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wolfgabe.bsky.social
Those screaming about the recent changes to Mario Kart World would do well to read this article here

TLDR actual player data generally carries far more weight to the developers than the opinions of a bunch of angry youtubers or reddit dwellers.
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Post by @askagamedev · 4 images
💬 0  🔁 33  ❤️ 76 · Emotional Investment and the Vocal Minority · I got a pair of questions that seemed unrelated, but are actually caused by the same phenomena today. Since they are both pretty sho…
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June 26, 2025 at 4:56 PM
handle.invalid
For those who might be wondering “why ladders”? www.tumblr.com/askagamedev/...
Harder Than You Think: Ladders
Welcome to Harder Than You Think, a series about things that seem fairly easy to an outsider but can rapidly spiral into extremely complicated or expensive behaviors. Today, we’ll be talking about la…
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November 29, 2024 at 4:40 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Thoughts on the Bioware layoffs? (Spoiler: Not many studios get to survive three consecutive failures)

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Ask a Game Dev
Thoughts on the Bioware restructuration/lay-offs? I've long said that any AAA game studio, no matter how strong, is always 2-3 flops in a row away from closure. Bioware did very well with Inquisitio…
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January 31, 2025 at 5:06 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Does my experience doing localization/translation transfer toward being a narrative designer? (Spoiler: Yes!)

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Ask a Game Dev
Your recent reblog about game writing made me curious: how much would the skills of game TRANSLATION transfer to game WRITING. Because I'm already a translator in the games industry, and I feel like…
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January 30, 2025 at 5:01 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Requested Reblog: How do I become a narrative designer?

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Qualifications:
What advice do you have to someone who has several years of writing experience outside of video games (in my case, a combination of marketing, freelance tabletop RPG materials, and nonprofit grants),…
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January 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Why do some games have stealth minigames when they don't feel super good? (Spoiler: The point of minigames is to break up the core experience so you don't get fatigued, that's more important than being fun)

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Ask a Game Dev
Why are there games without dedicated stealth mechanics that put in random stealth sections? Theres a fair number of times those situations either lack tools for the player to properly plan their rou…
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January 28, 2025 at 5:08 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Busy Reblog: What's the difference between a "freeze", "soft lock", "stuck", and "broken"? (Spoiler: These words describe different states in the game where it cannot be played but with certain context)

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#1: Freeze or Hard Lock
How do developers handle the removal of softlocking (I.E. the player places themselves in an inescapable position where they cannot progress in the game or backtrack to escape their situation)? Is th…
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January 27, 2025 at 6:39 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Busy reblog: Do publishers have their own internal quality bar? (Spoiler: Yes)

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Ask a Game Dev
Do publishers have their own "quality control" standards? For example, do publishers have any "we will not release a game unless it meets X standard of quality based our own playtesters/etc" systems…
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January 24, 2025 at 5:07 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
What makes Ocarina of Time's Shadow Temple scary? (Spoiler: Music, gameplay, ambiance, the enemy abilities, and so on...)

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Ask a Game Dev
Why is the Shadow Temple scary? Not "why did Nintendo make this scary for kids". What put the fear in us? Why'd it put us on edge so bad despite Ocarina of Time not having the usual limitations of a…
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January 22, 2025 at 5:09 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Busy Reblog: What are common player requests that are actually not good for the game? (Spoiler: Permadeath is but one of many...)

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Permadeath
What are some of the most common suggestions you see from players that are also a colossally bad idea from a professional's perspective? Why yes, we would totally love to put in a feature that gener…
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January 21, 2025 at 5:05 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday Reblog: What does a senior position in the industry do? (Spoiler: They get more responsibility and scope for their work)

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Ask a Game Dev
What does a senior position in the industry do (like a senior producer)? The seniority of a position in general (not just in the gaming industry) is the amount of responsibility you can shoulder. Ge…
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January 20, 2025 at 5:33 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Is there a downside to the Early Access release model? (Spoiler: Yes)

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Ask a Game Dev
Is there a downside to the early access release model? Yes. The maximum interest in any game is going to be at its first major launch. All marketing and buildup will get the largest group of players…
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January 17, 2025 at 5:05 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
I was busy Reblog: Why do I sometimes feel good about seeing a bunch of new quests and sometimes feel overwhelmed seeing a bunch of new quests? (Spoiler: It's called "Cognitive Load")

