Keeping the Player's Interest
We created the interest of the player: The player downloaded our game. The most important point now is to keep the interest of the player, this is where motivation design comes into play. We must maintain this interest we have created for the player, ensuring that the player continues to play our game. However, this is a much more complex set of activities than anticipated, and it contains many actions that can be taken together with many factors that may change according to the situation.
Data Matters
Data that allows us to know the status of players; It allows us to make adjustments to the immediate needs of the players according to their general cycles, to determine the rewards they desire and are satisfied with, to offer challenges that work, and award rewards suitable for all difficulty levels.
Game Design Sensitivity
After the data has done its job, at the point where the factors that will enable us to maintain the player's motivation and the actions to be taken should be determined, the game design and game design elements that make up the real identity of the game should be injected with precision so that we can keep the player having fun without disturbing them.
Knowing the Player Archetypes
Apart from the fact that every game project has completely dissimilar needs, every player base has different features and different needs. It is as important to think as a player of that audience as well as putting professional know-how into practice. Of course, for motivation design, we need to know the player archetypes well and define the audience according to the game.
It is clear that each player archetype has its own needs, but it is important to remember that players are spontaneous and can evolve and change. (additional note for f2P games: it is also necessary to consider the situations where the players who spend in the whale category may be in a very low percentage when divided into archetypes)
From Process Theories to the Motivational Cycle of Players
Here we are faced with the player motivation cycle diagram, which describes the motivation cycle inspired by process theories that try to explain motivational processes and adapted to games.
Briefly, the story is as follows
The game designer creates needs for the player, presents challenges and rewards for satisfaction. It provides the player's progress and development by rewarding them in the face of difficulties.
The player's status gives an equation where the other parameters are multiplied, and if one of the parameters (needs, reward and challenges) is 0, the player's motivation is 0, we can say that even if any of the others are too high, the motivation will still be low.
These parameters need to be balanced in order to provide the motivation and powerful experience required in the games.
Of course, the balance established for motivation design is not limited to these parameters, many parameters can be added depending on the type of game (such as evolution of the needs and their hierarchy, as well as the future needs that the player is yet not aware of, motivations issued from the context and the story ) but it is a viable tool even though it is in its simplest form.
Ayça Çanlı - 09.2022
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