my name is mwd

If you don’t read Light blue touchpaper, the blog by the Computer Lab’s Security Group, you probably should. The Security Group are well known for having a different view on the world that enables them to see the flaws in supposedly secure systems that even otherwise smart people would miss.

Appropriately for xmas though, they’ve posted an interesting analysis of fairness in online games. The nub of the argument is that for online games that rely on very finely tuned maps and character metrics, any small variation in the players set up can have a large implication in their likely success. The challenge for game designers is that not only do they need to get the game dynamics right, they need to consider all the possible play configurations of computer, and internet links, and so on, which is next to impossible.

Still, I suspect my problem is lack of skill rather than my ISP being slow :)