http://radoff.com/blog/2008/09/25/social-media-games-and-mining-microblog-conversations/ Swashbuckler, adventurer, slayer of dragons, commando, storyteller, Internet entrepreneur; explorer of rabbit holes Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:48:26 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://radoff.com/blog/2008/09/25/social-media-games-and-mining-microblog-conversations/comment-page-1/#comment-713 ggrvv Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:27:07 +0000 http://radoff.com/blog/?p=35#comment-713 When a person makes a website, it's imperative for the design to portray its master entity. The interface comments microblogged from twitter (are awesome but) don't hit the nail on the head- of course people agree on wanting a clear interface. Complicated designs and unclear designs just need a better interface designer, but if the main site or game were developed correctly, people figure it out eventually. Look at facebook, they're still clarifying their interface. I think the main thing website designers should share with game designers is designing the goal: like getting people to login together. The World of Warcraft subpages don't show off the in-game GUI at all- they promote the fact that you can build up a character exactly how you want and be social to any extent you choose. In this fashion, the website design is successful. It doesn't matter how much decoration is on the top banner or how well it matches the in game interface. To have a community-strong website takeoff, the interface has to drive them towards the goal, not necessarily visually please them. Gamers (to horrendously simplifiy) want some kind of narrative experience or tournament action. MMOG or internet sites that allow single-player narrative and tournament mentality to cross pollinate are, in my opinion, the most viral aspect of gaming. When a person makes a website, it’s imperative for the design to portray its master entity. The interface comments microblogged from twitter (are awesome but) don’t hit the nail on the head- of course people agree on wanting a clear interface. Complicated designs and unclear designs just need a better interface designer, but if the main site or game were developed correctly, people figure it out eventually. Look at facebook, they’re still clarifying their interface. I think the main thing website designers should share with game designers is designing the goal: like getting people to login together. The World of Warcraft subpages don’t show off the in-game GUI at all- they promote the fact that you can build up a character exactly how you want and be social to any extent you choose. In this fashion, the website design is successful. It doesn’t matter how much decoration is on the top banner or how well it matches the in game interface. To have a community-strong website takeoff, the interface has to drive them towards the goal, not necessarily visually please them. Gamers (to horrendously simplifiy) want some kind of narrative experience or tournament action. MMOG or internet sites that allow single-player narrative and tournament mentality to cross pollinate are, in my opinion, the most viral aspect of gaming.

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