DOCSLIB.ORG

Grinding from a Player's and Game Designer's Point of View

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Grinding from a Player's and Game Designer's Point of View Grinding from a Player’s and Game Designer’s Point of View Patrick Perdomo Computer Science Bachelor’s Thesis 15 ECTS credits Spring 2021 Supervisor: Steve Dahlskog CONTENTS I Introduction 3 I-A Related Work and Purpose . .3 I-B Delimitation . .4 II Method 4 III Results 4 III-A Defining ”Grind” . .5 III-B Defining the Sub-Grinds . .5 III-B1 Sub-grind overview . .5 III-C The MMORPG Grind . .6 III-C1 Overview . .6 III-C2 Examples . .6 III-C3 Gameplay . .7 III-C4 Consequences . .7 III-C5 Relations . .7 III-D The Ladder Grind . .7 III-D1 Overview . .7 III-D2 Examples . .7 III-D3 Gameplay . .8 III-D4 Consequences . .8 III-D5 Relations . .8 III-E The Background Grind . .8 III-E1 Overview . .8 III-E2 Examples . .8 III-E3 Gameplay . .9 III-E4 Consequences . .9 III-E5 Relations . .9 III-F The Gacha Grind . .9 III-F1 Overview . .9 III-F2 Examples . .9 III-F3 Gameplay . 10 III-F4 Consequences . 10 III-F5 Relations . 10 III-G The Social Game Grind . 11 III-G1 Overview . 11 III-G2 Examples . 11 III-G3 Gameplay . 11 III-G4 Consequences . 11 III-G5 Relations . 11 III-H The Incremental Game Grind . 11 III-H1 Overview . 11 III-H2 Examples . 11 III-H3 Gameplay . 12 III-H4 Consequences . 12 III-H5 Relations . 12 III-I The Lone Grind . 12 III-I1 Overview . 12 III-I2 Examples . 12 III-I3 Gameplay . 12 III-I4 Consequences . 13 III-I5 Relations . 13 III-J Interview Results . 13 IV Analysis 15 IV-A How Grinding Became Popular . 15 IV-A1 Online gaming . 15 IV-B Interview results vs. Research results . 16 IV-B1 Grind definition . 16 IV-B2 Sub-grinds . 16 IV-B3 How players perceive grinds . 16 IV-C How Grinds Play the Player . 16 IV-C1 Pay-to-Win grinds . 16 IV-C2 Sunk cost fallacy . 16 IV-C3 Limited time events . 16 IV-D How Grinds are Made Enjoyable . 17 IV-D1 Progression . 17 IV-D2 Online . 17 IV-D3 Relaxation . 17 IV-D4 Optimization . 18 IV-E When Grinding is Appropriate . 18 V Discussion 18 V-A Sub-Grinds . 18 V-B Bias ...................................................... 19 V-C Result Limitations . 19 V-D Self-realization Kills the Monotonous Grind . 19 V-E Grinds are Only a Feeling . 20 V-F Are Grinds Bad Game Design? . 20 VI Conclusion 20 Grinding from a Player’s and Game Designer’s Point of View Patrick Perdomo Computer Science, Game Development. Malmo¨ University Malmo,¨ Sweden [email protected] Abstract—Frequently in MMORPGs, players will encounter Grinds continued to show up in single-player RPGs long something known to players as farming or grinding. Grinding after the release of ”dnd” in 1975, even though it was said to be is a controversial matter in the gaming community, as many a result of poor game design [3]. However, some do embrace do not enjoy it and see it as a sign of lazy and poor game design. However, it is a difficult topic to argue as whatever is a grinds and enjoy them [4]. With the release of MMORPGs, grind, differs to each person. To elevate the discussion about grinds took on a new form and evolved. Competitive and social grinds in the gaming community, this paper aims to give a aspects made grinding even more profound and meaningful to definition to grinds and answer how they are perceived by players players as now they had others to compete and show off their and designers alike. Grinds are argued to be dull, tedious and hard work to. Grinds leveled up themselves with MMORPGs monotonous, but they are ever prevalent in games today. To find what differentiates between a satisfying or waste of time grinding, and became a bigger time sink than ever before. this paper also aims to discover what makes a grind enjoyable, According to some game designers, incorporating a grind and when they are appropriate. into a game means having.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cookie Clicker: Gamification
    This is a repository copy of Cookie Clicker: Gamification. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/146788/ Version: Accepted Version Book Section: Deterding, Christoph Sebastian orcid.org/0000-0003-0033-2104 (2019) Cookie Clicker: Gamification. In: Hunteman, Nina and Payne, Mathew Thomas, (eds.) How to Play Video Games. NYU Press , New York , pp. 200-207. Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Cookie Clicker Gamification Sebastian Deterding Abstract: Incremental games like Cookie Clicker are a perfect exemplar of gamification, using progress mechanics and other game features to make a rote act like clicking compelling. Hence, this chapter reads the game Cookie Clicker for its motivating features to illustrate the logic and limits of gamification. As I type these words into my text editor, the open browser tab next to it informs me that I am currently baking 62.526 sextillion cookies per second.
