Review: In-Game Economics

Summaries from The F-Words Of MMOs: Faucets:

• Inflation: Increase in price, or Increase in money supply.
• Faucets and Drains: Inflow and Outflow of currency/items.
• Game have no fixed amount of good or services: re-spawning and drop from monster.
• Fixed price for buying (ceiling price) and selling (floor price) with NPC (unlimited supply). Fake economy?
• Time = Money.
• Promote specialization and dependency. If you mine more ore, you actually gets more efficient and yeild more than collecting herbs. A herbalist who sucks at mining ore would rather buy from you; and you would buy herbs from him.
• Rather than NPC selling potions are fix price, perhaps it should follow the market price (become really expensive when there are more buyers than makers). Perhaps limited supply as well?
• Because of all the competition to unload junk on the open market, prices deflate very near to the floor price.
• When time is limited, it's worth a lot more.
• Is Gold farming and buying good? If gold "receiving" is okay but gold "selling" is bad, what's the solution? MMO makers should just sell their money (reduce time to gain money).
• Treat equipment like equipment (not means of progression): something to be used and replaced (item degradation, item loss). Make them affordable and common.
• Every items in game is crafted, rely on resource gathering by different specialization (Miner, Herbalist, Crafter).

Checklist to making a successful MMORPG in-game economy

• Make sure there are resources that are needed that everyone can gather
• Encourage specialization of labor by making systems that reward players for specializing in one thing, and encourage interdependency by having different specializations require output from other specializations...
• Possible to change specialization (everyone can work on everything).
• Build systems that make it easy for players to transact without actually having to interact (Market, Auction House)
• Get rid of permanent gear. Get rid of gear-based progression! To make the economy more dynamic, to produce more items (and gather resources).

An MMORPG designer has to make the choice between which would be more fun for their game: the aforementioned trio of perma-bind-lootrain or a strong in-game economy.

Resources could be valuable, but how to make resource collection fun? It should be as fun as killing monster, not running around and waiting. Ability to capture monster which produce certain resources?

Max level characters shouldn't even be able to loot lower level weapons, to avoid equipment farming to lower levels?

Interesting Games

The Escapist : Extra Credits : Games You Might Not Have Tried (…or Heard Of)

Interesting Games (not necessary good or popular):

• Fate of the World (Strategy)
• Valkyrie Chronicle (Strategy)
• The World Ends with You (RPG)
• Today I die (Flash)
• Everyday the same dream (Flash)
• Ilomilio (Puzzle)
• Dungeon Fighter (Scrolling Fighting MMO)
• MineCraft
• Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
• Star Control II

Fate of the World, interesting card-based turn-based strategic gameplay, playing as government/regime to tackle issue like global warming, population happiness, economic growth, etc. I wonder how well the simulation goes, and there are certain biasness towards center style. How about a real world simulation game based on real world time, where the source of influence come from daily news?



Star Control II indeed have funny story telling, which is very engaging. Lots of encounter with alien races, cool.

Design: Mini Chronos

After getting really excited about actually building a game, doing multiple research and come up with dozens of great ideas, I feel there is a need to take a step back to start small. It is my first game development, and I wanted to actually complete it; not having a great game that never gets released.

Below is a below cutbacks to contain the scope:

• It’s 2D (I can’t handle 3D anyway)
• Simple Artwork (strong outline, simple colors with little shading and design). Perhaps Tron-styled or Radiangames-styled (strong colorful outlines only)
• Definitely no multiplayer
• Angrybird-like level: 1 set with 12 levels perhaps, possible level expansion later. 3 Star rating for each level (scoring based on time? need something slightly better) - to encourage replay for better scoring.
• Character Setup: 2 type of ship (small, medium), 4 type of modules (weapon, shield, power, special)
• 1 Gameplay: Tower Defense-like Battle-mode, kill enemy-collect coins-buy modules/drop special
• Memorable character: the ship need a captain. Picard? Jack Sparrow? Yoko (Gurren Lagann)? Rei Ayanami (Evangelion)? Big Daddy (Bioshock)? Not spoil when miniaturized. 
• Personality is main character (cool ship - organic ship?, great captain captain),animation, gameplay, sound, environment
• Social feature: ship designer. Ability to swap sprites?

