• Ready for a Debate?
• Three Weeks until LOGIN 2009 - Save on Registration
• Explaining The Nuts and Bolts Behind MMOCGs: Interview with Turbine's Craig Alexander
• Remaining Sponsorship Opportunities Available at LOGIN 2009
• Industry Highlights
  • Blizzard Cuts Ties with The9
  • Massive Server Purchase Likely in Chinese Warcraft Deal
  • Research: Xbox Live to Generate $1b Annually
  • Bethesda May Sue over Fallout MMO
  • Activision Blizzard Earnings Ahead of Targets
  • Demigod Hit by Massive Piracy; Review Scores Take Beating
  • Sulake Bringing Bobba To Mobiles
  • China's MMO market to hit $5.5b by 2012

Ready for a Debate?

What's more action-packed than a physics lecture and more educational than a heavyweight boxing match? At LOGIN, the answer is our new series of formal debates covering issues of secondary markets, ownership of virtual property, and the thorny issue of scripting by game designers.

Traditional panels and lectures excel in delivering a range of opinions and a single focused viewpoint respectively. However, a debate presents attendees a high-resolution set of contrasting views that can challenge or reinforce their opinions in ways no other presentation format can.

Each debate is 60 minutes long and uses an abbreviated version of the National Forensics League’s policy debate format. This format gives speakers the freedom to define the direction and shape of the debate, but also provides it with structure and purpose. The debate is framed by a resolution: a formal statement of intent that one speaker will affirm and the other will negate. The resolution is intended to be divisive, worded in such a way that a clear position for or against it can be made. The ultimate goal is to educate the audience on the depth of popular issues; the take-away is a laundry list of thought provoking opinions that will get people interested in and talking about solutions to these development problems long after the conference.

Secondary Markets

The first debate will take place Tuesday afternoon between Geoffrey Zatkin and Martin Herdina. Chinese consultancy firm Plus Eight Star recently estimated the size of global trade in virtual goods in China alone to be over 5 billion US dollars annually. Many maintain that this secondary market damages the very game development studios whose effort and capital produce the items that compose virtual trade. Do game developers deserve a bigger slice of the pie? Does the secondary market harm the player experience? This session will examine these matters in a formal debate with Martin advocating for secondary markets and Geoffrey against.

Designers and Scripting Systems

The second debate on Wednesday will feature Marty Poulin versus Isaac Barry. Designers see scripting languages as powerful tools for rapidly implementing game ideas and directly realizing their gameplay goals without having to rely on the programming pipeline. Programmers see designer scripting as a source of unstable, unmaintainable code and post-launch disaster scenarios. This session explores this conflict in a formal debate with Marty arguing that game logic implementation is a task for the programming team, and Isaac defending the practice of designer scripting.

Virtual Property Ownership

The final debate on Thursday afternoon will have sparks flying as Erik Bethke goes head-to-head with Jon Grande. Players of online games spend hundreds of hours accumulating and trading virtual goods: magical weapons, homes, pets, etc. Do players own the virtual fruits of their very real labor? Can game developers and service providers profit from an increase in players’ virtual property rights? This session explores these questions in a formal debate, with Erik advocating for virtual property rights and Jon against.

Three Weeks Until LOGIN 2009
Save by Registering Now

The LOGIN Conference is still one of the best deals of the year, and by registering online now, you can save money and look a lot smarter when filling out the expense report. But the regular price of $695 only lasts until April 28, and the exclusive room rate at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel ends this week, so register today!

Just what does attendance get you at the LOGIN Conference?

• First-class content. You'll have access to over sixty lectures, panels, debates, and roundtables over three days, covering topics important to the breadth of the online game development world, including business, legal, production, new technologies, virtual worlds, social networking, community, and much more, delivered by some of the industry's most influential and knowledgeable speakers.
  
  
• Networking opportunities galore. Whether at the classy LOGIN welcome reception, the official conference party, the LOGIN Nexus business lounge, or one of the speed-networking breakfasts, you'll have more opportunities to rub elbows with some of the online game industry’s most powerful movers and shakers than any other event. Since LOGIN is smaller and more exclusive than other events, you can have the time you need to get to know just the right people without being lost in the mob.
  
  
• Incredible amenities. Ask anyone who attended last year: The sit-down lunches, gourmet snacks, and fine wine are just a part of what made LOGIN one of the most memorable and superior game industry experiences in 2008. Everything at LOGIN is step beyond what you've experienced elsewhere.

One pass covers just about everything at the LOGIN Conference. No separate expo passes. No tutorial passes. No multi-tier pass system, where you're left wondering what you're missing. Just one pass that gives you the access of a VIP among other dignitaries at one of the game industry’s premiere conferences. If you’re ready to register for LOGIN, get started here:

Once you've registered for LOGIN, we definitely recommend booking your stay at the official conference hotel, the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel, for the exclusive LOGIN rate of $209/night. This rate is only available to LOGIN attendees until April 24, so don't delay.

