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How feedback works and why it matters
Lately I've seen some forum posts that confuse me. Perhaps it's because these posts themselves seem confused. Posts like this one, where Librily the worgen mage accuses Blizzard and World of Warcraft's development team of soliciting feedback that they don't actually look at. I find this especially odd on a forum where community managers regularly engage with posters, and I wanted to address what feedback is, how it works, and why it matters now and going forward. Frankly, it is impossible to look at the design of Mists of Pandaria and not see how much player feedback has influenced the design of the expansion. The 85 to 90 game is everything Cataclysm was not -- it all takes place in a seamless new land, it removed flying in order to provide player immersion, it works the Horde/Alliance conflict into the storyline. It is in every way the result of player feedback being constructively weighted and utilized responsibly. By that, I mean that the game's developers clearly looked at what players were saying they liked and disliked and worked to find ways to address player concerns. What they didn't do -- what they have never done and cannot ever do -- is simply go to the forums, see who yelled loudest, and give them everything they wanted. That would be absurd design by mob, it would produce an unplayable game full of broken classes and most importantly of all, it would not be fun to play. Games require a ton of work to produce, especially a game like World of Warcraft, and the amount of effort behind the scenes to bring what we get to see and experience does not allow for that kind of design even if it were desirable, which it is not. Game design is not about giving the players everything they say they want, nor is it about doing everything they say as soon as they say it. Let's talk about how good feedback works, the difference between opinion and fact, and why taking the time to make a well constructed argument is worthwhile even if you don't see any signs of it changing anything.
The Moov wireless case for iPhone streams video to TV
A company named Olion has introduced a neat add-on for the iPhone called The Moov. It's a case for the iPhone 4 that connects to the dock and streams out video wirelessly. The presenter in the video (which you can watch after the break) calls it the "first mobile to TV solution," but of course, that's not true -- we've seen lots of ways to get video out of the iPhone and onto the TV. Still, this one's pretty elegant, and it's all wireless, even though that means it's limited by about three hours of battery life. The speed in the video looks good, and the case sends off a signal to any WHDI receiver. Olion doesn't have a price or release date yet -- the Israel-based startup is still looking for manufacturing partners, apparently. But it's a cool idea with what seems to be a nice implementation. We'll keep an eye out for it. [via Engadget]
iPhone-controlled marble prototype from GearBox
This is wild -- a new startup called GearBox is working on making "smart toys," and one of their first products is a prototype rolling ball that's controlled with your iPhone (or other smartphone, of course). Not only can you move the ball around on the ground with your phone's touchscreen, but the ball has gadgetry inside that can affect and monitor its motion, so you can do things like play "Office Golf" (and the ball can notify you when it's reached the hole), try some virtual curling, or play a multi-ball game. There's lots of gadgetry inside, too, so the ball could be made to travel slower or in a strange pattern, or even glow with ambient information. It's also wirelessly connected to the iPhone (and thus to the Internet), so you could have it monitor online resources like Facebook or Twitter, and then react to that data as well. Unfortunately, this is still just a prototype -- there's no information about a price or release date at all. But it's obviously a really intriguing idea, and depending on actual implementation, it could be a really amazing product. We'll have to keep an eye out for how GearBox eventually decides to put this together in the future. [via TouchArcade]
Sony patents multiplayer stereoscopic system
Seeing two images to create a 3D picture is so earlier this year -- Sony has been working on a patent that sends two images from one video screen to two different people, allowing for two players to see different images on the same screen. Each player would need their own set of glasses (which would each pull off the right frames), which would then come with earphones for separate audio feeds, too. You'd need a special 3D television to do it, but there are all kinds of cool applications -- one person in your house could watch a movie while the other plays games, or you could do local split-screen multiplayer without actually splitting the screen (as seen in the diagram above). The patent even allows for more than two players, and there's even an implementation that would actually send two images each to two players, creating separate 3D views for both viewers. Both patents were filed a year ago, and have just come to light now. As 3D televisions become more common, we'll have to see if Sony brings an actual implementation of this tech to the consumer market.
Apple files patent for multitouch manipulation of 3D objects
A blogger at the Baltimore Sun found an Apple patent filed last month that describes a multitouch interface for manipulating "three-dimensional virtual objects." The patent seems pretty vague in terms of implementation, but essentially Apple is citing a way to control 3D objects, whether they be icons, game objects, or characters, with a two-dimensional multitouch screen. Sounds like what you're already doing with a game like Zen Bound. Given that "the tablet" is the hot thing to speculate about lately, there are rumors bubbling up that this type of navigation and manipulation could be found in Apple's new device. But that doesn't seem very likely -- most of what we've heard about the tablet is that it'll offer a higher resolution version of the iPhone's interface, and Apple has no reason yet to step away from that. It's possible that this patent could be covering a new app set to release on the tablet, but of course as with everything here, we'll have to wait and see what Jobs shows us on stage later this month. [Via Engadget]
Chevy Volt to get an iPhone app
Want to check the charge on your electric car? There's going to be an app for that -- our friends at Engadget report that the upcoming Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid electric car will have an iPhone app that goes along with it. Features aren't firmed up yet, but ideas being passed around after a demo at last week's LA Auto Show include both setting up functions inside the car like scheduling when a charge happens (to take advantage of late-night power rates) and receiving notifications from the car, including when it's charged and/or when you forgot to plug it in for the night or other worrying situations like that. I'd love to even see an app that can track mileage from the car, or give you diagnostic information when something is wrong. Obviously, this is pretty pie-in-the-sky at this point (and implementation is obviously tougher than coming up with ideas for it), but I'm all for it. With the advent of the iPhone and all of the things it can do, it's quickly becoming a one-stop shop for communication between all your various networks and appliances. Why not have your car text you when it needs something? Oh wait, I've got to go -- my car just texted me that it's lonely out there in the parking lot. Back in a bit.
