Read on for a bit of background information and what positions I'm looking for. Even if you're not interested, referring an interested party can give you precious good Karma with me. ;)

If you read my blog regularly, you can probably figure out what the goals of the company will be. We want to build a series of smaller MMO type game that don't fit the mold. In other words, we're not going to be cloning WoW here. Our first game won't be high fantasy, even, but we may work on one in the future.

The company is currently defining our goals, organizing a pitch, and looking for funding. We're working with an experienced Silicon Valley entrepreneur, so we have access to a wide range of possibilities for funding beyond selling our souls to a publisher. Note that currently the company isn't funded and therefore isn't paying salaries; coming on gives you a greater influence on the project and other "company founder" type perks. If you are only interested in a paying position, note that when you send in your information.

We're going to be a small team, so the ability to work fast and well with others is needed. The company work on the project remotely, so relocation is not currently required. But, expect to do regular meetings over IM or voice chat to keep up with the rest of the team. Most of the current people have worked remotely before, so this shouldn't be an issue for most of us. But, if you're the type that can't keep yourself motivated, think carefully about this point.

Note that previous MMO experience is nice, but not strictly required. If you're highly competent in your field and willing to learn new things, that's good enough.

The positions we're looking for:

Tech Lead - Someone to take over the technology, with a focus on server-side. Currently I have a working Stackless Python server prototype. Our focus is to re-use the core technology, so someone who shares this personal goal would be great. This will be a very hands-on position, so expect to get your hands dirty with code while keeping people on task.

If you are an experienced (Stackless) Python developer, but don't think you're management material quite yet, feel free to send in your information as well. We may consider someone for this job if we can't find a qualified Lead.

Sample code, particularly in Python, would be appreciated.

Flash/ActionScript 3 - Someone to work on a Flash-based client. We have a working prototype version that needs a lot of work. You would be the resident expert on AS3, so someone very familiar with Flash is needed. Being able to teach others would be a large bonus.

If you are an expert at another web-based client technology (Shockwave, AJAX, etc), don't hesitate to contact us as well. If you can work quickly and efficiently to produce a client for our games, we'll consider you seriously. Flash/AS3 is just something we know a bit more about than anything else at this point, but we are willing to listen to a convincing tech demonstration.

Links to samples of your previous work are appreciated.

Designer - Initial focus will be on writing design documentation, then transitioning into content development. Python scripting is a bonus, as would ActionScript 3 experience. Being able to write effectively is a vital skill.

A sample of a document describing a game system would be appreciated.

Artist - We're looking for 2D artists willing to work on contract. If you're interested, send an email and sample images from your portfolio.

For any of these positions, send along your résumé and any appropriate samples mentioned above to psychochild@gmail.com. Share whatever information you think would be helpful with your email. If you have questions, send them along to the same email address.

It's also a perfect example of why I wanted to write and edit my book about business and legal issues. Here's a competent developer who obviously was able to create a successful game as he did previously at Blizzard, but where not doing the proper business planning lead to a business failure.

(Personal to Bill Roper: contact me if you want to write a chapter for the next edition of the book. ;)

No particular challenge this weekend, but do read that article. A few of my own thoughts after the jump.

From the interview, it looks like the major problem was a serious lack of business planning. They wanted add more content to the online part of the game, but they didn't have a solid plan for accomplishing this. I've commented before that the business model didn't make sense and really turned people off when it was announced rather late in the project.

It also shows the importance of having someone who does understand the business aspects. You can have a talented leader with a great team, but if your business aspects aren't taken care of then you can lose control very easily. It's easy to underestimate the situation and hope you can pull out a last-minute miracle.

The problem is, of course, that a lot of "biz guys" have bad reputations, sometimes with good reason. They have a reputation for being superficial, and focusing on the short term. They don't listen to the concerns of other people in the business, believing they know best. Some also think that they don't need to learn about the details of the game industry, because they've managed people before. And, even though they always want to stick their fingers into the "fun design" part of the job, they don't always appreciate it if you give your point of view on business issues. It's tough to find someone who will act as a good partner with everyone's best interests in mind, but it can make your business go a lot smoother.

