Best Of Member Blogs: From Battling RMTs To Exploration Games

Author: by Staff

In our weekly Best of Member Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game community who maintain Member Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. Our favorite blog post of the week will earn its author a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra's sister publication, Game Developer magazine. (All magazine recipients outside of the United States or Canada will receive lifetime electronic subscriptions.) We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. This Week's Standout Member Blogs - Sell Your Money! (Simon Ludgate) Simon Ludgate believes that EVE Online developer CCP would be better off selling its own in-game currency directly to players, in order to beat RMT providers at their own game. Here, he examines the effects such a move might have on the in-game player-driven market. For his effort, Simon will receive a lifetime subscription to Gamasutra sister publication Game Developer magazine. - Design by committee: A conversation with Kyle Gray (Francisco Souki) In a previous member blog post, Carnegie Mellon grad student Francisco Souki commented on his problems with the starting screen for the DS puzzler Henry Hatsworth from EA. The game's lead, Kyle Gray, now formerly of EA, explained how the starting screen design of Hatsworth reflected a deeper issue with working for a big publisher. - Non-Linear Progression (Louis Varilias) One of Shadow Complex's primary focuses is exploration. Member blogger Louis Varilias argues how non-linear progression, or player-determined progression, is an absolute requirement of games with an emphasis on exploration. - AAA Game Jobs - How to Prepare Yourself To Get Hired (James Gonzalez) James Gonzalez goes into good detail about finding work with a "AAA" developer, offering tips about portfolio- and resume-building, handling failure, and networking.