Ace Usability Slides Avoid Kobayashi Maru: 10 XEODesign Secrets
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These Top 10 Secrets from XEODesign's 18 years of research target deadly yet easy to fix yet usability and player experience issues. Player testing does not have to be a no-win situation. Use these 10 Secrets to sail through player testing and avoid Kobayashi Maru. 100n091809
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Ace Usability Slides Avoid Kobayashi Maru: 10 XEODesign Secrets
- 1. Ace Usability Avoid Kobayashi Maru A Pre-Flight Check List Nicole Lazzaro XEODesign, Inc. Austin Game Conference September 18, 2008 ® ™ Follow my research on Twitter: @NicoleLazzaro Twitter: #AGDC
- 3. XEODesign, Inc. The 4 Fun Keys Winner Best Game 2007 Tilt the first iPhone accelerometer game
- 4. Massively Social Online Game use fun to drive social distribution
- 6. The 4 Fun Keys Paint Engagement w/ Verbs Curiosity Fiero Excitement Relaxation Amusement Naches Schadenfreude Generosity Coordinate Action Inside/Outside Social Grouping Twitter Facebook Flickr Wikipedia Brain Age Wonder Surprise Frustration Focus Attention Reward Accomplishment Challenge and Mastery Imagination Express Values Adventure Discovery Figure Out Bejeweled The Sims Create Value Basketball Halo Myst Mob Wars Who Has the Biggest Brain? Farmville Grand Theft Auto Personalize Grow Niche Interests Hard Fun Easy Fun Serious Fun People Fun Putting Emotion into Play XEODesign
- 7. Fiero Curiosity Relaxation 3. Serious Fun: Creating Value Amusement 4. People Fun: Socialize 1. Hard Fun: Accomplishment 2. Easy Fun: Imagination
- 9. Player Experiences <-- UX Controls Player Experiences PX Choice -->
- 10. UX Core Tasks Missions Inventory Combat Loot Abilities Equip Character Stats PX Activity Loops
- 11. XEODesign’s Secret Ace Usability Checklist
- 19. People Fun: Photo Tag Amusement Personalize Tease Social Tokens http://apps.facebook.com/supertagphotos/
- 23. Simplify the UI First Attempt > Tilt
- 24. Simplify the UI Second Attempt > Tilt
- 25. Simplify the UI Third Attempt > Tilt
- 29. Keep Buttons Clickable Have Fun Now Have Fun Later
- 35. abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz abcdefghijklm One and a half alphabets wide
- 49. Simple + Small = Viral Koi Pond
- 50. Textless Help “Looks like a puzzle” Tilt
- 51. Textless Help “Oh! I Tilt!” Tilt
- 54. Now this is feedback! Peggle by Pop Cap
- 57. The 4 Fun Keys Paint Engagement w/ Verbs Curiosity Fiero Excitement Relaxation Amusement Naches Schadenfreude Generosity Coordinate Action Inside/Outside Social Grouping Twitter Facebook Flickr Wikipedia Brain Age Wonder Surprise Frustration Focus Attention Reward Accomplishment Challenge and Mastery Imagination Express Values Adventure Discovery Figure Out Bejeweled The Sims Create Value Basketball Halo Myst Mob Wars Who Has the Biggest Brain? Farmville Grand Theft Auto Personalize Grow Niche Interests Hard Fun Easy Fun Serious Fun People Fun Putting Emotion into Play XEODesign
- 58. 1. Hard Fun = Fiero /
- 59. 2. Easy Fun = Curiosity
- 60. Easy Fun
- 61. Tilt: an adventure in 1.5 dimensions
- 62. Serious Fun: Brain Baths, Tap Tap Revolution Change how you think, feel, and behave
- 63. Serious Fun: Motion X Poker Completion Collection and Matching Mechanics
- 70. 4. People Fun = Amusement + Social Bonding
- 71. Wonder and Connection Ocarina: Easy Fun and People Fun
- 72. People Fun
- 75. MSO Viral Design Principles
- 77. Do you play “follow the leader” to increase your personal hype quotient? What would encourage idea exchange? Personal Hype Quotient
- 78. People Fun: Pet Society Gratitude, Schadenfreude, Naches Rich choices between players Competition Cooperation Gifting Mentorship
- 80. People Fun Feeling of being closer creates social fabric between people TattleTalz.com Winner Best Game 2008
- 92. Player Experiences <-- UX Controls Player Experiences PX Choice -->
- 94. UX Core Tasks And a Plea… solve this Missions Inventory Combat Loot Abilities Equip Character Stats PX Activity Loops
- 95. Massively Social Online Game MSOs use fun to drive social distribution
- 96. World at night
- 101. Soy Free Realms
Notes de l'éditeur
- Nicole Lazzaro Founder and President, XEODesign, Inc. Nicole, founder and president of XEODesign, Inc., is an award-winning interface designer and the leading authority on emotion and the player experience. She has eighteen years of expertise in Player Experience Design for mass-market entertainment products. Voted by Gamasutra as one of the Top 20 women working in video games, she has improved the player experiences for more than 40 million people including several Myst and Diner Dash games. She has helped expand the game industry's emotional palette beyond the stereotypical range of anger, frustration, and fear. Her clients including Sony, EA, Ubisoft, Sega, PlayFirst, The Cartoon Network, Disney, LeapFrog, Mattel, Monolith, Xfire, D.I.C.E, Leap Frog, Ugobe, The Learning Company, Broderbund, Roxio, Cisco, Go Pets, Sierra Online, and Maxis. She