Sticky from the Start

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Sticky from the Start

• Stieg Hedlund, Turpitude LLC
• Austin Game Developers Conference, 2008

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Building a Sticky Game Mechanic

• 5 Keys to Stickiness
• Set Ups and Pay Offs
• Consistency and Dependability
• Feedback and Rewards
• Reasons to Stay/ Return
• Personal Stakes

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Sticky from the Player Perspective

• A challenge to be conquered can be fun, but not
  necessarily sticky
• Stickiness focuses on the journey, not the
  destination

Sticky systems keep players engaged.
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Diablo II What Made it Sticky?
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A Short History of RPGs
1985-1990 Bards Tale, DD 2nd edition, Dungeon
Master the First Action RPG, Might Magic, Final
Fantasy, Phantasy Star, and others
1991 Neverwinter Nights, 1st Graphical MUD
1996 Diablo released
RPGs stagnate
1974 DD 1st commercial tabletop RPG
1980 Akalabeth 1st successful CRPG
1975 Dungeon 1st Computer RPG
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990
1995 2000
Tabletops
Early Electronics
Middle Electronics
From 1991 to 1996 Is the RPG dead?
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Diablo

• Stripped down CRPG residue
• No die rolling for character creation
• No upfront character customization
• No EDO storyline (elves/dwarves/orcs!)
• No dialogue trees or moral choices

Real-Time Combat Deep, Rich Gameplay The New
Action RPG
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Diablos Shortcomings

• Separate single- and multiplayer
• Peer-to-peer
• Classes didnt differ enough and lacked clear
  progression paths

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A Quick Aside on Vision vs. Feedback.

• A loud minority wanted the cruft back!
• Diablo II explored new ground instead of
  regressing
• REMEMBER WHERE WE ARE IN THE TIMELINE

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Differentiating Diablo II
Character Evolution
Game Y
Loot based
Game X
Game Z
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Back to Stickiness Key 1

• Set Ups and Pay Offs
• Sticky games need aspirational hooks for players
• Foreshadowing in gameplayWhat am I playing for?

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The Importance of Class Progression

• RPGs are about character progression
• This concern trumps all others
• Classes need specific and differentiated gameplay
• also customization, deepening the
  differentiations
• A new game mechanic was needed!

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Inspiration Strikes
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Diablo II's Big Innovation

• Introducing the Skill Tree
• Skill Trees are sticky
• Predictable yet personalized advancement
• Tangible improvements at every level
• Scarcity of points gives consequences to choices

No mysteries here The entire skill tree is
visible from the start
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What About the Other Stickiness Keys?
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Stickiness Key 2

• Consistency and Dependability
• Let players play on their own terms
• Predictability and anticipation of rewards keeps
  players playing

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Power to the Player!

• A single Skill Point is given at each level up
• Skill points and Trees allow players to customize
  builds
• Reaching advanced skills requires planning and
  commitment, but also has significant payoffs
  along the way

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Stickiness Key 3

• Feedback and Rewards
• Digital rewards with tangible effects
• Analog boosts can supplement
• Overlapping reward systems

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The Ding! Factor

• Diablo II features digital rewards for leveling
  up
• You can use equipment you couldnt before
• Your avatars health and mana increase
• You receive new attribute points
• You receive new skill points
• Allocating those skill points gives a tangible
  increase in power

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Digital vs. Analog Rewards
Analog Reward System
Reward
Digital Reward System
Hybrid Reward System
Time
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The Ding! Factor

• You immediately receive health and mana
  increases, and go to full
• You are likely to be in combat, so you get a
  mid-battle bonus
• You dont stop and walk back to town to train
  skills

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Stickiness Key 4

• Reasons to Stay/ Return
• Next level
• Better equipment
• Just one more turn!, etc., etc.

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Leveling

• Leveling gives players predictable and meaningful
  rewardskeeps them playing
• Beginning players quickly gain new skills,
  getting them invested
• Long term goals make even grinding a meaningful
  experience

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Bad dream, honey?
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Stickiness Key 5

• Personal Stakes
• Your avatar
• Your skills
• Your points/ money/ items
• Your ability to share with others.

