Gamasutra Member Blogs: From Sequel Woes To The Dangers Of Micropayments

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Member Blogs, our bloggers write about diverse topics, including game sequels, troubles with Fable 3, and how micropayments hinder design.] 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 - Game Sequels: A Funny Feeling Of Deja Vu (Jamie Mann) Game sequels often strip players of abilities found in previous titles in order to maintain progression and ease players into the experience, though Jamie Mann argues that "resetting" a player's abilities in sequels only punishes experienced players who fully understand a game's mechanics. - Student Video Game Development: Using A SCOPE (Scott Washington) Student developer Scott Washington offers advise to developers in training, focusing on several tips to help prioritize and organize a development schedule. - Fable 3’s Dark Side Is Underdeveloped, Incoherent And Broken (Anjin Anhut) Frustrated by the morality system in Fable 3, Anjin Anhut explains where the game fell short, and suggests how to better implement morality systems that more accurately match the player's actions. - An Examination Of The "Home-Base" Game System (Josh Bycer) Many games provide "home-bases" that offer a secondary system or level of progression beyond the primary mechanic; Josh Bycer takes a look at this segmented structure and explores how if affects a game's overall design. - Micropayments Destroy Game Credibility (Kenneth Bowen) Kenneth Bowen examines what effects micropayments have had on modern games, suggesting developers sacrifice fun and creativity to push users toward buying their way to a better experience.