The Player

Rui Prada

23 de Junho

Faculdade de Letras, Universidade de Lisboa

The Player

A player is a person that interacts with the game and lives the experience it offers.

The Audience

The audience of a game if the set of groups of players it targets. Examples: “teenage girls”, “students of

IST”, “visitors of a museum”, “football lovers”, “sportive people”

Player? Why?

How to measure the success of a game?

A game is successful if it satisfies the

needs of its (target) audience (players)

Player? Why?

Can a game target everyone? Merging two game genres please both audiences?

Player? Why?

Different players have different needs! Choosing the target players is a crucial step in the game development

You need to know who to please to define the experience

Player? Why?

Is that the only reason? Player as a consumer Player as a producer/author

Player? Why?

Player–author “conflict” Balance the author and player intentions

Player intentions

Author intensions

Player? Why?

Player and author contribute together to the experience (in different moments)

Player intensions

Author intensions

Good

Bad

Player? Why?

Players build actively and voluntarily the

experience

Define the Audience

Select the audience Detail the audience Understand the audience

Player Profile

For each group of players identify Motivation

Needs, preferences, interests, expectations, values, fears, dreams

Capabilities References, knowledge, limitations

Context of play Where, with whom and when they will play

Racing Car Game Player Profiles

Motivation Have a nice time with the family

Dreams to drive a car

Capabilities Limitations

Some limitations regarding dexterity and vision

Can deal with complex controls

Knowledge Follows car races on TV, knows famous drivers, has real-life driving experience

Has played driving games, follows gaming news

Context of Play

Family homes At home, when not studying

Type A Type B

Models of Players

Player profiles are crafted with contact with users Can be supported by existent models

Models by Game Genre

Common genres Action Adventure Driving Puzzle

Role-play Simulation Sports Strategy Shooter

Models by Game Genre

Do they really define the Audience?

All shooters!?

Game Genres

Players play the same game differently Genres show the current state of the art

Not good if you want to innovate Show the current users *not* the potential ones

Hardcore vs Casual

Hardcore

Familiar with game conventions Read about games (e.g. magazines, forums) Playing games as a life-style Adapt theirs life to the game Look for challenge Buy a lot of games

Hardcore vs Casual

Casual

Unaware of game conventions Play few games Games must adapt to their life Play to relax and “kill time” Buy few games

Hardcore vs Casual

Literacy Motivation Quantity Hardcore High Challenge Many Casual Low Kill time Few

Players of MUDs (Bartle, 1996)

Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades

Players

Environment

Socializers

Explorers

Killers

Achievers

Manipulate Interact

Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades

Socializers Enjoy learning about or communication with other players

Killers Enjoy manipulating other players

Explorers Enjoy interacting with the game world

Achievers Enjoy manipulating the game world

Play Styles

Particular form of play. Patterns of play behaviour.

Achiever Explorer Competitor Director Collector

Creator Storyteller Actor Joker Athlete

Play Styles

There are particular play styles in some genres

RTS: turtle, rusher, etc.

Play Personality

Player preference of play styles A player may adopt different play styles

+ Achiever: 60% + Explorer: 30% + Collector: 10%

DGD1 Model

Demographic Game Design 1 Developed by International Hobo Players model based on personality

Myers-Briggs

Build on Player surveys and interviews More than 400 participants

Myers-Briggs

Myers-Briggs

Influence on Game Design (E vs I) - How games are played

Duration of game sessions Sociability Connection with the outside world

Physical components Ex: Dance Dance Revolution (Konami, 2001)

Myers-Briggs

Influence on Game Design (S vs N) - Learning and problem solving

Level of abstraction of challenges Approach to challenge resolution

Trial and error (common sense) vs “Lateral Thinking”

Game progression Complex problems should not stop the progression (S)

Tutorials and help (S, not N)

Myers-Briggs

Influence on Game Design (T vs F) – Motivation to play

Encouragement Rewards and progression

Collectables (aesthetics)

Suggestions and help Deal with failure (“Game Over”)

Don’t punish (F)

Myers-Briggs

Influence on Game Design (J vs P) - Goal-orientation

Goals and progress Victory conditions

Open or closed games

Game structure

DGD1 Model

Thinking

Feeling

Conqueror Manager

Participant Wanderer

Judging Perceiving

(TJ) (TP)

(FP) (FJ)

