EPT... hell, what a day was this? Destiny stirring up some massive discussions with his article, SlayerS disbands with a shitstorm, Grubby adresses the fatigue aspects of tournament gaming ...
It is certainly a lot going on, so i'll have my share and put out my thoughts. First of: i am currently writing a diploma thesis on Gamification: the method to utilize game-mechanics to enhance your product or service in terms of user loyalty and engagement.
This topic has a very big emphazise on the psychology side of gaming and why every human likes to play, and especially: What makes gaming a fun expierience, and what motivates us.
During my research i mainly focus on companies like zynga or foursquare, but it is very interessesting that my findings on the topic actually apply alot to sc2, which is just a hobby of mine. Many aspects also apply to League of Legends, which alot of posters used as an example for how an eSports Game should be.
So i would like to focus my thoughts on one main aspect:
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLAYERS
In alot of posts you read about two groups of players: the competetives and the casuals.
Richard Bartle did a lot of research on player types in MMORPG games and came up with 4 groups (later expanded into 8).
- Explorers
- Achievers
- Socializers
- Killers
+ Show Spoiler +
If you are interessted in the details or if you would like to find out which player type you are, you can read up on this here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartle_Test
MEANING FOR STARCRAFT 2
Explorers:
They would finish the campaign, getting all the achievements, playing alot of UMS maps. But also looking for micro tricks or cute gimmicks. They would also frequently watch streams and vods. These guys are also responsible for a lot of map creation, as they are the ones who have the patience of learning the tricks of the Map editor.
Very rarely would they play the ladder, maybe a few games to try it out. They would never enter a tournament.
Achievers:
These are your typical ladder guys. Possibly between gold and low masters most of the players fall in this category. They strive to get better at the game, climb up the ladder and do stuff like unlock portraits for ladder wins. They identify themselves with the ladder ranking alot. Of course they read up on strategy forums to follow the newest metagame trends and watch specific pro's streams from whom they think, they can learn the most.
Socializers:
These guys favor the social experience of gaming more than the game itself. They idle in their voicetool and in the chat channels until some friends show up, have a chat and then play some teamgames or UMS maps. Socialisers also try to make new social contacts over the game and thus post a lot in "practice group" threads.
Killers:
Killers are in the game solely for competetion with others. Its not satisfying for them just to have a high ladder ranking or a nice portrait like the achiever (killers don't even care about that stuff), the killer wants to see other people lose. He wants to see himself as the best and on top. Extreme forms of the killer type also tend to break the rules of the game just for winning.
It is obvious that almost every progamer falls in this category. The perfect archetype of this group has to be IdrA as he does not even like the game, but plays it for the feeling of beating other players.
And now comes the kicker: The vast majority of the playerbase is not exclusively member of one group. The large playerbase which keeps a game active and growing combine a bit every group in them with an emphasis on one. An player that is widly called "casual" might score something like this: 80% Socialiser, 40% explorer, 30% achiever, 10% killer.
=> To create a satisfying game experience, a game needs to provide enough possibilities and features for EVERY GROUP.
THE SITUATION IN WINGS OF LIBERTY AND IN LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
Explorers:
[SC2] You can play the campaign for a few dozen hours, get some achievements done. The UMS system was garbage since the release and the new Arcade is no improvement. So probably most Explorers will already have moved on to another game by now.
[LoL] You have have more than 100 heroes you can check out for multiple hours. Each of them can be customized with visual stuff as well as ingame relevant stuff like runes, masteries etc.. Hundrends of Hours of playtime before you get a feeling of "i have seen everything". Also the game is free for download, so everybody can install it and try it out.
Achievers:
[SC2] It seems that Blizzard tried to tailor sc2 especially towards this group. In theory the quick match button should be their most convienient way to find games that are the "optimal challenge" for them. Ingame features like multiple building selection, smart cast, unlimited ctrl group size etc... all this is made, so that the achievers quickly find a way to play the game to a (for them) satisfying level. Portraits, Ladder points, Rankings all those Gamemechanics aim to please the achievers.
But in reality alot of that stuff backfired or did not work. Very often you read threads about ladder anxienty or other stories, that laddering is just not a satisfying/fun experience. Why is that? Well sc2 is a tense 1v1 game. Games often can be decided by a single mistake. The game is also pretty physically exhausting at higher levels. And when you lose, you get MINUS points. You can be demoted, and everyone sees it. That hurts ALOT to the achievers and is very anxiety-inducing.
[LoL] First of, its a team game. If you fuck up a little, maybe a friend jumps in for you. After EVERY game you gain experience points as well as influence points, which serve as a virtual currency to enable new game features. The feeling of losing is a lot easier to bear, because you lost as a team. In public games you can not be demoted or set back. Overal a MUCH greater motivation to hit the "next game" button.
Socializers:
[SC2] I don't want to kick a dead horse here, but for the socializers the game is a catastrophe. The communication with your friends is tedious, finding new friends almost impossible and most of the interaction with strangers in game is quite hostile. Finding good UMS maps for a gaming session with the buddies is a pain in the ass and ladder teamgames 3v3 or 4v4 are pretty much a joke. The monobattle maps are more or less the last straw these people have. I am very sure, that most players in this category really had a strong desire for starcraft to be a great game for them, but it simply isn't, so i am afraid most of them have stopped playing by now.
[LoL] Well again, its a game that relies heavy on teamplay. Naturally people meet up in their voice tool and have a fun gaming session together. The environment can be quite hostile too, but its far easier to cope with if you have friends by your side. Also especially on the lower levels and with specific heroes, LoL is a pretty chill game, which can easily be played while having a cold beer after a hard day of work. The interface is a lot more communication friendly than sc2s. Actually i know alot of people who use LoL like a 2nd instant messanger.
Killers:
[SC2] Well, just listen to the pros. They don't like the game that much because it was not really made for them. "The skill cap is too low" is the most common complaint. Cheeses are too easy to execute and because of the features mentioned earlier every humpty dumpty herpderp guy can have a decent macro. Also deathball battles are boring" etc etc. It takes away the possiblity for profiliation and distinguishability. And it devaluates the feeling of "beeing the best".
[LoL] You have to crawl through 30 levels of collecting experience points in public games, but after that you are enabled to play ranked games, which is the part of the game for the killers. Thats because the game gets VERY different in these games. It gets a lot more strategic and delivering a skilled performance on your lane is waaay more important.
CONCLUSION
So what is my point? Well i also think, that the way starcraft 2 is heading is not going too good. I played the HotS beta and i don't have the feeling that it fixes any of the issues that would make the game more fun for the different player types. The explorers will get a new campaign, yes.
But i think Blizzard faces three MAIN challanges for Heart of the Swarm:
1) Make the game A LOT more socially pleasant. This is actually not that hard to fix. A plethora of suggestions for this has been made from the community.
2) Make laddering a more satisfyng expierence. I think the "unranked games" thingy goes in this direction, and its a start. But Blizzard needs to come up with good, motivating, rewarding game mechanics. It cannot be, that players exist who suffer from anxiety to play this game. That is an embarassing evidence for epicly failed gamification design.
3) Make the game more attractive for the pros. Why not think about a "pro-mod", where some subtle things are changed to raise the skill cap.
That is all,
thanks for reading.
