social mechanics the engines behind everything multiplayer
DESCRIPTION
Social Mechanics The Engines Behind Everything Multiplayer. Raph Koster VP Creative Design. Social Mechanics The Engines Behind Everything Multiplayer. For Social Games. Raph Koster VP Creative Design. What are we going to do?. Go very fast. Over 160 slides. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
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Social Mechanics
The Engines BehindEverything Multiplayer
Raph KosterVP Creative Design
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Social Mechanics
The Engines BehindEverything Multiplayer
Raph KosterVP Creative Design
For Social Games
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3GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
Go very fast.Over 160 slides.I could not restrain
myself.
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4GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
Go very fast.Over 160 slides.I could not restrain
myself.
190
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5GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
The core 40 mechanics of multiplayer games.• Yes, all of them.• No further design
required -- ever.*
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6GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
The core 40 mechanics of multiplayer games.• Yes, all of them.• No further design
required -- ever.*
* For certain values of “ever.”
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7GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
They’ll be marked like this:
For your tweeting convenience!
25
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8GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
They’ll be marked like this:
For your tweeting convenience!
25Now with social-
game specific notes!
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9GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
We will touch briefly on game grammar…
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10GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…and on economic theory…
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11GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…The famed psychologist Stanley Milgram…
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12GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…1940’s science fiction…
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13GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…a game called Werewolf…
And…
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14GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…a somewhat lengthydiscursion intostructuralist
anthropology,
for which I apologize, but not as much as for the time spent on…
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15GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
What are we going to do?
…a littleDerrida.
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16GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
But first…
“A good game should focus entirely on it's single-player aspect first and foremost. Then if it's a simple
game like a shooter or racer, use the remaining time and space to fit in a multi-player aspect to it… In other words,
multi-playing should never take away from the single-player aspect of the game. Pure multi-player games
really should be few and far between.”
-- the unfortunately named New Troll, Escapist Forums, 23 June 2009
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17GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
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True single-player1 v. self/system
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19GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else.
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20GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else.
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21GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else. This is most social
games today
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22GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else.
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23GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else.
This is
the biggest
potential f
or social
games
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24GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Defining a “single player game”
A game that is not played in opposition to, or in parallel with, or collaboratively with, someone
else.
(In other words, hardly anything.)
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25GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Boundaries
The boundary of a game is not the board, event, world, etc.
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26GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Boundaries
Consider: is training “part of the game”?
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27GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Boundaries
How about doping?
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28GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Boundaries
The true boundary of a game is based on where actions that can legally affect gameplay stop. Training yes, doping no.
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29GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Boundaries
The true boundary of a game is based on where actions that can legally affect gameplay stop. Training yes, doping no.
Because of t
his,
think outsi
de
your g
ame rules
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30GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Helping
1
The simplest form of multiplayer, present even in single-player games, is simple advice and
assistance.An outgrowth of “spectating.”
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31GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Helping
1
The simplest form of multiplayer, present even in single-player games, is simple advice and
assistance.An outgrowth of “spectating.”
How crappy a
re
your f
orums?
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32GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Helping
1
The simplest form of multiplayer, present even in single-player games, is simple advice and
assistance.An outgrowth of “spectating.”
How crappy a
re
your f
orums?
Is your game deserving of
needing help?
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Parallel symmetric1 v system vs 1 v system
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34GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Parallel symmetric games
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35GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Status
Quantifying a player’s achievement against the systemic opponent.
Typically becomes multiplayer when relative status is compared.
2
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36GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Status
Quantifying a player’s achievement against the systemic opponent.
Typically becomes multiplayer when relative status is compared.
2Curre
ntly m
ostly
used in
Blit
z
puzzle games
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37GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Races
The first user to reach a given status level wins.(The basic boardgame, and basic sport)
3
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38GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Races
The first user to reach a given status level wins.(The basic boardgame, and basic sport)
3
Curiously absent!
Why not have races to level?
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39GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Leaderboards
Compete in asynchronous parallel with all historical attempts.
4
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40GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Leaderboards
Compete in asynchronous parallel with all historical attempts.