has a BA degree in Psychology from Stanford University where she also studied filmmaking and computer programming. Free white papers on emotion and the fun of games here: www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames www . xeodesign .com Description : Sail through player testing and be the envy of all your friends. While usability issues make players quit, the good news is that there are 10 things you can do right now to ace usability testing. Casual MMO's like Maple Story and Sony's Free Realms gain strategic advantage and huge player bases by reducing complexity and adding social UI. These Top 10 Secrets from XEODesign's 18 years of research target deadly yet easy to fix yet issues. Player testing does not have to be a no-win situation. Use these 10 Secrets to sail through player testing and avoid Kobayashi Maru. Take away : Take charge with this pre-flight check list and prepare your game to reduce complexity, make it more social, and more fun! This talk targets the most important areas for game user interfaces, including user interface, activity loops, core tasks, and social UI. These most important aspects of your game must be 100% usable so players have fun. Attendees can use this pre-flight check list to prepare prepare their game to sail through player testing and avoid Kobayashi Maru.
- The Kobayashi Maru is a no-win scenario used as a test of character for Star Fleet captains in the fictional Star Trek universe.
- I make games more fun While I’ve improved over 40MM PX for these clients, I am most known for the Four Keys to Fun How emotion creates the experiences players like most Used framework to create Tilt the first Accelerometer game for the iPhone At XEODesign we hack the “what’s fun question from the player’s perspective by watching people’s faces as they play What I am most known for here at GDC is XEODesign’s research on emotion and the fun of games. We’ve identified the 4 play styles that people like the most about games and the types of choices games offer players. It turns out that best selling games tend to offer 3 out of the 4 playstyles where as their less successful imitators do not.
- How do we create a game that 6 Billion people can play? One that improves quality of life Unlock human potential through play The market has shifted (Perfect Storm) New Goal: Empowering games that connect friends challenge, imagine, value, connection Use fun to drive social distribution http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm
- One of you out there is going to make the game that does this. What we need to understand is how to break the mold A new kind of game
- Imagine adding emotion to Google Facebook Twitter Word Processor Audio and visuals create emotion Paint in Emotion with action, the verbs choose change the emotions users feel very true in games Emotion helps us decide Google curiosity Social bonding to Facebook and Twitter Engagement = attention and motivation Use fun to drive social distribution Harness the mainia for social interaction: Things that have greatest impact offer several at once
- The Four Keys to Fun Organized favorite moments in games by emotion Created playstyles from the verbs present in these favorite moments
- The verbs Apple iPhone offers change the emotions users experience Stroke iPhone to share Photos Rotate to create wonder Connect to others for social bonding and amusement
- I approach player testing as I do the two wheels on a bicycle UX - controls how to play PX - choice how to have fun How the feet attach to the peddles to the chain and the rear wheel make the thing go The front wheel is for steering where the fun is Together work so well together that the player soon forgets they are there Together work so well together system don’t think about it Approach player testing like a bicycle. Rear wheel for controls and how to play. Front wheel is choice and how to have fun. #agdc #gdca
- I approach MMO testing this way Core Tasks 100% useable UX systems Core Tasks are how to play. Connect Core Tasks into Activity Loops. Activity Loops are how to have fun No MMO communicates the Activity Loop well The most important UX issues to fix are the ones in the game’s core activity loop Organize the UI and starter area to make these relationships more apparent Follow an 80/20 rule Secondary Activity Loops Explore Create Gather Cook
- XEODesign’s Secret Checklist to preflight your game before testing Of the 100’s of things we look for here are 10 Ace Usability and avoid Kobayashi Maru 10 Secrets - practical may not be that sexy, but when paying 10-30K for a study saves a lot to take care of these issues first. XEODesign’s Secret checklist Of the 100’s of heuristics XEODesign has Here are 10 that we use the most often And never want to see in our labs again! Use this check list and Ace Usability and Avoid Kobayashi Maru
- Here are 5 things most games we test do That are easy to fix and That drive players out of their minds Part 1. Reduce Complexity Things we never want to see in our lab again!