OmniFocus for iPhone finally has reminders, but implementation is awful
[Update] Ken Case comments below, addressing some of the concerns listed here. It looks like a future version of OmniFocus on the Mac will be able to directly update the OmniFocus reminders on the server, removing at least one of my complaints. Ken Case from The Omni Group has been twittering for awhile about the impending inclusion of alarm reminders for OmniFocus. The task management app's iPhone users have been pestering The Omni Group to implement reminders as push notifications, but OmniFocus refuses to do so. They say that reminders that rely on connectivity are not good enough, and they have instead chosen to implement reminders by exporting due dates and times into iCal. Once the time comes for a reminder, it pops up like a normal iCal appointment reminder. Well, OmniFocus 1.5.2 for iPhone was released, and now we get to see how this alternative reminder system works. If I had to choose a word to describe this implementation, that word would be "awful." Here's why: The Omni Group has taken great pains to point out that you do not need to be using the desktop version of OmniFocus to get use out of the iPhone version. But for users that only have the iPhone version and are not synchronizing it to either MobileMe (which has a yearly fee) or a WebDAV server (complicated for non-techies), they can't use this implementation of reminders. That's right; the way it works is that OmniFocus on the iPhone exports your reminders to your synchronization server, then points iCal on the iPhone to the server to import your reminders. That means that if you enter new due dates in OmniFocus for iPhone but don't happen to have connectivity, you won't get reminders. Wait, I thought it was implemented this way in the first place to guard against a lack of connectivity? Your OmniFocus reminders unnecessarily pollute your iPhone calendar with reminders. This is a visual problem when you need to glance at your calendars and see what actual appointments are coming up. On the iPhone you can either look at one specific calendar, or all calendars, so if like me you need to regularly stay on top of more than one calendar, you're forced to look at your OmniFocus reminders as well. Oh, and even when you complete them in OmniFocus and resync, they don't go away in your calendar. [Update] Stephen points out in the comments that this works as expected, and upon further testing I have to agree. Maybe I was being a bit too impatient. Since your OmniFocus reminders are actually just fake appointments, there is no way to audibly differentiate them from appointment reminders. They sound and look exactly the same. Remember the Milk, for example, uses push notifications on its iPhone app, and you can set the notification sound to a number of different options. That way you know that you're being reminded of a task rather than an appointment. Reminders are set based on Due time, rather than Available time, and in terms of flexibility you can set the reminder to be 5 to 60 minutes before the task is due. By the time a task is actually due, isn't it too late to be reminded about it? Finally, if you're a user of OmniFocus for the Mac, your reminders are not created on your iPhone until you think to launch OmniFocus on the iPhone and synchronize it. That means that if you work all day in OmniFocus on your Mac (like I do), then drive home and start doing other stuff and don't happen to open OmniFocus on your iPhone, you won't receive any reminders for tasks that you might have set for that night, or until you actually open and sync OmniFocus on your iPhone. So, what would I rather see? Push notifications, like the many other OmniFocus for iPhone users out there that have been providing their feedback to The Omni Group. As mentioned, Remember the Milk has implemented push notifications, and the ability to change the notification sound isn't the only trick it has up its sleeve. The Remember the Milk icon on my iPhone's screen shows how many due tasks I have that day, and the number changes almost instantly when I make changes on the web version. To see how many currently available and due tasks I have in OmniFocus, I again have to launch the app and wait for it to synchronize. While I love OmniFocus and I think The Omni Group does amazing work, this implementation of reminders for the iPhone version of OmniFocus is just full of an amazing amount of fail. It's a hacky workaround that still doesn't ensure that a lack of connectivity won't adversely affect the user's ability to receive reminder notifications. Omni folks, this is just meant to be tough love -- I wouldn't be saying all of this if I didn't truly care about OmniFocus.
