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TUAW Talkcast live tonight at 10pm Eastern
Sunday night means it's time once again for a TUAW talkcast, in which your favorite TUAW bloggers and readers all get together over on Talkshoe and chat out the biggest Apple happenings of the past week. This week, we'll be talking about that mystery key on the iPad keyboard and what it might be for, Apple's "sex apps" issues, tips for switchers (and why they're so popular), and that file that could very well be the first list of books on the iPad. We'll also be chatting live with you -- you can call up during the show, and while you're listening on your phone, you can hit *-8 to chat live with us on the air (which is why we call it a "talkcast" rather than a podcast, don'tcha know). So if you find yourself coming down a little hard after the Olympics this evening, jump on in to our chat and we'll cheer you right back up. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!
Peter Molyneux on WoW's reward system
You probably know Peter Molyneux's name if you've been playing video games for any significant amount of time -- he's the mind behind such classics as Populous and Dungeon Keeper, all the way up to Black and White and the current Fable series. He recently gave a talk to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and early on his talk (part 1 is here, part 2 and part 3 are also online), he speaks out about our favorite game, World of Warcraft. Specifically, he mentions it as an influence on his game design, and says the most brilliant thing about the game are "the steeds," or the mounts you could pick up at level 40 (nowadays, of course, they're available at level 20). He says that in his own games, he tries to give everything out to the player as soon as possible, but the fact that Blizzard made you wait to ride a mount around, made you work up a few levels for it, really stuck with him. Now, of course, he's taking away his own lessons here -- Blizzard's philosophy with the game as a whole seems to reward the player as much as possible, and especially lately, with emblems and the different modes and all of the other daily and weekly quests they've come up with, they're making you do less waiting for prizes than they ever have before (in fact, compared to MMOs when they first started, much, much less waiting). And Molyneux's own games are very "rewarding" -- I don't think more than two minutes went by in Fable without me getting a level or a new spell or a new item to play around with. But his point is still good, even after all that: anticipation of a reward can be just as strong a motivator as the reward itself.
WoW Insider Show live this afternoon on Ustream
Your Saturday seem kind of boring? Could you maybe use a little cheering up with a side of Warcraft insight to go along with that? Then we've got just the thing: our podcast is live this afternoon, April 11, 2009 3:30 PM EDT var date_span = document.getElementById("date"); var date = new Date(date_span.innerHTML); var monthname=new Array("Jan","Feb","Mar","Apr","May","Jun","Jul","Aug", "Sep","Oct","Nov","Dec"); var weekday=new Array("Sunday","Monday","Tuesday","Wednesday","Thursday", "Friday","Saturday"); var year = date.getFullYear(); var day_of_month = date.getDate(); var month = monthname[date.getMonth()]; var day = weekday[date.getDay()]; var hour = date.getHours(); if (hour > 11) { if (hour > 12) {hour -= 12} am_pm = "PM"; } else { am_pm = "AM"; } var minute = date.getMinutes(); if (minute < 10) { minute = "0"+minute; } date_string = day + ", " + month + " " + day_of_month; date_string += " at " + hour + ":" + minute + " " + am_pm; offset = -date.getTimezoneOffset()/60; if (offset >= 0) { offset = "+"+offset; } date_string += " in your time zone (GMT"+offset+")"; date_span.innerHTML = (date_string); over on our Ustream page, and as usual, right here after the break on this post. Today we'll have our good friend Turpster along for the ride, as well as WoW Insider writers Michael Gray and Chase Christian, so it'll be a nice full house.Topics of discussion will include what's been going on with all of the expansion speculation lately, the fact that WoW subscriber numbers are still on the rise, Wintergrasp and what's happening in its future, and PETA's little foray into Azeroth. Plus, we'll answer your emails as always, and since Chase is on, we'll probably talk about what life will be like for Rogues in 3.1 as well.Should be fun. We'll see you this afternoon!
Denis Dyack says EVE is better than WoW
Who's Denis Dyack? He's the outspoken president of Silicon Knights, a company that just finished many years (almost 10, some say) of making a game called Too Human that disappointed widely. And that, of course, qualifies him to be an expert in MMO design, right?Maybe not, but he's going to call out WoW anyway. In an interview with Videogaming 24/7, he claims that while he enjoyed World of Warcraft, EVE Online was for him personally the better game. He claims EVE has more depth than WoW, and is "a lot harder core." And he says that both games made him force himself to stop playing -- apparently they both just took too much time to play.We've played both as well, and EVE certainly is a very deep and complex game (almost too complex for many players' tastes, we'd guess). But we'll leave the question of which game is actually better up to you. We will, however, point out that while lots of people have opinions about which games are best, not all of them are developers. If you have strong opinions about which games to play and not to play, shouldn't you be making even better games than the ones you don't like?[via Massively]
Tank Talk: Building and keeping your tanking corps, Part I
Tank Talk is WoW Insider's new raid-tanking column, promising you an exciting and educational look at the world of getting the stuffing thrashed out of you in a 10- or 25-man raid. The column will be rotated amongst Matthew Rossi (Warrior/Paladin), Adam Holisky (Warrior), Michael Gray (Paladin), and Allison Robert (Druid). Our aim is to use this column to debate and discuss class differences, raid-tanking strategies, tips, tricks, and news concerning all things meatshieldish. This week on Tank Talk I'd like to step outside the technical aspects of being a tank and focus more on the psychosocial side of things. In particular I want to look at what happens when a tank is introduced into a tanking corps of a new guild, how to keep current tanks around, and how to deal with all those old tanks that have been in the guild forever.For lack of a better phrase, I'll call the time from when a tank joining the guild until their eventual status as "god of all things tank" the life span of a tank. And perhaps the most important part of a tanks life is the new part, and it's something that I've been on both sides of the coin – the one doing the inviting, and the one being invited. Each is equally exciting. When joining a new guild I had not only the opportunity to see new content and progress to new heights, but also an opportunity to improve my skill and focus my ability to tank a mean game. And when I became class lead and eventually the guild's leader, I gained an opportunity to help new tanks become acquainted with our style of game play and watch them succeed and excel within the guild.I like to look at there being mainly fives stages of a tank's life within a guild: Recruitment, Applicant, Raider, Senior Tank, and Mentor. Let's take a look at each of these and see how people in various stages can help usher a new tank into a guild's tanking corpse while keeping the old tanks around and happy. Since this is a long subject, today I'll cover the recruitment and applicant stages in a tank's life, with the raider, senior tank, and mentor stages coming in the second installment tomorrow.