It's also interesting to see a former Blizzard employee bitten by the one thing most developers point out as Blizzard's largest advantage: having nearly unlimited resources. It's a lot easier to make Blizzard-quality games when you have practically endless schedule and budget. But, as the article points out, if you try that trick in the "real world" the publisher will chuckle and ask you, "How are you going to pay for that? Not with my checkbook, you aren't." Even the best developers are hampered by the standard industry situations that cause all sorts of problems for everyone else.

In the end, I really feel sorry for the Flagship employees who lost control of their babies. It's hard to pour your creative efforts into something only to lose it. It sounds like Mr. Roper is going to take some time off, but hopefully he'll get back into things eventually and takes the lessons learned to make things work better the next time around.

Some food for thought since we deal with social activities in online games.

There is a lot in there that relates to MMO game development. Some of the discussions in this article are obvious to those paying attention in our industry.

It's interesting that "story" is difficult to define in scientific terms. The article says that some define story by what it is not; it involves more than just some related facts. Some claim that 'personal stories', or the stories people construct after a session, are the strongest stories in MMOs. But, are these really just exposition instead of story? This could be why the stereotype about the gaming geek boring other people with stories about his level 100 Paladin ring true: because it's often simply chronological exposition for people who have not experienced it themselves.

The issue of "narrative transport" is also something to note; the article mentions that people who are more familiar with the elements of the story are transported easier. Looking at genre, for example, this means that people familiar with the genre will be more likely to be transported. This why fantasy settings tend to be unfamiliar to people, but once they know the genre tropes it becomes comfortable to people. Also, people who have had shared experiences in a game will understand a story better than people who haven't been to that point. This is another reason why people who fall behind start feeling alienated; they don't have the same experiences and point of view to keep up with the conversations of friends that have raced ahead.

I found this paragraph particularly fascinating:

But what could be the evolutionary advantage of being so prone to fantasy? “One might have expected natural selection to have weeded out any inclination to engage in imaginary worlds rather than the real one,” writes Steven Pinker, a Harvard University evolutionary psychologist, in the April 2007 issue of Philosophy and Literature. Pinker goes on to argue against this claim, positing that stories are an important tool for learning and for developing relationships with others in one’s social group. And most scientists are starting to agree: stories have such a powerful and universal appeal that the neurological roots of both telling tales and enjoying them are probably tied to crucial parts of our social cognition.

So, storytelling is a large part of dealing with relationships, as the next paragraph goes on to say. The stories tell us how to interact with others, giving guidelines for what is important. On the other hand, this is cause for a bit of introspection: if the game is about warfare and killing, and the stories primarily cover those themes, what kind of community is going to form? Will it glorify warfare and killing? When supported by game mechanics that reward those same behaviors, we have to take a look at what types of communities we're forming. Since people learn to socialize through stories, we are perhaps missing a large opportunity to form the community through more interesting stories than we've been using in the past.

That aspect of using a fantasy word (or, more appropriately a virtual world) to refine social skills is something that resonates with me, personally. As I've mentioned before, I'm an introvert, and I think my experience with text MUDs in college helped me to learn to extrovert well. It was a way to interact with people on my own terms and learn what little social ability I have today.

The article also covers the power of stories. Since stories tend to involve instructions for living our lives, we tend to listen to them more, goes one theory. The article states that a list of facts makes people think more critically, but a narrative makes people more open to suggestion. It also points out that stories still have an impact on our daily life, as shown by the effect the movie Sideways had on sales of Merlot wine. So, how can we use stories in online games to the best effect?

Can we use our stories to encourage good behavior within the game? Can we use stories for a purpose beyond simple entertainment? What else can we do to make stories something beyond a wall of text that nobody reads? Some interesting issues to consider.

We have looked at culture issues in other cultures, too. I'd recommend taking a look at another culture in terms of gaming before trying to look at your own. You often lack the perspective to see what's right in front of your face if you don't take a look.

