"Suppose you had a book that never ended. Would you say, 'Great! I never have to buy another book again.' I'm guessing not. I'm guessing you'd get bored of that book."

This, and other thoughts on The Sims 2 on Jamie Fristrom's excellent GameDevBlog.

I spent some of my break playing Sims 2 (which is technically my first shipped title, though my name missed the credits). My experience was very similar to my experience with the first Sims game. I was very absorbed by it for about a week, and then I started to reach the practical limits of my micro-managing skills, and became increasingly aware that I would never reach The End. With no external motivation, and other games to play, I just sort of put it down. Jamie hits my sentiments on the head.

Ossu! I have-a returned. After completing what was considered by many to be the nastiest crunch period in memory at EA, we did Ship The Damn Game, and I accepted my 2 weeks paid vacation recovery time with relish.

The game in question was Lord of the Rings: The Third Age--That's the RPG one. Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth is the RTS one made by the Command & Conquer guys down in Los Angeles. Anyway, Tycho at Penny Arcade seems to be looking forward to it, which made my me and my co-workers smile. I believe it's coming out on November 2nd, so after you vote, kindly consider checking it out.

Enough of shameless plugging. Now is time for issues! Pirate/Monkey/Ninja/Robot memes: will they attach themselves to the generation of 18-35 year-olds (tail-end of GenX, front end of the Millenials, plus the Wedgies) and grow old and passe with them, or will they remain free-floating over the world of young-adult pop culture? Discuss.

Stories like this from Gamespot bring a tear to my eye.

Critics and players alike often criticize the structure and attitude of many MMOGs, but sometimes the sheer amount of people with a shared interest can create a meaningful event.

Thanks folks, even if by just proving we're a group of decent human beings.