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johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens
@johndickens.bsky.social
210 followers 220 following 62 posts
Senior User Researcher at Tencent Games. Trying to make games more accessible for every player. Music, tech, adventure cycling nerd.
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johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · 3d
Yes! Thanks Chris!
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johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · 3d
Our team are running user research concerning games accessibility. This is a paid research session open to UK residents. Please register your interest below if you are interested in taking part.

@researchi.bsky.social

www.researchi.co.uk/projects/RI9...
RI971: UK-Wide Digital Accessibility Research - £100
www.researchi.co.uk
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johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · 9d
Good morning Redmond. Time for some sweet sweet accessibility (with a bit of jet lag for extra spice) #GAConf
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Sep 8
👋 I'm heading back across the pond to be at #GAConf once more in Redmond, WA later this month. I'm reserving a day free after the conference to catch up with familiar faces and meet new ones - hit me up if you're around and want to chat on the 31st 🙂
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Aug 8
Miyoshi? Baradji? Nadé? None of the above? 😆
johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jul 14
Do you think Trump would celebrate with the winning team if a Mexican team had won?
johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jul 13
Saucony London 10K ✅
@specialeffect.org.uk
Me in running gear standing with two thumbs up and a medal around my neck in. I’m wearing a SpecialEffect running top.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jul 4
This game rocked. And it took me until adulthood to realise it was made by Virgin despite the main character basically being the logo.
snesdrunk.bsky.social
SNESdrunk (U) [!] @snesdrunk.bsky.social · Jul 3
Randomass video of the day: Cool Spot youtu.be/wD5harXiVvk
Is Cool Spot Worth Playing Today? - SNESdrunk
YouTube video by SNES drunk
youtu.be
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jul 4
I think out of all the 'socials', LinkedIn's push notifications are A) the most invasive and B) hardest to tune to actually be notified exclusively about important things.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jul 4
1 person going through redundancy is bad. 9,000 is just mismanagement - pure and simple. Heart goes out to all MS/AKB folks who, even if they kept their job, must be feeling pretty broken right now.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jun 26
I promise I’ve been working and not just sitting on the beach the whole time I’ve been in LA.
Tencent America US office. Prominently features QQ (our penguin mascot) with a Tencent surfboard. Ferris wheel in Santa Monica with golden hour sunlight giving it a warm glow Sunset on against palm trees on Venice Beach. The trees are silhouetted in front of a hill backdrop in the distance where the sun sets.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jun 12
RIP to one of the greatest to ever do it: Brian Wilson

youtu.be/216YJKbber8?...
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times
YouTube video by The Beach Boys - Topic
youtu.be
johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Jun 11
Sooooo proud of our team's work in supporting Funcom's vision for Arrakis 💙🪱
eurogamer.bsky.social
Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · Jun 11
Dune Awakening hits 142,000 concurrent players during full launch, smashing past record

www.eurogamer.net/dune-awakeni...
Dune helicopters flying towards spice eruption.
johndickens.bsky.social
John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · May 31
Truly brilliant exhibition at the Tate Modern - ‘Electric Dreams’. Digital art before it was digital, where artists pushed the boundaries of early computers and consumer tech to produce audio visual experiences that challenge how art is made and displayed. Right up my street.
8 CRT TVs in sync in a dark room producing glitchy, grainy, distorted images Close up of 2 CRT TVs with glitchy imagery, red, green and blue crystal-like clusters The image shows a framed art work by Katsuhiro Yamaguchi called Vitrine: Deep Into the Night. It is an image that depicts a building like structure, overlayed by a sheet of textured glass that distorts the image which gives a distorted effect.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · May 15
Happy #GAAD today and forever
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · May 4
My bank holiday weekend has involved a fair amount of chores but now I’m going to treat myself with a new adventure…
Boot screen for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 displayed on a large wall mountainedTV beside an Xbox One Series X; which is located near a Yamaha soundbar. Below sits a tv cabinet with vinyl records and bookshelf speakers.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 28
I would also put forward that seeing players slide about is evidence to suggest a fun and intuitive control scheme that allows player agency, but that's just an assumption :D
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 28
Seeing players slide around in a battle royale is a similar behaviour that might appear as an indicator of disengagement or boredom but be something else entirely. That's why it's always important to get feedback from players on these behaviours rather than simply report on an 'issue'!
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 28
It wasn't a reflection of his engagement or enjoyment of the game (he was actually having a good time). Instead he was allowing us to observe how these sort of games fit into his real-world (i.e. non lab) experience, which is something so valuable and so hard to get from this sort of testing.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 28
Instead, something else was at play. The game (a survival game) had crafting timers, giving players the opportunity to do something else in the game whilst they waited. This player instead just wanted to read his book. He does this at home in similar games and wanted to do the same here.
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 28
Somewhat related story time... On day 3 of a week long play test, I noticed one of my participants brought a book into the lab. At one point he got it out of his jacket pocket and started reading it whilst 'playing'.
I went to ask him what was up, assuming he was getting bored and about to churn...
bentaels.bsky.social
Ben Taels @bentaels.bsky.social · Apr 28
On the other hand it can be good to make sure you have behaviours like this players can do in down times to keep themselves engaged

For example sliding in Fortnite Battle Royale is a fun thing for players to do when in the relative downtime of navigating from one spot to another
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 22
Oh weird I suddenly feel very ill... I need some time off work, about 2 weeks? See you later.
tomwarren.co.uk
Tom Warren @tomwarren.co.uk · Apr 22
BREAKING: Bethesda officially unveils its big Oblivion remaster. It's launching today! Details 👇 www.theverge.com/news/649795/...
Bethesda officially unveils Oblivion Remastered, launching today
It’s finally here after months of rumors
www.theverge.com
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 16
Had a blast at #GAConf and was proud to deliver my first talk there. Great to see old friends and meet some new ones. Until next time…
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Reposted by John Dickens
abletoplay.com
AbleToPlay | Find Accessible Games! @abletoplay.com · Apr 15
"Include, Learn, Iterate" by @johndickens.bsky.social teaches what accessible user research looks like, & how to adapt to fit different needs! It's an incredibly useful skill!

If you want to learn about what user research is & why you should be playtesting your games, check out John Dickens' talk!
Screenshot of John Dickens' talk. A blue background with the Tencent Games logo in the top left corner. In the center reads, "Include, Learn, Iterate: User Research for Accessibility." and "John Dickens, 2025".
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John Dickens @johndickens.bsky.social · Apr 2
Elden Ring for Switch 2 basically just means a higher risk of me launching this console out of a window than ever before.
I shall buy it.