Making the Game Wiki Obsolete Improving Approachability in Grand Strategy Games Timmy Eklund Department of Applied Physics and Electronics January 2020 Umeå University, Sweden [email protected] 2 Timmy Eklund Abstract The aim of this thesis is to explore and investigate the possibility of improve- ments in approachability and player retention, in Grand Strategy games. This is important for game developers to be able to develop games more suited to a wider audience. This study will investigate whether these improvements can be made by giving players access to information, traditionally found on game wikis, inside the game in a non-intrusive manner. This was investigated through a pre-study of current trends in gamers usage of information resources outside the games themselves. It was determined that wikis are the most common resource, and that they are most commonly used in the middle of play. Because of this, three mock-ups of user interfaces, which could supply such information to the player in the midst of playing, were designed. They were then evaluated by a panel of experts, consisting of game developers and experienced Grand Strategy players. The mock-up deemed by the experts to have the best potential, a windowed in-game encyclopedia, was implemented as a prototype in a small game. This game was developed to emulate the gameplay, and positive and negative aspects of Grand Strategy games. This prototype was then tested using A/B-testing. Despite a low number of participants, the results showed that access to informa- tion found on wikis in the game does lead to better approachability. It can also be concluded that players are closer to reaching a Flow state, which will lead to potentially higher player retention. Making the Game Wiki Obsolete 3 Sammanfattning Syftet med denna uppsats är att utforska och undersöka möjliga förbättringar inom användarvänlighet och bevarande av spelares intresse, inom spel i genren Grand Strategy. Detta är viktigt för spelutvecklare, för att lättare kunna utveckla spel som passar en bredare publik. Denna studie kommer att undersöka huruvida sådana förbättringar kan uppnås genom att ge spelare tillgång till information, som traditionellt sett finns på wiki-sidor, inuti spelet, på ett sätt som inte stör spelaren. Detta undersöktes med hjälp av en förstudie av trender inom spelares använd- ning av information från resurer utanför spelen. Den vanligaste resursen visade sig vara wiki-sidor. De används framförallt under tiden som man spelar. Baserat på detta skapades tre förslag på användargränssnitt som kan tillhandahålla infor- mation till spelaren medan de spelar. De utvärderades därefter av en expertpanel, som bestod av spelutvecklare och erfarna spelare inom Grand Strategy genren. En encyklopedi i ett fönster inuti spelet blev det förslag som ansågs ha bäst potential. En prototyp av denna encyklopedi implementerades i ett litet spel. Detta spel hade utvecklats för att efterlikna spel inom Grand Strategy genren. Både de positiva och de negativa aspekterna efterliknades. Prototypen testades därefter med A/B-testning. Trots ett lågt antal deltagare visade resultaten att tillgång till information från wiki-sidor inuti spelet ledde till bättre användarvänlighet. Slutsatsen kan även dras att spelare var närmare att nå ett Flow-state medan de spelade, vilket potentiellt kan leda till att spelares intresse bevaras och vill fortsätta spela spelet. 4 Timmy Eklund Acknowledgement First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone at Paradox Arctic for the warm welcome and inclusion they’ve shown me. I would especially like to thank Mikhail Gofman, Jesper Blomqvist and everyone else on the team that has been my home for the duration of my thesis. They’ve supported me, inspired me and helped me grow, both professionally and as a person, and really made me feel like part of their family. I could not have asked for a better place to write my thesis! Secondly, I would like to thank Simon Edman and Adam Nording for the great input and suggestions, and lively discussions during our peer reviews, which has significantly increased the quality of this thesis. I would also like to thank Tomas Nordström, my supervisor at the University, for his academic help on what makes a good thesis and how to write better papers. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family and friends, who have supported me during these months, either indirectly through words of encouragement, or more directly by participating in my surveys and tests. And last, but not least, thank you, Caroline, for encouraging me, and helping me see reason, during my most difficult and frustrated moments. Table of Contents 1 Introduction . 6 1.1 Background . 6 1.2 Paradox Interactive & Paradox Arctic . 7 2 Objective . 9 2.1 Purpose . 9 3 Theoretical Framework . 