Ages since I made a blogpost. Today I will be making a post on interests in games. Again, this is supposed to be offtopic, so throw Vanguard off the board for today :P.
As most of you guys know, I have essentially retired from TCGs. I didn't have the budget to spend on boxes of cards each set anymore and I don't have the time to go out to play in the first place with MMOs and MOBAs in the way now. But today I am here to discuss about how games in general interest people like us and why we play them in the very first place.
Every game company wants to profit. It doesn't make sense otherwise (unless you are a code-for-charity kind of person). They all want your money, and they will do anything to get your money. But in general the easiest way to attract people to pay, to be to attract them to play in the very first place. As such, we should just dig into the roots on how games attract people, and how some people react to some games while others may not seem to do so.
There are many genres of games, which can make a non-exhausting list which includes TCGs, CCGs, MOBAs, FPSes, RPGs, RTSs etc. Some are pay to play, via a subscription or just purchasing the game in the first place, and others hold the free-to-play, pay-for-additional-items model. Irregardless, a way to promote loyalty keeps old players into the game and a newcomer welcome system helps these players recruit new players into the game, or make random players who pass by their game hooked.
However the above doesn't work if the interests of the players who play their game aren't met. Let's say you have a solid IAP shop with a really attractive loyalty system, alongside new players/payers system. You probably will still not be able to generate as much income if the game itself is horrible, with no updates other than mindless grindfests and no actual content is created for the old players who got bored of all the existing content. Similarly, a game that only caters to whales will also fall someday because there is that barrier of entry to newer players.
For the purpose of this discussion however, I will remove the semantics of pay and non-pay, so that it is easier to illustrate.
When players play a game, they always have an objective. Games have to fit to this objective to keep players. For instance, for a FPS, there are various game modes, maps and weapons. Competitive-wise maps should be really much considered for fairness on both sides, and a machinegun should not be able to one shot a person on the chest if there is armor prevalent for example. Game modes must also make sense: a capture the flag mode should be on a map large enough such that it doesn't turn into a team deathmatch instead, but not too large that it makes hiding from everyone too easy.
The objective of each player as a person is different too. This is judged on their definition of fun. For example. I want to be able to compete and have fun competing. I don't mind losing a person mechanically stronger but I hate it if I lose to a person of a higher gear level because it doesn't make sense that a person has a different level of survivability. A game that provides me with a somewhat equalised PvP field (eg: ranked for League of Legends) would benefit from my patronage in this case. Some people may just want to be casual and run dungeons with their friends, without the worry of being overlevelled and destroying their fun. Final Fantasy XIV for example provides a level balancing feature for instances. Some like puzzles in their games, so some mobile games use the chain mechanic to cast powerful skills. This is what game developers have in mind when catering to their audiance. Game usually closes down when this objective is no longer prevalent in there (due to things being too easy to consider, or just too laborious for the measly reward)
So what is your interest in a game? What makes you want a game and what makes you continue playing it? The comments is there for you.