DGD1 Model

Conqueror Manager

Participant Wanderer

H1 H2

H3 H4

C1 C2

C3 C4

DGD1 Model

Type 1 – Conqueror (T + J) Needs to “beat” the game in all possible ways

H1 (I) Beat their own limits Failure and frustration is positive

C1 (I + S) Beat the other players The most hardcore of the casual sector

DGD1 Model

Type 1 – Conqueror (T + J) Game characteristics

Fast pace (game progression) Story is irrelevant (C1) or does not give importance to characters (H1) Likes hidden components Online support/extension

Need voice (often complain)

DGD1 Model

Type 2 – Manager (T + P) Need to understand and explore the game

H2 (I) Like to explore strategies Failures are new opportunities to improve the strategy

C2 (I + S) Likes to build artefacts Low tolerance to failure

DGD1 Model

Type 2 – Manager (T + P) Game characteristics

Stable progression Implicit goals, focus on the process The plot is more important than the characters Does not need a strong social component

DGD1 Model

Type 3 – Wanderer (F + P) Seeks new experiences

H3 (I + N) Seeks fantasy Likes to play with “style”

C3 (E + N) The game is just pastime, it cannot…

… irritate, tire, “force to think” Needs progress but without much effort

Share: plays single-player games in pairs

DGD1 Model

Type 3 – Wanderer (F + P) Game characteristics

Slow progression Progression implies new “toys”

Non-linear structure Simple controls Emotional connection with the characters The game is a means to share experiences

May be to talk about unrelated subjects

DGD1 Model

Type 4 – Participant (F + J) Want to participate in a story or social interaction

H4 (E + S) Seek participation in the development of the game and/or story Seek involvement with the real world Favour collaboration

C4 (E + S) ? Seek social entertainment

Implies the same physical space Favours group play (with friends)

DGD1 Model

Type 4 – Participant (F + J) Game characteristics

Game progression connected to the story Emotional connection with the characters Group interactions

Preferably face to face

DGD1 Model

http://ihobo.com/_oldsite/articles/DGD1.shtml

Progression Narrative Social

Conqueror Fast No / Plot Competition

Manager Stable Plot No

Wanderer Slow / novelty Character / emotion

Sharing

Participant Story Character / emotion

Cooperation (in loco)

BrainHex

Synthesis of Survey data

60,000 respondents + DGD1 and DGD2

Neurobiological findings

http://blog.brainhex.com/

BrainHex

7 classes

Seeker Survivor Daredevil Mastermind

Conqueror Socialiser Achiever

BrainHex

Seeker Pleasure of discovery

(Positive) surprise Aesthetics

Preferable activity Searching

BrainHex

Survivor Pleasure of survival

Difficult situations Sense of danger and intensity Fear

Preferable activity Escaping

Just in time

BrainHex

Daredevil Pleasure of taking risks

Likelihood of the risk Consequences Seek and confront danger

Different from survivor that likes to avoid danger

Preferable activity Hunting Invading

BrainHex

Mastermind Pleasure of finding solutions

Complex problems Explore options Define strategies

Preferable activity Solving problems

BrainHex

Conqueror Pleasure of winning

Type and greatness of the win Quality of the adversary

Preferable activity Defeating Competing

BrainHex

Socialiser Pleasure of interacting

Frequency and quality of the interactions Feeling of belonging

Preferable activity Relating to others Helping

BrainHex

Achiever Pleasure of completing goals

Complete tasks Complete collections Difficult of the tasks

Preferable activity Collect

Things Achievements

BrainHex

A player can have more than one strong class (class and subclass)

Ex: Mastermind / Survivor

A player usually also has some weak classes (exceptions)

Player avoid the activities involved Ex: weak seekers hate to have to search for things

The Daedalus Project

The psychology of MMORPG players Nick Yee

Based on players surveys [2003-2009] More than 35000 players

http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus

Conclusions

Game design should be focused on the satisfaction of players’ needs Players have and active role in the creation of the experience There are clear differences in the way people play

Hardcore vs casual Play styles

Conclusions

Different kind of people like different type of games Select the audience of your game Define player profiles to guide the design and development of the game

Player models support the definition of profiles

Consider more than one profile Deal carefully with conflicts/synergies

Rui Prada rui.prada@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

http://ajist.tecnico.ulisboa.pt http://www.spcvideojogos.org