What makes player engage in PC games

Hanna Sikorska 1422296

Introduction - playercentric approach

I will start with a quote that “It's important to remember, that what has made games such a long-lasting form of human entertainment is not intrinsic to any technology or medium but to the experience of players. “ (1)

https://chrismorrisjournalist.com/tag/pc-gaming/

As we know, it is much easier to empathise with our own needs than to truly understand the needs of a diverse audience, which requires much commitment to gathering players feedback through building physical prototypes of the game mechanics and a lot of testing to understand how others enjoy games.

In my cause and effect essay I am going to take a challenge of presenting my thoughts on how different factors affect the level of engagement of the player in a PC game. I decided to group similar factors in chapters in order to show how they relate to each other.

Challenge

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/78206/20150820/twitch-is-playing-dark-souls-and-theyve-somehow-defeated-the-games-first-boss.htm

"Games depend on the uncertainty of the outcome in every play for their dramatic tension. And players invest their emotions in that uncertainty, making it the job of the game designer to craft a satisfying resolution to the game, usually in the form of a measurable and unequal outcome." (2)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXsPb89NumI

I decided to start with a challenge since it is a major element of most of gameplays. There are few main factors about challenge that affect If it engages the player or draws him back. One of them is conflict that " …challenges the players creating tension as they work to resolve problems and varying levels of achievement or frustration. Increasing the challenge can cause a rising sense of tension and If the challenge is too great it can cause frustration". (3) Good challenge creates a motivating tension which can be achieved with demanding but not extremely hard difficulty level, because too hard challenge creates frustration. For example in Skyrim enemies level up with a player which matches challenge with current abilities of a player. Apart of this important think about challenge is to be rewarding and varied to give player feeling of accomplishment. It can mean new skills, achievements, equipment or unlocking new missions which stimulates the player to work towards the goal. Thing to avoid with challenge is too much chance vs skill which would make it unfair and confusing.

Rules / functional

According to game design specialists "Rules are respected because the players understand that they are a key structural element of the game, and without them, the game would not function. “ (4) When rules and mechanics are clear and easy to understand and feedback easily accessible player is less likely to be confused. On the other hand overloaded interface, not intuitive mechanics or no constrains make player feel lost and frustrated. I would also like to stress how important is the way the rules are introduced. As in book Guide to Video Game Writing and Design “The hero is the player, and the game needs to give the player information, so the way some games go about this is to make the hero the dumbest character in the game...He doesn’t have the same knowledge as everyone else…Solution to this problem is making hero proactive and make him make orders, intimidate, charm etc. in order to obtain information.” (5)

Flow

Thirdly, I would like to mention importance of flow of the game. Good example of a perfect flow are games made by Telltale studio which are extremely cinematic with convincing illusion of interactivity which makes action dynamic. “We often rely on the exact same techniques for time and location transitions as film, often in the form of cinematic or cut-scenes (no interactive story moments within the game).” (6) Elements that are important to flow are action and interactivity, visible progress or impact on the surrounding. They can be achieved by dynamic dialogues ( optionally with time limits), minigames, interactive cut scenes and steady stream of gradually increasing challenges. Another element that makes game more dynamic is development of world and character and improvement of players skills through the game. The things to avoid If we want game to be dynamic are lack of clear goal, too many distractions, no progression and lack of impact on the surrounding.

Experience

Another important factor affecting engagement in games is experience. “For most of us, it began when, at bedtime, somebody promised to tell you a story.” (7) We expect from games epic stories and fairy tales, adventure that unfold within the game. As I read “exciting experiences we share and talk about. They can, and do, have an impact and leave an impression, often in ways that traditional entertainment can’t, because when we play a game, we are active participants in the process.” (0) While playing a game we seek epic stories and fairy tales, exciting experiences that we lack in everyday life, something that will stay long in our memory and have a strong impact on our development. For epic experiences game has to capture the essence of the goals that are valuable for the player, catch the interest and motivate. Important elements to remember while creating a storyline for game are heroe’s journey, novelty and interest curve. Games should be " Interesting and unique situations in which you hope players will find themselves." (8) Moreover, game designers should make sure game is not in conflict with player’s motivations and that it is delivering the desired experience to the player. It is also important to remember that story is working in unison with gameplay. The more story can be told through gameplay, the better. “Much like the film axiom Don’t say it, show it, Don’t show it, play it.” (9)

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2013/10/22/the-wolf-among-us-episode-1-review/1

http://kotaku.com/dragon-age-inquisition-the-kotaku-review-1659833205

Intimacy

The next thing I would like to talk about is important of intimacy in games. „ There is an intimacy to playing a game on your computer. You sit next to the monitor; you control the game with mouse and keyboard. Your mind is keyed-in to the space that you’ve created for your computer” (10) By intimacy I mean stimulating desired emotions like passion, pleasure, joy, fun or freedom. To engage game has to meet internal motivations of the player and make him feel passionate about the experience. “ How powerfully we can affect players on an emotional level. And I'm not only talking about excitement or fear, questions of friendship, loyalty, dread, tension, and exhilaration. The power of virtual touch-of the player holding the hand of the character he's charged to protect.” (11) Good game is an experience that delivers pleasure, fullfill needs and meets secret purposes of the players. Games are forms of entertainment filled with emotions, friendship love. Need for playing games is also connected with natural need of control and power. In his book Why Don’t Zebras Get Ulcers, biologist Robert Sapolsky argues that the two things that create happiness are control and, if you can’t have control, predictability. Games are also based on basic needs like Maslov’s hierarchy of needs.