Scoreloop introduces Scoreloop Community for the iPhone
We've talked about OpenFeint quite a few times on the site before (and even interviewed the creators), but while they're definitely one of the biggest names in creating gaming communities for the iPhone, they're not alone. A company called Scoreloop has today announced a service called "Scoreloop Community," made up of two different features: a web presence, and a downloadable application for the iPhone that hooks right into other developers' games and apps and allows players to create avatars, view friends and their activities, and share challenges and high scores with others. Just like OpenFeint, Scoreloop says they're offering an easy-to-implement solution for push notifications, letting players send and receive messages (as well as promote and encourage usage of games in the service) and earn achievements and tokens.Of course, the real test for services like this will be in the implementation -- while OpenFeint claims a nice stable of developers, we still haven't seen too many apps take advantage of the latest and greatest versions (Pocket God is an extremely popular app that has implemented OpenFeint, but they use an older version of the software that doesn't have nearly as many features as the latest). Scoreloop says they've got over 50 game commitments from third-party developers already (it sounds like Zombie Pub Crawl is their biggest title yet), but even then, it remains to be seen exactly how devs will implement their functionality, and how players take to the service.If you're a developer looking to implement push notifications and social challenges and networking in your app, it seems that there's no shortage of companies willing to step in and help you do exactly that (you can download the free SDK, if interested, on Scoreloop's site). But in terms of how consumers view and will use these networks, it's still a very wide open field.
Using the new ingame Aggro Warning
Today's patch will bring with it a long awaited feature: an ingame Aggro Warning. Almost since launch, addons like Threatmeter and Omen have warned raiders and other folks that mobs are incoming (pulling aggro means that you've attracted the attention of some monsters by doing a little too much damage or healing), and the functionality has been so widespread that Blizzard has finally implemented it in the official UI.According to what we saw on the PTR, it should come default whenever you head into an instance, but if you want to see aggro all the time, you can go to the Interface options, and flip "Display Aggro Warning" to always. Checking "Show Aggro Percentages" will give you a little percentage at the top of the target frame, showing just how much aggro you're getting from whatever you've got targeted.If you've used a threatmeter before, you know that if you do pull aggro, you'll want to a) stop healing or doing damage immediately, and b) pop any aggro-reducing trinkets, abilities or talents you happen to have, like Feint or Disengage. Of course, if you have used an addon like Omen in the past, odds are you shouldn't get rid of it -- the ingame Aggro Warning is pretty thin, so odds are that your guild will still require Omen anyway for high level raiding. But as a simple heads up when you've got monsters about to come your way, the Aggro Warning does its job. Patch 3.0.2 "Echoes of Doom" has landed and WoW Insider has you covered. From patch notes to talent guides for every class to fixing your addons to 5 easy achievements you can snag right now. Make sure to check out the latest news.
A sketchpaper version of the iPhone
I don't design websites very often (I've done maybe five or six total), but whenever I do, the first thing I do isn't anywhere near the web: I grab a pad of paper and a pencil and sit down somewhere away from the computer to sketch out my ideas for how the design will go.Lots of developers will do the same thing with applications, and so, to help those developers, the folks at Labs.Boulevart were kind enough to put together sketchpaper versions of the iPhone. It's a free download (in PDF or Photoshop flavors) of just a bunch of images of the iPhone, left completely blank (sometimes with the MobileSafari and/or carrier bar on there) for designers of all kinds to sketch on and imagine with as they will.Very cool idea, and the number of different setups and implementations they've thought of is impressive -- just the kind of thing to get the iPhone creative development juices flowing. If you're doing any kind of design for iPhone applications, native or on the web, this should be a cool tool to use.
Part two of Champions Online dev's game design discussion
Following up on a piece earlier in the month on "Breaking the Wall" and getting into game design, Champions Online developer 'Heretic' has posted part two of this series, which looks "Beyond the Wall" -- once you've broken into the field, what next? The article chops the game designing process into four steps: vision, design, implementation and iteration.The vision is the first step in game design, and involves determining the basic principles of the game -- from things like the genre, to what will make it different to other games, and various rules that the game will be designed around -- but none of this should touch on how the principles will actually work.
Why isn't C&P on the iPhone yet?
A site called Sven on Tech claims to have word straight from an Apple "source" as to why there isn't cut and paste on the iPhone. Apparently, and get this, they just haven't figured out how to implement it yet. In other news, the Apple TV will be a success, as soon as Apple figures out how to implement that, too.Yeah, in case you haven't guessed yet, I don't buy it. I'm not sure who this "source" is (and there should be an unwritten rule of journalism that anyone who wears a nametag at a convention booth doesn't get to count as a "source," unless they're talking about nametag news), but if someone from Apple says that implementation was the only reason they haven't put copy-and-paste on the iPhone, then either they're lying, or they're just plain too full of themselves. Let's not forget, despite their achievements, that this is the company that created the worst error message implementation known to man -- the iPhone won't be a failure if the copy and paste is a little more complicated than most other functions. They haven't figured out how to implement it? Surely they've seen this-- they know it's possible.But here's why my reasoning falls down: I can't think of another reason Apple would keep it off the iPhone. Do they think people don't need to cut and paste? Is the RIAA expanding their fight against copying music to copying and pasting everything? Does Steve just never visit any sites besides Apple.com and thus never have to copy and paste anything? I don't buy the "implementation" argument but I don't, unfortunately, have a better one to put in its place.[Via Mac Rumors]
