Author Archive

Have you functioned in a dynamic online community under an avatar identity for multiple years?  Do/did you operate, or recognize the possibility that you could have operated differently in that community than you do in the physical world?  Have you ever consciously withheld information about your activity in that online community from the inhabitants of [...]

Car mechanics and enthusiasts speak a complex language which the average driver doesn’t comprehend.  Computer developers can do incredible things with code—things most computer users don’t even begin to understand. And, perhaps most importantly for our purposes, gamers have their own complex languages—languages which can sound ridiculous to non-gamers. Acquiring expertise in these languages requires [...]

Maybe there will never be an independent developer or development firm passionate enough to build the perfect bot, but there already have been productive alternatives that distract from this. The achievement systems used by Xbox and “World of Warcraft” are two successful examples.