http://guides.gamepressure.com/thewitcher3/guide.asp?ID=30662

Flexible play and drama

Another element that makes players engage in games is flexible play and drama. By giving player multiple ways of achieving goals we make player a “CONTENT CREATOR within the context of the game. The game exists as much in the imagination of the players as it does in any physical reality. (0) Open world game gives player freedom, control and chance to customize his experience. Meaningful choices and open world encourage exploration and makes player feel powerful. On the other hand there are some risks connected with open world games. Choices can seem confusing and player can became overwhelmed with amount of freedom. It is important to remember not to lose flow of the action and to keep narration. “Let the player have control of key narrative moments, either by triggering them through their actions, or in fact, having the game reveal key story In other words, when dealing with your narrative, create a priority for telling your story as follows: play it, display it, say it.” (12)

Social / Community

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dark+souls+boss&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=979&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi-

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Next, I will mention social and community elements in games. The reason many people play computer games is competition and cooperation. Good multiplayer game engages by creating connections between players and giving opportunity to share your experience and meet new people. It delivers excitement of competition, satisfaction from winning over people instead of AI. It is very impressive how deep can multiplayer connections be. Good cooperation and competition should break the ice and connect people and motivate them to work together towards the goal or rivalize.

Immerse

Another main goal while creating a game is delivering immersive experience. In order for a player to immerse into game is captivating theme, detailed environment, developed world with elements corresponding to life, anthropology, sociology, behavioural psychology that is better than simulated reality. Another elements of immerse are economics, technology, and interesting objects matching the world. The thing that can distract the player is too intrusive HUD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhpZeeVYt1g

Atmosphere

Another thing to mention is atmosphere of a game. Engaging atmosphere includes special powers, secrets, weird elements, is loaded with creativity and imagination. Contains secrets that we would not expect. It should also inspire and give player memorable moments and a lot of personalisation because “Sense of engagement comes from different things for different players”. (13) Player would not be so engaged If game would be cliché, experience not personalized and If story would be not more exciting than real life.

http://www.gosunoob.com/far-cry-3/far-cry-3-piece-of-the-past/

Character

“We can allow you to walk in the shoes of anyone we can imagine. How powerful is that?”. (14) Another major element of the games is roleplaying and characters. Developed characters have their background and story and are “agents through which dramatic stories are told” (15) , engage in interesting dialogues because “Good dialogue and stories come from well conceived characters in exciting dramatic situations”, interact with NPC-s, have their traits and skills that make their believable. They also transform and develop through the game. Player can have interesting allies, care for his party members which requires them to have strong and appealing personalities.

Visual

Apart of good gameplay most of the games try to be aesthetically captivating. A design, theme, aesthetics, beauty of surrounding , quality of models, textures, lights and dynamics should please the players eyes. The Other thing about visuals its clearness, because bad graphics can confuse or be hard to look at for a long time, be uncomfortable for the eyes. They should also be consistent with the theme to encourage immerse.

http://rebrn.com/re/the-belt-chooses-the-champion-xpost-subsquaredcircle-wwe-k-362781/

Final thing that I would like to mention is puzzle. It is another kind of challenge that is supposed to be fun, tricky, and integrated into experience. Puzzles should have interested theme and be varied. Rules should be clear and fair and subject should be connected with game theme. They make player stop and think, make experience more varied and are a form of toy and interaction. „Puzzles take something familiar and give it a novel twist good way to invite us to be playful, giving us permission to do something not practical”. (16) They are also a good way to teach player new skills.

http://www.gamershell.com/download_60728.shtml

Conclusions

To sum up for a game to engage a player it should have a balanced level of challenge that is varied and rewarding. Rules and information should be introduced to the player while keeping a hero in a character. Good, engaging experience delivers memorable moments and is more exciting than a real life. Goal of an engaging game matches the goal that player wants to achieve. Secondly, It is not easy to keep a good narration while creating open world and for the goals to be clear while maintaining freedom of choice but it is important for players engagement. Moreover, Good cooperation and competition should break the ice and connect people and motivate them to work together towards the goal or rivalize. Creating a believable and captivating game world requires much knowledge from different subjects of social studies. Finally, games need that special element to captivate the players.

References :

Books

1. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 1.2. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 34.3. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 37.4. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 12.5. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 48-49.6. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 24.7. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 30.8. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 28.9. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 27.10. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The UltimateGuide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 33.11. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 27.12. Flint Dille, John Zuur Platten (2007). The Ultimate Guide to Video Game Writing and Design.

New York: Watson Guptill Publications. 46.13. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 37.14. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 27.15. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 43.16. Tracy Fullerton (2014). Game Design Workshop. 3rd ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press. 39.

Jesse Schell The Art Of Game Design : A Book of Lenses, 2nd Ed.

Articles

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/04/14/dark-souls-easy-mode-2/

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/131110/20160212/how-bioware-elevated-the-video-game-romance.htm

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-23-should-bioware-give-up-romances

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jan/28/sex-witcher-3-grand-theft-auto-of-fantasy-games

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-02-14-why-cant-videogames-do-sex

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/BriceMorrison/20131119/204733/Meaningful_Choice_in_Games_Practical_Guide__Case_Studies.php

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/dark-souls-iii-review/

http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/20/11466700/dark-souls-3-how-to-play-online-multiplayer-summon-invaded

http://www.psychologyofgames.com/2010/07/the-psychology-of-immersion-in-video-games/

https://archaeologyoftombraider.com/

http://lifehacker.com/the-surprising-benefits-of-role-playing-games-and-how-1684582789

http://www.gnomestew.com/game-mastering/gming-advice/10-reasons-why-roleplaying-games-are-a-positive-force-for-kids-and-adults-alike/

http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/instructional-design/using-role-play-simulations-to-promote-active-learning/

http://gamedevelopment.tutsplus.com/tutorials/portal-2-level-design-creating-puzzles-to-challenge-your-players--gamedev-4828