iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle

Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 23h

One of the things to come from GamerGate was the gamification of torturing real, live women...hounding them out of their homes, making them look over their shoulders for years. It was treated as a joke, nbd, the work of a few bad apples--as all terrorism against women is--& that failure leads here.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

In the games user research space we've actually had to change how we talk about game systems with playtesters, because while 'NPC/Enemy AI' is common developer jargon that players used to be fine with, the term has been thoroughly poisoned by GenAI and will now elicit negative reactions from many.

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Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I’m seeing a lot of posts about talking to your sons in light of the Cornell article. And yes. Talk to your sons. Here are some things you should say, based on anti-violence research about what they need to hear:

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Ian Boudreau @ianboudreau.com · 29/09/2026

Reason I think this is neat is that there's provably unexplored space left to check out. It's cool if you want to make a roguelike deckbuilder but you absolutely do not have to.

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Meredith Rose @mrose.ink · 29/09/2026

The D&D movie was great because it felt very much like an actual session, complete with NPCs that your DM had to name on the fly.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

‘Good’ narrative choices often only feel ‘good’ to the player in *contrast* to other narrative choices. It feels more meaningful to choose between A, B, and C because players trust that C, even if ‘Bad’, exists and has consequences. Even if a low % of players pick it, C simply existing is impactful.

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Kevin Hearne @kevinhearne.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

How do we incentivize people to paint wizards on their vans again I haven’t seen a wizard van in a decade and it feels like we lost something precious Can we offer up a tax credit? Little bags of shrooms? Start a wizard van painting program at vocational schools?

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Gwen C. Katz @gwenckatz.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Fuck ChatGPT flyers. The future is broadsheets.

A crowded broadsheet with way too many fonts. It says:
Forget ChatGPT Flyers
Say it with
Broadsheets
Unlimited fonts
Stretch them
Or cram a really long sentence into one line for no good reason
No whitespace
Mix capital and lowercase
Pointing hands
(They're called manicules!)
Don't be left behind
Broadsheets are the future

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The eternal reminder that game systems aren't neutral, they elicit emotions; it's VERY important to take into account the emotional impact a system has on your players. Whether that's feeling frustration or confusion or overwhelmed or like a failure, fun systems can still elicit negative emotions

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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”

APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

This silly shit right here is why I love game devs www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/va...

pcgamer.com

Valve shadow dropped chicken pets into CS2

The egg came first.

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WIRED @wired.com · 21/09/2026

WIRED asked 634 women what they really think about working in tech. They told us about harassment, bias, unequal treatment, and the everyday indignities that still shape life in the industry. 🔗 www.wired.com/story/women-...

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

just read the news and smile and show up to meetings and smile and continue to make video games and smile and run 1:1s and smile and deliver reports and smile and read the news again and smile and get laid off and smile and watch friends get laid off and smile and watch every collapse around you and

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Fox Harper @foxharper.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

REPLY WITH A CHARACTER IN VIDEO GAMES THAT YOU THINK IS FAT. Do not worry about if others would agree. Just give me your video game fat characters. FAMOUS GAMES FRIENDS WHO FOLLOW ME: this is for work so RTs are greatly appreciated thank you!

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Games User Research @gamesur.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

📡 Can't make it to Helsinki this October? You can still be part of the hybrid #GamesUR Conference 2026. Purchase a Live Stream Pass to get live access to the talks, from wherever you are. Grab yours → www.eventbrite.fi/e/gamesur-co... #GamesUserResearch #UXResearch #gamedev #FinnishGamesWeek

eventbrite.fi

#GamesUR Conference 2026

The #GamesUR Conference is the annual gathering of the Games User Research community

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"the assessment did not consider the crocodiles" is my new metaphor for people choosing to just ignore the data point that doesn't agree with them

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Jordan DeVries 🔜 NYCC @jordandevries.com · 16/09/2026

the discourse has convinced me. adding fail states to the pause menu

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Dnd, the second half of a boss fight My paladin goes first for the session. Hit 1: Crit, knock boss prone. Weapon + Crusader’s Mantle + Improved Divine Smite + upcast Divine Smite Hit 2: Crit... again. Repeat dmg rolls. Accidently deal 181 dmg... and kill boss 20 minutes into the session. Oops.

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Ben Taels @bentaels.taels.net · 16/09/2026

Some folks online appear to be putting up videos to show how the Wolverine game is too easy and handholding. Some of these videos are, only after they have gone viral, being discovered to have been recorded on the easiest difficulty with (off by default) accessibility settings turned on.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

To quote 'A Precarious Game: The Illusion of Dream Jobs in the Video Game Industry' by Ergin Bulut: "...the passion of a predominantly white-male labor force relies on material inequalities involving the sacrificial labor of their families..."

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Excited to share that I'm a speaker at this year's #GamesUR Conference! Are you interested in hearing more about how and why players engage with customization systems and how to get biggest customization bang for your bandwidth buck? I'll be sharing a framework I've built over the last 15 years!

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404 Media @404media.co · 14/09/2026

EXCLUSIVE: Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 Media.

404media.co

Inside ‘Project Lily’: The Humans Reading Your ChatGPT Chats

Humans are reading ChatGPT users’ prompts to improve OpenAI’s models, and those chats can include sensitive, personal information, according to leaked internal documents and real prompts seen by 404 M...