4
Neighbor bars
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Parallel asymmetric1 vs system, vs 1 vs another system
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42GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
A hypothetical arcade game
The player is playing nested games of…1. Steering the ship2. Hitting the asteroids with lasers3. Dodging asteroids and bullets and UFOs4. Getting advice from her friend over the shoulder5. Getting as high a score as she can6. To brag to her friend that she beat him7. And competing against everyone who has played this particular
arcade machine
This nesting quality will be important…
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43GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Scaling parallel
Scaling parallel symmetric play to large numbers is hard to do in a time-bounded way.• For example, a few people can play an arcade game
one after the other and compare… • …or an infinite amount can play against everyone ever
via the high score table…
But how do you do a medium size number?
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44GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
TournamentsBrackets are often a
game of their own distinct from the scoring or status comparison.
5
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45GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
TournamentsBrackets are often a
game of their own distinct from the scoring or status comparison.
5Social games often use
supersimple level
bracketing for PvP matchmaking
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46GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
TournamentsBrackets are often a
game of their own distinct from the scoring or status comparison.
Of course, tournaments are often used for…
5Social games often use
supersimple level
bracketing for PvP matchmaking
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Opposition1 vs 1
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Opposition1 vs 1
You could almost
skip this
category for
social games
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49GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rival and non-rival goods
A rival good is something that cannot be used by someone else at the same
time.
A non-rival good is stuff like information, or the public park.
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50GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Flower-picking
Non-zero-sum resource consumption: You compete to get stuff, but there is always more stuff.
Speed-up arrows on a race track… even pickups in many games.
6
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51GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Flower-picking
Non-zero-sum resource consumption: You compete to get stuff, but there is always more stuff.
Speed-up arrows on a race track… even pickups in many games.
6 How limited
edition goods
actually work
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52GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Dot-eatingZero-sum resource consumption.
(also “territory”, in a graph theory sense).
Players compete to get stuff, and whatever I get, you can’t have.
7
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53GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Dot-eatingZero-sum resource consumption.
(also “territory”, in a graph theory sense).
Players compete to get stuff, and whatever I get, you can’t have.
7How players think limited
edition goods work
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54GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Tug of war
I can take your stuff, you can take my stuff.
Exactly like “zero-sum status.”The engine behind all combat games. 8
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55GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Tug of war
I can take your stuff, you can take my stuff.
Exactly like “zero-sum status.”The engine behind all combat games. 8
Perhaps the best
current definition of
“core” in social
games
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56GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Handicapping
Artificially equalizing status in order to provide a tighter race.9
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57GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Secrets
In game theory terms, “imperfect information” – knowledge as a rivalrous good.
Fog of war, hands of cards, etc.10
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Multifront opposition1 vs 1 vs 1 vs … n
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59GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gutschera’s terms
At GDC 2009 K. Robert Gutschera used different terms than mine:
• Orthogames: games with a statistical rating outcome• Parallel symmetric games: races (OK, same term here)• Brawls: gluing together 2 player orthogames.• Politics start when you have a choice of whom to interact
with.
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60GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rival goods mechanics
Several forms of “brawls” depend on treating resources within the game, such as…
Health
as rival goods.
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61GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rival goods mechanics
Several forms of “brawls” depend on treating resources within the game, such as…
HealthSurvival
as rival goods.
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62GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rival goods mechanics
Several forms of “brawls” depend on treating resources within the game, such as…
HealthSurvival
Stuff
as rival goods.
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63GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Take many tugs of war…
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64GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Last man standing
11
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65GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
BiddingMediate your
status tug of war
via a rivalrous good.
12
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66GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
BiddingMediate your
status tug of war
via a rivalrous good.
12
One of the great mysteries of social
gaming: where’s the silent auctions?
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67GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Social effects depend on humanization
Numerous social science experiments have found that a variety of psychological effects only occur when we think the interlocutor is human, or “like us.”
• The Milgram buzzer experiment• Zimbardo’s work
(Mirror neurons are all the rage.)
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68GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Social effects depend on humanization
Numerous social science experiments have found that a variety of psychological effects only occur when we think the interlocutor is human, or “like us.”
