I took copious notes at the Flash Gaming Summit that was held the Sunday before the GDC began. I thought that I might transcribe my favorite parts of the sessions and post them up on gamepoetry so that everyone could benefit from all the great information that was being shared. Turns out the furious note taking was pretty much completely unnecessary because Mochi Media ended up pretty much posting the whole thing for the world to view.

I had the opportunity to go through my notes this week and reflect on some of the things that were said and discussed. As I reviewed my notes, I noticed four nuggets of wisdom that were worth highlighting, even though the sessions were all available anyway. These are paraphrased based on my very short-handed notes:

1. Stephen Harris (Ninja Kiwi) – You need fresh eyes on your game constantly. Familiarity tends to amplify the perceived success or failure of a design.
2. Daniel James (Three Rings) – With all their knowledge and experience, Three Rings still make design mistakes. They’ve learned to use playtesting to guide their instincts.
3. Paul Preece (Casual Collective) – In competitive multiplayer, microtransaction models make you hate your rich friends. In cooperative multiplayer, microtransaction models make you love your rich friends.
4. Chris Hughes (Flash Game License) – It is okay to let the portals handle the monetization of your flash game, but make sure you’re participating in the benefits if your game is a runaway success.