The Character Of My Character is My Character?

Character customization.

This is one of the biggest draws for me about a game

Give me an avatar and then give me the power to really make him my own.
Or better yet, give me a blank slate and set me free!

Lots of games offer customization, more so now than they used to, and I hope its something that continues to grow. But that customization usually stops at the face, about 5 or 6 generic hair styles, and a handful of clothing sets from the early the 90's when we were just coming off the silliness of the 80's.

But beyond visual appearance...
Is their anything we can do to add more “character” to our character?

Know Your Role, MMORPGs Dont Exist.

No such thing as an MMORPG

Not really...

The MMO I don't doubt. that certainly exists.
Its the RPG part I take issue with.
Specifically the R

Digital Distibution Only

I love the idea of a digital distribution exclusive gaming society.
It would be so cool and progressive.....and....and..you know what?

Maybe I don't like the idea as much as I thought.
Theirs something about it I just cant get around.

Think Smaller

It seems like several key players in the industry are saying the same thing lately.
The the hyper expensive triple A title project model needs to go, or at least need not be focused as much as it has in the past, and that the industry as a whole needs to focus on smaller projects.

I think most peoples initial response is “Fuck that! and Farmvile too!”
I know mine was.
But theyre right...

One Huge Cutscene.

Recently I was asked to undertake the development phase of a story project that might see some life as a limited video series. Out of respect for the projects creator, I wont speak on the project in detail, but I will say that I think its a very unique and interesting one.

It was surprising to me how quickly I defaulted to game design methodology for the development of the project, and even more surprising to see how much of it actually worked out and what didn't.