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Ask a Game Dev
I've noticed that when I play open world games I can have wildly different emotional reactions to exploration. Like, a new quest hub opens up and sometimes I go "Oh nice, there's so much to do" and s…
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January 16, 2025 at 5:25 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
In a hypothetical world with more game consoles than the big three, do you think it would be better for gamers? (Spoiler: Having more platforms with more exclusive content doesn't do a lot when the total content pool remains the same)

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Ask a Game Dev
This is a hypothetical question, but do you think if there were more consoles on the market instead of the current big 3 we have today, do you think that would be more beneficial to the game industry…
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January 15, 2025 at 5:13 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
How do you do hard things? (Spoiler: You do what you can, don't get dissuaded by imperfect options)

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Ask a Game Dev
way more general but your post about "wants and shoulds" makes me ask: do you have any advice for learning how to do things that are hard? Asked another way, do you have any advice for how to embrace…
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January 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Are you contradicting yourself when you say that gamers should go try new games instead of complaining and getting angry? (Spoiler: No)

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Ask a Game Dev
You say that gamers should buy something else if they don't enjoy a series or franchise. But to me, this is contradicted by you also saying that gamers would rather get angry instead of leaving. I do…
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January 9, 2025 at 5:08 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
How easy is it to get back up to speed if you rejoin a studio? (Spoiler: Ramping up is a skill you will learn as you do more of it)

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Ask a Game Dev
When you go back to a previous work place. I know you said that getting rehired is relatively easy assuming you left on good terms. How easy is it to get back up to speed on the current project? I…
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January 8, 2025 at 5:08 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
How do you handle leaving a job you really like for a new opportunity? (Spoiler: Remind yourself that it's not forever, it's only for now. You can come back at higher pay with more responsibility)

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Ask a Game Dev
How do you handle leaving a job that you enjoy due to a new opportunity of a higher salary and title upgrade? I often read that you should separate personal from professional, but I really like my co…
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January 7, 2025 at 5:06 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
How do you deal with bugs that have bad descriptions and aren't consistently reproduceable? (Spoiler: First, production reviews the bug and gets expertise to help discern it. Then, you get someone to figure out what's actually causing it)

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Ask a Game Dev
re: bug fixing. How often do you receive reports that subjective, or incomplete? I worked at a studio where I would get assigned tasks like “actor look weird here” alongside an attached video capture…
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January 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: What's a non-technical skill that's critical for game dev? (Spoiler: Communication)

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Ask a Game Dev
As a AAA dev, what is a task *outside* of the actual game development that is underrated but super critical to your job? Beyond coding, arting, programming, modeling, and QA...ing. (Obviously aside f…
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January 3, 2025 at 5:51 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: What's an example of an early decision that caused all kinds of trouble later on? (Spoiler: Here's one from SWTOR)

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Ask a Game Dev
You talked about how making system with an edge case/additional functionality (namely the boss’ elite units acting as a unit with cover fire/focused targeting). Can you explain why it is harder/more…
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January 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: What are some problems with cutting content from the game to sell later? (Spoiler: Removing that content would also remove a bunch of context that needs to be rebuilt)

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Ask a Game Dev
Is it anyway possible for content being made from the base game to be cut by some outside reason then held back without any additional development work then be sold god-knows how long later down the…
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January 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: How do you evoke anger in a player without getting them angry at the game itself? (Spoiler: Give the players a target for their anger and release it in a satisfying way)

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Ask a Game Dev
How do you evoke the emotion of anger without making the player frustrated with a game? Strong emotional response is a key factor in player engagement in most cases (sadness/despair is the notable o…
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December 31, 2024 at 11:00 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: Things a dev will (probably) never say

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Things a Dev Will (Probably) Never Say
Whenever I look at any game’s online community, be it official forums, reddit, twitter, or some other form of social media, I’ll often see fans demanding the developers to tell them certain common th…
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December 30, 2024 at 5:53 PM
askagamedev.bsky.social
Holiday reblog: Why do some competitive games like call of duty have "win more" mechanics? (Spoiler: Winning more feels good, losing still feels the same)

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Ask a Game Dev
What is the benefit of mechanics that give the winning side advantages that help them win more, such as COD poweups? COD's Killstreak rewards are exciting, memorable, and (generally) difficult to ob…
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December 27, 2024 at 6:08 PM