The best way to illustrate Skotos ideology, processes, and experiences, is through our often humorous, but always informative articles.

Our StoryBuilder articles logically enough cover many topics of interest to StoryBuilders. Explore and enjoy.

• Biting the Hand Column...
  • What I Did on My Summer Vacation (4/24/2003) – #48: Jessica speaks up about the industry before taking a break from Biting the Hand.
  • The April Fools Spring Clean-Up (4/1/2003) – #47: Jessica takes a spring fresh look at the industry.
  • Reflections on a Recurring Theme (3/18/2003) – #46: Jessica discovers the value of questioning the veterans of the game industry.
  • I See in My Crystal Ball... (3/4/2003) – #45: Jessica scries the Land of Overhype for evidence of online game woes.
  • Dave and Ted (2/18/2003) – #44: Jessica throws down the ultimate "Great New Original Game" parody script.
  • The New Year Begins To Takes Shape For Me (1/28/2003) – #43: Jessica reflects on "risk taking" discussions and the glow of an upcoming book.
  • Taking Risks (1/21/2003) – #42: Jessica laments the static state of PC and console gaming.
  • Welcome Back (1/8/2003) – #41: Jessica begins the new year by cleaning up some items from last year.
  • Hey, Where Did These Guys Come From? (12/17/2002) – #40: Jessica takes a front-n-center look at the current crop of online games and industry projections.
  • Good Grief It's Nearly Gone (12/3/2002) – #39: Jessica looks back at the releases and trends in gaming during 2002.
  • Show Me the Path (11/19/2002) – #38: Jessica shows the path of designer driven storylines in persistent worlds.
  • Don't Tell Me a Story, Mommy (11/5/2002) – #37: Jessica shares some driving wisdom on storytelling in persistent worlds.
  • Online Console-ation Revisited (10/15/2002) – #36: Jessica gives us the then and now on online console gaming.
  • Three-Dot Issues (10/1/2002) – #35: Jessica fills us up on Chinese takeout, apples and fries.
  • Two Scoops of Gaming Goodness (9/17/2002) – #34: Jessica bites into the past with a little whine on the side.
  • Much Water Under the Bridge, Much Beer Over the Dam... (9/3/2002) – #33: Jessica gets verbose on the state of online gaming since 9-11.
  • It’s the Other Economy, Stupid! (8/20/2002) – #32: Jessica describes the complexities of gaming economies.
  • History Sucks (8/6/2002) – #31: Jessica laments past decisions by internet and online gaming industries.
  • Pet Peeves (7/23/2002) – #30: Jessica shares her pet peeves regarding the current gaming industry.
  • Here We Go Again... (7/9/2002) – #29: Jessica delves into the hot topic of fraudulent online item trading.
  • Playing the Game (6/25/2002) – #28: Jessica gives us a sneak peek at next-generation persistent worlds.
  • Happy 5^th Birthday, BTH (6/11/2002) – #27: Jessica celebrates 5 years of Biting the Hand.
  • E3 Musings (5/28/2002) – #26: Jessica shares her experiences from this year's E3 convention.
  • Do It For The Kids (5/14/2002) – #25: Jessica brings some sanity to the "gaming creates violent kids" issue.
  • Cosmic Encounters From the Old Days (4/30/2002) – #24: Jessica returns anew with games of old and things of new.
  • Catching Up (4/16/2002) – Jessica shares post-GDC 2002 impressions.
  • I 0Wn Y0u, d0Od! Part Deux (4/2/2002) – Jessica continues the debate around ownership in online games.
  • Pre-GDC Rants and Scandals (3/19/2002) – Jessica has some rants and scandals to share before racing off to GDC '02.
  • Anticipation (3/5/2002) – Jessica looks under the gaming hood while the industry revs up for 2002 developments.
  • I 0Wn Y0o, d00d (2/19/2002) – Jessica delves into the notions of item ownership in MMORPGs.