10 3.1 Grand Strategy Games . 10 3.2 Flow..................................................... 10 3.3 Game Approachability Principles (GAP) . 12 3.4 Wikis.................................................... 13 3.5 Tooltips . 14 4 Methodology . 16 4.1 Pre-Study . 16 4.2 Mock-up exploration . 16 4.2.1 Mock-up 1: Expanding tooltips . 17 4.2.2 Mock-up 2: Fullscreen in-game encyclopedia . 17 4.2.3 Mock-up 3: Windowed in-game encyclopedia . 18 4.2.4 Testing of mock-ups . 18 4.3 Implementation and Evaluation . 18 4.3.1 Pseudo-game . 19 4.3.2 Pseudo-game development . 20 4.3.3 Prototype . 21 4.3.4 User testing . 22 5 Results . 24 5.1 Pre-Study . 24 5.2 Mock-up exploration . 25 5.3 Implementation and Evaluation . 27 6 Discussion . 31 6.1 Limitations . 33 7 Conclusion . 35 7.1 Future Work . 36 8 Appendix . 40 A Pre-study - Survey Questions . 40 B Mock-ups . 42 6 Timmy Eklund 1 Introduction The video-game industry is booming [1], and as the market grows, so does its diversity. Today, a myriad of different video-game genres exists, ranging from casual brainteasers, to intense war simulations, and engaging fantasy role playing games. This diversity is not limited to just genres, but also to difficulty. Some players desire difficult videogames that takes years to master, while others prefer games that can be picked up and enjoyed immediately [2]. But many of the game-developers of these tough games also want to invite new players to their games, without scaring them off with how challenging such games are to learn to play. Such an unfortunate scenario is, however, not uncommon, especially in a certain genre of games called Grand Strategy games [3]. These are games in which the player controls a nation and through various complex economic, military, and diplomatic means, seek to expand and help your nation prosper [4]. Such games can prove to be very intimidating to new players, due to their high complexity, which tends to result in poor approachability [3]. As a result, many players, both beginners and veterans, supposedly seek help and guidance from various internet resources when they play these games, but this results in a halt in the playing of the actual game, which has a negative impact on the player experience, according to game developers at a studio named Para- dox Arctic. These developers asked a question. Can the player experience be improved, by instead providing these types of resources inside the actual game experience? This thesis will be an exploratory study on whether providing such information resources in-game could potentially improve approachability, and as a result, retention of players. 1.1 Background Nearly a third of the world’s population plays video games, or have at least tried it out, as in 2016 it was estimated that approximately 2.5 billion people play games worldwide [1]. The video game industry is ever-expanding and is slowly but surely out-performing traditional media entertainment like the film industry. Just recently Avengers: Endgame by Marvel Studios set a new record for highest-grossing film of all time (not adjusted for inflation) by earning almost 2.8 billion USD [5]. Compare this to League of Legends, one of the world’s most popular video games, which in the same year earned 1.5 billion USD, a feat which they repeat yearly [6]. In 2019 the total global box office revenue was 42.5 billion USD [7]. The video game industry reportedly earned 120.1 billion USD in the same year [6]. Video games as a form of entertainment have become so prevalent and influential in society and pop culture that vintage video games hold the same prestige that only classic films used to [8]. Just like in the film industry, there are a great many types of different game genres, all of which attracts different types of players. Some prefer the skill ex- pression possible in First Person Shooters where careful precision with a mouse Making the Game Wiki Obsolete 7 or control stick is required to show off your mettle. Others prefer the brainteasers of puzzle games. And others still prefer immersing themselves in a compelling story of good and evil, knights and princesses, and dragons and caves in a story heavy Role Playing Game. But some players prefer the strategical mastery of military, economics and politics which are the core elements the genre of games called Grand Strategy. Simply put, a Grand Strategy game is a Real Time Strat- egy game where you as the player control the destiny of a nation or empire trying to take its place in the world [4]. For many the appeal of the games are the his- torical fantasies they have a chance to reenact. What if the Roman Empire never fell? What would have happened to the world if Germany proved unstoppable during World War 2? Or maybe you just want to see your favorite ancient coun- try rule the world.