Lately I’ve been researching Shakespeare’s Macbeth for the purpose of designing quest content for Arden. So far I have watched Polanski’s film version as well as Kurosawa’s “Throne of Blood,” which is a Noh-style rendition of the story. These, along with the actual text from the play, have given me several ideas how I could draw a player into the story and let them interact with its characters and locations. Among other things, Macbeth contains ghosts and witches, so I think it could be interesting to add more magical or fairy tale elements to it. There are a few basic plot points in the play and each one will be tweaked in a way that remains true to the source, yet creates a way for the players to get involved. For instance, the final confrontation at the end of the play begins with Birnam wood being gathered and used as camouflage by Malcolm’s army. Players will be a part of this army and be required to chop down a tree limb and take it up Dunsinane Hill. They might also stumble upon the three weird sisters. The witches will speak in a somewhat riddled fashion and give players a glance of the challenges that await them. The quest ends with a massive assault on Macbeth’s castle at Dunsinane. I hope that it is a fun experience.

Ted posted an article I wrote about “Legends of Norrath” on Terra Nova.

I’ve had a chance to read the rules for the game and it sounds fun. It would probably be difficult to play with real cards, so it seems fitting that the game has been developed as a purely digital game. Although the game interface is up right now, the game doesn’t go live for a few days.

I also participated in an online debate last week over the Xfire gaming service. The topic was virtual economies and property. Many of the questions raised and ideas tossed around were somewhat dated. It’s not anyone’s fault, necessarily, but I thought the question about the possibility of big companies selling virtual currency could have been refreshed a bit. EA sells virtual currency for single player games! Second Life sells Linden dollars! We’ve already been down that road. My frustration is probably due to the fact that I read entirely too much gaming news, but I felt my perspective did add something to the debate.