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Ask MeFi on balancing MMO economies
Just like WoW Insider's Adam Holisky, I too am a big Mythbusters fan, and it's pretty common knowledge that 'buster Adam Savage is a big Ask Metafilter fan and user. So I am also a big Metafilter fan, and when they do a thread about MMO economies, it just intrigues me in all the right ways. (See what I did with that intro? That's why I get paid the big blogging bucks, which, trust me, aren't that big in the first place).But my interests aside, the Ask MeFi thread is a great read for anyone who's thought about balancing an MMO economy. Not only are there a lot of great links (see that? True MeFi style equals big blogging bucks!) to other resources on the subject, but there's some good commentary in there, too: What specific things can you do to balance out the huge earnings of hardcore players and keep casual players competitive? And how exactly do you organize your items -- if items are too rare, they'll never be useful enough to be sold, but items that are too common won't get their prices off the ground.Fascinating stuff, touched on by a fascinating community.
The many sides of Steve Wozniak
We all know this Woz quite well...The prankster who still laughs at fart jokes and plays Segway Polo. The guy who admitted, in the email accompanying the above picture, which was taken backstage before his recent appearance on The Colbert Report by the friend of an acquaintance of mine: I suggested that one of us should do rabbit ears and Colbert declined so I did it. That part may make it less funny but it's true. I also left a sticker in the green room bathroom that is in OSHA style and colors with a picture of a butt with a poof coming out, and the words "Let's keep the air fresh." I hope it's still there.But then there's the sensitive and impressively humble Woz. The Woz who responds to an insulting and juvenile question like this one, from Ask MetaFilter, with a disarming and brutally honest answer like this: "...I don't mind if people don't like me as long as it's for things I am. There's plenty to find there. I do try to remain the person I would have wanted to become, from when I was 10 and when I was 20. Even after something like Apple I managed to remain close to the same person, doing things I would have done had Apple never come about, like getting my degree and teaching and much more." [read the entire thing for proper context, it's short]Steve Wozniak is a class act. 'Nuff said.Thanks to phi for the Ask MeFi link.
