16 reasons why players leave your game
Players leaving games. According to one source, on average, less than 40% of players returned to the free game after the first time. The most important task of a game designer is to create an exciting product. We make games to make them interesting to play. If they leave our game too often and quickly, we have not coped with the task.
Wondering why players are leaving your game, you put yourself in their place. Your financial success depends on the size of the audience – especially if your monetization occurs through in-game purchases. The two main reasons for the departure of player frustration and boredom. They – the main enemies of the "stream". Flow is a state of consciousness characterized by a sense of active concentration and absorption on current activities. It is in this state and we aim to introduce the players – regardless of game genre.
Our job as game designers to approach the design from the side of positive psychology. Retention of players is reduced to product development, creating a state of flux. Do not confuse this with casual games or games built on the repetition of simple tasks. In the article, I gathered material for a checklist of reasons why players may leave the game are listed in descending order of importance. Make sure that you have checked all the items in the list.
1. Your game is a bad Intro
From the very start of the game you need to give users reasons to stay with the game. The title screen, loading screen and the first level will make the first impression about the game – and it will stay with them, even if they are not removed from your game.
2. The game requires too much time
Living in modern society feel the constant lack of time. Most likely, your players and so overloaded with notifications and other apps that try to attract their attention. If you develop a game for adults – they probably already have jobs and families that take most of the time. They can't play for hours.
Passing a certain stage of the game should not take an hour. Of course, do not have to follow fashion and reduce the time to step up to 2-5 minutes. If you are relying on experienced players, a half-hour session may work for you. But in the mobile market you need to make it so that users can play for only 3 minutes at a time – if you want to capture a larger part of the audience.
The correct length of the game for the desktop depends on the type of game. But even in a MMORPG like World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XIV, you can clear out the dungeon in 15-30 minutes. Online multiplayer games are becoming more friendly to different types of users, not just one specific type.
3. You have incorrectly identified your target audience
It would be inefficient to expect that the audience of the game Beat Them All will be those over 60. And although this is one of the basic aspects of game development, to recall it will not be superfluous. You can't please everyone – you need to choose the target audience. You need to study it, to find some of its representatives, to allow them to try your product and get feedback on early stages of development.
Choosing the wrong audience, you ruin more and a marketing budget. Trying to please the wrong people will cost you time and money.
4. Are you trying to penetrate a saturated market
Imagine that we chose audience: women over 40, inexperienced, have some free time. And made for them a new game of the series "collect three." Original title, polished, gets good reviews from the press.
But is not working. Why? Perhaps because these games are already very much. The big companies like King have already lured a large audience. People will not switch to a similar game, regardless of their quality.
We work in the entertainment industry. Games – not only our creation, but also a product for sale on the market. The product should satisfy needs. Need to play "collect three" not now.
5. You've run enough tests
In our time mistakes in games and other programs is, unfortunately, the norm. If top-class game is released without bugs is even surprising. But mistakes is a plague that prevents the promotion of your game. Errors are annoying players, even if they are funny.
An independent developer is unable to track all the errors in his game, it is necessary to attract interested players in the early stages of development. Even if you get to be a beta tester, you have in mind will be the comprehensive information about the game that will prevent you to find its defects.
6. Your tutorial slows the player
Tutorial Dark Soul is quick, accessible to all, and optional
The tutorial does not have to force experienced players to go through the long and boring stages. The tutorial is the first look at the game, and they need to do much. If you make a JRPG or FPS, a decent portion of your players are not going to need the tutorial – do not force them to take it. Dark Souls 2 is a perfect example of the tutorial, which takes place on the well-developed locations, which allows you to finish it early.
For more detailed information read the article from Ernest Adams "8 ways to make a bad tutorial".
7. Your game is too complicated
An independent developer himself test the game and determine the balance. But the complexity needs to be configured on the experience of the target audience, not on our own. Serial beta and the gaming analyst is a necessary thing to create an objective balance of the game.
