So, this is sort of an official statement, regarding Power Racing. I know for a fact that Pow is getting the same news out on the site as well.

Here we go:

Power Soccer and ManagerZone are growing fast, and we’re working hard to develop them in the right direction, with the right focus and engagement. Our games are in many aspects community driven, and lately we’ve been more and more aware that we need to improve the relations with our users as well as the quality of our games to meet your expectations. It’s important that we remain true to our core values. This means we need to back things up a bit, refocus, reassess our already existing games and make them as stunning and enjoyable as we all want them to be. Before building, releasing, maintaining, supporting yet another game we want to make sure the ones we already have stand on a solid ground.

In order to achieve that, we’ve had to take a second look at our priorities. We have reached the conclusion to put Power Racing on hold and to move all our resources over to ManagerZone and Power Soccer. This does not mean we’re not going to develop Power Racing, it just means that we have other things to do first. Power Racing is still very much alive for us, and it is our every intention to release it when the time comes.

What will happen now? All our efforts will go towards developing our already existing games until they match the visions we have for them. Some brand new features that will bring the different elements of the games together, improving the gaming experience even more. Improvements that we hope will take Power Challenge as a company, and its games, to the next level.

Not the kind of news I’d like to post, but then again, it’s all about making the best decisions and games we possibly can. I guess good gamedevelopers sometimes have to be the bringer of bad news

See you out there.

/ Linda, still in the office

Ladies and gentlemen,

take a look around you. Collect some friends and family around you to face the last Ordeal. The End is near. Very near. When I logged in this afternoon on the Powersoccer website, I was astonished, shocked even, to see the following image:

Shaolinda was playing a game. That must be her fourth or fifth game ever, although she was registered in April 2007. Is there any reasonable explanation… or is my gut feeling right? Is the end of the world near?

By the way: it does not surprise me though that she plays the latest patched version of Powersoccer… as it is simply brilliant, fantastic and superb. I spoke to an old chum in the game (we are both active for almost 2 years) and we both had the same feeling: this version is without discussion the best ever! The Best Ever! I will quit my daytime job just to play this game forever! I just need an internet connection and some water… a roof over my head, food, real life friends: I don’t need them anymore!

Shortbread. Plain and simple, and preferably lots of them. David Nicholson, the latest addition to the Power Challenge crew, brings them every time he comes over from England (he can’t help living there, poor guy). And we absolutely adore him for it. (and hope he never feels “at home” enough here to stop bringing us biscuits)

Today I stumbled across something odd. You have many very strong players in powersoccer, players I have difficulties with to beat in normal circumstances (or not to lose, phrased perhaps more ad rem and for sure more MarxBrotherian). Belfue for instance, with his impregnable defence; denmark212 with his splitting passes who leave the whole of your defense exposed; Airfix_9 with his horribly efficient style of playing (1 shot on goal equals 1 shot in goal) and many others. I only list those I play regularly, yet I could add quite a few others as well.
But then, all of a sudden, I become nearly invincible. Impossible to get through my defense, my passing becomes world class with high success ratios and my efficiency is so high it hurts your eyes. I almost become a machine: steal the ball, pass, pass, score. Steal the ball, pass, pass, score. Nothing that can be done, as Belfue was confronted with today.

It should make me happy and then again it does not. As it implies – and here comes what will be known as the  Law of Sipwell - that a new version, an update of the game is imminent. The moment I start to play really, really good is one day less of a new version. I have no clue when the new version will be implemented, but as my gameplay (and ultimately my results) improves the number of days to wait is shortened yet again. A new update always involves learning to understand the game again, grasping with new tackles, new passing and new ways to score (or see your shot blocked). It always involves new tactical styles, new structures to be build up as your old ones do not work anymore…
Don’t understand me wrong: I like those new updates. They seem to refresh this game on a very regular basis. You get a complete new package for no extra fee (isn’t that superb, dear Pro Evolution and Fifasoccer makers?)… but the only thing that puzzles me is: why do out of all those thousands of users I have to be the weathercock? Why does that responsibility fall on my shoulders? Can I for once be exempted from that task? Please?

We (Magnus, myself, Marcus, Jonas and Michael and at times of despair: Niklas, who proved to be have the far best understanding of the project tool from hell) have been more or less locked in the conference room for three days, trying to pinpoint the entire Power Challenge development for the next 8 months or so. It might sound like a walk in the park but no, it’s a bit trickier than that.