- Top Mistakes * Too much at the player at once (all 150 features) - no learning curve, less experience from mastery never get a new set of features Core Tasks can’t ride if one of the spokes is missing Identify them Make them 100% usable (or not - Tilt discovering the main mechanic and what’s good and bad is a big part of the fun) The Secret *Ask yourself is there anyway to reduce complexity * Visually, interaction, play model * How low can you go? I’ve prototyped a 2 button MMO * no right mouse - evar! * no WASD I mean support arrow keys, that's what they are there for!
- To do this requires a magic number… … well not quite Let’s divide by 6.
- That’s better This is Miller’s magic number
- Sony Free Realms: Having just 5-9 items at a time helps players, by not overloading their short term memory
- In Maple Story Having more buttons makes the UI harder to understand. Grouping items into chunks say 4 groups of 5 helps. Here the tutorial has buttons right on the graphic which feels more integrated, more on that in a bit.
- In Photo Tag adding a screen drove photo creation to near zero.
- We need to simplify visual complexity as well. Draw two dark lines creates a third white line in the middle The work of Edward Tufte Visual Design of Quantitative Information, Envisioning Information are great books
- Squint your eyes do you see the colorful matching shapes or a grid?
- Sony Free Realms: Here bands of color separate but do not form a grid.
- For Tilt we went through three rounds on the UI
- Attempt number 2 was more colorful, but still too complex
- Removing the bottom bar gave a sense of relief to the screen. What to look for is the feeling of relief.Compare this screen with the previous one. * Simplicity * Resonates * Everything I need is here
- Top Mistakes * Too much at the player at once (all 150 features) - no learning curve, less experience from mastery never get a new set of features Core Tasks can’t ride if one of the spokes is missing Identify them Make them 100% usable (or not - Tilt discovering the main mechanic and what’s good and bad is a big part of the fun) The Secret *Ask yourself is there anyway to reduce complexity * Visually, interaction, play model * How low can you go? I’ve prototyped a 2 button MMO * no right mouse - evar! * no WASD I mean support arrow keys, that's what they are there for!
- After ways to simplify look at the buttons Top Mistakes Use button art’s alpha masks to define click area Label not clickable Text fields that look like buttons The Secret * Player see the buttons (not text fields etc.) * Click on them Know what they do > Not that many (See above) > Hot spots size and placement > Labels and buttons should be clickable > Text should be clickable label and button > Clickable Text and button labels vs. informational text - need two looks here.
- Thou shalt not make hot areas from the alpha mask of the art Where to players expect to be able to click is often a larger area because they see the center of the cursor as the hot spot.
- Sony Free Realms Button text should look different than non-clickable text
- After look at ways to simplify Top Mistakes Use button art’s alpha masks to define click area Label not clickable Text fields that look like buttons The Secret * Player see the buttons (not text fields etc.) * Click on them Know what they do > Not that many (See above) > Hot spots size and placement > Labels and buttons should be clickable > Text should be clickable label and button > Clickable Text and button labels vs. informational text - need two looks here.
- Text Players don't read Organize (Info design) Top Mistakes Too much text Add a sign - if you see a sign there’s a usability error Add more text * text look clickable b/c the button treatment is cool looking The Secret * Clearly separate what is interactive and what is not in the UI > 5-10 words max > Readability fonts > Width 1.5 alphabets
- Let me put this another way For any gamers in the audience this slide is for you Players Don’t Read Players are hear to play not visit the library. Thou Shalt Not make the player read more than 5-10 words at a time
- I don’t care how old you are
- Sony Free Realms Starts out approachable, but then the text gets longer and longer Center justified and white text on blue background - both make it harder to read
- Maple Story Begins well. Very approachable text.
- Maple Story The text then gets longer, which is ok as long as players know they don’t have to read it all. The width is not bad. But there’s more than 5-10 words here.
- Maple Story There are muliple dialogs on top of each other. Players will loose their place and wonder if they have to memorize all this text in order to play.