  • Newsy Stuff (2/5/2002) – Jessica looks at gaming history, trends and noteworthy news.
  • Talkin’ ‘bout My… Generation (1/22/2002) – Jessica gets generational about MMOGs.
  • The Passion Play (1/8/2002) – Jessica shares a gamer's passion for want of good game design.
  • The Last of the Year (12/18/2001) – Jessica reflects on the past year and its impact on gaming.
  • Shifting Sands (12/4/2001) – Jessica ponders what the first true gamer generation might mean to us all.
  • Catching Up (11/20/2001) – Jessica collects a bucket full of news and insight up after being away.
  • That Darned PvP Stuff Again (10/24/2001) – Jessica dispells the myths about PvP.
  • Random Thoughts (10/9/2001) – Jessica illuminates us about Lum the Mad's disappearance.
  • Scratch 'n Sniff (9/25/2001) – Jessica sprays some air freshener on the fetid odor of unreality.
  • The Case For Art (9/11/2001) – Jessica opens the podium to Raph Koster for debate and industry insight.
  • You Said A Mouthful (8/28/2001) – Online gaming has a vocabulary all its own.
  • Just Give Me a Game, Please (8/14/2001) – Art vs. Entertainment in online game design.
  • Bonk! Bonk! On the Head, Bonk! Bonk! (7/31/2001) – Finding the balance between Developers, Publishers, & Players.
  • "Potlatch" Responses: The Other Views (7/17/2001) – Jessica gets a pound of criticism and a ton of debate.
  • Odd Bits & Pieces (7/3/2001) – Magazines, Microsoft & the future of the market.
  • The Launch Pad is Ready... For Testing (6/19/2001) – The importance of product testing in online games.
  • Potlatching Your Way to Riches (6/5/2001) – Conflict of interest in the game industry?
  • Mass Hysteria (5/22/2001) – Jessica Mulligan brings her venerable series to Skotos.
• Building Stories, Telling Games Column...
  • Monsters, Part 2 (12/23/2003) – #68: Lost for months, Travis' final article on monsters rises from its lair.
  • Monsters (or, Dragons and Orcs and Unicorns, Oh My!) (9/12/2003) – #67: What's the purpose of monsters? Travis explains.
  • Roleplaying and Combat: Events and Choices (8/29/2003) – #66: Travis plunges into the realm of roleplay during action sequences.
  • Combat, Part 7: Breaking away from D&D-style combat (8/15/2003) – #65: Travis volleys some alternatives to traditional FRPG-style combat.
  • Combat, Part 6: Battle Stances (8/1/2003) – #64: Travis digs in for some head-to-head combat interface ideas.
  • Combat, Part 5: Combat Systems as User Interface (7/18/2003) – #63: Travis explores ways to simplify complex combat systems.
  • Combat, Part 4: Kinds of Fighting (7/4/2003) – #62: Travis locks on to the objectives of game combat and its different modes.
  • Combat, Part 3: Notes From the Real World (6/20/2003) – #61: Travis throws down some solid combat mechanic advice.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 16: Combat as Conflict (6/6/2003) – #60: Travis focuses on the sub-game aspects of a good conflict system.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 15: Combat Systems (5/23/2003) – #59: Travis fires some whys and whats of combat mechanics at us.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 14: Yes, We're Still on Personality (5/9/2003) – #58: Travis dabbles in the useful mechanics of personality in roleplaying.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 13: I've Got Personality! (4/11/2003) – #57: Travis reflects on the mechanics behind character personalities.
  • Interlude: Showing Not Telling & Encouraging RP (4/4/2003) – #56: Travis presents ways of showing background material within a game.
