3pointD.com

The Rochester Institute of Technology, which has had a game design concentration for undergraduates for some time now, has just had a Masters Degree in Game Design and Development approved by the New York State Education Department, making it one of the first such programs in the U.S., and perhaps the first Masters program to focus on the computer game industry itself and on broadly integrated aspects of game design such as gameplay, balancing and the other ingredients that go into gamemaking, rather than only including more granular elements such as 3D asset design or more academic pursuits like the sociology of online games. (The Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University also offers a Masters, but its program is not as focused on game development specifically.)

Certification by the NYSED is a big step for RIT, which has been working on the approval for years, according to gamer and blogger Andy Phelps, who is the director of the program. Phelps described the process to me as “intense.” I can’t think of too many better people to run a program like this, given that Phelps is also the person who wrote one of the best descriptions I’ve ever read of emergent gameplay in massively multiplayer online games. I love Andy’s solid perspective as a player, which I imagine will do a lot for education in the field. (more…)

The SecondCast crew interviewed Linden Lab CEO and Second Life head honcho Philip Rosedale again the other day (which you can hear here). The interview covers a number of interesting topics, including Linden Lab’s friends in high places, the upcoming Second Life Community Convention, and the recent changes in SL registration policies. But before the taping, I met Philip on a new golf course that’s been built in Second Life, and was most impressed by what I saw. I made a return visit today to check things out more closely. The game turns out to be excellent fun. (more…)

The winner’s victory lap

I had the privilege of attending a starship race in the MMO EVE Online recently, and in return for the favor wrote a race report for the forum thread where races and announced and standings are tracked. That’s what’s so remarkable, to me, about this kind of phenomenon: the race I attended was the 11th race of a season that started at the beginning of the year, and which is being run with no input from the company behind the game at all. This is a completely emergent phenomenon, and it’s damn robust. It’s exciting, too, as I hope my race report conveys: (more…)

So far, this hasn’t been a very self-referential blog. That’s been a conscious choice and a natural decision, since it isn’t my first impulse to just bung the details of my personal life onto Teh IntarWeb. It’s been tempting, at times, but then I ask myself: How 3pointD is this really? And the answer is usually “Not very,” so I don’t see that changing much anytime soon. (Readers breathe collective sigh of relief.)

That said, this is a slightly self-referential post, but it has to do more with the content of the blog than with the content of my hours and days. Basically, I’m putting you all on notice that I plan to expand the scope of 3pointD.com slightly to occasionally take in a bit more of the cultural reportage on MMOs that used to appear on my now nearly defunct blog, Walkerings. (more…)