1. What needs to be done? 2. How long will this take? 3. What resources are needed for those tasks? 4. What resources do we actually have? 5. What can be outsourced?  6. What is top priority? 7. Where are the dependencies?

Many boxes, colours, menues, lines, arrows, sweets, nuts and changes later we seem to have it all sort of organized and under control. Or so we like to believe. We’ve done the three point estimation; best, worst and most likely outcome of the project/task. We’ve put little flags next to the features that are most suitable for outsourcing. We stared at the numbers in disbelief, sighed, laughed and drank innumerable cups of coffee.

But know, finally, we have a starting point and rather detailed knowledge of what is happening with the games during the rest of the year.

And now Easter is coming up. I truly love my work but I’m very much looking forward to a few days off… and eating some of this:

…that’s been hidden somewhere in the garden by one of these..:

So, have a nice & merry easter everyone. And make sure you watch out for any bunny looking like this:

See you!

/ L

p.s. I don’t really despise MS Project as much as it may sound like…I just suck at it a bit too much. Have to get to know it better.

I have been playing this game fairly often. I think I can say I know the ABC of Powersoccer by heart and that I am one of the few who knows the ins and outs of that fabulous multiplayer adventure (involving soccer/football, for those unaware of the content of the game). One particular thing in the interaction between users has always struck me: the use of the word “s”.
Picture this setting: the game starts, you open a chat with the user and press “hello, good luck and have fun” or as Powersoccer diehards do “hi, gl, hf”. The answer you get is “s”. Nothing more, nothing less. Ok, you think: a user who is unwilling to talk to me. It happens, they don’t all have to be social animals like myself. Then, a missed change. You have the option to see the reply but you don’t want to and press s (or any other button for that matter) to let the game continue. Your opponent types in the game chat “s”, waits, types “s” again, gets angry, types “ssssssssssssssssssssss” (or “s”, “s”, “s”, “s” as can be seen on the screenshot attached: anyone actually thought how much effort that costs: button enter, button s, button enter, button s, button enter, button s… crazy!) and happily sees the game continues.

Two observations of which one open for discussion.
First, how come this user does not press s (not in chat, but in the game first) before he types “s” in the chat? That would be a more logical approach. You press s, you wait for the “s” of your opponent, when it doesn’t come: you type “s” in chat. Like in: hurry up (in most cases there will follow a swear said out loud but as these are respectable pages I will refrain from doing so). But not pressing “s” yourself and then blaming your opponent (who pressed s) for that absence of a reaction, can it get more illogical?

Second, what does this behaviour learn us about some of the users of Powersoccer. Isn’t it rather odd one user wants to dominate the other user by forcing him to skip the replays? Is a user not allowed to watch replays, have a sip of water in the meantime (or a delicious piece of Swedish pie, I am all hooked now since Linda gave me the recipe to her grandma’s pie) and put her/his fingers on the button again? Although we are dealing with a multiplayer game, how far does that element of “multiplayer” stretch? Aren’t some of us deep inside only trying to feed their 100 % waterproof individualistic needs?
Powersoccer is a full blown multiplayer game, as it requires interaction. The fact that player A does not want to see replays and player B does, is only advantageous for user B. If you want to skip replays, you are forced to interact, you are forced to communicate with your opponent. You are forced to type “s” (or “skip” for that matter) and you will get a reply by your opponent. It is human versus human and in the end communication – albeit limited in some cases – always wins. And that, dear readers, is one of the beauties of this game.

Sipwell!

Yes, we finally found the courage to let him in here. After all, he’s a very well spoken man and one of the Power Soccer legends. Why not let him have his own space in the PC blogosphere as well?

So, I guess we could expect some major post here from him later on during the day. After he’s had his next cup of coffee and had 5 minutes to think of something witty and sharp to write.

/ L

The question “is advertising in games a good thing or a gift from Satan?” is becoming more and more relevant.

We see it all the time, we deal with it every day. In some games you’d actually miss it if it went away. Imagine a football stadium with absolutely no advertising. It would like empty, right?

But what about all those other games, where there’s no sports involved? Or any kind of game where you also get ads on the web site, in between matches/challenges/various stages of the game etc etc.