    [Show full text]
  • Adapting Game Content with a Player Typology
    Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT School of Engineering Science Software Engineering Master's Programme in Software Engineering and Digital Transformation Mika Savolainen ADAPTING GAME CONTENT WITH A PLAYER TYPOLOGY Examiners: D.Sc. (Tech.) Jussi Kasurinen Prof. D.Sc. (Tech.) Kari Smolander Supervisor: D.Sc. (Tech.) Jussi Kasurinen Prof. D.Sc. (Tech.) Kari Smolander TIIVISTELMÄ Lappeenrannan-Lahden teknillinen yliopisto School of Engineering Science Tietotekniikan koulutusohjelma Master's Programme in Software Engineering and Digital Transformation Mika Savolainen Pelisisällön mukauttaminen pelaajatypologialla Diplomityö 2019 54 sivua, 3 kuvaa, 13 taulukkoa, 2 liitettä Työn tarkastajat: D.Sc. (Tech.) Jussi Kasurinen Prof. D.Sc. (Tech.) Kari Smolander Hakusanat: pelit, pelaajatyypit, pelaajatypologia, pelinkehitys Keywords: video games, player types, player typology, game development Tämä diplomityö tutkii pelaajatypologian käyttöä peliominaisuuksien suunnitteluun ja kehittämiseen. Tätä varten toteutetaan kirjallisuuskatsaus ja kartoitetaan eri pelaajatypologioita, jonka avulla luodaan uusi pelaajatypologia. Tämän typologian perusteella suunnitellaan peliominaisuuksia, jotka lisätään toimintaseikkailupeliin. Pelaajatyyppien ja peliominaisuuksien välinen korrelaatio testataan tapaustutkimuksessa ja tulokset analysoidaan Pearsonin ja Spearmanin korrelaatiokertoimilla. ii ABSTRACT Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT School of Engineering Science Software Engineering Master's Programme in Software Engineering and Digital
    [Show full text]
  • Playing to Wait: a Taxonomy of Idle Games
    CHI 2018 Paper CHI 2018, April 21–26, 2018, Montréal, QC, Canada Playing to Wait: A Taxonomy of Idle Games Sultan A. Alharthi,1 Olaa Alsaedi,1 Zachary O. Toups,1 Joshua Tanenbaum,2 Jessica Hammer3 1Play & Interactive Experiences for Learning Lab, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, USA 2 Transformative Play Lab, Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA 3HCI Institute / Entertainment Technology Center, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA {salharth, olaa}@nmsu.edu, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Figure 1. Sample of idle games featuring different styles of gameplay, interaction, and graphical or text interfaces. From left to right: Cookie Clicker [G50], AdVenture Capitalist [G38], Kittens Game [G16], Clicker Heroes [G66], and Cow Clicker [G39]. Screenshots taken cb author Alharthi. ABSTRACT are typically played in web browsers, on mobile devices, or Idle games are a recent minimalist gaming phenomenon in on a PC. Players progress with minimal-to-no interaction. Idle which the game is left running with little player interaction. games usually involve repeating a simple action (e.g., clicking, We deepen understanding of idle games and their characteris- rubbing, tapping) to accumulate resources as a core mechanic, tics by developing a taxonomy and identifying game features. an action that is regularly performed in play [55]. Most idle This paper examines 66 idle games using a grounded theory games also include mechanics that automate gameplay so the approach to analyze play, game mechanics, rewards, interac- game progresses by itself [50]. Although the interactions are tivity, progress rate, and user interface.
