Raph Koster

Today I came across a project that rebuilt all of Tatooine from SWG in VRChat, and another that is recreating all of UO as a Valheim mod. Kind of wild to see.

I still think of those as mastery, just more in the psychology and mutual understanding vein. We’ve all known players who are really good at “what will make this particular person laugh” for example.

My obsession for a decade: Parts of games are real, not fiction.

Like, you are not really becoming a powerful knight when you gain a virtual level. That's fiction, fantasy.

But you DO gain real skills. In manipulating buttons, game tactics etc.

In multiplayer games, the friendships are real.

Playing with “game” The world is full of systems. Often they exist below the threshold of what we perceive. It’s all a whirling clockwork of near-infinite complexity, from the tiny mysteries of quantum physics t…

I just shared this in a different thread, but it covers a lot of why I think it has a lot of nuance. What’s silly imho is using definitional stuff to exclude as opposed to using it to help communicate, analyze and come to personal understandings. www.raphkoster.com/2013/04/16/p...

*shrug* I don’t think it is, it’s a pretty nuanced issue.

Am about to start a 2.5hr drive so can’t provide more links just now, apologies

Playing with “game” The world is full of systems. Often they exist below the threshold of what we perceive. It’s all a whirling clockwork of near-infinite complexity, from the tiny mysteries of quantum physics t…

Many! :D My blog is full of them! maybe best overview of my current take is www.raphkoster.com/2013/04/16/p... but there are also others across the site inc in presentations section

We might run afoul of semantics right off the bat. :D I don’t think fun is what makes games noteworthy and I think we find fun in all sorts of things inc narrative and more.

What makes them noteworthy imho is their systemic nature, which is a structural quality different from other media

I think you completely misunderstood my work :D

YouTube video by Raph Koster Digital Bards: Interactive Media and the Evolution of Storytelling

FWIW the last big thing I tossed out in this debate was pretty nuanced but also like 90m long. I wish more story ppl had reacted to it.

youtu.be/U_93O3_g9Yc?...

Also there is (speaking personally from the systems side) a feeling of “but this other part, the systems stuff, is so so important, and it’s unique to games and books and movies don’t do it well.” There is still, by volume, so little out there on deep analysis of systems.

The disagreement is usually hugely reductionist once it’s on social media.

If it gets framed as “games are generally not as suited to telling stories in the ways that books and movies have traditionally told stories, but better at storytelling in a different modality” ppl just get bored. :D

Recommended posts, 2017-2025 It's been over five years since the last time I gathered up recommended posts in one place and added them to the menu above. I figured I was due. As usual this will include talks and interviews as well as articles. Just think of it as "my take on what the best stuff to look at on the site is."

Recommended posts, 2017-2025

It's been over five years since the last time I gathered up recommended posts in one place and added them to the menu above. I figured I was due. As usual this will include talks and interviews as well as articles. Just think of it as "my take on what the best stuff to…

Looking back at a pandemic simulator It's been six years now since the early days of the Covid pandemic. People who were paying super close attention started hearing rumors about something going on in China towards the end of 2019 -- my earliest posts about it on Facebook were from November that year. Even at the time, people were utterly clueless about the mathematics of how a highly infectious virus spread.

I never posted widely about the public health simulator design I wrote as Covid was shutting down the world. Until now.

Today we reveal our Stars Reach development roadmap. More than a timeline, this is a full-featured living document. Click on individual cards for more information. Watch as cards move between categories as development progresses. We want your feedback. starsreach.com/roadmap/

This update went in today. Can't wait to see what people do...

Stars Reach’s latest patch adds Star Wars Galaxies-esque player cities to the alpha

Stars Reach’s latest patch adds Star Wars Galaxies-esque player cities to the alpha

YouTube video by Stars Reach The Servitors - 🧪 Stars Reach Lab #004

In Stars Reach, every action or interaction with the planet affects its environment, fauna, flora, and players who play and live in it. But not everybody likes what you do…

youtu.be/nq92JvBVmoM

I was gonna say, Cara has done this. For more than an hour, iirc! :D

Time for the annual rewatch of the @raphkoster.bsky.social gdc talk on creativity
🎲✂️

This is unexpected. Not one, but three versions, and of course I am far from the only author whose quotes are for sale on canvas prints. Looks like three different manufacturers, and no, I do not get a cut. Fair use, I assume :D

Oh hi! Was glad to see comics again lately!

YouTube video by Blade Spirit 🌎I PLAYED GEOGUESSR... BUT IT'S IN ULTIMA ONLINE!!! #nostalgia #mmorpg

Haha, playing Geoguessr in UO. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG1I...

Digital Bards: Interactive Media and the Evolution of Storytelling This was a talk given as a Distinguished Speaker at the University of Alabama Huntsville in October of 2016. Digital Bards: Interactive Media and the Evolution of Storytelling Print media was itsel…

Ah yeah. I call the invention of TTRPGs the most important thing to happen in literature since the printing press. :)

You might like www.raphkoster.com/games/presen... though it is not about practical advice.

It should apply to all sorts of games! Tabletop, sports, party games, etc. Some parts are more relevant to one kind than another though. For example, “juice” is very different for tabletop vs digital, but still applies.

Hey, it's been a while!

It's around thirty years of piled up research, experimentation, practice, and study, just very very very distilled. :)

Just bear in mind, I didn't say it was EASY. :D

Thanks. :) I have been on the front page a dozen times or so in the past, but it is always a bit of a thrill!

Well, this landed on the front page of Hacker News! news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4584...