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Adam Miller's Blog
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Longtime gamer and writer, currently employed at the Academy of Art University, where I help create game design courses (among other subjects). I have extensive experience creating digital 2D and 3D art, and have dabbled, out of necessity, in ActionScript programming.
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Expert Blogs
Free to Play: A Call for Games Lacking Challenge  |
| Posted by Adam Miller on Thu, 06 Jun 2013 02:14:00 EDT in
Design,
Serious
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| Inorganic challenges can undermine other possible goals--narrative, atmospheric, social, etc. This post urges developers to reconsider the merit of focusing player interaction on the task of completing challenges--to allow play to occur "unchallenged." |
| Read More... | 1 Comments |
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Anticlimactic: The Cost of Realism in Cinematic Games |
| Posted by Adam Miller on Thu, 17 Feb 2011 04:24:00 EST in
Design
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| AAA titles increasingly strive to create a cinematic experience for the player. Commonly this is done by enhancing a game's realism. Unfortunately, concessions to realism can confound the player at what should be the game's most poignant moments. |
| Read More... | 4 Comments |
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Stop Insulting Me: When Negative Reinforcement Turns Ugly |
| Posted by Adam Miller on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 07:22:00 EDT in
Design
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| Oftentimes players fail at a game, not the activity the game is trying to model. While negative reinforcement can be helpful and even amusing, it is often a turn-off, especially when the an exceptional player is struggling against an imperfect game. |
| Read More... | 20 Comments |
Adam Miller's Comments
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Comment In: Xbox One is Microsoft's biggest play for living room domination [News - 05/21/2013 - 01:41]
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Not surprising, but I comments ... Not surprising, but I comments here are undervaluing the multi-tasking and media controls they were showing off. It is a significantly better experience to have that snazzy fantasy sports real time update next to a live hd broadcast of a game than anything you or at least most people can ... |
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Comment In: All Your Nintendo Let's Plays Are Belong To Nintendo? [Blog - 05/17/2013 - 12:26]
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Generally speaking, I feel IP ... Generally speaking, I feel IP laws have far to much reach and should be toned down. That said, I have watched Let 's Play videos in lieu of buying and playing a game. Straight-up, for some games, I was able to get from the game what I wanted from the ... |
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Comment In: Cloud: We Are Not Ready [Blog - 03/07/2013 - 12:42]
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Couple thoughts. First, I feel ... Couple thoughts. First, I feel the bigger issue with always-on is the simple fact that Internet connections are hardly ubiquitous. Not the first to say it, but I want to play games on an airplane. In fact, that may be when I want a distraction most or at grandma 's, ... |
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Comment In: Linearity is Okay in Games [Blog - 01/29/2013 - 06:23]
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Excessive customization does seem to ... Excessive customization does seem to be bogging some games down. I recently started playing Might and Magic Heroes 6, which is not bad, but presents you with a Diablo 's worth of hero customization choices with each level up. Making these choices completely bogs down the pace of the game ... |
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Comment In: DPS and the Decline of Complexity in RPGs [Blog - 12/10/2012 - 10:45]
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D D style damage types ... D D style damage types slash/stab etc. or elemental damage don 't add interesting complexity to a game. Generally adding such things introduces the tedious process of changing equipment for different foes, or as you mention the need for party variety--but without really giving the player interesting reasons to create ... |
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Comment In: New Facebook lawsuit highlights trouble with kids and virtual currency [News - 04/20/2012 - 12:02]
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You know, counter-intuitively I would ... You know, counter-intuitively I would say that it 's LESS an issue when an addictive vice is targeted at kids than adults. There 's no one to stop an adult from buying cigarettes or gambling. It 's relatively easy to keep bad things out of the hands of kids, and ... |
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