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Fun Meters for Games. Nicole Lazzaro, President XEODesign ® Larry Mellon, System Architect Emergent Game Technologies. AGC Oct 28, 2005. Measure Fun. Pulled Pork Sandwiches: Yum! (But Why?). Structured observations of the people - Smiling? Savoring? - Structured questionnaires.
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Fun Meters for Games Nicole Lazzaro, President XEODesign® Larry Mellon, System Architect Emergent Game Technologies AGC Oct 28, 2005
Measure Fun
Pulled Pork Sandwiches: Yum! (But Why?) Structured observations of the people - Smiling? Savoring? - Structured questionnaires ? Insertion of probes into the sandwich - Temperature? Sauce balance? - Sandwich mods?
Fun meter requirements • Multiple data sources • Repeatable & validity • Game & player variance What could you use it for? • Pre-ship evaluation • Early evaluation of game play
Larry Mellon Nicole Lazzaro • CTO: Emergent Game Technologies • 20+ years of tools and engines for distributed systems & supercomputers • Jade, EA, DARPA, … • Parallel simulation & virtual worlds • Automated testing & metrics in games • Recent Play: Go • President and Founder XEODesign • 15 years of design and research player experiences • Sony, EA, LeapFrog, Sega, Ubisoft, PlayFirst • Cognitive Psychology Stanford • Recent Play: Tombstone Hold ‘em
Next-gen: I get the graphics, but where’s the game? Computational power Visual effects Innovative game play
Blocking IssueIn next-gen games, how much innovation will be fundable? Cost & Risk Innovation
Next Gen Games • Increased Complexity • Increased Complexity of Analysis
Mobile Off-Computer Play
Next-gen gambling: roll dem bones! Success Failure
Blocking IssueBig games are hard to change at the last minute! Project Start Gold
2. Fun Meters Today • We can measure aspects that contribute to fun today
Probes showed us how players interacted with each other: socialization more important to players than dancing
The house categories mini-game just wasn’t rewarding enough to players: a game “dead spot” ………………. House Categories (Beta Test)
Fun Meter • "Where is the fun in that?" – Bruce Shelly
4 Flavors of Fun The 4 Keys “The Ride” Easy Fun: Filling Attention Hard Fun: Challenge & Mastery Altered States: Change Internal Sensations The People Factor: Social Mechanism www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames
4 Flavors of Fun The 4 Keys “The Ride” Easy Fun: Filling Attention Surprise & Curiosity Hard Fun: Challenge & Mastery Frustration & Fiero Altered States: Change Internal Sensations Excite & Relax The People Factor: Social Mechanism Shadenfreude & Naches www.xeodesign.com/whyweplaygames
Hard Fun - Fiero • Personal Triumph Over Adversity
LeapFrog’s FLY Pentop Player Prototypes and Field Studies
Fun Meter • "Pace is everything. User attention is the game." – Mark Terrano
3. Fun Meter Challenge More than 20 aspects to measure fun Larry & Nicole have a bet • Left and Right sides compete • Winner gets a duck! • List posted w/slides 260 ideas/hour = 4.3/min (21.5 / 5 mins)
What to Measure • Pace • Exploits • Rewards • Power Ups • Score Jumps
Fun Meter Challenge Take Away • Lots of Aspects Effect Fun • Each Needs a Meter
4. Sources of Data • Every Meter Needs a Data Source • Data Relates to the Question
Section 4. Data extraction is always tricky… Indirect (asking players) Direct (observing players)
Fun Meters • “Are people around the company (e.g. non-testers) playing?” – Steve Meretzky
Gathering Opinions Co-Worker Focus Group Survey Beta/QA Testing Lots of noise Cheap to implement Requires player to interpret events Indirect Measures
Internal Indirect Measures
Internal Indirect Measures
Strengths Many People Playing Game Bugs and Exploits Easy to Set Up Forgive Artifacts Fill in What’s Missing Rapid Iteration Limits Professional TestersBug Focus vs. Fun Player Filters Data Not Target Market Seen Earlier Versions Group Think Beta/QA Testing
The Vocal Minority • Type of play they expect? Silent Majority Love It! Hate It! • On Line Surveys • Post Play Surveys • Beta/QA Testing • Forums/Chat • Focus Groups
Strengths Brainstorming Packaging Generating Ideas Limits Ø Behavior Group Think Opinion Leader Fibbing Post Play Watch not Play Focus Group
Meta Critic • Automated • Opinions of Play Limits • Reviews “Weighted” • Comes too Late
Strengths 35K/5yrs How Many Play w/Their Partner? Limits Ø Behavior Fibbing Question Bias Online Surveys Daedalus Project, Nick Yee
Strengths Nifty Charts Measure Existing Ideas with Accuracy Automated Low Cost per Respondent Limits Self Select Ø Behavior Fibbing Mostly Quantitative Find What Ask For Bias in Questions On Line Surveys
Fun Meter • “We didn't have the techniques then that you are creating now to measure where the person was, and instead looked at progress vs. time or survey results after playing to try to determine where the person was at.” – Jeff Pobst
Observation Data Probes Behavior Based Data Requires Expert Interpreter Tell us things that the user can’t tell us. Direct Measures
Observe Player • XEOAnalysis • Usability • Un-fun • Player Experiences • Emotions & Drivers • 4 Flavors of Fun
SWG Fun Btn Usability: Remove Un-Fun (51UI)
Frustration w/o Fiero • [Fiero flowchart w/hard and easy fun]
Strengths Behavior Data Directly Observe Player, Game, Context What and Why Explore New Ideas Less Up-Front Bias Paper or Electronic Limits More Effort to Collect Data and Analyze Time Automation Trained Observer Observe Player Experience
Observe Players Early Paper Fun Meters • New Roles for NPCs • Wire Frame UIs • Paper Prototype • Play Test the Fun • Automate Data Collection w/ Consumables or Tokens
Fun Meter • “There's a core rule, a way to interact, and then tuning, an adjustment to see if it is ‘gripping and attractive’ or is it a ‘drag on the experience’?” - Hal Barwood