Daniel Cook

It took 6 years before this quality of life content authoring request came in: "Minor: Add a Variable Equals comparison mode" Previously we've only had >=, or <. #ProfessionalGameDevelopment

I keep thinking about this picture. Tannenwald, Gustav Klimt 1902 https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71MKe%2BMIK-L._AC_SL1000_.jpg …

Every game project is a weird house you move into and nothing makes sense for the first 6 months. "Why are the stairs here?!" "I can't find the kitchen."

And as designers of Stuff that we send out into the world, we might also consider the total footprint on lives, not just the selling price. What is the total burden of each item we sell? What is the total benefit? What is the limited budget we eat into? Is this thing worth it?

I do like to imagine that we have the ability to create our own value equation when it comes to living with our Stuff. That a smart, thoughtful person could use this exercise to eliminate their most parasitic objects. And see new value in things that help them thrive.

The most dystopian mines this data to sell more useless crap engineered for obsessive usage. The stone that vibrates and glows just so to maximize interaction sessions. Authoritarian minds no doubt will contemplate far more horrific uses.

The most utopian use of this sort of system is to give people more control over and insight into the value of their Stuff. - That worn mug that warms their hands each morning or is shared with friends might be the most valuable thing they own. - That tie, never worn, the least.

The utility functions are always inexact and prone to horrific errors. That doesn't mean they won't be created and used. Because some of these calculations are trivial.

We can already do some version of this to a crude degree in games. Future versions of AR with more complex object tracking bring flavors of the such a system to the real world.

Use this to calculate a rough value - Utility * How many times you've used the object - How much this contributes to things you value. Health, family, culture, etc. And a cost: - Space it takes up. - Cost of buying it. - Attention is consumes.

Imagine a future where every object in your house is tracked. - Position - Number of times you've interacted with it. - History. - Emotions you've experienced during each interaction

Nature is amazing. "Oozooid", "Blastozooid", "Sequential hermaphrodite".