    [Show full text]
  • Using the MMORPG 'Runescape' to Engage Korean
    Using the MMORPG ‘RuneScape’ to Engage Korean EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Young Learners in Learning Vocabulary and Reading Skills Kwengnam Kim Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Education October 2015 -I- INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. © 2015 The University of Leeds and Kwengnam Kim The right of Kwengnam Kim to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. -II- DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP The work conducted during the development of this PhD thesis has led to a number of presentations and a guest talk. Papers and extended abstracts from the presentations and a guest talk have been generated and a paper has been published in the BAAL conference' proceedings. A list of the papers arising from this study is presented below. Kim, K. (2012) ‘MMORPG RuneScape and Korean Children’s Vocabulary and Reading Skills’. Paper as Guest Talk is presented at CRELL Seminar in University of Roehampton, London, UK, 31st, October 2012. Kim, K. (2012) ‘Online role-playing game and Korean children’s English vocabulary and reading skills’. Paper is presented in AsiaCALL 2012 (11th International Conference of Computer Assisted Language Learning), in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 16th-18th, November 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • Diablo 1 Windows 10 Download Diablo
    diablo 1 windows 10 download Diablo. Diablo is one of the pioneer and classic game of the action role-playing genre. Play this classic game once again, download Diablo on your computer. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10. Role-playing games (RPG) for computers have always had a very important place within the video game market. In the first PC era, these games were, in their vast majority, games that showed everything from a first-person perspective. But all this changed with the arrival of a new batch of RPG games, led by Diablo , action role-playing games . Play one of the most important classic role-playing games once again. The original Diablo game, which was launched in 1997, set a milestone in the video gaming world and specially role-playing games, and was the start of a very important game saga. One of the changes that could be noticed with greater ease in Diablo was the graphics, due to the fact that it used an isometric view , as well as this, the game was also characterized by the fact that it didn't set so much importance on the story, but focused more on the destruction of every single enemy the player encountered. The player was offered three different characters to choose from, each with its own features and equipment: the warrior (powerful in hand-to-hand combat), the rogue (that was especially gifted in the use of bows and crossbows) and the magician (imbued with arcane power to cast spells). Once the player had chosen his/her character and named it, he/she had to decide which features he/she would improve on each level and set out in search of adventure.
    [Show full text]
  • Staying Alive Fallout 76
    ALL FORMATS EXCLUSIVE Staying Alive Far Cry 4’s Alex Hutchinson How the British games industry survived its on his “louder, brasher” game turbulent early years Fallout 76 Bethesda, BETA and “spectacular” bugs Issue 1 £3 wfmag.cc 01 72000 GRIS 16 7263 97 Subscribe today 12 weeks for £12* Visit: wfmag.cc/12issues to order * UK Price. 6 issue introductory offer In search of real criticism an games be art? Roger Ebert judge – the critic is a guide, an educator, and an argued that they couldn’t. He was interpreter. The critic makes subtext text, traces C wrong. Any narrative medium themes, and fills in white space. Put another can produce art. But I’m not sure way, the critic helps the audience find deeper we’re producing many examples that meet JESSICA PRICE meaning in a piece of art. Or: the critic teaches that definition. Let’s be honest: everyone keeps Jessica Price is a the audience the rules of the games artists play producer, writer, and talking about BioShock because it had something manager with over a so that they’re on a level ground with the artist. to say and said it with competence and style, decade of experience One only has to compare movie or TV reviews in triple-A, indie, and not because what it had to say was especially tabletop games. in any mainstream publication, in which at least profound. Had it been a movie or a book, I doubt some critical analysis beyond “is this movie it would have gotten much attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Faculty Research Working Papers Series
    Faculty Research Working Papers Series Napster's Second Life? - The Regulatory Challenges of Virtual Worlds Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and John Crowley September 2005 RWP05-052 The views expressed in the KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the John F. Kennedy School of Government or Harvard University. Copyright belongs to the author(s). Papers may be downloaded for personal use only. Napster’s Second Life? The Regulatory Challenges of Virtual Worlds+ Viktor Mayer-Schönberger* & John Crowley‡ Imagine a world with millions of people communicating and transacting. Imagine a world just like ours except that is it made entirely of bits, not atoms. Ten years ago, John Perry Barlow imagined such a radical world – cyberspace.1 He saw people interacting without the constraints of national rules. They would be independent from regulatory fiat and unbound by the mandates of Washington, Paris, London, Berlin or Beijing. His vision relied on information traveling a global network at lightning speed, with content living off server farms in nations with little regulation, weak enforcement, or both. In this world of global regulatory arbitrage2, organizations could relocate their servers to jurisdictional safe havens overnight. 3 They might pop up in exotic places like Aruba4 or + We thank Urs Gasser, Raph Koster, David Lazer, Beth Noveck, Cory Ondrejka, and John Palfrey, who have read the manuscript and provided most valuable feedback. We gratefully acknowledge the research assistance of Malte Ziewitz. * Associate Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. ‡ Technologist and freelance consultant for the John F.