- Text Players don't read Organize (Info design) Top Mistakes Too much text Add a sign - if you see a sign there’s a usability error Add more text * text look clicable b/c the button treatment is cool looking The Secret * Clearly separate what is interactive and what is not in the UI > 5-10 words max > Readability fonts > Width 1.5 alphabets
- I would like to share a few quotes In response to a study the following responses may come to mind… If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this one!
- OR this is another classic It’s phrases like these that created the XEODesign Drinking Game:
- This may be kind of shocking to some of you 4. Tutorials Players skip tutorials - make sure they can survive if they do! Top Mistakes * Band-Aid UX issues with tutorial boxes and help screens. Fix the usability issues and you save the expense and player frustration of sitting through a tutorial Sprinkle tip boxes in first 30 mins like pepper (remember player’s don’t read) No practice TS give players adequate opportunity to practice something before hitting them with the next stage of the tutorial. Too many (remember Miller’s Magic number?) The Secret Halo is my favorite tutorial of all time. Fully integrated into the beginning of the game > Player's don't read (did I mention that?) > Players don't do tutorials > They skip comics, and don't read help > Therefore your game needs to provide an opening experience that gets them success in under 5 minutes. > Go for an 80/20 rule what do players need most of the time?
- Sony Free Realms After the Flash client got hidden behind the browser window. Finally I’m in !! Off to a good start. But then tutorial by text Band-aids! Then the player gets dumped out of the ambulance An initial experience like Halo 1 is what we want. Players don’t read, and they won’t remember any of this w/o some practice.
- Sony Free Realms Players don’t use the right mouse button Not at all surprised that this is the first screen in the tutorial
- Sony Free Realms Players don’t use the WASD keys They use the arrow keys
- Maple Story Keys fully integrated into the environment. LOVE THIS!! Learn in steps and repeat what had to do before. Practice makes perfect!
- Maple Story More practice
- Maple Story Nice visual overlay
- Non-text tutorial - my second favorite tutorial 15 second demo more viral than 1hour tutorial Remember: iPhone Apps *are* Social Tokens passed btwn friends. Repeat exposure is how to get more than 10% conversion Apple = Genius At least a simple front end - the ad is this taste of a game Deepen game after the introduction Social marketing is about creating shared experiences not collecting eyeballs
- Tilt: an adventure in 1.5 dimensions Textless Help Screen First draft From “looks like a puzzle” To Oh! I get it
- Tilt: an adventure in 1.5 dimensions Textless Help Screen From “looks like a puzzle” To Oh! I get it
- This may be kind of shocking to some of you 4. Tutorials Players skip tutorials - make sure they can survive if they do! 20% or less if they have the option to skip Top Mistakes * Band-aid UX issues with tutorial boxes and help screens. Fix the usability issues and you save the expense and player frustration of sitting through a tutorial Sprinkle tip boxes in first 30 mins like pepper (remember player’s don’t read) No practice TS give players adequate opportunity to practice something before hitting them with the next stage of the tutorial. Too many (remember Miller’s Magic number?) The Secret Halo is my favorite tutorial of all time. Fully integrated into the beginning of the game > Player's don't read (did I mention that?) > Players don't do tutorials > They skip comics, and don't read help > Therefore your game needs to provide an opening experience that gets them success in under 5 minutes. > Go for an 80/20 rule what do players need most of the time?
- In addition to simplify buttons text talk about features Players want more than an experience bar The features you have to test - must have feedback Activity Loops Top Mistakes Not enough feedback Feedback not suited to player Only feedback on the long term goal The Secret Provide enough feedback on controls, short term progress, and long term progress towards goal. Did I do something? Was it a good or a bad thing? Don’t be surprised at the end of a level or a quest We want players to feel good: Almost! vs. You Suck! Match the feedback to the type of audience you have.
- Peggle goes over the top to make the player feel rewarded. Really there’s no more to say here about feedback Ode to Joy Three stages of feedback 1. Controls: What happens as a result of move? 2. Game State: Was that good or bad? How apparent are changes in the game state to players 3. Goals: Long term goals Planning: Every feature you add will require some feedback Design feedback systems that are easy to connect with play
- In addition to buttons text talk about features Players want more than an experience bar Activity Loops Top Mistakes Not enough feedback Feedback not suited to player Almost vs. You Suck!!! Only feedback on the long term goal The Secret Provide enough feedback on controls, short term progress, and long term progress towards goal. Did I do something? Was it a good or a bad thing? Don’t be surprised at the end of a level or a quest We want players to feel good Almost! vs. You Suck! Match the feedback to the type of audience you have.
