"the incredibly dumb “skill-based matchmaking” argument that gets pushed by streamers who don’t like that being good at the game means they have to play against other good players when what they really want to do is create videos where appear dominant by crushing players who are worse than them" 🧑‍🍳😙🤌

Games User Experience Research should be a collaborative partnership As such often the first step for a researcher is to understand what the intended experience of the game designer(s) is, what their questions are, timelines, and what kind of data would be actionable

When I worked in the NZ Government I was in a meeting with a top NZ cop. The topic was the bill of rights, how it would apply to new legislation, and how it would be enforced by cops The cop interrupted the meeting and said 'Why are we still talking about this? We are the police, you can trust us!"

When players skip a tutorial they may end up playing your game in a way that is not intended. *Sometimes* this can be a good thing. Is playing chess with a pool cue actually more engaging than playing chess normally? Experimenting and playtesting/UX testing can answer!

Jumping waves at the beach today with the kids completely wrecked my ancient arthritic ankles and was also totally worth it

It's weird to me to see UX Researcher jobs that ask for a portfolio UX Research, unlike design, is usually not public Basically all the work I have ever done as a UX Researcher is NDAed & even if it wasn't I don't have access to it because it belongs to the company & isn't somewhere I can access

In 1982, synthesizer innovator Wendy Carlos (born on this day in 1939) got the opportunity to play in a giant sandbox, creating a combination orchestral/synth score for Disney’s big-budget adventure ‘Tron.’ Complications ensued. crookedmarquee.com/pixel-perfec...

#NZpol "Permanently scarring event" is the correct pitch. It's nothing less than that, this govt has utterly wrecked the place - and let's be honest, the scarring Ruthless Richardson undertook was *never* properly corrected, and this by the Luxon-led Govt builds on that hideously venal trajectory.

This game is excellent and it's currently free all week over on Epic. A faster-paced 4X with snappy real-time battles, a weird fantasy setting (no orcs or elves, just strange many-limbed gods and faceless people from the shadow-realm). Oh, and Hitoshi Sakimoto did the soundtrack. He of FF Tactics.

In Human Factors Psychology this is sometimes known as the "trust in automation" effect If you automate something then people learn to trust that automation and don't learn skills themselves (and why should they? It's automated!) This can reduce skill growth and engagement

This is why it is interesting to work in Games UX Research! Games can be challenging & make the player feel bad if that is the design intent (that the action is a skilled one with deep/meaningful growth) UX Research should support this design intent while also checking for unintended outcomes

If I go on LinkedIn and search for remote jobs in my area it is at least 80% "we will pay you to help train our AI to replace you and your expertise." Bleak.

perusing for a new phone case and just came across this incredible catbus/otto the bus driver combo case

In today’s NZ Herald

FYI when reporting salary information you should use the median not the average Averages get distorted by outliers way too easily in this kind of data

Rip and tear until it is done? No, shred and grind until it is fun, dude 🙂🤙

User experience is defined as "A person's perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service", which is an incredibly broad definition

We're having a sale! Get your first month of Aftermath for just $1. aftermath.site/aftermath-vide...

I Shibuya Punk'd the Lady of Pain. #dungeons&dragons #planescape

I am obviously years behind on this, but @friends-table.bsky.social Road to Pallisade Episode 16: Serious Reading its wonderful! Its funny, its fun, its terrifying in its accuracy Check it out! friendsatthetable.net/the-road-to-...

Oh cool Songs of Slience is free on the Epic Games Store at the moment. I have heard good things about it! Interested to give it a go store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/song...

I finished up Dispatch, which was a wonderful game, but it has me thinking about comparing players against each other, the benefits and downsides In Dispatch, much like in Telltale Games in the past, at the end of each episode your choices are compared against others

What's from Chicago, hates Illinois Nazis, and is holy as fuck? It's the Pope in 1982.

