Weekly rant

Blizzard VP says that players would feel cheated if they introduced micropayments in World of Warcraft. This is about as dumb a report as I’ve ever seen… NO? Really? Why would they feel cheated just because they spent $300+ grinding to earn their epic gear and along comes a spoiled kid n00b and buys a complete set his first day.Why would they feel cheated? Just the fact that Blizzards VP actually had to say this says a lot about the normal level of awareness about game design. I know that many companies are only just waking up to the fact that more designers are needed to spot these problems early on. But I am still astounded each time someone excretes one of these ideas.

Yahtzee stole the show at GDC with another brilliant Zero Punctuation. Yes it’s crass, yes it’s cheap, but he’s also right on the money and one should never underestimate the power of really short entertainment.