    [Show full text]
  • CS 592: Security Practicum
    CS 592: Security Practicum Lecture 2 On-line PC games and their cheats Popular on-line PC games • FPS (First-person shooters) – You control a gun/crosshair – You shoot and kill other players doing the same • MMORPG (Massively multi-player on-line role- playing games) – You control an avatar – You kill other avatars to gain loot and power • RTS (Real-time strategy) – You control an army – You go head-to-head against another player’s army Popular FPS games • Half-Life/Counter-Strike (1/2), Battlefield (2 & 2142) • Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, Call of Duty (1/2) Popular MMORPG games • World of Warcraft, Lineage (1 & 2) • Runescape, Final Fantasy XI, EverQuest (1 & 2) Popular RTS games • Warcraft 3/Starcraft, Age of Empires • Warhammer 40000, Command & Conquer 3 Cheats • Achilles heel of the PC gaming platform (besides crappy integrated graphics cards) – Must be fixed to compete with consoles – Causes legitimate, paying players to quit – Creates bad word-of-mouth to discourage new players – Wrecks virtual economies in MMORPGs Types of cheats • Information exposure – Wallhacks (OGC), Maphacks (Warcraft 3), Chest hacks (showEQ) • Automation – Aimbot (OGC), Troop command macros (Warcraft 3), Auto-looting (WoW QuickLoot), AFK bots • Protocol – Reset cheat (Half-Life), Unit fabrication (Warcraft 3), Item duping (MMO), Speed hack (Half-Life), Hit point hack (Diablo), Disconnect cheat • Game bugs – Game-specific coding errors that lead to unintended behavior Information exposure cheats • Server or peer sends complete information to other client
    [Show full text]
  • Vulnerability and Growth in Video Game Narratives 2019
    Master's thesis Thomas Fusdahl Vulnerability and Growth in Video Game Narratives 2019 Master's thesis Approaches to Storytelling in Dark Souls 3 and Thomas Fusdahl Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice NTNU May 2019 Faculty of Humanities Department of Design Norwegian University of Science and Technology Vulnerability and Growth in Video Game Narratives Approaches to Storytelling in Dark Souls 3 and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Thomas Fusdahl Medievitenskap Submission date: May 2019 Supervisor: Sara Brinch Norwegian University of Science and Technology Thomas Fusdahl Vulnerability and Growth in Video Game Narratives Approaches to Storytelling in Dark Souls 3 and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Master’s thesis in Medievitenskap Master’s thesis Master’s Supervisor: Sara Brinch May 2019 NTNU Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Humanities Faculty Norwegian University of Science and Technology of Science University Norwegian Thomas Fusdahl Vulnerability and Growth in Video Game Narratives Approaches to Storytelling in Dark Souls 3 and Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Master’s thesis in Medievitenskap Supervisor: Sara Brinch May 2019 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculty of Humanities Faculty of Humanities Acknowledgments: After finally finishing I want to thank the people who believed in me when I didn’t. Most of all my parents for both financial and moral support. I couldn’t have done it without you. Additionally, I want to thank my supervisor Sara Brinch for her understanding and support and helping me believe in the project. Lastly, I want to give a shout out to the Easy Allies, an online media outlet that has made it fun to stay engaged in both the culture and business of video games.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethereum Crypto-Games: Mechanics, Prevalence and Gambling Similarities
    See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335202888 Ethereum Crypto-Games : Mechanics, Prevalence and Gambling Similarities Conference Paper · October 2019 DOI: 10.1145/3311350.3347178 CITATIONS READS 6 1,512 6 authors, including: Oliver J. Scholten Nathan GJ Hughes The University of York The University of York 10 PUBLICATIONS 7 CITATIONS 2 PUBLICATIONS 6 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Sebastian Deterding Anders Drachen The University of York The University of York 88 PUBLICATIONS 9,049 CITATIONS 177 PUBLICATIONS 3,241 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Games User Research and Game Analytics View project PAnDA Architecture View project All content following this page was uploaded by Nathan GJ Hughes on 28 October 2019. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Paper Session 6: Broader Reflections CHI PLAY'19, October 22–25, 2019, Barcelona, Spain Ethereum Crypto-Games: Mechanics, Prevalence and Gambling Similarities Oliver James Scholten Nathan Gerard Jayy Hughes Sebastian Deterding University of York University of York University of York York, UK York, UK York, UK [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Anders Drachen James Alfred Walker David Zendle University of York University of York York St. John University York, UK York, UK York, UK [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT of real-money gaming [26] and, due to their chance-based Ethereum crypto-games are a booming and relatively unex- mechanics, of the recent convergence of gaming and gam- plored area of the games industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Dystopia: Player Control and Strategic Innovation in the Sims Online
    Chapter 12 DIGITAL DYSTOPIA: PLAYER CONTROL AND STRATEGIC INNOVATION IN THE SIMS ONLINE Francis F. Steen, Mari Siˆan Davies, Brendesha Tynes, and Patricia M. Greenfield 1. Introduction Around New Year 2004, a quiet year after the official launch, The Sims Online hit the global headlines. Disappointingly, the topic was not a celebration of how this “new virtual frontier,” this “daring collective social experiment,” had succeeded in bringing “our divided nation” together, as Time magazine had blithely prophesied [1]. Instead, the media reported that the online game had turned into a Biblical den of iniquity, a Sin City, a virtual Gomorrah—and that the whistleblower who bore witness to this had his account terminated [2–5]. Rivaling mafia organizations were practicing extortion and intimidation, pimps running brothels where underage girls provided sex for money, and con artists scamming newbies out of their start capital. Maxis, the company that designed and operated the game, maintained a relaxed laissez-fair policy of light and somewhat haphazard intervention. The first mafias and in-game brothels had been established already in the early days of beta-testing; they continued to operate unchecked. Pretend crime paid well and recruitment was good, leading to a rapidly mutating series of inventive scams targeting the inexperienced and the unwary. It wasn’t meant to be like this. Gordon Walton, one of the chief designers, had spoken in glowing terms of the game’s potential to provide opportunities for better relations between people. While “all of our mass media positions us to believe our neighbors are psychopaths, cheating husbands, and just bad people,” The Sims Online would short circuit our distrustful negative stereotypes [6].
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Motivations for Virtual Rewards in Online F2P Gacha Games: Considering
    Exploring motivations for virtual rewards in online F2P Gacha games: Considering income level, consumption habits and game settings In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Global Business by DONG Yulai 1025594 May, 2020 ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to figure out players’ motivation on paying for virtual rewards in online F2P Gacha games. Based on the previous studies and primary survey, this paper will draw a conclusion with a primary survey collection which covered more than 3700 adept Gacha game players. Possible factors including income level, consuming habits and game settings which may be players’ paying motivations are analyzed to weigh their dependency about how they sustain and influence players’ playing and consuming behaviors. The correlation analysis and regression analysis will be used to measure the relationship between these factors and payment for Gacha games. As a result, players’ income level has a significant correlation with their payment in Gacha games while their consuming habits in other virtual goods doesn’t have a significant positive correlation with paying for Gacha games. Keywords: F2P Gacha game; virtual goods; consumer behavior; online payment INTRODUCTION Gacha game is generated from Gashapon, a kind of capsule toy derived from Japanese Bandai company that consumers can get a random one from a sets of given toys in a loot box (Toto, 2012). The system of Gashapon and loot box are applied to the initially Free-to-Play on- line game no matter PC games or mobile games since 2010s. However, the loot box system in these so-called “free-to-play” game lures players to spend a lot on in-game virtual currency for the possibility of getting random virtual rewards such as rare items or game characters (Nieborg, 2016).
    [Show full text]