  • Interlude: Moments of Character (3/14/2003) – #55: Travis switches gears and expounds on the importance of characterization.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 12: Where Did I Go Wrong? (3/3/2003) – #54: Travis compares staged resolution systems for determining failure.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 11: Systems, Time, and Steps (2/14/2003) – #53: Travis delves into alternate approaches to task/step resolution.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 10: Systems (1/31/2003) – #52: Travis dabbles in the approaches and complexities of combat systems.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 9: Resolution and Representation (1/20/2003) – #51: Travis continues to explore game mechanics, this time focusing on interpreting results.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 8: Oddball Resolution Systems (1/3/2003) – #50: Travis describes some of the more unusual methods of resolution.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 7: Resolution Mechanics (12/23/2002) – #49: Travis compares the two prominent resolution systems from pen-n-paper RPGs.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 6: Scales and Resolution (12/6/2002) – #48: Travis returns with revelations on numeric scales.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 5: Numbers and Not Numbers (11/27/2002) – #47: Travis explores alternate game mechanic approaches.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 4: More Than Numbers (11/8/2002) – #46: Travis shares non-numerical ways to describe characters in gaming.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 3: Characters and Resolution (10/25/2002) – #45: Travis talks about action resolution in roleplaying.
  • Thinking Mechanically, Part 2: RPG design in theory and practice (10/11/2002) – #44: Travis compares the pros and cons of paper RPGs as online RPG systems.
  • Thinking Mechanically (9/27/2002) – #43: Travis opens a new series on RPG rules and mechanics, with paper RPGs as a source.
  • Don't Look Too Closely, Part 3 (9/20/2002) – #42: Travis ends his Don't Look Too Closely series with a talk on realism.
  • Don't Look Too Closely, Part 2 (8/30/2002) – #41: Travis continues his foray into the fantastical.
  • Don't Look Too Closely (8/18/2002) – #40: Travis looks at suspension of disbelief in gaming.
  • Building A Character, Part 2 (8/2/2002) – #39: Travis continues his suggestions on character creation.
  • Building A Character (7/19/2002) – #38: Travis dives into well realized characters.
  • Suspense, Conspiracy, and Closing Thoughts on Genres (7/5/2002) – #37: Travis shares some final thoughts on his Genres series.
  • Exploring Genres — Mystery and Suspense (6/21/2002) – #36: Travis dims the lights for a bit of suspense.
  • Exploring Genres — Romance (6/10/2002) – #35: Travis dives into the genre of Arthurian Romance.
  • Exploring Genres — There's Something Funny Going on Here (5/24/2002) – #34: Travis plunges into the meat and potatoes of setting up comedy.
  • Exploring Genres — Serious Talk About Comedy (5/10/2002) – #33: Travis explains why comedy isn't commonly an RPG genre.
  • Interlude: Metagenres & Stances (4/26/2002) – #32: Travis addresses larger genre concepts and classifications.
  • Exploring Genres: Horror, Part 2 – Fear Itself (4/12/2002) – #31: Travis taps into our subconscious fears.
  • Exploring Genres: Horror (3/29/2002) – #30: Travis delves into the creepier genre.
  • Exploring Genres: Science Fiction vs. Science Fantasy (3/15/2002) – #29: Travis enlightens us about grav plates vs. velcro boots.
  • Exploring Genres: Science Fiction (3/4/2002) – #28: Travis explores the endless possibilities of sci-fi.
  • Interlude: Story Now! (2/15/2002) – #27: Building plots through important conflict.
  • Exploring Genres: Fantasy, part 3 (2/1/2002) – #26: Travis addresses the problems and solutions for fantasy subgenres.
  • Exploring Genres: Fantasy, part 2 (1/18/2002) – #25: Travis ventures further into subgenres of fantasy.
  • Genres - Fantasy (1/4/2002) – #24: Travis explores the realms of the fantasy genre.
  • Exploring Genres: Part 1 (12/14/2001) – #23: Travis opens a portal to genres in gaming.
  • Dirty Words, Part 7 – Balance (11/30/2001) – #22: Travis tips the scales on the notions of game balance.
  • Dirty Words, Part 6 – Roleplaying (11/16/2001) – #21: Travis asks if "thou art a roleplayer" or "are you a role-player."