This conference is at the top of my list for 2009. This was honestly a perfect conference as far as I'm concerned. The networking was fantastic, the environment was lush (even decadent), the speakers were terrific, and I loved the location.

Erin Hoffman
Game Designer, Philomath Games

Connect with LOGIN

Connect not only with the latest exciting news leading up to the LOGIN Conference, but with the speakers, advisors, industry leaders and friends of the conference.

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Explaining The Nuts and Bolts Behind MMOCGs: Interview with Turbine's Craig Alexander

Craig Alexander, Vice President of Product Development at Turbine, explains the potential in building massively multiplayer online console games (MMOCGs), after years of uncertainty and false starts. What challenges must be hurdled to develop a console MMO game? What does it take for a consumer to embrace an MMO game developed on, or for, the console? What tools and best practices are available to developers to more easily craft a console MMO game? Read on to preview answers to these questions that will be covered head-on at Craig's talk, "Building Online Games for the Console Generation: Challenges and Opportunities " at the 2009 LOGIN Conference!

PAUL PHILLEO: Hello Craig, and thank you for participating in this interview for LOGIN Beat. For those who many not be acquainted with you and your body of work, tell us a bit about yourself and your background with Turbine, especially in console MMOG development.

CRAIG ALEXANDER: For the last 15 years, I’ve worked in a studio VP and general manager capacity at Sierra, EA, Activision, and Turbine. In 2007, I joined Turbine as the Vice President of Product Development managing all aspects of production for Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeon and Dragons Online, and Asheron’s Call. In addition, I’m very excited to be a part of team that will help take the last major game genre to the console platform.

In broad strokes, how is developing a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) for a console different than developing one for a PC?

Fortunately, there are many similarities between console and PC development but also some major differences. These include simplified UI especially on standard definition TV sets, more frenetic combat, and shorter play sessions. Most importantly, the limited input of a console controller pushes the design into simpler directions, working well with a simplified UI, but certainly challenging MMO preconceptions.  This, when combined with the more voice based social features on a console, certainly push the boundaries of most MMO’s.

By extension, do you feel it’s easier to port an existing massively multiplayer online game title, rather than developing one from scratch, for a console?

We haven’t announced what title we are developing but let’s just say we’ve never considered “making a port”. Developing from scratch is difficult but we firmly feel porting a PC MMO to Console is not viable for many reasons, since the game play pace, demographic and input devices are so different. That said, having an existing game platform (servers, tools, etc.) and infrastructure is invaluable, and the differences in these areas are relatively small.

What technical and marketing hindrances have so far kept MMOGs from finding their way on to powerful connected consoles like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3?

Very few developers are capable of building an MMO let alone a console MMO. There are numerous technical hurdles including memory constraints, storage, and patching; design hurdles including user interface and lack of keyboard; operational challenges including the requirement for public beta testing of all new content; and on the marketing side, of course there’s an enormous challenge in the fact no-one has really ever done this yet, so we have to design to appeal to a target audience that doesn’t exist today – very exciting.

Read the full interview and comment

Remaining Sponsorship Opportunities Available at LOGIN 2009

It's not too late to have your company build brand recognition at LOGIN! Here is a sampling of some of the opportunities that you can still take advantage of:

• Press Lounge Sponsor - This is an opportunity like no other. This is your exclusive opportunity to get your message to all attending press by sponsoring the private press suite, complete with private dining area and lovely patio. Throw a private party and completely wow the press.
• Speaker/VIP Lounge - Get your message to the most influential people in the industry by
  sponsoring the private Speaker/VIP lounge.
• Welcome reception - Make a great first impression with the Monday night Welcome Reception.
• Snack breaks - Associate your brand with the refreshing, delicious snacks that attendees will be enjoying between sessions!
• Conference party - Make a huge splash by sponsoring the official conference party on Tuesday evening.
• Ballroom Table - Sponsor a table in the Grand Ballroom! Have your company be the place where people meet!
• Foyer Expo Space Signage - Enhance your image with a free-standing banner sign in the middle of the action.

As an exhibitor/sponsor at LOGIN, you will be able to expose your products and services to some of the most qualified attendees in the industry. You can enjoy meeting with the hundreds of attendees, speakers, and press — all with the common goal of promoting the online game development industry. We invite you to take a look at our prospectus and explore the advantages to our sponsorships we are offering. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities at LOGIN visit the sponsorship page on our website, or contact:

Cynthia Freese
+1 425.654.4575
cynthia@loginconference.com

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