• The Milgram buzzer experiment• Zimbardo’s work
(Mirror neurons are all the rage.)
Why don’t we use
psychology?
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69GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Booing
The multiplayer evolution of “helping”A psychological 3rd party attack – it only works on
human opponents.
Lousy communication channels?
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70GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Once secrets are treated as goods, misinformation becomes a form of tug-of-war.
Deception and bluffing
13
Excessive
dependence on
quantification?
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71GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Once secrets are treated as goods, misinformation becomes a form of tug-of-war.
Deception and bluffing
13Too many engineers in control?
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72GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
3rd party betting
3rd parties play a bidding game against a rivalrous resource pool, based on the outcome of a multiplayer game.
14
Virtually none
of the psych-
dependent
mechanics are
used
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73GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Prisoner’s Dilemma
Teammates with secrets from each other who must choose independently to collaborate or both lose.
15Except by devs against players
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74GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kriegspiel
Credited to Von Reiswitz• First used around 1812 as a form of training for the
Prussian army
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75GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kriegspiel
Credited to Von Reiswitz• First used around 1812 as a form of training for the
Prussian army
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76GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kriegspiel
Popularized by science fiction writers• H G Wells wrote Floor Games (1911) and Little Wars (1913)• Which led to Fletcher Pratt designing naval wargames in the 1940s
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77GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kriegspiel
Some of whom went on to invent the think tank.
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78GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kriegspiel
Some of whom went on to invent the think tank.
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79GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gamesmaster pattern
A multiplayer game that relies on a third party to direct the game – an evolution of the non-mechanic “referee.”
Leads directlyto… 16
(Us in this room)
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Small groupsn vs n
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81GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Werewolf
Aka Mafia, etcA game where players have secret roles• Villager, werewolf, various other small optional ones
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82GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Werewolf
Aka Mafia, etcA game where players have secret roles• Villager, werewolf, various other small optional ones
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83GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Werewolf
Aka Mafia, etcA game where players have secret roles• Villager, werewolf, various other small optional ones
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84GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Werewolf
Wolves get to kill off villagers, Villagers get to lynch anyone• Tons of these mechanics are present: deception,
Prisoner’s Dilemma, brawls, gamemaster…
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85GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Werewolf
Wolves get to kill off villagers, Villagers get to lynch anyone• Tons of these mechanics are present: deception,
Prisoner’s Dilemma, brawls, gamemaster…
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86GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
RolesSpecialization into different games within one group
17
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87GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
RolesSpecialization into different games within one group
17
Hugely underutilized – though see gems in Treasure Isle, etc
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88GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Hot potato/ganging up
Rotation of roles within a multiplayer game (often a brawl), creating ad-hoc groups.
Think of tag…
18
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89GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Hot potato/ganging up
Rotation of roles within a multiplayer game (often a brawl), creating ad-hoc groups.
Think of tag…
18
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90GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Tag
Layering of multiplayer mechanics gives way to whole new games• Add secrets: Blind Man’s Bluff.• Add dot eating: Duck Duck Goose (compete for the chair)• Add flower-picking: Freeze tag.• Add grouping: Cops and Robbers.
But then there’s “Olly Olly Oxen Free!” (or whatever)… what’s that about?
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91GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rituals
Ceremonies marking significant role transitions within a social structure.
19
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92GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Rituals
Ceremonies marking significant role transitions within a social structure.
19Currently done OK via wall
posts, but could be much
more!
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93GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Functionalism
Sociology and anthropology used to see all of group interaction as being about structure: groups as “organs” that make the “body” work.
Today the field has moved on, but it’s a useful lens for multiplayer game designers!
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94GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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95GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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96GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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97GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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98GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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99GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ritualism and lifecyclesCompare Robert Merton’s theory of deviance to player
lifecycles:1. First, users try to conform to the rules as they work to
understand them.2. Then they try to innovate and reach the goals in new ways.3. Then they keep doing things “the right way” but stop caring
about the objective. This is called ritualism, and he has a great Hopi rain dance example.
