Lecture 3 - Cornell University

gamedesigninitiativeat cornell university

the

Social Mechanics

Lecture 3


the

About Today’s Lecture

� Will assume you saw Koster’s talk � Will use his design terminology � But not his Twitter numbers

� But will go deeper than that � What the heck was he talking about? � How is it present in existing games? � How do I add it to my game?

18

Social Mechanics 2


the

REVIEW: Aspects of a Game

� Players: How do humans affect the game?

� Goals: What is the player trying to do?

� Rules: How can the player achieve the goal?

� Challenges: What obstacles block the goal?

Social Mechanics 3


the

Introducing Social Elements

� Design game to encourage social interaction � Multiplayer => Social � But multiplayer not required

� Goals and Social Activity � Goals have multiplayer aspect

� Challenges and Social Activity � Multiple players adjust the difficulty � Other players can help or hinder

Social Mechanics 4


the

Trivial: “Single Player” Social

� Parallel symmetric games from Koster’s talk �  Status

�  Leaderboards

� Races

�  Tournaments

� Social aspects are “external” to game � Or are they really?

(my high score) (everyone’s high score) (speed puzzles)

(brackets of races)

Social Mechanics 5


the

Single-Player Social Design �  Very easy to do with “scoring”

�  Numerical basis for status, comparison

�  Most social games do this

�  Scoring can be multi-dimensional �  Different categories (speed, difficulty, etc…)

�  Can have leaderboard for each category

�  Status messages are non-numerical alternative �  Update my friends on where I am in game

Social Mechanics 6


the

Status Messages: Sword and Sworcery

Social Mechanics 7


the

Is this Good Design?

� If this is social, all games are social � But that was Raph’s point

� Bad: can ignore social elements � Don’t care about high score

� Goal: design social game mechanics � Require friends to play the game

� Or at least create strong incentives

Social Mechanics 8


the

Opposition: Koster’s Basics

�  1 vs 1 �  Tug of War

�  Flower Picking

�  Dot Eating

�  Secrets

�  1 vs 1 vs … vs 1 �  Last Man Standing

�  Bidding

�  Gamemaster Pattern

(combat)

(resource race)

(resource fight)

(deception)

(big fight)

(spectators) (????)

Social Mechanics 9


the

Key Design Observation

�  In these designs, number of players is fixed �  Traditional multiplayer set-up �  Not really using a “social network”

�  Existing games use asynchronous turn-based gameplay �  Old: Chess, Avalon Hill Wargames �  New: Words with Friends, WarStorm

�  Social Network a variation of play-by-mail �  1990s: Play-by-email �  Now: Play-by-Twitter, Play-by-Facebook �  Design is largely unchanged

Social Mechanics 10


the

Problem: Downtime

� Next move is blocked on player/gamemaster �  (Pre-internet) real life communication lag �  (Post-internet) player away from keyboard � How long can player take on his/her turn?

� “Swapping in” a big problem � Where are we in the game? � May have been days since last turn

� These problems limit you to core gamers

Social Mechanics 11


the

Problem: Downtime

Social Mechanics 12


the

Solution: Keep it Simple

� Classic board game design � Moves are relatively short � State determined at a glance

� Examples: � Chess: Move one piece; small 8x8 board � Word with Friends: Scrabble variant � Collectable Card Game: Cards in play � But not memoryless…

Social Mechanics 13


the

Complex Games Need a Gamemaster

� Needed if actions non-deterministic � How do we know outcome? � Cannot see your die roll

� Computer serves as gamemaster

� Allows for complex gameplay � Turn sets up action for gamemaster � But now turns take longer to play!

Social Mechanics 14


the

Example: Warstorm

Social Mechanics 15


the

Cooperation (Fixed Size)

� Friends help player overcome challenges � Roles � Mentoring � Gifts � Reciprocity

� Why wasn't booing given a number? �  Is it the same as gifts? �  Is it the same as mentoring?

(medic!) (free XP) (free magic items) (item exchange)

Social Mechanics 16


the

Example: Dragon Age Legends

Social Mechanics 17


the

� Do not actually fight battles with your friends � Would require coordination after each move �  This would make it a turn-based RPG � Requires constant online with lot of downtime

� In DA: Legends, Friends are resource �  Friends lend characters to your for the battle � You control entire party on your own �  Social coordination is after each battle

But Plays Like Single Player

Social Mechanics 18


the

Social Games Use Resource Sharing

� Zynga games have money as resource � “Hire” your friends to do tasks � This transfers your money to them

� Works with game specific resources � Farmville: Seeds, energy � Vampire: Blood � DA Legends: Party members

Numeric Resources

Object

Social Mechanics 19


the

And This Leads to Monetization…

Social Mechanics 20


the

Opposition & Cooperation

� Opponents, Friends may change dynamically � Ganging Up

� Deception/Bluffing

�  Prisoner’s Dilemma

� Fundamental in 3+ person games � Recall: Kingmaking, Politics

� Very difficult to balance

(king of the hill)

(turncoat) (lesser two evils)

Social Mechanics 21


the

Is This Truly “Social”?

� Opposition leads to turn-based play � Mechanics derived from board games

� Again, a form of play-by-mail

� Designed for (relatively) small groups � Opposition is still very “personal”

� Adding players unbalances resource sharing

�  Too many players, too long a game

Social Mechanics 22


the

Leveraging the Social Network

� Support open-ended cooperation/opposition � Want to encourage large personal network � But also allow small-scale (or even solo) play

� Allow time for communication �  Friends not immediately available � Do not “block” on requests � But allow for quick mobilization

� Provide rich communication channels �  “Join our secret group to plot John’s demise”

Social Mechanics 23


the

Unbounded Resource Sharing

� Example: Mafia Wars � My empire versus your empire

� Opposition is no longer “personal”

� Again, very hard to balance �  Large social networks crucial for survival

� Mobilization is also critical

�  Small networks need much work/money

Social Mechanics 24


the

Diminishing Returns

�  Friends can only help a limited number of times �  Friends run out of resources to give �  DA Legends: User per day limit on friends

�  Implemented with an “energy” resource �  Social activities require energy use �  Have to wait for friends to recharge �  Energy replenishes over time (or with money)

�  Encourages spreading out friends over time �  Going “all in” makes you vulnerable

Social Mechanics 25


the

Guilds and Large Economies

� A lot of rich gameplay from the MMOs � Guild vs. Guild �  Trade/Contracts �  Elections/Politics � Arbitrage

� But not really prevalent in social games. � Why not? � Can we create it?

(privacy policies?)

Social Mechanics 26


the

Why do Guilds Form?

Exclusivity Supply Chains

Social Mechanics 27


the

Why do Guilds Form?

Exclusivity Supply Chains

Social Mechanics 28


the

Guild Specialization

� Supply chains lead to specialization �  Each person has different role in chain � Guild structure balances member roles

� Very different from social game design �  Friends are often interchangeable � Actions limited by network size, not organization

� Is this too hardcore for social gamers?

Social Mechanics 29


the

Summary

�  Social gaming is still not well understood �  Many games are play-by-mail variants �  Downtime prevents a lot of complex gameplay

� Want mechanics that leverage network �  Support open-ended cooperation/opposition �  Provide rich, but asynchronous communication

� Want depth of MMO without complexity �  MMO economies are fantastic for gaming �  Want “guilds” with deep specialization

Social Mechanics 30

Lecture 3 - Cornell University

Documents

Transcript of Lecture 3 - Cornell University