- Here are 5 things most games we test do that detract from the fun factor That are easy to fix and * Part of what MMO players like most in games (social) * Largely responsible for viral spread of social games * Big hook to reengage players Where games make their money Part 2. Offer Social UI MMO's are social games More than chat and customizable avatars > Maple Story's Social UI's, avatar customization > Rewards for social interaction are high > MMO's can do more here
- There are many ways to create player engagement we’ve found in 17 years of research We are going to focus on two most important to MMOs Hard Fun and People Fun Imagine painting emotions on to: Google Facebook Twitter Word Processor Audio and visuals create emotion Paint in Emotion with action, the verbs choose change the emotions users feel very true in games Emotion helps us decide * Google curiosity * Social bonding to Facebook and Twitter * Engagement = attention and motivation
- Hard Fun is about challenge and mastery Balance difficulty and boredom Points Obstacles - fun to beat Good frustration vs. bad frustration
- Easy Fun balances novelty and the expected Creativity Imagination Fantasy Single concept Simple mechanic Easy contribution (everyone knows how to act like a Pirate or Zombi or take care of a pet) 3 Mistakes * “WOW killer” * Hardcore solo niche game (Hard core only15% of market) User created games
- Easy Fun is the fun outside of challenge. It’s a combination of bubble wrap and Fantasy Island.
- Easy Fun is often found in the controls Like our game Tilt: an adventure in 1.5 dimensions You just tilt between portrait and landscape to play
- Serious Fun Players change how they think, feel, or behave Music changes emotional states Brain Baths uses binaurial beats (frequencies in the brain) to create relaxation, creativity, or brain latte Tap Tap Revolution uses music, color, and rhythm.
- Serious Fun also uses collection and completion mechanics MMO Inventory systems should work this way. The iPhone OS does
- Common mistake in increasing Hard Fun This makes the game harder require more skill But offers little to incentives new strategy
- Going along with Feedback is challenge Be sure this works before the study Top Mistakes * More monsters less time. No new strategy, Diner Dash trophy for level 4 is a coffee maker that breaks player strategy for level 5. No enhanced sense of progress Too steep, shallow, or bumpy a ramp The Secret Balance difficulty and skill Add that suggest new strategy and goals Thou shalt not increase difficulty solely by increasing the number of customers and reducing the amount of time.
- THE GRIND The question you want to ask is: How is completing quest 4 breaking the strategy for quest 5. Diner Dash Coffee Maker is the trophy for level 4 and breaks player strategy for level 5. Let’s look into how games create Hard Fun and more emotions like Fiero* for players. Hard Fun: Emotions about choices from mechanics in the game. Emotions about choices made in the game. Several game features and mechanics enhance a player’s sense of Fiero and progress in the game. Hard Fun is the perfect balance of player skill with game difficulty. If the game is too easy the player quits because they are bored. If the game is too hard players quit because they are too frustrated. On the right are the choices and emotions players feel from the Hard Fun activities in a game, such as working towards a goal or scoring points. I first knew we were on to something new when I started seeing patterns in game players not predicted by Csikszentmihalyi’s model of Flow. First of all, emotional states for good games had to vary over time, not just get harder. So we added a wiggly line. Secondly, we saw a lot more emotions than boredom and frustration (anxiety). For example for Fiero to occur players had to become so frustrated that they were about ready to quit. To get Fiero, the player must succeed just when they are on the verge of quitting. When they achieve at that point they experience a huge phase shift in the body from feeling very bad to feeling very good. This enhances the positive elative feelings of Fiero. Players enjoyed alternating between Hard Fun and Easy Fun (definition coming up) to prevent becoming too frustrated or to motivate the next round of challenges. *Fiero is Italian word for “Personal triumph over adversity.” We don’t have a word in English for it, or an emoticon. o/
- Going along with Feedback is challenge Be sure this works before the study Top Mistakes * More monsters less time. No new strategy, Diner Dash trophy for level 4 is a coffee maker that breaks player strategy for level 5. No enhanced sense of progress Too steep, shallow, or bumpy a ramp The Secret Balance difficulty and skill Add that suggest new strategy and goalss Thou shalt not increase difficulty solely by increasing the number of customers and reducing the amount of time.