4. Then they retreat and stop caring about the goal or the method.
5. Finally, they rebel and start doing their own thing.
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100GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Common rituals• Transitions of state (birth, marriage, death, levelling up)• Holidays (environmental transitions, commemoration of
individual transitions of state)• Religious (requests for intervention)
These are often marked by mechanics such as• Changes of uniform• Gatherings• But above all… gifts.
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101GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Common rituals• Transitions of state (birth, marriage, death, levelling up)• Holidays (environmental transitions, commemoration of
historic or individual transitions of state)• Religious (requests for intervention)
These are often marked by mechanics such as• Changes of uniform• Gatherings• But above all… gifts.
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102GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Common rituals• Transitions of state (birth, marriage, death, levelling up)• Holidays (environmental transitions, commemoration of
historic or individual transitions of state)• Religious (requests for intervention, comfort)
These are often marked by mechanics such as• Changes of uniform• Gatherings• But above all… gifts.
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103GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Common rituals• Transitions of state (birth, marriage, death, levelling up)• Holidays (environmental transitions, commemoration of
historic or individual transitions of state)• Religious (requests for intervention, comfort)
These are often marked by mechanics such as• Changes of uniform• Gatherings• But above all… gifts.
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104GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Common rituals• Transitions of state (birth, marriage, death, levelling up)• Holidays (environmental transitions, commemoration of
historic or individual transitions of state)• Religious (requests for intervention, comfort)
These are often marked by mechanics such as• Changes of uniform• Gatherings• But above all… gifts.
This one, social games
nailed.Arguably, the only reason they are deserving of the name.
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105GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the bride
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106GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidays
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107GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidaysWe gift the land with a bride at solstice
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108GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidaysWe gift the land with a bride at solsticeWe give gifts to the dead to take with them
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109GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidaysWe gift the land with a bride at solsticeWe give gifts to the dead to take with themWe give gifts at weddings
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110GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidaysWe gift the land with a bride at solsticeWe give gifts to the dead to take with themWe give gifts at weddingsWe give gifts to babies
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111GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts are ubiquitous
We “give away” the brideWe give gifts at major holidaysWe gift the land with a bride at solsticeWe give gifts to the dead to take with themWe give gifts at weddingsWe give gifts to babiesWe throw t-shirts at hockey games
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112GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts
Transferring a rivalrous good to another actor in order to increase their status.
20
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113GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gifts
Transferring a rivalrous good to another actor in order to increase their status.
20
In social games, the rivalrous good is the gift req, not the actual gift!
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114GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Gift theory
Marcel Mauss in “Essai sur le Don”• Gifts are never “free” to either party.• Reciprocal exchange is typical.
• Failure to return a gift in Polynesia costs you mana.• There are three steps: give, receive, reciprocate. Each
can fail and each can have consequences.
Gifts are inalienable… they always retain their source.
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115GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Kashmiri anecdote“A Kashmiri tale tells of two Brahmin women
who tried to fulfill their obligations for alms-giving simply by giving alms back and forth to one another. On their deaths they were transformed into two poisoned wells from which no one could drink, reflecting the barrenness of this weak simulacrum of giving.”
-- Wikipedia, summarizing an anecdote itself summarized in Lewis Hyde’s The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property, who
got it from who knows whereI should have cut this slide, it’s pure academic geekery, and I’m going to run out of time
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116GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Reciprocity
In an iterative simulation, the social expectation of a future return of a gift.
21
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117GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Reciprocity
In an iterative simulation, the social expectation of a future return of a gift.
21You do have a “return gift”
button yes?
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118GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Tiers of economy
Non-market economies: no concept of priceGeneralized reciprocity: just give, whee, no expectations!
• Reciprocity resides in satisfaction, social closeness. In western society this tends to be gifting between family members, etc
Balanced reciprocity: expectation of a return gift at an undefined future date.• Still pretty informal. This is where social game gifting tends to reside.
Negative reciprocity: barter systems, which enable transactions between strangers.• A way to establish friendly relations when meeting strangers.