You can also take a look at this article about cultural issues with game design and cultural issues by Kelly Heckman. Here she explains how geography can make a huge difference in gameplay. A game that focuses on a very small area, such as a Korean game, can make certain design assumptions that aren't valid for other cultures.

One of the comments on the other cultural design challenge also shows some of the problems you have in taking a game from one market to another. The way a social atmosphere changes the game, such as being able to yell at each other or the social pressures to smoke, are interesting.

One of the big cultural issues in the U.S. that I have identified is that some U.S. consumers aren't very savvy when it comes to price. People looking at M59 say that the $10.95 price is "almost" the same price as they pay for other games. Even if you buy your time in 6 month chunks (so that it is only $2 more per month), this ignores the price of having to buy the original box and expansions in the store. Kelly's article above talks about this, too, when she mentions the "The Pen Problem":

Take this pen I have for sale. This pen is revolutionary. You will write to the best of your ability at all times when using this pen. It is so incredible that the feel of it in your hand will give you serotonin rushes. I have two price plans for you:

1. You can have this pen for free. It’s yours. But, it has very little ink. If you decide you like it, you can refill it at any time, with any available color for $1.00 per refill. You can buy multiple refills at once, swap out colors, or simply purchase one at a time when you run out. The pen refills could cost you as little as $1.00 for the entire year! Or as much as you want to spend…I mean, this pen makes you feel good!
2. You can have this pen in your pocket with refills in whatever colors are available (more to come out as time goes on) for $3.99 per month. However, if you stop paying the $3.99, I’m going to take the pen away. If you don’t use the pen, it will still cost $3.99. But, it will always be available to you.

The simple fact is that the North American consumer will more frequently pick option #2 because the amount is minimal in an overall budget and he/she will greatly overestimate the time the pen will be used.

Part of the problem here is that the customer has been used to paying for option 2, and option 1 is the scary new one. People feel safer budgeting something with a regular cost, even though they may not buy 4 ink refills per month to make up the cost. There's also an issue of self-control, where some people will be tempted to buy hundreds of ink refills (look at all the colors!) then regret it later. But, these are two major cultural issues in the North American market.

So, what are the issues in your home market (or whatever market you make games for)? How does that impact game design and development?

This is a brief adventure-type game set in the future. A few issues to consider after the break.

The game is very simple. It's an interesting setup, and a familiar interface for people who have done online chat before. The simplicity of the interface makes the system easier to use. The game is pretty short, if you're perceptive (and/or lucky), you could be done in 10 minutes.

So, write up your answers. If you haven't played the game yet, avoid reading the comments because there may be spoilers. If you get stuck, though, here are some hints to help you out. The one hint that I will give is that, yes, there is an ending to the game.

Some questions to consider:

• What details do you notice that tell you about the setting?
• Consider the juxtaposition that the person you're talking to is technically a "bot", but you are trying to determine if he is human.
• What design decisions affect gameplay?
• How does the game give you feedback on your progress?
• How could that feedback be improved?
• Did you anticipate the ending?
• If so, what clues did you pick up?

I'll post some of my thoughts later this week.

Caravan of Lost Sousl

I knew I had found it as soon as I was immersed the unnatural blue light. The caravan’s glow made the surrounding area look even less tangible than it already did in the storm in the darkest of night. After asking a few wandering people, mostly drunk, I finally found my way to the inn where the master was himself drinking.

The inn was a humble structure, made of rough wood fastened onto strong beams. Torches sputtered along the walls as rain leaked in from the ceiling. There was a low bar with a barkeep and barmaid lounging around lazily. In the back was a draped door leading to what one assumes would be a common sleeping room. The main room was full of rough wooden tables made of bound planks of wood on a single central leg, with low stools around each table. Sawdust covered the crude wood floor, which was cracked and warped in a few places. The room was barely occupied, a few people in groups who were generally sleeping more than they were drinking.

