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David Hayward's Blog
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I work for Mudlark, doing game design, teaching and event work, as well as conducting and writing up research projects. At the moment, in my spare time I also tinker with Arduinos, Systema, unicycles and mountain bikes. |
Expert Blogs
Minecraft: Claustrophobia on the Frontier  |
| Posted by David Hayward on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:29:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| The addictive mechanics of Minecraft find a pleasant harmony with freeform multiplayer creation. If I were writing a genealogy of it, the two biggest things on it would be Farmville and Dwarf Fortress... |
| Read More... | 8 Comments |
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Pre-Pwned |
| Posted by David Hayward on Fri, 14 May 2010 12:53:00 EDT in
Business
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| There’s been a bit of a furore this week instigated by EA planning to charge $10 for an online pass for their EA Sports titles. Looking past the nerdrage, I'd like to state a case as to why this is a good, unsurprising, and ultimately acceptable move. |
| Read More... | 12 Comments |
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System Fatigue |
| Posted by David Hayward on Tue, 27 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| Summary: A lot of pervasive, game-like things are pretty boring. Games should be exceptional, not an extra layer of weaponised mundanity. |
| Read More... | 13 Comments |
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Zynga: The Future, Or Just A Bit Of It? |
| Posted by David Hayward on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:37:00 EDT in
Game Design
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| Zynga is not a threat to traditional video game development, but it is most definitely a threat to developers' sense of identity. |
| Read More... | 7 Comments |
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Pervasive Play |
| Posted by David Hayward on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:40:00 EST in
Game Design
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| Jesse Schell's DICE talk is doing the rounds. I've often thought about designing game rules into everything: what if a mundane job could be made compelling by game rules? |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
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Virtual Worlds Metamorphosing |
| Posted by David Hayward on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:43:00 EST in
Game Design
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| Virtual worlds aren't the escape we thought they'd be. While VWs were led by MUD and Ultima fans, the virtual world movement will end with a mass market, and interaction design will see to it that the most effective are those that tie to real lives. |
| Read More... | 0 Comments |
David Hayward's Comments
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Comment In: Minecraft: Claustrophobia on the Frontier [Blog - 10/12/2010 - 11:29]
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Three addenda I didn't want ... Three addenda I didn't want to put in the post: ---- There's a bit of nostalgic gamer nerd in me that Minecraft fulfills too. Many years ago, before I even had dialup, I remember a very excited magazine article about a game made with voxels. At the time they were ... |
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Comment In: Pre-Pwned [Blog - 05/14/2010 - 12:53]
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@Nick Maroni Since, any online ... @Nick Maroni Since, any online service will still only be handling one player per copy purchased, there is no extra strain on the developer or publisher--it's the same. That's not necessarily true at all. With the exception of die hard fans that might play something day in, day out for ... |
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Comment In: Rebellion CEO Says Derby Studio In 'Final Stages' Amid Unpaid Wages Accusations [News - 05/10/2010 - 03:59]
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That's the most tactless rofl ... That's the most tactless rofl I've ever seen Robert. Sad to hear this is going on just down the road from our offices, and hope all the Rebellion guys find new things soon. Derby used to be a giant for the games industry, but just about everything except Eurocom and ... |
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Comment In: System Fatigue [Blog - 04/27/2010 - 10:00]
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Thanks, all. Nathan, I have ... Thanks, all. Nathan, I have come across Skinner boxes before, but was trying to stay away from the comparison as I've seen it quite a bit recently. It's fascinating and has a lot of substance for analysis, but I think the term is also at risk of becoming a default ... |
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Comment In: Zynga: The Future, Or Just A Bit Of It? [Blog - 03/15/2010 - 11:37]
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Thanks for the links, excellent ... Thanks for the links, excellent notes. I'd read the occasional feature on some evilly designed games from the Chinese market, but those are a much better overview. Alexi Pajitnov spoke at the GameCity festival a couple of years ago, and when asked if he thought making a game as addictive ... |
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