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119GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Mentoring & twinkingOnboarding and socializing group members via the gifting of
rivalrous or non-rivalrous goods.• Giving a car at graduation
• Or Mickey Mouse earswhen you join Disney.
An asymmetricexchange: I get
social obligation,you get value.
22
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120GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Mentoring & twinkingOnboarding and socializing group members via the gifting of
rivalrous or non-rivalrous goods.• Giving a car at graduation
• Or Mickey Mouse earswhen you join Disney.
An asymmetricexchange: I get
social obligation,you get value.
22
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121GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Mentoring & twinkingOnboarding and socializing group members via the gifting of
rivalrous or non-rivalrous goods.• Giving a car at graduation
• Or Mickey Mouse earswhen you join Disney.
An asymmetricexchange: I get
social obligation,you get value.
22
Would likely speed player
content consumption, but
strengthens community ties
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122GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Identity
Means of displaying status and role via rivalrous goods.• Extremely important with groups, from skins vs shirts
to class gear, etc.
23
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123GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Ostracism
Group removal via denial of common resources.
24
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NetworksScale-free social structures
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125GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Clustering
Until now we have talked about groups, which kind of look like this:
In social networking theory, these are called clusters.• And they often have weak ties to other clusters.
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126GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Clustering
Until now we have talked about groups, which kind of look like this:
In social networking theory, these are called clusters.• And they often have weak ties to other clusters.
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127GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Clustering
Until now we have talked about groups, which kind of look like this:
In social networking theory, these are called clusters.• And they often have weak ties to other clusters.
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128GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
NetworksTechnical term: scale-free networks.
A very particular sort of structural pattern – and universal in human society.
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129GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
NetworksTechnical term: scale-free networks.
A very particular sort of structural pattern – and universal in human society.
Oddly, social network games make very poor use of social
network theory
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130GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Preferential attachment
Rich get richer syndrome• A new person coming into a network tends to pick the
most popular node to connect to.
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131GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Preferential attachment
Rich get richer syndrome• A new person coming into a network tends to pick the
most popular node to connect to.
(insert your rant about <big
social game company> here.
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132GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Power laws
The mathematical distribution of “popularity” of link destinations.
There are consequences to this distribution.• Median lower than the mean• Unknowability of the network• Unequal information dissemination• Network longevity and hub vulnerability
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133GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Bose-Einstein condensate
A phase transition where a network’s power law gets so extremely kinked that a single hub dominates:• Windows operating system• Tiger Woods’ win-loss record earlier in his career• The winning kingdom in Shadowbane
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134GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Channel capacity & sympathy groups
Lots of evidence to suggest that your “knowable” part of the network is limited• Robin Dunbar, “monkeysphere” etc
This leads to special mechanics when dealing with nodes at different graph distances.
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135GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
TrustTrust up close – and it’s non-transitive!
Reputation at midrangeFaith at a distance (aka social contract)
25
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136GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
TrustTrust up close – and it’s non-transitive!
Reputation at midrangeFaith at a distance (aka social contract)
25
Do players in your game ever need to trust anyone?
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137GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Homogeneity
Tightly linked nodes tend to be homogeneous – liking the same things• This also introduces interesting liabilities in gameplay
As those with kids know, one’s peer group carries more social weight than authority
Combined with trust and other network characteristics, we get…
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138GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Association of self-similar nodes into a multi-cluster sub-network with its own social identity
Guilds/tribes
26
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139GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Association of self-similar nodes into a multi-cluster sub-network with its own social identity
Guilds/tribes
26
Hugely
powerful.
Barely present.
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140GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Guilds vs Neighbor Structures
T. B. Naik specifies these as the identifiers of tribes:• social distance from other tribes• frequency of contact• community of interests• scale• compactness and self-sufficiency• politically organized• customary laws• multifarious economic pursuits
Keep in mind, these groups are implicitly present on the social graph. We just don’t identify or surface them.