  • Dirty Words, Part 5 – Of PK and Grief Players (11/2/2001) – #20: Travis puts the magnifying glass on Grief Players.
  • Dirty Words, Part 4 – PK (10/19/2001) – #19: Travis explores the rationale behind Player Killing.
  • Dirty Words, Part 3 – Keepin' it Real (10/5/2001) – #18: Travis asks, "Are you afraid of some realism in your games?"
  • Dirty Words, Part 2: The Plot Thickens (9/21/2001) – #17: Travis delves into what helps keep players happy, but still moves a plot forward.
  • Dirty Words, Part 1: Plot (9/7/2001) – #16: Travis explores long-term plot design.
  • What's Entertainment? (8/24/2001) – #15: Travis counters with his take on Art vs. Entertainment in online games.
  • Stranger Than Fiction (8/10/2001) – #14: From the dusty tomes of history, Travis calls forth inspiration.
  • I'm Not Superstitious (7/27/2001) – #13: The many approaches to magic in role-playing.
  • The Fourth Block (7/13/2001) – #12: And the essential ingredient is... community!
  • Darkest Villainry (6/29/2001) – #11: More thoughts about villains in online games.
  • Building Blocks, Part 4: System (6/15/2001) – #10: Eight rules for building a game system.
  • Building Blocks, Part 3: Setting (6/1/2001) – #9: Suggesting ideas for scenarios.
  • Building Blocks, Part 2: Scenarios (5/21/2001) – #8: Preparing plots for online games.
  • The Building Blocks of RPGs, Part 1: Theoretical Bases (5/4/2001) – #7: Definitions and classifications for creating games.
  • Everything I Know, I Learned From My Players (4/20/2001) – #6: Listening to characters in online games.
  • Cliché Patterns (4/6/2001) – #5: Kingdom of elves, warrior's guilds, and dog-people in game worlds.
  • The Thing in Itself, Part 2 (3/23/2001) – #4: A discussion of the differences between text adventures and multiplayer games.
  • The Thing In Itself (3/9/2001) – #3: What are the differences between paper and computer RPGs?
  • Development (2/23/2001) – #2: The next step. How to build your great ideas into a game.
  • Ideas (2/9/2001) – #1: Travis S. Casey asks "Where Do You Get Your Ideas?" in this new biweekly column.
• The Bulk System - A technical summary detailing how weight, mass, and bulk work in the Skotos StoryBuilder Server. Or, in other words, why an aardvark won't fit into a bread box.
• The Elements of Good Storytelling Series...
  • Imagining Backstory – The 5th in a series of instructional articles, by Kimberly Appelcline, focusing on the importance of backstory for rich storytelling.
  • Plot Strategies – The 4th in a series of instructional articles by Kimberly Appelcline; this article focuses on approaches to plot development to achieve a desired impact.
  • Writing Dynamic Settings – The 3rd in a series of instructional articles by Kimberly Appelcline; this article focuses on creating enticing, rich settings worthy of exploration.
  • Creating Vivid Characters – The 2nd in a series of instructional articles by Kimberly Appelcline; this article focuses on making distinctive and absorbing characters.
  • The Elements of Good Storytelling – The 1st in a series of instructional articles by Kimberly Appelcline; this article focuses on storytelling elements that help captivate and motivate.
• An Introduction to World Building – #24: Three approaches to the topic of world building.
• The Root of All Evil – #23: The need for innovation in MMORPG design; and, how money and demos drive the dev process.
• You Keep A'Knocking – #22: Dave predicts the future of online games.
• Golden Ghetto – #21: Geek culture is mainstream. (Or: Why keeping MMORPGs in the Golden Ghetto of Fantasy & SF isn't a problem.)
• The Rules – #20: From E3 to the rules of MMOG development.
• Fun-damentals – #19: The sources of fun: sex, violence ... and other pre-civilization roots.
• Sympathetic Fallacies – #18: The necessity of stories in our world, and the failure of the same in online games.