- Social Interaction means as much to players as their experience bar Give them the tools to manage it. Social UI / Social XP Social scores - players like scores, and will game the system. Design a social score that is good for your game (Twitter's breaks the experience.) Communication - always in touch with what their friends are doing in game and out of game Top Mistakes Individual invites (no dumping address books into system) No recognition of friends, or easy way to find them during play No choices that develop social bonds The Secret Build Friendships - repeat interaction tansparncy and trust Look for social emotions esp. Amusement Oppty for choices that create social emotions Tools to Connect and Manage Social Net * Real world and in game only - choose * More than RSS / IRC Chat and avatars Think Twitter / Facebook not RSS Chat (ham radio vs. social media) * Need information tools to bring player information and exchange info about their friends and spawn social interaction * Support friend feed type information when friends reach new achievements * Provide management tools to manage and increase their in-game social network and tie in to their friends in real life social networks on Facebook, twitter etc.
- Everyone has a friend who can make them laugh this hard. How do you feel when you get up off the floor? You feel closer, right? That’s the emotions that create social bonds. Again, no good word in English.
- Here a mother and her son play Wii Boxing. The competition and social interaction make it more fun. She enjoys how it helps her work out a little of that “parent child frustration.” 2. Social Features People Fun * Social Emotions * Match PX Profile Build Trust Connection feedback personalize Social bonding (not capital) beyond social features more that chat and avatar customization 3 Mistakes * Competition, Chat & Profile are enough * Reward PHQ as a measure of social capital Social Capital
- Ocarina It’s an interactive show and tell Sharing w/a friend recreates / reexperiences the emotions from the first time
- For Tilt: an adventure in 1.5 dimensions To create people fun add more mechanics, and create characters that live in this world that respond to your action Even virtual pets create people fun Here are three character designs for Tilt that create different levels of emotional responses.
- Social interaction outside of the game over the shoulder demos, blogging, emailing links Simple way to play with big impact Viruses are small for a reason Use accelerometer to create wonder Only a small amount of traffic came from Apple’s website on the big days Most came from social media = individual bloggers people who were excited about the experience Blogs / News media with lots of followers sent more iPhone taps into a primal social sharing behavior I show you what I’ve found at the App Store and you show me what you’ve found Mobile platform Made the over the shoulder play more interesting Reward Group play w/Tilt World meta game social interaction
- It Takes 2: For technology to bring people closer, it must first connect them. What would get all your friends to play? Relationship is the message - Connection with others 1. Establish connection 2. Activity we mutually agree 3. Deepen feeling of connection through play
- MSO / Social Media Ability to Connect Feedback Personalize The question remains what causes one game to go viral and another not? How monetize something that’s free? What makes media social is this ability to generate social emotions MSO Design Principles 1. Connect and make friends 2. Feedback to keep the ball in play 3. Personalize play as well as avatars Facebook and WOW have very different emotion profiles coming from the different choices. The actions in Facebook’s PX Profile revolve around friendship. The actions in WOW’s PX Profile revolve around conflict and combat. These create very different sets of emotions. In WOW players compete and cooperate to slay dragons In Halo 3 players compete for world high scores against players who make the game more challenging than the AI. In Facebook making friends is the game. The next generation of social media will come from drawing from each of these.
- Sony Free Realms What not to do: Start a game with “no friends” Please start player with friends or a message and button on how to add them. No one likes to be w/out friends
- Twitter has an issue with following PHQ: Personal Hype Quotient by Kalia Hamlin and Mary Hodder The emotion of someone following you overpowers the emotion from having a stream of interesting people to read. Emotional design - thrill following your total number Compete w/finding stuff on feed Score becomes meaningless if it’s simple follow me I follow you. RSS reader becomes less fun Changes the relationships between people Social emotions drive behavior * Rewarding # of friends, PHQ Overshadows Other actions * Spam Befriending Unbalances Game
- PlayFish Social Connections Social connection w/friends maintained even in a single player game Friends always in mind Who has the biggest brain Missed opportunity: Biggest Brain: More interaction between players In game leaderboard
- Mafia Wars [Zynga] What could be more about friends than gangs and mafias? Farmville has a gardening feeling which also is about friendship Friend Feed
- What creates and binds friends and is why people play together This is more than “ Social Capital” And information Social interaction Needs to add up * Feedback * Connect * Social Tokens
- Social Interaction means as much to players as their experience bar Give them the tools to manage it. Social UI / Social XP Social scores - players like scores, and will game the system. Design a social score that is good for your game (Twitter's breaks the experience.) Communication - always in touch with what their friends are doing in game and out of game Top Mistakes Individual invites (no dumping address books into system) No recognition of friends, or easy way to find them during play No choices that develop social bonds The Secret Build Friendships - repeat interaction transparency and trust Look for social emotions esp. Amusement Opportunity for choices that create social emotions Tools to Connect and Manage Social Net Real world and in game only - choose More than RSS / IRC Chat and avatars Think Twitter / Facebook not RSS Chat (ham radio vs. social media) Need information tools to bring player information and exchange info about their friends and spawn social interaction Support friend feed type information when friends reach new achievements Provide management tools to manage and increase their in-game social network and tie in to their friends in real life social networks on Facebook, twitter etc.