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141GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Impact of scale
Different social structures at different scales:
BandsNo fixed home
"Egalitarian" leadershipNo real bureaucracy
No lawsUnstratified culture
TribesA single home
"Egalitarian" or "big-man"
Organized resource extraction
Still unstratified
ChiefdomsMany homes
Castes and classesCronyism & monarchsBureaucracy & laws
Taxes, indentured labor, and slavery
Public architecture Luxuries for elites
Dozens Hundreds Thousands
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142GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Impact of scale
Different social structures at different scales:
BandsNo fixed home
"Egalitarian" leadershipNo real bureaucracy
No lawsUnstratified culture
TribesA single home
"Egalitarian" or "big-man"
Organized resource extraction
Still unstratified
ChiefdomsMany homes
Castes and classesCronyism & monarchsBureaucracy & laws
Taxes, indentured labor, and slavery
Public architecture Luxuries for elites
Dozens Hundreds Thousands
Look at all this gameplay we don’t do.
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143GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Segregation and genocide
Mathematical simulations show that given a petri dish, tribal structures always• Self-segregate• Annihilate each other
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144GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Exclusivity
27
The use of identity and other earlier mechanics to manipulate the value of rivalrous and non-rivalrous goods.
Also known as “velvet rope.”
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145GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Exclusivity
27
The use of identity and other earlier mechanics to manipulate the value of rivalrous and non-rivalrous goods.
Also known as “velvet rope.”
VIP clubs
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Massive groupsDesigning games at the societal level
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Massive groupsDesigning games at the societal level
OK, I have to stop and say this.
Social games have the largest game canvas in all of HISTORY.
And yet social games are designed primarily at the single-player level, with minor multiplayer mechanics.
From here on up, it’s uncharted territory.
But it is also the potentialand the future
and the GLORY of social games.
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148GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Swapping models
The functionalist way to look at things is:
Game systems that are “problems of control and coordination at a societal level”
-- Herbert Spencer
Resource distribution, goods production, etc.
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149GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Structuralism
The sequel to functionalism! More of an emotional model, also now out of favor:
“Meaning produced and reproduced via practices and activities that are systems of signification”
-- Levi-Strauss
(Such as games)
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150GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Guild vs guild
Large-scale interactions using available systems to create competition between social entities
28
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151GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Trade and contract
Formalized means of allowing mutually beneficial interactions between overly-distant nodes on the network
29
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152GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Trade and contract
Formalized means of allowing mutually beneficial interactions between overly-distant nodes on the network
29A few games, such as Playdom’s
My Vineyard, now have player-to-
player economies
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153GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
MMOs versus social games
MMOs developed stronger social structures than social games, because they had shared economic participation• despite not having constancy.
Social games usually have constancy without shared economic participation!
To add retention and social depth, pool your players’ economies.
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154GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Anthony Giddens
Social structure as game rules• “Ant farming” or “goldfish bowl”
Structure, Modality, Interaction• Structure is the rules and resources• Modality how structures become action.• Interaction what the actor actually does
This analogizes directly to the forms of rules in Rules of Play, or to the MDA framework.
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155GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Post-structural thinking
A challenge:
A lot of post-structural thinking is about seeing past dualities and to shades of gray.
Moving beyond dualities such as neighbor and not, tribe or not.
Games do this poorly. But…
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156GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
The PASSE model
Five general ways of building large, shades-of-gray social structures in multiplayer games:
PoliticsArts
ScienceSociologyEconomics
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PoliticsInfluence and social control
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158GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Actors of any distance from theinteraction apply a rivalrous good towardsan objective metric that appliesnetwork-wide.
Politics -- or American Idol,the largest MMO
in the world.
Elections
30
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159GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Reputation, influence and fame
Quantified signifiers for social currency, and formalized spending of this rivalrous good.
31
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160GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Conflict theory
The European post-structuralism:
“Structures are developed out of conflict between people with differing interests and resources.”
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161GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Bartle Types
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162GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Structure vs agency
The big question: are we locked into the game design?• Structure creates habitus – a structure of mind, a set
of acquired schemata… “what goes without saying” for a group -- Pierre Bourdieu
The same question as socialization vs autonomy.
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163GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Structuration
Anthony Giddens in 1984 had an answer:• Social life is both the small and the big• People constantly reinforce and extend the structure
through actions• And the structure constrains what they can do
So there’s a reflexive action that makes things change overall, slowly.