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Choices with Consequences

• The scarcity of skill points results in choices
  with consequences
• Scarce points force the player to choose a focus
• Subclasses and Sub-Subclasses and Hybrids are
  emergent
• Players were exploring and inventing
• Proving them out
• Fine-tuning and
• Sharing with the community

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Other Consequences
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Sub-Subclasses

• The skill tree system was surprisingly successful
  especially in the number of viable builds
• The Amazon Class for example provides (at least)

• Bowazons
• Mageazon
• Vamp
• Dexazon
• Speedazon
• Sniper
• Mutli-Strafer
• Multizon
• Burizon
• Rebel

• Javazons
• Lightning Fury
• Staticzon
• Poison Viper
• Spearazons
• Spearazon
• Jabazon
• Impalazon
• Fendazon
• Tankazon

• Hybrids
• Lightning Fury
• Mother of Elements
• Elemental Maiden
• Themes
• Demon Hunter
• Undead Hunter
• Goldfinder
• Angelzon
• Stormcaster

diabloii.net Diablo II Strategy Compendium,
Amazon Subclasses, author Kristy
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Building Skill Trees
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Skill Tree Checklist

• Create and Subclasses (and Sub-Subclasses)
• Distinct builds Do skills warrant their own
  branch?
• Expectation Do skills make sense to the class?
• Viable builds Will the skills be useful to
  players?
• Aspirational Could I see myself looking forward
  to this skill?
• Non-Redundant Will this skill become obsolete
  later?
• Synergistic Will this branch work with other
  branches in interesting ways?
• Orthogonal skill factors

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Skill Tree Pitfalls

• Cookie-cutter builds
• Emergence leads to unforeseen imbalances
• Generally uniformity of character identities
  cross games
• Elder game systems like Raiding dictate specific
  builds

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Avoiding the Pitfalls

• Play the hell out of your game
• Hire designers/ exploiters
• Scaling problems
• Simulations allow quick deployment of character
  builds and testing outside of the game
• Look beyond games for inspiration
• Games become self referential
• Use the keys, throw away unnecessary forms

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Skill Trees in Other Games
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World of Warcraft

• Separation of skills/ talents that define the
  class from specializations
• Web-based avatar build minigame

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Hellgate London

• All on a single screen is difficult for a player
  to understand
• The classes are understood more by analogy to
  other games Blademaster Paladin?

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The Stickiness Keys Again
Set Ups and Pay Offs Consistency and
Dependability Feedback and Rewards Reasons to
Stay/ Return Personal Stakes
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Key 1 Positive Application

• World of Warcrafts Draenei starting experience
  gives players a taste of mounts and powerful
  enchantments within the first 10 levels
• Expectations quickly setfor high level play
• Appetites whetted for progression to higher
  levels

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Key 1 Negative Application

• Star Wars Galaxies made becoming a Jedi so
  difficult that many players lost interest before
  getting a taste of what brought them to the game
  to begin with
• The game went against player expectations
  onbecoming Jedi

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Key 2 Positive Application

• In Grand Theft Auto IV, players can drop any
  objectives and go on a criminal joyride at will,
  knowing that they can always come back to the
  mission later.
• The GTA series quickly establishe that players
  are free to pretty much do whatever

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Key 2 Negative Application

• In Final Fantasy XI, abruptly becomes
  group-mandatory, alienating players who might
  have enjoyed early levels solo.
• The formula changes suddenly, which can drive
  players away

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Key 3 Positive Application

• Super Smash Brothers Brawl has numerous systems
  of rewards and collectables. Great for the
  audience.
• Dont like stickers? How about trophies.
• Dont like trophies? How about music.

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Key 3 Negative Application

• Achievements on the new Mega Man 9 are
  HARDCOREZ! Great for hardcore audience, but if
  they wanted to appeal to a more mainstream
  group
• Beat the game in less than 60 minutes
• Clear the gamewithout dying
• Clear the game 5 timesin one day

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Key 4 Positive Application

• Rare Pokémon that only come out during certain
  conditions, such as specific days or hours.
• Players on the quest to catch em all will
  continually look forthe rare must haves

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Key 4 Negative Application

• Total destruction of your village and loss of all
  your resources in Travian which forces the player
  to start over.
• A simple design flaw, plus the chance that you
  start near an advanced player the potential
  for maximum frustration
• Why return after that?

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Key 5 Positive Application

• Wii Fit Charts your actual weight gain/ lossyou
  cant get much more "personally invested
• Tracking your actual performanceties you to the
  game very well, aslong as you dont get
  frustrated

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Key 5 Negative Application

• You begin playing MGS2 Sons of Liberty as Snake
  but play the majority of the game as a new
  character that didnt have any player
  investment.
• Players were committed to Snake after MGS1
• The change-up was not what players expected or
  wanted

!
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Thank You
Any Questions?
Visit us online atTurpitudeDesign.com