Architecture of evil

Thought provoking read on the architecture of evil in videogame design. Found on BDLGBLOG:

http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/evil-lair-on-architecture-of-enemy-in.html

User-generated Content

Cory Doctorow over at Boing Boing posted this interesting article on user-generated content in MMORPG City of Heroes:




Does anyone here play City of Heroes or have any experience of the kind of exploitation mentioned? Do you think it really counts as exploitation or should it just be thought of as a 'rules are meant to be broken' scenario.
Personally, I maintain that when game developers loosen their grasp on the reigns of a project, they have to expect that players will find all sorts of other ways to have fun in-game, ways which aren't necessarily envisioned by the design team. I think Barry Atkins covers an aspect of this in an early chapter of More than a Game. On the flip-side, the kind of ultra-easy/cheat quests being set up in City of Heroes don't sound like they will remain 'fun' for long, in which case they should die out naturally. Games also require a healthy dose of challenge.

Interviews

Have a look at this round up of interviews with game developers of de Blob, Samorost, and Zen Bound fame. Enjoy...