Which leads to interesting game problems such as…
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164GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Public goods
Like a multiple player prisoner’s dilemma. Public goods are non-rivalrous, so there is a temptation to enjoy the good with no contribution. For example, breathing. Public parks.
32
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165GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Tragedy of the Commons
Flip side of public goods: if they are rivalrous, then they can get used up. Classic example, the commons in a village…. Or spawns, territory, etc. The game is in
solving the unsolvable.
And finally…33
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166GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Community
Where we start playing games on YOU.
A properly managed community is structuration in action, and becomes the ultimate political game
for users.
34
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ScienceFiguring out how things work
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168GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
ARGs and Puzzles
Ridiculously complex puzzles can be solved by hive brains.
ARG puzzles such as image-based steganography hidden in white noise in a poster. Combat system algorithms in an MMO.
“Underlying logical rules discovered via experimental method” equals…
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169GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Strategy guides
36
The transformation of rule-based secrets into a public good.
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SociologyThe guts of sociability
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171GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
MLS
Multilevel Selection Theory
“Natural selection can be affected by cooperation at the group level.”
-- David Sloan Wilson and Elliot Sober
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172GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Teamwork
36
The aggregation of social mechanics leading to the emergence of greater across-the-board competence.
Wisdom of Crowds, DPS systems, Survivor.
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173GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Interdependence and scaling issues
Scale-free networks are highly insulated from failure.
But collapse occurs if hubs are suddenly removed.
If your game design has hubs and one breaks…• (cf Star Wars Galaxies, Pirates of the Burning Sea)…
This probably happens
all the time in social
games, and we can’t
even tell.
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Economics
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175GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Fundamental multiplayer dilemma
The game equivalent of psychology’s Fundamental Attribution Error.
The basic premise of economics is mutual improvement and optimal distribution of resources.
It’s a way for a group to level up.
This is anathema to games.
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176GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Veblen goods
A good where people’s preference for buying them increases because of their price.• Luxury cars• Limited Edition virtual items
See also: soulbinding, level limits, etc.
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177GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Services
Classes and roles can be seen as forms of asymmetric trade.
Even mechanic #1, “helping” is a service!So are numerous others on the list.
In other cases, mechanics are premised in unequal contributions.
• All of these are generally non-quantifiable.
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178GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Therefore, cheating
Randy Farmer’s KidTrade proposal• Gifting → Twinking• Gifting + Multiple Chars/Server → Muling• Gifting + Messaging + Trust → Trading• Trading – Messaging – Trust + In World Machinery → Robust Trading• Robust Trading + Scarcity + Liquidity → External Market (eBay)• External Market – Trust + In World Machinery → GOM
Gifts inevitably cause Real Money Trade, which is a form of…
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179GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Allowing unequal quantified valuations of the same good to arise within the system, and permitting trade that exploits them.
Arbitrage
37
Asynch games about shipping goods are all
about arbitrage.
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180GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Supply chains
Cascading inequal valuations of goods arranged in sequence.
38
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Arts
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182GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
The act of invention
Games Are“…solving statistically varied challenge situations presented by an opponent who may or may not be
algorithmic within a framework that is a defined systemic model.”
-- me
Statistical variations are handcrafted, randomized or…
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183GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
User generated content
• Forums.• Character art.• Roleplay narratives.• Fan fiction.• Player conventions.• Weddings.• Game maps.
The game has to be designed to encompass and permit this sort of activity.
39
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184GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
User generated content
• Forums.• Character art.• Roleplay narratives.• Fan fiction.• Player conventions.• Weddings.• Game maps.
The game has to be designed to encompass and permit this sort of activity.
39One of th
e few
high-level social
mechanics that
social games
exploit… in lim
ited
fashion
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DeconstructionTaking it all apart
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186GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Remember the quote?
“A good game should focus entirely on it's single-player aspect first and foremost. Then if it's a simple
game like a shooter or racer, use the remaining time and space to fit in a multi-player aspect to it… In other words,
multi-playing should never take away from the single-player aspect of the game. Pure multi-player games
really should be few and far between.”