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Bolt thunder @boltthunder.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Y'all in nyc please be careful. Fishtank is trying to bait y'all.

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 12/09/2026

If you showed up at Defcon and gave talk about how your autonomous malware did something unexpected and damaged someone else's computers, the first question from the audience would be "Why are you so shit at making secure sandboxes?" It wouldn't be "How are you so awesome at making hacking tools?"

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Chise @sailorrooscout.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

GOOD NEWS! A personalized mRNA vaccine has SUCCEEDED in keeping melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, from returning. Phase III trial results in MORE THAN 1,100 patients shows the vaccine SIGNIFICANTLY extended the time patients lived without their melanoma returning AND reduced the risk of metastasis.

statnews.com

Moderna and Merck say mRNA cancer vaccine succeeded in late-stage melanoma trial

A personalized mRNA cancer vaccine succeeded in a late-stage melanoma study, results that could herald a new, powerful approach in oncology.

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Reposted by Elizabeth Zelle

Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The Onion has created a machine that will kill everyone on Earth that is coincidentally running out of money and the only way to slow it down is if my staff and I take a six-week vacation to Cabo San Lucas.

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Ben Taels @bentaels.taels.net · 12/09/2026

"The insults are part of the experience, right? It's just banter and boys will be boys you know. The players actually love it!" #gamedev #ux

An outline of a plane where the tips of the wings, middle of the body, and tail section have red dots on them representing where this kind of bomber tended to get shot and still manage to return back to base.

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Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

"Was it really this dumb in 2003" guys they renamed french fries

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Eve Eschenbacher 🎮 @midnightrem.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I'm an "Elder Millennial," and while I remember there being a budget surplus during the Clinton years, my awareness and understanding of politics was fuzzy and developing, and I didn't really start paying attention until about the Bush/Gore election in 2000... So "young Americans" = ~45 & under. 😬🫠🤬

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

this is the kind of design costume designers make to tell you who are the bad guys in a space movie

Donald Trump posts an image on his Truth Social account. It shows a new uniform for US Space Force members, comprising of an all-black outfit with knee-high black leather boots, black cap, and minimalist looking suit.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Proportional to body size, the barnacle has the longest penis in the animal kingdom.

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Odd Steam Reviews @oddsteamreviews.bsky.social · 27/12/2025

Cities: Skylines

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The Verge @theverge.com · 02/09/2026

As a new Harry Potter trailer makes the rounds, it bears repeating that there’s no way to watch this show without supporting J.K. Rowling’s bigotry and the structural violence she’s inflicting on the trans community.

theverge.com

There is no ethical consumption of HBO’s Harry Potter series

You can’t without supporting Rowling’s transphobic bigotry.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Without saying your age, what is your favorite movie that came out when you were 20 years old?

static.klipy.com

Lotr You Bow To Noone

Alt: Lotr You Bow To No one scene

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

A whirlwind weekend full of laughter, hugs, a few tears, and many beers with over 200 of the most amazing and talented people I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with. Making games at Volition was an indescribably impactful experience and the reunion was magical. Saints Row for Life 💜 📸: Alex Mejia

A crowd of roughly 200 people, most wearing Volition shirts, posed in front of the Virginia Theater in downtown Champaign

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

First new Volition swag for me in nearly a decade!

Two t-shirts laid out. Top is purple with an illustration of many Volition characters driving in a car together. The bottom shirt is gray with an illustration of an art gallery wall, 16 golden frames containing images referencing different Volition games

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I’ve got to admit, seeing V-guy again made me get a little misty eyed 💜

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Maddy Myers 🏳️‍🌈 @midimyers.com · 28/08/2026

i completely get the irritation at "too many gta6 articles/posts" on mainstream games media sites and the responses from folks saying it's a traffic play (it is). but also i do not think ppl who read game sites daily understand the extent to which gta6 matters to ppl who only game occasionally.

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Tim Hirschel-Burns @timhirschelburns.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Live report from the Minnesota State Fair, located in the heart of American democracy, where there’s an ICE Out adaptation of Picasso’s Guernica made entirely from crops

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Margaret Killjoy @margaret.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

go outside and look at the moon

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kylie b @roguesquirrel.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

tim curry had with miss piggy what the cowardly fraud geoff keighley craves but will never obtain

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William Shakespeare @shakespeare.lol · 25/08/2026

[Exit Queen.]

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Which, to be fair, was kind of a reasonable thing to do? "Germany and Japan suicide-bomb the world with an insane war they can't possibly win" is a wild thing to plan for in 1936, especially if - like most world leaders at the time - one hadn't looked very closely at Nazi ideology.

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Optimist: the glass is half full Pessimist: the glass is half empty Games user researcher: “How full did you expect the glass to be?” “Do you expect it to be interactable?” “Was there anything about state of the glass that you wish had been more clear?”

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Elizabeth Zelle @kohizeri.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Next weekend I’m going on a trip with a very specific theme that has me digging into the depths of my closet 💜⚜️

Photo of 7 folded t-shirts, all related to Volition and Volition games

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poorly drawn cats @poorlycatdraw.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

on fridays we become medieval cats

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