Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Effective DRM To Believable AI

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about diverse topics, including suggestions for implementing DRM, the merits of Minecraft, and tips for creating humanistic AI.] Member Blogs can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while invitation-only Expert Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- are written by selected development professionals. We hope that our blog sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information, check out the official posting guidelines. Here are the top member blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Member Blogs - The Ideal Copy Protection Or The DRM That Works (Roger Hagensen) Roger Hagensen explores the most effective ways to implement DRM, and emphasizes the importance of adding value to legitimate copies of a game to incentivize customers to pay for the product. - Our First Year Running A Small Game Business (Eloy Ribera) After founding a new studio in Spain one year ago, Eloy Ribera reflects on the company's first year and provides some advice for those getting started at a new studio. - Learning From Minecraft (Damian Connolly) In the wake of Minecraft's undeniable success over the past few months, Damian Connolly examines the peculiar indie title and discusses why the game succeeds on multiple levels. - On The Merits Of Save Importing - Is The Hassle Worth It? (Eric Schwarz) Occasionally, role-playing games such as Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate allow players to import their save games from previous titles to continue with their previous character. While the idea sounds appealing in theory, Eric Schwarz argues the design and technical difficulties of implementing such a system may not be worth the effort. - Surface Cues For Humanistic AI (Ben Lewis-Evans) Creating believable AI is a complicated task, and Ben Lewis-Evans discusses the importance of surface level cues that can make technology appear less like an automaton and more like a human.