The latest update to my phone introduced a pop up offering to do AI writing for me that is showing up in various apps If I go to settings to turn it off I have to first accept the terms and conditions to turn it on If I don't accept the terms and conditions I can't turn it off... What?

Labour will repeal the Regulatory Standards bill.

A historic day for Victoria. Australia will see its first ever treaty with Aboriginal people signed and formalised as law today. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

SURPRISE! I had an idea on Tuesday for how to do the Perfect Space Marine RPG, so I wrote the Perfect Space Marine RPG. It's both a shitpost and a dead serious game. And it's, uh... 34,000 words long? Anyway enjoy!!! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Announcing: New @steampowered.com Hardware, coming in 2026: Steam Controller Steam Machine Steam Frame.  Watch our jazzy announcement video and wishlist now: steampowered.com/hardware

Teaching someone else something is a great way to learn. So how do you take advantage of this to improve your onboarding in your game? It isn't by asking other players to be teachers, at least not formally

Apocalypse World has had a bigger impact on my life than any other roleplaying game. It's just a phenomenal game, designed by phenomenal people. You should pick up a copy of the new edition!

I am not much for post apocalyptic games these days, but the Bakers could put out a new edition every year and I would buy it. Apocalypse World is responsible for fostering curiosity and inspiring confidence in so many designers. It helped build an era for games incredibly rich with creativity.

If almost 1000 episodes is too overwhelming for you, here's a free eBook about some of the main characters: www.patreon.com/posts/143391...

German court rules that OpenAI violated copyright laws by training ChatGPT on music 🎵 • May set precedent for Europe AI copyright uses • OpenAI disagrees & can appeal "The internet is not a self-service store, and human creative achievements are not free templates" — German Music Rights Society

My last word on the matter

Its annoying that the new version of Affinity doesn't update itself anymore. It just sends you to the webiste to download it and it doesn't even label the download as the new version number to give you confidence in what you are doing

The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

There are four things that I strongly believe about antisocial behaviour in games: #1: Anti-social behaviours are a problem in multiplayer games #2: Behaviour emerges from systemic interactions

I started with "Swollars" but now I usually just say "Gold" so the joke hits cleanly, but then people get mad that the economy doesn't align with DnD because they think I make a DnD comic

'So relieved': Gun control advocates on Arms Act rewrite

I love how the Nz police are trying to to pretend the problem is a couple of people. Like those men who were found innocent of assaulting louise nicholas but did jail time for assaulting other women. And the cops who covered it up. It’s a lot of individuals

6/ You can help us identify the rest. If you know about any of these individuals, please contact us directly so we can engage in a verification process.

credits that include the names of everyone who worked on the game at any point

I just updated my android phone and it disabled double tapping the power to turn the camera on (without telling me, I had to just find out). It now ONLY allows turning on double tapping a volume button instead. That is going to take some serious relearning.

🧵Once again, RNZ (and the Otago Daily Times, which used RNZ's story) name Tim Jago in a report on his latest court appearance on charges of indecent assault and NZME, Stuff and TVNZ don't. And yet ... www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Or, alternatively, we make tertiary education FREE ONCE MORE and cap fees while adequately funding tertiary providers. Just like NZ used to (until the wealthy boomer generation decided they didn't want to fund future generations from taxes like their parents did)

When designing team based multiplayer games consider creating mechanics where when one player does something awesome everyone on their team benefits! Ideally add synergistic mechanics that when one player takes action it provides power & opportunities for teammates to also take action

The question of asset sales seens to arise three or four years after tax cuts. 2010: tax cuts 2014: partial asset sale of powercos & AirNZ 2024: tax cuts 2026/27: asset sales? (If Nats win next year) The reason is blindingly obvious: tax cuts means less tax revenue.Nats have to make up shortfall.

I watched a clip of Brian Tamaki speaking at the Free Speech Unin AGM, some of the audience appaulded when he called for banning the burka, banning halal, and banning foreign religions. At the Free Speech meeting. The meeting for people who support Free Speech.