More evidence: MMOs are good for you
Some believe video games dumb us down. Dr. Constance Steinkuehler isn't one of them. She's an assistant professor of Educational Communication & Technology, and she spoke at Future Play 2007, a conference on future trends in the gaming industry. In her presentation she suggested that MMOs actually improve our mental performance for both verbal and scientific tasks.Fan fiction, forum arguments about which class does more l33t DPS, and complex social groups all keep our minds active, and these things could be educational tools for children. Even the oft-criticized MMO shorthand was shown in her talk to be more complex than one might first assume.Steinkuehler also talked a bit about the roles that friendships in MMOs play in peoples' lives. She runs a gaming club for at-risk kids and hopes to use video games and teamwork to help them overcome their academic troubles. Sadly, we couldn't find a transcript of the presentation, but Gamasutra wrote up a good summary.
Goal!
Sometimes I find myself just standing around somewhere while lost in a deep conversation with a friend, perhaps wandering my character around in some pattern while I talk. It feels good to just let go of time, and immerse myself in that conversation.Some of my friends, however, would never do this, because they have solid goals that they always want to work towards achieving. Whether it's getting keyed for a high-level instance, attaining some new gear for fighting in PvP, or even just leveling up a new alt they like, many players seem to be in motion all the time. Sitting down to talk just doesn't feel productive, especially if they've reached the level cap and there's no such thing as rested experience anymore.Once, a friend of mine told me about his brother's 3 level 70 characters and several other characters getting close to 70. He said his brother is always doing something related to leveling or gear whenever he logs into the game. Sometimes I inspect someone I know, and as I mouse over their various epic items, I feel like I'm getting left behind, like maybe I should get busy like my friend's brother, doing something --anything -- to get farther along in the game. Something inside me says, "What do I need to do to get that item or level up that kind of alt? ... but wait a minute... How much do I really want that? Am I playing this game for the loot, or am I playing it for something else?"
Taylannas' Menus That Talk vocalize what's for dinner
Auditory menus might be an old trick, but it's likely to make Taylannas some serious coin if implemented in any number of eateries. The Florida-based startup has announced plans to dole out "slim electronic tablets about the size and shape of a DVD case" that sport touchscreen displays, speak numerous languages, and can even have its buttons imprinted with Braille to help the blind wade through the interface. As the title implies, the menus will vocalize what's on the docket, as customers can select different segments (drinks, dinner entrees, desserts) to be read aloud. The obvious benefactors are those who are visually impaired, but even customers who are hard of hearing were taken into account as the Menus That Talk devices also have a "detachable hand-held earphone" that reportedly syncs with most modern hearings aids. Still, we have to wonder if restaurants that rely on a quiet, low-key atmosphere won't disable the volume functions or demand a built-in whisper mode in order to maintain sanity during the evening rush.[Thanks, Joe B.]
Talkative Communication Flower adds character to your plants
For those who are (understandably) strapped for cash, but have a hankering for a talkative robot to befriend them, E-Revolution's latest creation is just the thing. While it's certainly not a voice-activated R2-D2, nor a channel-flipping R100, the Communication Flower pulls double duty by sprucing up your living room and adding a bit of chatter to break up the depressing silence. Although you can't wirelessly cater to its every need, this device sports a colorful motif and packs an integrated speaker to randomly belt out "200 words and phrases" whenever you speak to or touch the connected bouquet. Although we aren't sure how quickly the novelty factor would wear off (or how repetitive it's bound to become), the Communication Flower can be picked up next month for ¥4,179 ($36).[Via Akihabara News]
Woz visits Microsoft, shares words of wisdom
Woz's appearances in the media have, of late, have revealed more of his prankster hobbies than the seasoned legend of the computer age we know him to be. Recently, the Woz visited none other than Microsoft to give his book tour's speech, and David Weiss of the MacBU blogged some interesting notes from the event. While I'm sure he had his trusty lasers and Segway in tow in one way or another, Weiss's notes refreshingly cover more of the meat from Woz's speech, including remarks on everything from chip design, Steve Jobs' programming abilities (which I'm glad to finally have confirmation on) and the more human side of technology. It's an intriguing post that's making me wish I could drop in on one of his talks.[via MacUser]
Develop: Game design ideas worth stealing
Game development gets accused of stagnation on a near-daily basis, and yet recent games have all featured innovative steps that can appeal to a variety of players. From minor design choices which somehow redeemed a title, to major decisions shaping the entire nature of a game, it's easier than you might think to make a difference. Margaret Robertson of EDGE gave her top picks from the last year or so's crop of games at the Develop Conference; read on for the lowdown.