I saw him in the far corner of the main room away from the doors, tankard in hand and a wide area abandoned around him. No one dared sit near him, probably fearful that the blue glow that overpowered even the nearby torches would possibly contaminate them. Even I, a schooled adept of no minor power, felt ill about approaching him. I considered running off for a moment, but gripped my book tightly and found my courage.

“You are… the caravan master?” I said hesitantly as I approached.

“’Course I am, boy, you see anyone else around here glowin’?” he responded in a gruff voice. He tipped the tankard up and drained it dry as I stood there.

I was paralyzed a moment, words had abandoned me but then came to my senses. “Yes, a dumb question,” I admitted.

“Admittin’ it makes you smarter than most I’ve seen,” he replied then looked at me expectantly.

What should I say? “Allow me to buy you another ale,” my mouth finally said without my mind seeming to make any decisions in the matter.

“Smart boy. Keep this up and I’ll be sharin’ my secrets with you yet,” he said to me with a sly smile. “Maybe not all of ‘em, though.”

I nodded dumbly and set down my book. Reaching into my robes, I took out my money pouch. I had a few coppers and one last gold piece to my name. The voyage here had been expensive, but I hoped it would be worth it. Somehow managing to catch the barmaid’s attention, I held up my companion’s empty tankard. She gave me a lazy nod of acknowledgement.

Lowering myself onto the stool near me, I let out a weary sigh. The dawn of the day had seen me start my travels, and the road had not been easy. I had gone as fast as I could in order to make it here in time to catch the caravan before it moved off. I might be sore because of it, but I was not going to let this opportunity escape me now that I was so close. A rote glamour opened my book and got out my quill and ink from their places in my travel pack.

“Do you get many questions?” I asked, trying to be conversational.

“Not particularly, no,” the caravan master replied. “Most folk don’t like bein’ near, as you an see. But, you aren’t most folk, are you?”

Staring at his pale face, I shook my head in response.

“The scars are barely even healed, seems. They mean you focused on illusions at the College, right?” he asked.

“Yes. You know about thaumaturgy, I presume?”

“Boy, you learn a lot of things in my line of work. ‘Specially with my caravan,” he chuckled. He went to take a drink from the tankard, but found it still empty and scowled a bit. We sat in awkward silence for a minute or so.

The barmaid finally came over with a new tankard of ale. I pulled out my last gold and handed it to the barmaid. “Bring me a plate of bread and cheese, and keep my companion’s tankard as full as he wants it.”

“His companion wants it as full as you can keep it,” the caravan master replied with a wink. So much for the rest of my money. This had better go well or tomorrow I will be laboring for my lodging and food.

“Certainly,” she replied looking at me and ignoring the caravan master. She probably recognized my robes and didn’t trust my kind, especially one cavorting with the caravan master. Not that I really blamed her, some that wear the robes are not always kind to the powerless.

I inked my quill and started to scratch a fey glyph into the table using a mug stain as the sustaining circle. I added a few flourishes and knew that would not be disturbed by just anyone.

“Impressive bit o’ work there,” the caravan master said after I was done.

“You know what it is?”

“Yeah, nice hex there. I see you let the waitress in, though. They teach you kids good these days. I can recognize ‘em, but I can’t draw ‘em like that.”

I nodded. It wasn’t anything powerful or permanent, but it was something beyond the reach of most other graduates of the College. I studied the glyph again with a bit of pride.

“So… what is it?” I finally asked, breaking the short silence.

“What is what?” the caravan master responded.

“You know, the caravan. What is it?”

“It’s a caravan! Guess you’re not as bright as I thought.”

I ground my teeth together before I stopped myself. I was letting my fatigue get the better part of me. “I mean, what do you know of its history?”

“Oh, why didn’t you say? Anythin’ in particular you want to know?” he said around another swallow of ale.

“Well, where did it come from?”

The caravan master laughed, then pulled a long drink from his tankard. “Nobody knows that, not even someone like myself. That truth’s lost.”

