Vargras Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Game maker Valve appoints in-house video games economist From: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18456171 Game maker Valve has appointed an in-house economist to help manage the virtual economies that have sprung up around its many titles. The company has signed up economics professor Yanis Varoufakis as their resident expert adviser. Valve contacted Prof Mr Varoufakis as it started to think about linking game economies and hit virtual currency exchange problems. It comes as South Korea attempts to crack down on trading in video games. In a blog explaining how he came to work for Valve, Prof Varoufakis said first contact was made by Gabe Newell, president of the games company. Mr Newell had been reading Prof Varoufakis's blog post about the economic imbalance between Germany and Greece. "We were discussing an issue of linking economies in two virtual environments (creating a shared currency)," wrote Mr Newell, adding that this seemed to have direct parallels with what had happened in the real world. Intrigued, Mr Varoufakis replied and then visited Valve to talk about the issues. This was despite the fact that he was not a gamer and he last played a computer game - space invaders - in 1981. 'Test-bed' Prof Varoufakis said he had decided to sign on with Valve because of the novel applications of economic theory it would lead to. "Also," he said, "Valve's digital economies are a marvellous test-bed for meaningful experimentation." In Diablo 3, players can sell rare items for real-world cash. By contrast, he said, such experimentation was impossible in the real world. This situation, he wrote, meant economists often relied on hunches or happy accidents to avoid reaching absurd conclusions about the underlying causes of financial activity. At Valve, Prof Varoufakis said he would be doing a lot of data mining and experimentation to help the company understand what was happening in the online economics springing up around its own titles and the Steam game-playing service. Valve is not the first game firm to employ a professional economist. Space trading and combat game Eve Online signed up Eyjolfur Guomundsson to advise it on in-game economics in 2007. Jail time As Valve steps up its efforts to do more with game economies, South Korea has decided to crack down on the trading of virtual items. Reports suggest that South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will enact a law banning game trading later this year. Online markets have sprung up that let players buy virtual cash to use in games, or trade hard-to-find gear for real money. In a statement, the South Korean authorities said trading of game cash and gear was a "serious hindrance" to a healthy game culture. It estimates that 60% of the items being traded on official and unofficial market places were generated using automated programs that "farm" games for loot. Those who break the law could face large fines or prison terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 (edited) Boy wouldn't it be crazy if Valve ended up being partly responsible for fixing Europe's economy. It won't happen, of course, but man. Edited June 15, 2012 by Mister Jack 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2012 http://www.teachwith.../index.php/faq/ "Steam for Schools". Looks to be using Portal 2 n the level editor for STEM subjects. I don't much see the use in classes myself, but the PR is good and it could get a foot in the door for Steam so good marketing idea on their part. I'm looking at the lesson plans and unless they've got a version of Portal 2 set-up with a load of extra tools n configurations I can't see how in it's current state Portal could be used to test stuff like mass versus friction when there's only the weighted sphere, cube n the robot to play with and no way to weigh them or measure anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted June 22, 2012 Report Share Posted June 22, 2012 Maybe it's got something kinda like Gary's Mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted June 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2012 http://sourcefilmmaker.com/ Source Film Maker. The recent Portal 2 level editor raises hopes it'll be usable by humans. Hammer lowers these hopes. I may sign up for an invite n have a peek. edit: When I'm on my main PC n not this shitty netbook (it's got the hardware survey attached) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffles Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 http://garry.tv/post/26018213752/sfm-vs-gmod Garry (GMOD creator) has an interesting take on the whole thing. Glad to see he's not trying to compete with it, as most films/clips/videos made in GMOD always ended up being relatively trash anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted June 28, 2012 Report Share Posted June 28, 2012 I hate GMod movies. Its like I'm stuttering while play TF2. So thank glob for SFM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 2, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2012 http://blogs.valvesoftware.com/linux/faster-zombies/ So they've being giving Left4Dead a spin between their Windows version and their Linux version and the OpenGL Linux version is running a fair bit faster. It's running 315fps on Linux versus 270fps on Windows. Something they didn't quite expect. I wonder if this would change their choice of API in future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffles Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 http://www.tested.com/news/149539-valves-steam-to-sell-non_game-software-on-sept-5th/ So this is happening. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 I hope the store doesn't suffer due to a lack of focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luftwaffles Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 I see two big issues, myself. One, you might have to launch all your software through Steam, which for me is a dealbreaker. I'm okay with launching a game program when I want to play a game, but a lot less okay with launching what is essentially a gaming social network just to use a graphics application. Second, you can't run multiple Steam games at the same time still. That's once again OK if it's just games, but there have been plenty of times where I'll want to run a dedicated server program or Source SDK and play a game and Steam won't let me. I'm always excited about the prospect of discounted software, but if it's implemented the same way as normal Steam games or even stuff like Indie Game: The Movie or Source Filmmaker I don't know how well it will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 I think Steam is heading for a big revamp soon, and hopefully focusing on the store front cos it's poop. Big Screen mode is due alongside CS:GO (out in a week) and the regular programs are heading to Steam 5th Sept (3 weeks) and Linux is in works at some point soon. Mac release brought with it the 2010 redesign, so maybe a 2012 redesign might e coming along. Which would help with not having photoshop and such cluttering the game side of things (though there's hope given they finally allowed you to toggle DLC). They've had the EULA update too, so obviously they're in some kind of mood for updates (also of note is that their new EULA will more than likely apply to software through Steam too, it took 3 years to update to current form I doubt they'll replace it within a few weeks.) They're also due the new download stuff too, they've being gradually switching some games over, but none of the client-side changes are in place yet. Some games can be run without Steam, may be the same way with this. I think a big thing to note is I've never really bought software. I think Office 2007 on the "Steal of the century" and Paint Shop Pro..7(maybe, was years back). Most software I run is either freeware, FOSS or stuff that'd still cost £100+ even with a daily deal in summer sale (and I've had no need to buy them for some time). Stuff like FRAPS might suit to have on, or maybe video editing software like Vegas n what not given Steam has ability to tie to Youtube accounts but (afaik) no way to record and or edit footage (Source Filmmaker isn't built for that as far as I have gathered). Oh and: Called it! I pointed out it's worth noting that they'd been chatting with Adobe back when everyone else was focusing on ...I think he was talking the Linux version (before the "win 8 is a complete waste of everyones time" stuff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faiblesse Des Sens Posted August 9, 2012 Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 They're also due the new download stuff too, they've being gradually switching some games over, but none of the client-side changes are in place yet. What's this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2012 http://store.steampowered.com/news/5856/ Over a year ago mind, but it has been coming out on the game side in dribs n drabs. Just noticed that part of it's aim is to streamline the content publishing system to support more games. Something which Greenlight could do with. (with is another upcoming feature too.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 http://store.steampowered.com/news/8624/ Yeah they're gearing up for something. A lot of updates are coming out or due out in the neat future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hopefully part of it is fixing the damn messenger so it won't constantly d/c Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted August 14, 2012 Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 I would love a text size option for the chat window. Editing files in notepad is not cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted August 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2012 So just a quick review of sorts (gonna do an official thing tomorrow when I'm on main PC and can take screenshots) "Community" tab up top is now split into two tabs. Community and Friends. Friends contains the old blotter and groups and profiles and such, and community has the newer stuff like Game Hubs, Workshop, and Greenlight. The blotter has been revamped so now is, as refrenced by Mastrix, "Steambook". It posts screenshots in-line, you can make status updates, like stuff, comment directly on things (not just directly on profiles or on screenshots, but on person X has game/achievements Y") It kinda makes it all a bit clunky though, lot lot lot more scrolling than it used to be. Groups are kinda swanky, now have "Discussion" tab, but given this place it's not really needed. Also has a kinda cover photo thing but it's just a collage of users avatars, hope in future that can be a photo you can upload and replace. Pretty much everything else on the client is still the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxicitizen Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Yeah, the new Friends tab really does give a strong Facebook timeline feel. I don't hate it but it's gonna take some getting used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 http://www.joystiq.com/2012/09/10/nyt-ea-tried-to-buy-valve/ The thought of an EA owned Valve scares the shit out of me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Though like Newell says, it wouldn't happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted September 11, 2012 Report Share Posted September 11, 2012 There's very little I wouldn't do for $1 billion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted September 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2012 Their trophy collection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted November 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2012 http://lambdageneration.com/posts/gabe-newell-officially-confirms-that-a-next-gen-valve-engine-is-in-development/ So Source 2 is pretty much in the works. As already hinted at in various snippets of source code, but now the big(slimming) man himself has confirmed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2013 http://www.joystiq.com/2013/02/06/newell-valve-looking-to-make-portal-or-half-life-move-with-j-j/ JJ Abrams potentially working with Valve to make a Half Life or Portal film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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