What do you think of that? And is your level of aggravation dependent on the type of ad you’re exposed to? Is a Jeep-ad more invasive than a Red Cross-ad? Would a colourful Fanta commercial bother you more or less than a disturbing piece of commercial trying to sell Resident Evil 5?

Would you be willing to pay money to get rid of it?

In these times, where more and more people from outside the games industry realise the power, the strength, of games, we can expect more people trying to find a spot of their own within this world. Business people trying to get a little bit of the gamers attention.

Is it worth it, if it gives you a free game? Or do you rather pay? What can we do to allow advertising in or around games without killing the joy of playing?

Through some online/casual games site I stumbled upon this new place, SuperSecret.

I like the idea and the look of things, even though I naturally belong in the parent category than the actual target group - kids and young teenagers. You walk around, chat to others and continuously come across mini missions/games within the SuperSecret world.

And I like their simple-to-follow rules:

Super Secret Player Rules

• Be nice. Behind every character you meet is a real person who has feelings. So treat people the way you want to be treated.
• Act appropriately. A good rule of thumb: If you can’t say it in a classroom, you can’t say it on SuperSecret. Be respectful, and stick to topics that make sense for young people.
• Play it safe. Remember, never share personal information like your real name, address, phone number, email, password, or location.

It feels a bit like one of those school dances, the kids are in focus and they get to make a lot of the decisions, but in case something happens you know there are parents waiting in the outskirts, stepping in to sort things out. Freedom mixed with responsibility. Maybe this is the next big tweenie hangout? Or isn’t it grown up enough..?

Sipwell asked me if I could think of a forum for publishing a note on the subject of “people adding people they don’t to their buddy list”. Or maybe the phenomenon from a wider perspective. Why are we so eager to get to know, or pretend to know, people who are no way near close to us?

Anyway, what better place to discuss this than on the blog?!

I’ve done some thinking about this myself. People have added me as buddy, they ask how I am, want my opinion and generally seem to care. People that don’t know much about me and probably never will.

We try our hardest to gain as much acceptance, comments, photos, stars, remarks, posts or what have you from others in this digital universe we spend so much time in. Strangers. Still, through the wery wide web, distance seem to disappear and people move closer to eachother. Or is it the distance that makes some kind of closeness matter even more?

Or is it just another way of standing out in a crowd? “look at me - I have 3 759 friends. you’ve only got 59. haha”

Anyway, this is Sipwells reflections and thoughts, in his very own words:

I have been fairly active in the game for 1.5 years now and I am still loving it. It is great to see a community evolve and expand and for me personally it is even greater as I can participate in that endeavour. Suggesting things to Powdersnow directly or via his “right hand” Hogweed, managing Forum Admins in a specific way to make the community even stronger… it has become part of my daily life and a ‘hobby gone mad’. Do I mind? Not at all. I believe that every person is entitled to his or her bit of insanity, on the condition it is used in a positive way…

My activity in the game has lead to a certain respect or even prestige within the community. My name is often on the lips of users (as you can see in the forum) and many people seem honoured if I talk to them. You are considered a great personality based on your reputation and the actual position you have in that community. That is in every society or community no different. Football stars are equally respected, as is your local politician. Did you ever sit in a restaurant when a local/regional/national/international pop star entered it? All faces turn to that person and everybody starts whispering “have you seen him/her?”. It is part of our community system and there is nothing wrong with it.

Yet something in this game strikes me as odd. It is one thing to engage with me in the forum and to take me into the wider network you are active in. Some people do need to contact me often and some people do need my help when they are in trouble. Some people appreciate my posts or appreciate the tings I do in general and want to have me on their buddylist. But why do so many ‘unknown’ people add me to their buddylist? Each morning when I enter the Powersoccer site, I have new users adding me to their buddylist, users I never heard of, never replied to something they wrote in the forum or have had any contact with. How does that come? What is the trigger here?

You could say that they want to have a MA in their buddylist to contact him – unfortunately until now as women hardly discover this game in my experience – in cases of need. But why does a Brazilian user or a Pakistani user pick me? Why does an American click on my name and “add buddy”? What makes me – and I suppose many of my colleagues – so different, so ‘important’? Will the person who has an answer on this puzzle please rise?