• Pareto Optimism – #17: Is it just for 20% of the players to reap 80% of the reward? A discourse on fariness in online games.
• What a Difference a Year Makes – #16: On the eve of another GDC, Dave considers neuropsychology and action-reward structures in online games.
• Was That a Bubbling Burst I Heard? – #15: Irrational exuberance becomes irrational pessimism. Dave discusses the downswing in new MMORPGs.
• What's So Great About Realism? – #14: How neuropsychology explains "fun" in games.
• Plan Your Fight – #13: Explaining and defining beta releases for MMORPGs.
• Nuts and Bolts – #12: Creating new games without reinventing the wheel.
• Pursuit of Knowledge – #11: How the quest to make better games could set off an academic firestorm.
• Render Unto Caesar – #10: How economics in virtual worlds already impact our reality.
• Age of Discouragement? – #9: Has the MMORPG market flatlined, or is the best still ahead?
• The Evocation System - How do you express yourself in an online game?
• In the Trenches Column...
  • In One Page Or Less: Setting (6/14/2002) – #11: Laurel cuts to the quick of setting creation.
  • Storybuilding Quickstart (6/7/2002) – #10: Laurel gives us a cheatsheet for StoryBuilding.
  • What's What 1: Eat, Drink and Play Merry (5/20/2002) – #9: Laurel shows us the structure of incredible edible food objects.
  • Making "Stuff" (5/3/2002) – #8: Laurel digs into the nuances of making stuff.
  • Be A God With Me (4/5/2002) – #7: Laurel encourages S7 developers to step forward.
  • An Example Room (3/22/2002) – #6: Laurel provides a real room building example.
  • Community Building (3/8/2002) – #5: Laurel's first foray into StoryBuilding goes splendidly.
  • Room Building: A 13-Step Program (2/22/2002) – #4: Laurel offers up an easy method for room building.
  • Room Attributes (2/8/2002) – #3: What's in a room? Let me count the attributes.
  • Do You Have What You Need? (1/25/2002) – #2: Laurel examines the needs of a StoryBuilder.
  • Becoming A Storybuilding Success (1/7/2002) – #1: Laurel joins the fray with storybuilding advice.
• Notes from the Dawn of Time Column...
  • Hand-Carved Quests Revisited (12/18/2002) – #34: Richard concludes his quest series with advice on homegrown additions to a quest system. (last in series)
  • Spawning (12/4/2002) – #33: Richard demystifies on-the-fly content generation.
  • Questions and Answers (11/20/2002) – #32: Richard provides Q&A examples of reasoning.
  • Ways to Look at Plans: Part 2 (11/6/2002) – #31: Richard jumps right into where the planning left off.
  • Ways to Look at Plans: Part 1 (10/23/2002) – #30: Richard illustrates the planning of quest generation.
  • Planning and Quest Generation (10/10/2002) – #29: Richard shows how sentient-presenting mobiles can have goals and achieve them.
  • Problems with Planning (9/25/2002) – #28: Richard reveals the bumps in the road to planning.
  • How a Planning Engine Works (9/11/2002) – #27: Richard lays the groundwork for a good planning engine.
  • Quests (8/28/2002) – #26: Richard explains the ins and outs of computer generated quests.
  • Why Plan? (8/14/2002) – #25: Richard outlines the logic of planning mobile AI.
  • Introduction to Planning (7/31/2002) – #24: Richard describes the key to data planning.
  • Mobile AI (7/17/2002) – #23: Richard begins a new topic on mobile, smart objects.
  • A Complete Example (7/3/2002) – #22: Richard spills the beans through example.
  • Lightening the Load (6/19/2002) – #21: Richard reveals ways to keep the binder lean and mean.
  • Binding Noun Phrases (6/12/2002) – #20: Richard gets into kinky noun binding.
  • The Binder (5/29/2002) – #19: Richard explains the final phase of parsing.