“Ah,” I said, considering his words. “But, you are not the first caravan master, right?”

“No, I was once a mortal like you. Well, not ‘xactly like you, I was to be a barber,” he said in a slightly disconnected voice. “Not, you know… scarred,” he finished in a hoarse whisper. It was odd that someone like him had the simplistic peasant fear of my profession. I nodded politely.

“When did you, uh, become the caravan master?”

“Oh, maybe ‘bout 20 years by your reckonin’,” he said. “Maybe 21.”

“And it was given to you by the previous caravan master?” I asked carefully.

“Yeah,” he nodded and stared me in the eye. “This leadin’ where I think it is, boy?”

“Could be,” I hedged. “I had heard rumors….”

“Yeah, rumors. Well, they’re mostly true. So here you are, askin’ the questions to see what you could be getting into, eh?”

I nodded. Just then the barmaid came over with a full tankard and my dinner plate. She gave me a bright smile as she set down the food and drink then gave a small curtsey as she walked away. She probably struck the coin I gave her and found out it was real. More money than this place sees in a week.

The caravan master’s eyes followed her as she crossed the room back to the bar. “That’s the thing I thought I’d miss the most, but I don’t really,” he said without taking his eyes off her.

“How do you mean?” I asked in my naivety.

“The wenches like that. She looks particularly lusty.”

“You can’t….”

“Oh, I can. Just few enough of ‘em want to get near. They fear the ‘taint’, as some call it.”

“Of the caravan?”

“Yeah. They think it’s some forsaken disease they can catch. Except for a few who find it appealing. They tend to be the real bizarre ones, though,” he said with a dirty smirk.

“Oh,” I muttered, focusing on cutting off a bit of cheese and bread to make a little sandwich. I crammed it into my mouth to avoid the conversation while he kept his eyes on the barmaid.

“Too bad,” he muttered to the air.

I swallowed my food and looked at some of the notes in my book. “Where do, uh, they come from?” This was perhaps the oldest of my questions.

“Oh, all over, really. One of ‘em says it was an ancient death cult that caused them to be here. People wantin’ to cross the void, but wanting to come back. Well, they come back to serve the caravan.”

“So you can talk to them?” I asked. That was my second oldest question I had been preparing.

“Oh, sure. Not that I really like it. I thought it’d be fun at first.”

“At first?” I asked, a bit disappointed.

“Oh, sure. The problem’s most of ‘em ain’t the savory type, if you know my meanin’,” he said with a chuckle. “I think perhaps they were turned away from both the Pale and the Jet gates, and they have to work off their sins.”

“I see,” I said, scratching down a few notes in my book. “But, you do not consider yourself a sinner like they are?”

“I won’t claim to be one of the beatified,” he said, “but I lived clean. Even now I don’t use the caravan to terrorize people, as the stories say some of the old masters did.”

I frowned a bit, remembering the stories he was referring to. “So, you have some control over the caravan?”

“Not really, no,” he said. “The caravan goes where it wants. It needs to be at certain places at certain times to collect some of the souls and leave others. I can divert it slightly, as long as it gets to where it needs to go in time.”

I raised my eyebrows at him. “But, you trade, right?”

“Yeah,” he nodded and drank again from his tankard. “But, I just make good decisions. Buy up cheap goods, or buy up goods I know will be in demand soon. After 20 years, I’ve learned prices for goods and can spot a bargain.”

That made sense. I inked my quill again and scratched down a few more notes into my book. I cut off a bit more bread and cheese and ate it.

“So, let me ask a question,” the caravan master finally said, breaking the silence that had accompanied my eating. “Why?”

I double-checked the fey glyph then looked directly at him. “I studied illusion, but I wanted to study another art. The one the King outlawed…” I trailed off.

“You mean, Necromancy?” the master asked out in the open.

I looked around nervously, but no one had seemed to hear. “Yes,” I hissed quietly. I straightened up in my chair, leaned toward him, and spoke in a low voice. “The caravan is my best chance to study those between life and death without being branded a traitor for disobeying the King,” I said quickly and precisely.