-- the unfortunately named New Troll, Escapist Forums, 23 June 2009
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187GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Derrida“As a turning toward the presence, lost or impossible, of the absent
origin, this structuralist thematic of broken immediateness is thus the sad, negative, nostalgic, guilty, Rousseauist facet of the thinking of freeplay of which the Nietzschean affirmation-the joyous affirmation of the freeplay of the world and without truth, without origin, offered to an active interpretation-would be the other side. This affirmation then determines the non-center otherwise than as loss of the center. And it plays the game without security. For there is a sure freeplay: that which is limited to the substitution of given and existing, present, pieces. In absolute chance, affirmation also surrenders itself to genetic indetermination, to the seminal adventure of the trace.”
-- “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Human Sciences”
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188GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Derrida“As a turning toward the presence, lost or impossible, of the absent
origin, this structuralist thematic of broken immediateness is thus the sad, negative, nostalgic, guilty, Rousseauist facet of the thinking of freeplay of which the Nietzschean affirmation-the joyous affirmation of the freeplay of the world and without truth, without origin, offered to an active interpretation-would be the other side. This affirmation then determines the non-center otherwise than as loss of the center. And it plays the game without security. For there is a sure freeplay: that which is limited to the substitution of given and existing, present, pieces. In absolute chance, affirmation also surrenders itself to genetic indetermination, to the seminal adventure of the trace.”
-- “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Human Sciences”Yeah, I don’t know what that means either.
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189GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
Griefing
Griefing can be an act of game literacy: engaging in the ultimate transgressive play with the system,
Or the act of “virtual sociopathy.”
40
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190GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
All* the multiplayer mechanics1 v self/systemHelping
1 v 1 parallelStatusRacesLeaderboardsTournaments
1v1 opposedFlower-pickingDot-eatingTug of WarHandicappingSecrets
DeconstructionGriefing
PASSE:PoliticsArtScienceSociologyEconomics
All!*
1 v 1 v 1 v …Last man standingBiddingDeception and bluffing3rd party BettingPrisoner’s DilemmaGamesmaster
n v n (groups)RolesHot potato RitualsGiftsReciprocityMentoring & TwinkingIdentityOstracism
*41-50 are left an exercise for the reader
NetworksIterative interaction & trustGuildsExclusivityGuild vs guildTrade and contractElectionsInfluence and famePublic goodsTragedy of the CommonsCommunityStrategy guidesTeamwork (MLS)ArbitrageSupply chainsUser generated content
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191GDC 2011: Raph Koster, Social Mechanics: the Engines behind Everything Multiplayer
• For brawls and races, see Characteristics of Multiplayer Games: Lessons from the World of Paper Gaming, K. Robert Gutschera, GDC2009.
• The MDA framework is described in MDA: A Formal Approach to Game Design and Game Research by Hunicke, LeBlanc, and Zubek.
• I recommend Linked by Albert-Lazslo Barabasi for an intro to social networks, and Influence by Robert Cialdini for more on influence structures. And of course you read Rules of Play and Designing Virtual Worlds right?
• For more on network structures, I refer you to my GDC2003 presentation Small Worlds: Competitive and Cooperative Structures in Online Worlds and its extensive bibliography. There’s a series “On Trust” on my blog as well.
• I would start with Wikipedia for reading up on sociology and anthropology.• You can read Randy Farmer’s KidTrade: A Design for an eBay-resistant Virtual Economy on his
website at http://habitatchronicles.com/Habitat/KidTrade.pdf • More on interdependence’s issues at
http://www.next-gen.biz/news/what-went-wrong-with-pirates-mmo • You can read Derrida’s “Structure, Sign and Play” at
http://hydra.humanities.uci.edu/derrida/sign-play.html or in Writing and Difference. If you really, really, really want to.
All the art came from http://icons.mysitemyway.com in the royalty-free Rounded Glossy Black Icons set.Special Thanks to John Donham & Jenny Kropko and Patrick Ferland (for PASSE)
• This presentation and dozens more are available in various formats on my website:• http://www.raphkoster.com
Hidden info