This shall be the crucial steps in actually making the battle system really fun (core of the game); the 2nd release should focus more on upgradability, character development, quests and online world capability, with the eventual multiplayer battle system.

Review: Radiangames' Monthly Xbox Live Indie Games Series

1 Guy (Radiangames), develop 7 games in 11 months for Xbox Live Indie Games (sadly still not enough to make a living).



What went Right?

1. Scope Control: hard to keep a game simple, smaller and more focused the original idea the better, avoided hard technical problems (2D, no multiplayer, single platform, one resolution, fixed-step framerate), safe design, design similar games for reusability
2. Playtesting: get new players and observe, feedbacks
3. Restricted Art Style
4. Upgrades: certain changes are required to make the game better, even it means more time.
5. Passion vs. Innovation: Build the game you like to play equal more motivation to play, improve and finish

What Went Wrong

1. Pricing Indecision: set niche game at higher pricepoint
2. Mental Beatdown: hard to work all the time knowing you're slowly losing money and will have to give up on your dream if things don't go better
3. Minimal Personality: read this 
4. Branding Baggage: don't include company name as prefix, use box art logo instead
5. Too Many Modes

Conclusion: XBLIG is not really financially rewarding, relegated by Microsoft and gaming community; tools are fantastic though.

Review: Casey's Contraptions

Casey's Contraptions is an Indie game developed by Noel Llopis (industry veteran) and Miguel Ángel Friginal (web developer, artist) for iPad




What went Right?

1. Strong Theme and Style - Character Personality, use toys and household items (instead of industry looking item), enable imaginary goal (rescue explorer from jungle with hotair balloon), strong outline and solid colors.
2. Social Features: share solutions with friends, level editor (allow download levels created by others)
3. Iterative Development: add features iteratively
4. Strong launch: announce 6 months before release (25% into development), followed by twitter and blog, showing at GDC (developer feedback, game press), set release date 3 weeks after submission to Apple, featured as iPad Game of the Week, priced $2.99 (not $4.99) for volume reaching top 10 sales
5. Enough Development Time: 8 months, early availability of level editor, change game's star rating system, time for polishing

What went Wrong

1. No simultaneous iPhone Launch: lack of critical mass for game relies on social element, planning 2nd release with lots of new content
2. Butting Heads Too Much: aesthetics vs. usability, performance vs. gameplay, simplicity vs. interest, uniqueness vs. familiarity, or tea vs. coffee; it is a good thing, but too much debating (than actual implementation) as well, hashing problem due to working remotely
3. Unnecessary Rework: revision does make it better, problem when looping doesn't converge into a better design (shifting around), iteration testing of UI would help
4. Not Enough Unit-Testing
5. Fixed Price Model: Fall off chart after a few week, Microtransaction take more time to implement, selling more content, need larger play base for Microtransaction (2-5% would by extra content)

Review: Microtransactions

The Escapist : Extra Credits : Microtransactions

Extra Credits: Microtransactions

• Let people play for free if they want; they might eventually decide to buy something
• Player could earn all type of currency (including those paid by cash, though they have to work really hard) 1) Perception of Fair 2) Once they used the store once, they are likely to use it again 3) soon they realize their time is worth more than a few paid dollar 4) if you don't do this, you are cutting out anyone without a credit cards (TEENAGERS!).
• Never sell power (quickest path for money; and make player feel like being taken advantage). Sell convenience only (more storage space, perhaps short term leveling boost).
• Don't split your players (don't do special area or level for paying players)
• Market research about how much to charge for
• Build from the design from ground ups (not something to think about at the end)

Review: 7 ways games reward the brain

Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain

1. Experience Bar meassuring progress
2. Multiple long and short team aims
3. Rewards for effort (don't punish)
4. Rapid, frequent, clear feedback (understand a lesson)
5. An element of uncertainty (rewards, neorological gold mine)
6. Windows of enhanced attention (Memory, Confidence)
7. Other people! (collab with peers, player develop self organising and governing system)

Wanting + Liking = Engagement

Ambition + Delight = Flying Beast (Powerful, Beautiful, Pleassure to fly around)

Engagement (both personal and collective).