  • The Parse Tree (5/8/2002) – #18: Richard shows us the branches of the Parse Tree.
  • Token Stream Management (4/24/2002) – #17: Richard uncorks token streams.
  • Backtracking that Works (4/10/2002) – #16: Richard breathes new life to backtracking.
  • Backtracking (3/27/2002) – #15: Richard explains how to keep a parser from going astray.
  • Algorithms for Parsing (3/13/2002) – #14: Richard demystifies parser creation.
  • Parsing (2/27/2002) – #13: Richard explains how to parse input into bite-sized chunks.
  • Grammar (2/13/2002) – #12: How do you parse an English sentence?
  • Lexical Analysis (1/30/2002) – #11: Richard discusses how pre-processing command-line input works.
  • The Stages of Parsing (1/16/2002) – #10: Richard breaks the stages of parsing down.
  • Introduction to Parsing (1/2/2002) – #9: Richard begins a new vein on the command parser.
  • Inheritance Coda (12/12/2001) – #8: Richard shares some key pearls of wisdom on inheritance.
  • Matching (11/28/2001) – #7: Richard continues his discussion on inheritance.
  • The Function Hierarchy (11/14/2001) – #6: Richard puts the function into hierarchy.
  • The Tragedy of Objects (10/31/2001) – #5: Richard presents the flaws in Object-Oriented Programming.
  • Efficiency of Inheritance (10/17/2001) – #4: Richard explains the problems of efficiency in multiple inheritance.
  • Complicated Inheritance (10/3/2001) – #3: Richard opens the flood gates and explores complex inheritance in game design.
  • Simple Inheritance (9/20/2001) – #2: Richard discusses the value of inheritance in MUDs.
  • Introduction (9/5/2001) – #1: Richard Bartle steps up and takes a bow.
• Playing with History Column...
  • The Great Figures of Historical Gaming (2/11/2003) – #19: How to introduce major historical figures into your game--and why not to.
  • Theocracy 101 (1/14/2004) – #18: Religious rulerships in RPGs.
  • The Peculiarities of Language (11/12/2003) – #17: The importance of language to culture and history.
  • Sensitivities & Perception – #16: Controversy and education in historical games.
  • Artisans in Historical Fiction II: Jewellery & Weaponry – #15: Michael looks at metal-workers in history.
  • Artisans in Historical Fiction I: Clothing & Furniture (8/21/2003) – #14: Michael dons some new threads for a discussion on props.
  • History in the Industry (8/6/2003) – #13: Michael finds history sparse at GenCon 2003 & shares some alternate history ideas.
  • When the Nile meets the Balance (7/9/2003) – #12: Michael looks at balance from another angle for Glory of the Nile.
  • Settings, Part III: The French Revolution (6/25/2003) – #11: Michael takes aim at revolutionary game settings.
  • Settings, Part II: The Cold War (6/11/2003) – #10: Michael counter-strikes with a setting of posturing, fear and control.
  • Settings, Part I: Westerns (5/28/2003) – #9: Michael traverses the American south-west for game setting ideas.
  • And Justice for Some (5/14/2003) – #8: Michael looks at crimes and punishments in historical settings.
  • Death and Beyond (4/30/2003) – #7: Michael peers into the afterlife in historical gaming.
  • Winning and Losing (4/16/2003) – #6: Michael addresses the concepts of winning in historical games.
  • Social Class (4/2/2003) – #5: Michael examines the role of social class archetypes in gaming.
  • Anachronisms, Part II: Good Government (3/19/2003) – #4: Michael heralds good governmental systems in gaming.
  • Anachronisms, Part I: Gender Games (3/5/2003) – #3: Michael emphasizes the importance of gender equality in historical settings.
  • I believe in yesterday... (2/19/2003) – #2: Michael dabbles in the past with mythology and its historical value.
  • Games without Frontiers (2/5/2003) – #1: Michael introduces his new column and the challenges of the historical fiction genre.