- Social UI must Create social bonds / weave social fabric between friends Allow games to scale Encourage reengagement Part of the monetization model
- Top Mistakes Chat and avatars only No open ended responses No social token exchange or creation The Secret Messages Social Tokes Personalize * Feedback loops * Social Activity Loops
- Sony Free Realms Closed chat channels reduces social tokens
- Top Mistakes Chat and avatars only No open ended responses No social token exchange or creation The Secret Messages Social Tokes Personalize * Feedback loops * Social Activity Loops
- Top Mistakes * Only a store Not related enough to gameplay or what’s fun Pay for extra levels vs. pay for gifts * Free to Play model for a niche of a niche hardcore game genre The Secret As fun as the game Connect Friends messages and actions Do it like this (see last year’s talk for more)
- I’ve given whole talks on this slide elsewhere, the thing to remember is…. Connect players, game, their friends, and store Support Keys to Social Play Create social game not just customizable avatars > Maple story contact lens > Puzzle pirate boat > Farmville
- Maple Story What Players buy * Gifts * Weapons * Personal These create the most emotion Actions: Maple Story social interaction creates value In the game Maple Story (published by Nexon), it is the social value that justifies someone spending $5 for colored contact lenses for their avatar or additional emotes. There are a lot of design decisions used to support enjoying the game more in this way. == References == --- Maple Story, Nexon http://www.mcvuk.com/press-releases/32203/MapleStoryndash-Game-Currencies-And-Cash-Shop-Explained The Cash Shop � Spending NEXON Cash MapleStory offers those players looking to stand out in the online crowd everything from the latest fashions in clothing, hair salon coupons to plastic surgery coupons and other appearance-altering items � all of which can be purchased from the Cash Shop. To do this, players need to click on the red 舛 A SH SHOP � button at the bottom of the screen to enter. Here you can recharge NEXON Cash through three, ultra-safe payment systems, those being: PayPal, Click&Buy and Paysafecard ,as well, using this button. If you run out of NEXON Cash, you can only purchase an item after recharging it. You can also check the amount of NEXON cash you have left in your account by clicking the green 舛 h eck Cash � button, as well. Another neat feature of the Cash Shop is the ability to try before you buy. Double-click on the item you'd like to purchase to see your character try on the item at the top left corner � the perfect way to see if the item looks good or not! Most of the equipment you purchase is largely just decorative for your character. Put simply, these items go over whatever equipment you are currently wearing, masking your current equipment. You can also buy pets at the Cash Shop, and equipment for pets. The latest MapleStory Europe Cash Shop update includes, for example, the hugely popular Red Hood, Lined Hip-Hop Pants, and Henesy 痴 Cosmetic Lens Coupon. The Red Cape fits snuggly over any costume currently adorning your character and doesn 稚 affect the Mapler 痴 level of protection. The lined, hip and happening Hip-Hop Pants are the latest in a long line of fashionable clothes available in the Cash Shop, and the cosmetic lenses are the ultimate fashion expression in choosing the colour of your character 痴 eyes. -- wikipedia 50MM subs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MapleStory MapleStory ( Korean : 메이플스토리 ) is a free-of-charge , 2D , side-scrolling Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game developed by the Korean company Wizet . Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions, and each is published by various companies such as Wizet and Nexon . Although playing the game is free, many player appearances and gameplay enhancements can be purchased from the &quot; Cash Shop &quot; using real money . MapleStory has a combined total of over 50 million subscriber accounts in all of its versions. [1] [2] MapleStory North America (Global), for players mainly in North America and outside of East Asia , Southeast Asia and Europe , has over three million players. [1] In the game, players walk around in the &quot;Maple World&quot; and defeat monsters and develop their character's skills and abilities, as in typical role-playing games . Players can interact with others in many ways, such as through chatting , trading , and playing minigames . Groups of players can band together in parties to hunt monsters and share the rewards. Players can also band in a guild to interact more easily with each other.
