Idea Guys like Molyneux are getting empowered by genAI right now, and they're learning, one by one, that their idea was never the valuable thing. True excellence comes from humans, with all their individual human experiences, coming together to make something greater than a single person's idea.

I've seen a lot of love for Mass Effect and Dragon Age over the last couple days, with good reason. I love both of them very much, and they'll be studied for years to come. But I want to take a second to talk about a different BioWare experience: Playing Jade Empire as a terrible person.

Get a cat, they said. They make great companions while you work from home, they said.

Dang, the WoW Forever naming filter seems crazy restrictive. Even on the RP server, Blizzard shouldn't care if people want to make, say, Grimtotem characters - but even rando quest NPC names like 'Longbeard' seem to be blocked. C'mon, guys, I used to name NPCs. Don't lock these normal names away.

My D&D-themed Tomodachi Life island has gone from housing characters from across personal campaigns to characters from media, which means the BG3 companions are now around, which means I simply had to add a certain treasure to the pool:

The whole DLSS 5 thing (which is bad and insulting) reminded me of this cheeky edges2cats compilation I did ages ago. Models only spit out results based on what their training data knows. If their model was only trained on realistic cats, for example, it can't understand your artistic intent.

There's something magical about having worked on a decades-long live project like WoW long ago. 18 years later, I can see two characters I willed into existence (because dammit SOMEONE had to explain how Tauren used the Light) as a part of the Vanguard. Look how my babies have grown~

Stay safe out there this Halloween, all you lost shades.

Okay. Baldur's Gate 3's photo mode slaps.

Great thread about playtesting that's completely accurate to my experience. Learning to observe behaviors large and small as you watch, and getting any ego the hell out of the room, is how you learn where to improve your game.

Carol Mertz@carolmertz.itch.io · 2y ago

Let’s talk playtesting, shall we? After playtesting dozens of games for tabletop, PC/console, and installations, I've learned a thing or two about how to test well. So I figured it's a good time to remind folks about playtesting best practices while we're all hyped up with inspiration from GDC. 🧵

my new answer to any question re: why i made something a certain way in one of my games that you don't like

One of my favorite game mechanics that FEELS fancy but isn't is "swimming where water shouldn't be." Mechanically, swimming is just a traversal method in a defined volume with a camera effect - it doesn't have to obey gravity. But there's still a li'l magic when you swim in a suspended bubble.

I once, over a decade ago, had a team I was on split up because there were "too many vaginas on it." (There were three femme-presenting folk on it out of five. Oh no, not a majority!) This stuff still happens. Call it out when you see it. ESPECIALLY if you're a cishet dude. Help folk. Please.

Geneviève Routhier@genrouthier.bsky.social · 2y ago

yes, and organizing things but never forget, with a smile! (Yes, someone once reprimanded me for "not smiling and being nice" during a meeting)

Am I done baking? No! My Swedish coffee bread dough is still rising. But I'm doing an okay spread regardless:

It's not Christmas if I'm not overcommitting on baking! (Gingerbread and chocolate cookie doughs are in the fridge, peppermint bark is broken apart and done. Tomorrow is the day of YEAST where I make japanese milk bread and swedish coffee bread.)

Finished Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. What a rollicking good time that was. If I'd cared less about collectibles I would have had a better time, I think - the game is at its best when you're rolling with story and not looking to complete your stone dildo collection.

Every so often I am reminded of my time as an unpaid volunteer on EverQuest, where if I'd desired it, I could have not only killed just about anyone with my god-tier characters, but turned any player into an NPC-flagged entity that was killable and a little lootable. Early MMO days were buckwild.

Didn't end up posting my hot #DragonAge takes after finishing Veilguard, so here's the deal, as spoiler-free as I can make them. It's a very pretty game with a lot of wonderful performances, and absolutely zero teeth. No friction that isn't sanded away quickly.

I dig Charge Blade for the times when I'm feeling like tracking several meters at once to do a big ol' hit (that inevitably misses). It's a lot of fun to keep track and switch between its modes. But I also main Dual Blades because swords go brrrr

Mike Futter | Wishlist The Final Cut of Lilith Cunningham!@futterish.fsquared.biz · 2y ago

There are no polls here yet… but… what is your favorite Monster Hunter weapon? And, for bonus points… why?

Got a breezy new haircut just in time for summ-- what do you mean it's the end of November

I interviewed a QA gentleman today who I had never previously spoken with, but our work histories indicate he absolutely had to deal with my associate designer crimes. "Your name looked familiar." Yessir don't worry about it I'm sure it's a coincidence let's not examine it further

Me in my echo chamber

Josh Sawyer@jesawyer.bsky.social · 2y ago

Me in my echo chamber

For @adanine.bsky.social - in Ancient Times, a player named Mashara posted a parody of Eminem's "Stan" to the WoW forums and I responded as a blue poster. It has long since been lost to Blizz's several forum revamps, but guild forums live on, so here you go. Mashara's original post:

Had an intro appointment with a psychiatrist where after an hour she said I treat my own brain like a puzzle that needs solving and goddamn I have never had anyone call me out that hard so damn quick

I have been keeping an eye on Twitter (what can I say, the community manager parasite in my brain that craves social media trend observation will never die) and it is telling just how QUIET it is on my feed now. I hope folk continue to bail on the shallow husk of what once was.

I appreciate that Qunari seem hard to nail down in #DragonAge and they're redesigned every game, but my boy Adaar stopped going to the gym so hard his horns shrunk.

I grew up on these streets.

The Kinsie@thekinsie.com · 2y ago

I grew up on these streets.

Something I keep tripping on in the new #DragonAge is one of timing: that is, the need to time your quest-related walk-and-talk convo to the timeframe it takes for the player to walk to the next place the characters will talk. It gets interrupted CONSTANTLY, even when not sprinting.

I have found the belt in #DragonAgeVeilguard that summons attack bees whenever you drink a potion. GOTY.

About 5 hours into DA: Veilguard. Beautiful game, and the combat feels decent. The ramp to choice is slow (I just hit one now) and I imagine the very linear nature of those 5 hours might make some folk bounce off - but I'm enjoying it despite the rails. My Rook is a reckless, quippy fella.