you can get a transcript of this or videotape it (audio works too). I'd greatly appreciate it.  I'd be very interested to hear what he has to say about the "future of online gaming" since quite frankly, he seems to know little about some of his consumers.  If you get this, I'll bake you cookies.

That keynote is the one thing I'm really not interested in going to but feel I "have" to.

Waking up at 8:30AM to hear Smedley talk has to be illegal.

At least you won't have to listen to him whispering sweet nothings into your ear in a desperate effort to make up for all the anal abuse he heaped on you last night. Because he really didn't mean to be that rough, really.

You know, like the Everquest players have to listen to everyday while they make him his dinner.

Those people bring it on themselves. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be in that kind of situation if they dressed better and didn't act like a slut.

Which reminds me:  That chick in your avatar is totally begging for it.