If the game immediately is very difficult, the player will leave, especially the inexperienced. The same will happen if the management of the game is slow or inaccurate. Bad controls make the game unpleasant and difficult.
Delete games in the later por
You first need to ensure that players are not left immediately. Otherwise they will not play. But we need to stop them and in the later stages of the game. Usually quite small game reaches the end. And here's why.
8. Unexpected complexity
Unexpectedly challenging stages break the pleasant impression of the game. This does not mean that the game should not be heavy – but it has to be justified. The Souls series is a good example unforgiving game with a smooth difficulty curve. The player himself choose a difficulty, not knowing about it. Games Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac very easy and very popular.
9. Excessive difficulty or ease
In Mario party is great to feel invulnerable, because this state does not last long. Don't forget that the tasks in the game should match the player's level, so he remained in a state of flux. And it's quite a challenge!
Once in Skyrim I've gotten to the point where dragons have become a formality. My skinny thief could kill them with one flick of a knife. It killed all the immersion into the universe. And I stopped playing.
10. The game focuses on the routine and gives interesting problems
Routine gives a sense of accomplishment to the player and provides a consistent basis for the issuance of awards. But this is not enough for a good game.
Blizzard, specialists in a rut for a very long time engaged in the polishing of the mechanics, visuals and background games. Diablo 3 – not just hack and slash. This is a beautiful and dynamic action. In WoW there are dozens of unique locations and caves. And while routine is the main component of these two games, she only need to enhance their basic qualities and gameplay.
11. To obtain pleasure from the game you need to spend too much time
Before it suffered the IMO: The 4th Prophecy and Dark Age of Camelot was required to spend a lot of time to get to enjoying the depths of the gameplay. Not everyone is ready to spend a lot of time on the game. Most modern MMO to adapt to new users.
Final Fantasy XIII is an example of a single where the tutorial lasts for 30 hours. The features of the game are displayed one by one, gradually, on a linear path. And only after that, the game offers a large outdoor level. For this it is criticized.
Your game needs to offer entertainment content almost immediately.
the Specifics of social and free games
The last paragraphs do not apply to all games, but only to social games and games class free to play. Hold the player in such games is constantly analyzed. Most of the reasons why the player in them to do, are quite simple and lists easy to find in Internet. I will focus on the less obvious things.
12. Unpleasant community
Social games. Usually they are not very social, and are so named because built on working with social networks. But in multiplayer games there is often a way of interacting with other players. You need to track the growth and development of your community, if there is one in the game. Aggressive to newcomers to the community will scare off new users. In social games there must be a system of managing the community.
13. Scarce resources
One of the diseases of Free to Play. What people call Pay to Win, and I like to call it Free to Pay. If those who do not pay, gets too few resources to progress, they will be upset before it happens in the game, or later.
Monetization strategies that force players to pay, do not work. If you toss them is, they are gone. As explained by Seth Godin in "permission marketing", the user has many options. If you build a relationship with him, the game design creates the relationship.
14. Gaming session felt empty
Continuing the previous topic, the players in social games want to become involved in different activities. Each game session should be lively and rewarding. For example, the game Zombie Catchers keeps the novelty, alternating fun hunt with the simple management of the store. It takes a few minutes to get acquainted with various phases of the game.
15. The game punishes inactive players
On the one hand, if you force the player to go back, he can turn the game into a habit. On the other hand, people need a respite. At any time the player must have the opportunity to interrupt the game because of necessity. To pass the exam, have a baby, to go to the store, to go on vacation. Losing all progress after returning to the game, they will lose interest in it. Instead, you can reward returning after a long break users.
16. Updates go too slow
Social and multiplayer games should be supported. If you want to keep users, they need to do something or to give a reason for the return. Serious regular updates, every 1-3 months is the key to remain in the users ' memory.
If your updates go often, users delete the game or will forget to come back later.
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