The caravan master looked at me, then sat back and stroked his chin. “I guess I can see that. I can tell you’re an adept of no mean power, so it makes sense.”

I sat there, tense, wondering if I had given too much away. I looked at him, wondering if I had made a mistake.

“Oh, don’t worry,” he finally assured me. “I will make no judgment about your motives, and I won’t say anything to anyone else. No sense getting myself into trouble, and I know you won’t be able to get into trouble, either.” He took a long pull from his tankard and thumped it down, empty, on the table.

“I… I appreciate that,” I said, not knowing exactly what else to say.

The waitress came over with another ale and collected the empty tankards on the table. She smiled broadly at me, and then walked away back to the bar.

“So, any more questions?” the caravan master asked me.

I looked over my notes in my book. I had so many questions, but few of which I thought he could answer. I shook my head carefully as I closed my book. “How do we do it? The transfer?” I asked.

“Simple, boy, just take this ring from me and wear it,” he responded, holding out his hand.

The ring wasn’t much to look at: a pale metal band with a fleck of stone in it. It was hard to tell what kind of metal it was, since the blue glow overwhelmed the reflective surface. I reached out for the ring and hesitated.

“It’s not so bad, really,” the caravan master assured me. “You’re damn near immortal when you’re near the caravan. And, eventually you can pass the ring off to someone else when you get tired.”

“Tired?” I asked. Thoughts I hadn’t considered filled my head.

“Well, sure. It’s not a bad life bein’ a caravan master normally. And there’s other benefits as well for masterin’ this one. But, this isn’t the life to lead if you want to find a woman and settle down, you know?” The caravan gave a wistful smile and glanced toward the barmaid as he held his hand there.

I nodded. That thought was still far from my mind at that point in my life. Although people joke that graduates from the College take vows of celibacy, the fact is that we tend to be too busy for a woman and family. I reached for the ring once again and pulled it from his finger.

I looked at the caravan master in shock as he changed. He sat there in drab clothing, changed from a spectral man into a normal one. The unnatural blue glow had left him, but the ring still had it reflected on the surface. Strangely enough, the ring did not give off the blue glow itself. I took it in my hands and studied it, turning it over repeatedly.

A wail arose from outside. “Fool!” the caravan master hissed at me. “Put it on before you break the enchantment on the caravan! They know what’s goin’ on!” Realizing my folly, I put the ring on my finger quickly.

I am not sure how to describe what happened next. The world collapsed on top of me, and I couldn’t breathe. Then the world sprung back into place, but I was sitting in the caravan master’s chair, and he was sitting in mine. In front of me I saw my book, my ink, and my quill, all with the blue glow. In front of him was a tankard, which he picked up and drained completely.

“That’s a bit strange, eh?” he said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “Seems to be part of the enchantment. But, it didn’t happen too many other times while I was caravan master.”

I looked at the ring. My hand had the eerie blue light coming from it, shining on the nearby table and walls. I looked at the ring, which was warming against my finger.

“I wish you the best of luck, I do,” the former caravan master said. “I’m off to find myself a little company for what’s left of the night. Good trading.” He stood up, gave a small bow. He started toward the barmaid, then though better of it and made a beeline to the door. “Feel free to take what’s owed me,” he called back over his shoulder as he left the inn.

I remained there for a while, taking in the new sensations available to me. To be honest, I didn’t feel all that much different after taking the ring than I did a few hours ago as I entered the tavern. I opened my book, inked my quill, and took down some notes stating this.

I sat there, letting the ink dry. I ate the rest of the bread and cheese from the plate, although it didn’t taste quite the same, I thought. Perhaps it was just my imagination wanting something, anything, to be different. I scratched a few more notes in and let that dry as well.

Finally, I closed my book and stood up. I used a simple glamour to put the ink and quill back into my pack, both to save time and to see if I could still work my spells. I got my answer as all the items went easily to their places.