• The Proximity System - A technical summary detailing how the Skotos StoryBuilder Server models a sense of place within its rooms.
• Death and Taxes – #42: Using game systems to reduce out-of-band trading.
• Archives and Information – #41: Using credentials in the next generation of MMORPGs.
• Fortune Telling – #40: Looking at the present and future of online property & currency exchanges.
• Consequences and Death – #39: Death, or the lack thereof, in online games.
• What Went Wrong – #38: A discussion of one Skotos 7 game and where it went wrong.
• Filling the Sandbox – #37: How to fill a game with content. The answer is players.
• Cliché Practicality – #36: Why do all the popular MMORPGs include elves, scantily clad women, and rats?
• Order and Planning – #35: Planning as the foundation of any online game design.
• The Wheel – #34: Programming games: when to reinvent the wheel ... and when not to.
• Endurance – #33: How the Roguelike games have survived the test of time: a discussion of virtues.
• Captive Audience – #32: Take their eyes and don't give them back. (How to hold on to your gaming audience.)
• Depreciation of Character – #31: A fate worse than death in MORPGs.
• Law and Order – #30: A discussion of PKers and Grief Players in online games.
• Splinter Bonding – #29: Solutions for splintering your online player base.
• Keeping it Together – #28: How your community can divide itself in a MMOG.
• Tantalizing Choices – #27: How balanced rewards can overcome mathematics.
• Simple Arithmetic – #26: How game complexity in RPGs almost always involves mathematics.
• Apt Rewards – #25: How to match multiple definitions of success.
• Challenge and Reward – #24: Choosing challenges for online games.
• Case for Simplicity? – #23: What complexity actually makes games better?
• A Case for Complexity? – #22: A player suggests problems with MMOG play.
• Choice or Lack Thereof – #21: Multiple paths to victory or unnecessary content?
• Literally, Your Two Cents – #20: How big must a MMORPG be to work?
• The Competition – #19: What's needed to make the next generation of MMORPGs successful?
• Anatomy of a Game: The MTV Challenges – #182: Evolving voting design in The Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
• Anatomy of a Game: The Amazing Race – #181: Examing the game design of television's The Amazing Race.
• Collective Choice: Competitive Rankings – #180: An overview of ranking systems used for competition, from ELO to tourneys and thresholds.
• Collective Choice: Ratings – #179: Looking at ratings systems, beginning with where eBay went wrong.
• Collective Choice: An Introduction – #178: An intro to collective choice, including voting, ranking, rating, polling, and more.
• How to Cheat at Online Games, Part Two – #177: The difference between what players see as cheating and what administrators do. And, how to better define these.
• Online Games & The Law: More Latest Cases – #176: Storyline patents, indexing infringement, and contributory infringement.
• Skinner Boxes & Socializer Gameplay – #175: A discussion of operant conditioning, Skinner Boxes, and other sciences underlying online gameplay.
• On Blogs: The Ascendance of the Form – #174: How blogs are causing problems for article sites on the Internet, such as this one.
• Another Postcard from Indianapolis – #173: Thoughts and Pics from Skotos at GenCon
• Balance & Consistency in Game Design – #172: How a CCG game design can illuminate the need for balance & consistency in online games.
• The Elements of Good ScaryTelling: The Horror Within – #171: How good horror contrasts the terrible with the mundane.
• Creativity & The Creative Commons – #170: A discussion of the Creative Commons licenses, joint creativity, and how we've put our comic where our mouth is.
• Mixing Mediums: An Overview – #169: About the Castle Marrach comic, and how mixing mediums can strengthen a creative work.
• Online Games & The Law, Part Four: Community Rules – #168: What you should be aware of, legally, when you create an online community.
• It's All in Your Point of View – #167: How the storytelling technique of point of view can influence online game design.
• Postcard from San Francisco: GDC & Innovation – #166: A look at GDC '05, and the topic of innovation in game design.
