Gamasutra expert blogs: From adaptation to pleasure without learning

[In highlights from Gamasutra's Expert Blogs, industry notables write about diverse topics, including why it's great when games encourage players to adapt, how pleasure without learning leads to addiction, and more.] In our weekly Best of Expert Blogs column, we showcase notable pieces of writing from members of the game development community who maintain Expert Blogs on Gamasutra. Member Blogs -- also highlighted weekly -- can be maintained by any registered Gamasutra user, while the invitation-only Expert Blogs are written by development professionals with a wealth of experience to share. We hope that both sections can provide useful and interesting viewpoints on our industry. For more information about the blogs, check out the latest official posting guidelines. Here are the top blogs for the week: This Week's Standout Expert Blogs Pleasure without learning leads to addiction (Alexandre Mandryka) Alexandre Mandryka advocates that the key goal of play is personal development, and that pleasure without learning only creates an empty experience that can be dangerously addictive. Epic/Silicon Knights - Tidbits from the (messy) lawsuit (Simon Carless) Unreal Engine 3 creator Epic and Canadian studio Silicon Knights are currently in the early stages on what appears to be a very messy lawsuit. Simon Carless shares some characteristic tidbits from a 2010 deposition. 'Unlocks' and the gamification of gaming (Dylan Holmes) Dylan Holmes argues that "unlocks" and persistence in online shooters were introduced to fill a genuine need, but have now become detrimental to the player experience. Adaptation (Jon Shafer) Former Civilization series designer Jon Shafer dig into why it's awesome when games shake things up and encourage players to adapt. What's driving me away from video games (Benjamin Quintero) Inland Studios' Benjamin Quintero argues that modern games are encumbered by their own designs and business models.