I pushed aside the chair and started to walk to the exit of the inn when something stopped me. I realized the ring was chilled slightly against my finger, and I figured that had to mean something. I stood there for a moment, as a thought came to me. I turned to the barkeep and said, “You owe me money.”

The barkeep eyed me with distaste. “I owed it to that other man,” he said, obviously uneasy about giving me money.

“No,” I replied, “you owe it to the caravan master. That is now me.”

The barkeep looked like he wanted to fight the issue, unwilling to part with the cash he had that he owed.

“You heard the other man, he said I could have what he was owed,” I said simply.

The barkeep smirked at me. “Yeah, I guess I did. Here,” he said as he unceremoniously shoved a handful of coins at me. Four gold and fifteen silver coins, exactly what I was owed, the ring let me know. I put the coins into my nearly empty money pouch. I could spend it on a good bargain.

I gave a small bow and went out the door. The first light of dawn was appearing over the horizon, and the rain had stopped falling while I had been inside. A few people were slowly milling about, setting up shops or getting horses and wagons ready for travel. I walked past one man preparing a small merchant stall, a simple counter under a wide leather canopy to protect against the weather. I stopped, eyeing the crates around his stall, the ring telling me that there was something here.

“What do you sell?” I asked as he was busy checking the poles holding up the canopy.

“Grass mats, woven from the plains grasses around here,” he responded, not looking at me. “Great for decoration or elegant table settings.”

I saw one of the mats out on the counter. It had gotten a bit wet, but it was very ornately woven. I agreed with his assessment.

“How much?” I asked.

“One silver coin per crate, or two coppers per mat, sir,” he responded while still adjusting the poles.

A fair price, I felt, but I could negotiate. I counted up the crates in his stall. “I’ll give you a gold coin for all your crates here.”

“Now, that’s not exact…” he started as he turned around. The words abandoned his mouth has he turned around and got a good look at me. The color drained from his face, and his mouth opened and closed uselessly.

I took out the gold coin and held it out for him. His arguments had left him, but he finally decided to take the offer. Wordlessly, he held out his hand to take the coin.

“I’ll have a hauler come by within the hour to collect the crates,” I said as I put the coin in his hand. I had to head south to the city of Forestmoor, the ring told me, but I would have time to collect the goods before the caravan would be ready to move.

I walked away from the stall, following the soothing blue glow to where the former caravan master had left the caravan. Finally, I laid my eyes upon it: it was nothing more than a large caravan surrounded by pale workers. They were busy getting things in order, moving the large wagons into place.

“Go back about 200 paces to a stall selling grass mats and collect the crates,” I instructed two well-built men leaning against an empty wagon. They nodded curtly and ran off in the direction I had just come from. Striding along the caravan, I looked for my place amongst the activity.

About half way along the caravan, I spotted it: a comparatively small wagon with a cushioned bench and some sort of heavy fabric draped along some poles at the top. One worker was applying some sort of grease to the top of the canopy while another was putting a writing table in place in front of the seat, fitting the legs into some grooves in the wagon’s floorboards. That would be a suitable place for me to write while the caravan was not moving.

I took my seat and put my book on the table in front of me. I used my rote glamour to draw out the ink and quill again, both resting in the proper locations on the table. I smiled slightly, feeling strangely at ease. I once again inked my quill and scratched a few notes about how the ring had communicated with me.

From out of nowhere a figure approached the caravan. From a distance, it looked like no more than a shadow, but as it approached the figure took on more substance and started to glow as the rest of the caravan did. As the figure approached my wagon, it clearly became the figure of a woman.

“A new arrival?” I asked the woman as she approached.

“Y..yes,” she stammered.

I considered her for a moment, then asked “Do you have a head for numbers?”

“I ran a household for a noble lord,” she said, “I can do some numbers.”

“Good. We needed a quartermaster. Take your place in the back of my wagon, you can start inventory at the next town.” The ring had told me everything I needed to know.

She nodded slowly, and got into the wagon. She took one of the cushioned seats in the back, hidden between the barrels and crates in the back.