- Top Mistakes * Only a store Not related enough to gameplay or what’s fun Pay for extra levels vs. pay for gifts * Free to Play model for a niche of a niche hardcore game genre The Secret As fun as the game Connect Friends messages and actions Do it like this (see last year’s talk for more)
- It wouldn’t be a talk about Kobayashi Maru without the mention of cheating. We do it. Here’s how: Play test with friends and family and make changes before going to formal testing. Knock off a lot of the rough edges that way, and get at the deeper stuff during more formal players studies The Secret One on one Don’t provide help Think aloud 4. Watch players play believe what they do over what they say over how they answer survey 5. Look for systems that are broken, don’t try to patch individual features. Be strategic. Use the above Design Secrets and the following 3 techniques to test on friends and family long before you get to the study. Your research firm will thank you, with the obvious brush cleared away they can focus on more subtle and gameplay enhancing issues.
- It wouldn’t be a talk about Kobayashi Maru without the mention of cheating. We do it. Here’s how: Play test with friends and family and make changes before going to formal testing. Knock off a lot of the rough edges that way, and get at the deeper stuff during more formal players studies The Secret One on one Don’t provide help Think aloud 4. Watch players play believe what they do over what they say over how they answer survey 5. Look for systems that are broken, don’t try to patch individual features. Be strategic. Use the above Design Secrets and the following 3 techniques to test on friends and family long before you get to the study. Your research firm will thank you, with the obvious brush cleared away they can focus on more subtle and gameplay enhancing issues.
- I approach player testing as I do the two wheels on a bicycle UX - controls how to play PX - choice how to have fun How the feet attach to the peddles to the chain and the rear wheel make the thing go The front wheel is for steering where the fun is Together work so well together that the player soon forgets they are there Together work so well together system so you don’t think about it Approach player testing like a bicycle. Rear wheel for controls and how to play. Front wheel is choice and how to have fun. #agdc #gdca
- Take a moment and think about how your game compares Simplify 7+- 2, 1+1=3 Visual, Interaction, Play Model 2. Buttons Clickable Large enough click areas Separate clickable and non-clickable parts of the UI 3. Text 5-10 words 2 alphabets wide Right justified 4. Tutorials Ingrate, learn as they go No bandaids, text Integrate Practice Chunk into managble pieces ( not 25 steps) 5. Feedback 3 stages controls short term Pgoress not surprizes Maore than an XP bar Was it good or bad? 6. Challenge: Balance diff with skill Break player strategy and suggest new goals 7. Mechanics that connect friends Social interaction matters as much as XP Choices that create social emotions Tools to find and interact with friends 8. Chat More than IRC chat/ RSS / SMS Open messages Social tokens Cue Next action 9. Store Relate to game As much part of the game Connect Game, Social Features, and Increase number of players 10. Cheat: Player test with friends Play Test Don’t help Think aloud Watch over listen over survey
- I approach MMO testing this way Core Tasks 100% useable UX systems Core Tasks are how to play. Connect Core Tasks into Activity Loops. Activity Loops are how to have fun No MMO communicates the Activity Loop well The most important UX issues to fix are the ones in the game’s core activity loop Organize the UI and starter area to make these relationships more apparent Follow an 80/20 rule Secondary Activity Loops Explore Create Gather Cook
- Simple question: What would it take to create a game that 6B people would play? Based on our research, mastering the keys to social play To design emotion that drives viral distribution and this may be your next game The market has shifted (Perfect Storm) New Goal: Empowering games that connect friends challenge, imagine, value, connection Use fun to drive social distribution Harness the mania for social interaction: Everyone: can play Social Emotions Tilt Factor: Mechs that reward increasing the number of players PX: Offer these in Game Mechanic MTX: Free to play or micro payments http://www.greatdanepro.com/Blue%20Bueaty/index.htm
- Many are out of work in the industry today, but remember The MSO will be built by people - small groups working together - like the person sitting next to you. Special thanks to all the talented people on my team creating Tilt and TattleTalz. It is the collaboration and the emotions from team work that works into the game.
- I look forward to playing your games next year! Stay in Touch. Contact Free whitepapers
- Click “Cancel” to play. Free Realms the Game
- Am I playing now? Free Realms Website I believe they are aware of the issue. ****But they don’t tell the player how to fix it!!!*** How can we tell? Just look for the sign. “(!) Game Running” Anywhere you see a sign there’s usually a usability issue close by.
- Woah! There’s a lot on screen. What can we do here? What do I want to do next?