• A Theory of Game: Psychology & The Prisoner's Dilemma – #165: Discussing four variants of the Prisoner's Dilemma, and how abstract game theory can impact real game design.
• Online Games & The Law: The Latest Cases – #164: An update on recent cases affecting the game industry, including Cryptic, Hasbro, and Apple.
• Social Software & Gaming: User Content – #163: Looking at the field of Social Software when thinking about user content in online games.
• Strategic Insights: Majority Control – #162: An overview of how majority-control strategy games are put together.
• Designing Strategy: The Auction Grand Unification Theory – #161: How Risk, El Grande, and Hearts are all auction games.
• The Power of Enthusiasm – #160: How enthusiasm is the most important resource in any business venture.
• Communities & Online Games – #159: A discussion fo the ways to create community in online games (and the importance thereof)
• Game Lengths – #158: Considering the different lengths possible for online games.
• Licensed Games & Novelistic Worlds – #157: A look at the plotting problems caused by making games in licensed worlds.
• Tabletop Problems, Online Solutions – #156: Tabletop, Analysis Paralysis, and Kingmaking in Online Games
• Strategic Insights: Bluffing Games – #155: An overview of ways to bluff in strategy games.
• Strategic Insights: Connection Games – #154: An overview and glossary for connection-based games: railroad games, pipe games, and more.
• Mechanics & Theme – #153: Two ways to design games: from top-down themes and from bottom-up mechanics.
• Some Thoughts on Artificial Intelligence – #152: Expert rules, cheating AI, and organic ideas: a look at gaming & machine intelligence.
• Transcreation – #151: Building new stories on top of classic plots and characters.
• Strategy & Tactics – #150: Defining strategy, tactics, and their use in online games.
• It's Not Fair! – #149: How to achieve fairness in games of all sorts (and what to avoid).
• Online Games & The Law, Part Three: Patents, Trade Secrets & Licenses – #148: Finishing off the discussion of IP with a look at patents and trade secrets.
• Online Games & The Law, Part Two: Copyleft & Trademark – #147: Discussing the open source movement, trademark law, and their connections to online games.
• Online Games & The Law, Part One: IP & Copyright – #146: A broad discussion of how copyright work and what you need to know.
• How to Cheat at Online Games – #145: A summary of top methods for cheating in online games--and how game designers can avoid them.
• Strategic Insights: Auction Games – #144: An overview of how auction games work, and a discussion of what makes them work well.
• If You Build It They Might Come: Critical Mass & Other User Buzzwords – #143: How the science of growth will impact your online game's user community.
• The Disconnect Dilemma – #142: Solutions for when players bail out of a game.
• User Interfaces – #141: An important, but overlooked, aspect of program design.
• Guns & Flaws – #140: Admitting your flaws, but sticking to your guns in game design.
• A Brief History of Game, Part Eight: Forging Partnerships – #139: Looking back at Skotos in 2003.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part Three: Cooperation & Freeform – #138: Improving social interactions through cooperation and freeforming.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part Two: Competition – #137: How to improve competitive interaction in multiplayer online games.
• Social Gaming Interactions, Part One: A History of Form – #136: On the limits of social gaming interaction, and how they can be expanded.
• Anatomy of a Game: Survivor Twists – #135: How twists in the game of Survivor show that "the game is what the game is"
• A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Three – #134: Concluding up a history of roleplaying design with a look at storytelling games.
• Anatomy of a Game: Big Brother – #133: Game design of a reality TV show? Seriously.
• A Brief History of Roleplaying, Part Two – #132: The history of RP continues, with a look at task resolution, character models, and character advancement.
• Weaving Storylines Column...
  • Living NPCs, Part Two (6/18/2002) – #2: Amanda gets to the root of creating rich NPCs.
  • Inaugural Column (6/3/2002) – #1: Amanda Celly starts her new staff column with an NPC focus.
• XML: The Core of the Skotos StoryBuilder Server – Discover the power of XML and how integral it is to the Skotos StoryBuilder Server.