“What’s your name?” I asked her.

“I don’t… Deidre,” she said, hesitantly, as if saying it for the first time.

I nodded to her. I hoped my book, inked my quill, and scratched down her name. All around me, the caravan was taking care of itself and had a few minutes to myself.

“Tell me, Deidre, what is your story?” I began.

This week, let's consider some possible PvP events in the game. More details about the game and the requirements after the jump.

The goal is to create an even that focuses on PvP in the game. Given the interesting setting, there is a lot of room for creativity. It's something that needs to be implemented before Open Beta early next month.

An existing event involves PvP-enabled players who are notified when a Pylon on the central island is activated. A nearby NPC, Squire Longstar, explains that the Pylon will bring Lord Sittish to the world. The players are supposed to work to stop it. They kill nearby quest monsters (or other players who have killed those quest monsters) to collect small crystals, then try to interact with the Pylon to shut it down. It takes 15 seconds to shut down the Pylon, and it can be disrupted by other players by damaging the player. The winner of the event is the person who shuts down the Pylon.

The goal here is to provide a PvP-focused event that is repeatable and that keeps people interested. It shouldn't assume that other players will be participating at the time, so there should be some challenge for a single faction showing up.

So, your challenge is to describe an event that suits these requirements. What is your idea?

More thoughts after the jump.

It's important to consider what goes into a game review. Unless you make a truly obscure game, it will get reviewed. A good review will generally mean more attention for your game, whereas a bad review can really hurt a game if lots of people pay attention to it.

So, first pick a game of a type you like or that you would be working on. Try to get as close as possible, and don't forget related types. For example, if you wanted to make a basketball game, consider other sports titles, too.

To really understand game reviews, you have to do the following:

1) Learn about reviewing a game. Find out what goes into a review; here's a great article talking about game reviews during the old style E3 from the operator of a small-scale site.

2) Read reviews. Go to a variety of sites, including the large ones (like Gamespot) and the smaller ones (like GamersInfo.net). Note the different reviewing styles.

3) Write your own review. Take a game and write a review. Bonus points if you do it in less time, just like a "real reviewer" would. What aspects do you focus on? What is important to mention? What parts of the game would not not be able to cover if you only had 72 hours to write a review?

Post (links to) your reviews here, or ask questions if you have them.

My thoughts after the jump.

One idea I wrote about before is to build a community site on the topic of your game. This allows you to attract potential fans of your game and be able to get feedback from them. Such a site doesn't build itself overnight, though, but with some good web design and some smart word-of-mouth, you can have a pretty good community going on the cheap. Might even be possible to derive some revenue from ads.

What are your thoughts?

Read on for my take on a few of the issues.

The first bold header, that you need a ton of money to build a platform, isn't quite correct. I think that you can try to build a platform, but you do need an advantage. That advantage may be a lot of money, or it may be an experienced team. If you get a bunch of experienced people from the area you're focusing on, they can help you avoid the dead-ends that a younger entrepreneur might stumble into; as Jessica Mulligan has said, the experienced developers know where the bodies are buried. Of course, these experienced people usually don't come cheap, so you may need a lot of money anyway.

Also, as a game developer you can't just focus on one project and expect long-term success. Games are a hit-driven business, and putting all your eggs in one project means that you are taking a lot more risk. Of course, the reality for an inexperienced development company is that this is the only option you might have, contractually. A smart developer figures out how to re-use your assets. But, it's sometimes hard to know how to do that without having some previous experience to give you perspective on how to do that.

I think the last bit is probably the most important tip of all: know your limitations. Sometimes people get into the middle of a project and get in over their heads. The classic newbie mistake is to think you're going to beat the biggest game out there with 1/4 the team members and 1/10th the budget. Even as you get more experienced there's the temptation to try to bite off more than you can chew. Even when you're slogging through development there's the temptation to add just one more cool feature to the game, not realizing that that one cool feature is actually a bundle of a dozen features put into one.

So, what do you think of these tips?