The first event to feature this new design was a huge success despite having relatively simple content and no new character on sale. We’re not sure why players preferred this system, but we suspect the answer is a simple one: the uncertainty of opening packs is part of what makes them fun! If, in World of Warcraft, the boss was guaranteed to drop the loot you wanted, I suspect the game would be less engaging overall. Theoretically, you could apply the same principle to card battlers.
Ben Grimm wrote: I'm honestly starting to wonder if those of us on the forums just have nothing in common with the rest of the people playing the game.
The first event to feature this new design was a huge success despite having relatively simple content and no new character on sale. We’re not sure why players preferred this system, but we suspect the answer is a simple one: the uncertainty of opening packs is part of what makes them fun!
In just a few words, you need to communicate the value proposition to the player. This new store layout has much more thoughtfully placed text boxes and actually cuts down on the total amount of text quite a bit.
Phantron wrote: Ben Grimm wrote: I'm honestly starting to wonder if those of us on the forums just have nothing in common with the rest of the people playing the game. If you go by what the forums say every game in existence is on the verge of death, so I'd say that's a pretty accurate assessment.
Knock3r wrote: How does a smart consumer think that odds of 100% going down to 6.2% seem like a fair and fun deal?
LordWill wrote: Yea when I read these it just grates at me for some reason. I am not begrudging them making money but on the attitude on how they do it. You can give your money to the girl scout selling cookies and feel good about giving your money to a worthy cause OR You can give your money to the mugger holding you at gunpoint. I just don't understand why we are treated the way we are. I think I need a hug
Spoit wrote: LordWill wrote: Yea when I read these it just grates at me for some reason. I am not begrudging them making money but on the attitude on how they do it. You can give your money to the girl scout selling cookies and feel good about giving your money to a worthy cause OR You can give your money to the mugger holding you at gunpoint. I just don't understand why we are treated the way we are. I think I need a hug I could give you one, but that'd be $20. And it might be a kick in the kittens instead
Creating content that players will be enjoying months after they first start is genuinely challenging.
Knock3r wrote: The final piece of the 8-part series will be sure to not disappoint interested readers. It talks about the changes to the Cover store, the guaranteed covers, and the 40 pack.http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/15/marvel-puzzle-quests-road-to-the-mythical-1-arpdau-part-8-card-store-overhaul-redux/ In previous events, our card store featured a pack of 10 cards for about $20 USD that was guaranteed to drop the featured character for the event. That’s unusual for card battlers. Typically, this is the newest, most exciting prize for players. In this latest revision of the store, we removed the guarantee while keeping the expected number of featured characters about the same. For many developers at Demiurge, this was a crazy idea. Many of us figured that the entire value of the 10-packs of cards was that they included a guaranteed character in them, but we were fairly unusual in our design here, so we decided to adjust the system. This change went live prior to the visual overhaul, and the results were phenomenal. The first event to feature this new design was a huge success despite having relatively simple content and no new character on sale. We’re not sure why players preferred this system, but we suspect the answer is a simple one: the uncertainty of opening packs is part of what makes them fun! If, in World of Warcraft, the boss was guaranteed to drop the loot you wanted, I suspect the game would be less engaging overall. Theoretically, you could apply the same principle to card battlers. Who are these people??? Would you rather pay $20 for a pack that's GUARANTEED to have what you want, or a CHANCE to have what you want? Probably not likely, but what if you did spend $70 on the 40 pack and not pull the feature cover you wanted?
In previous events, our card store featured a pack of 10 cards for about $20 USD that was guaranteed to drop the featured character for the event. That’s unusual for card battlers. Typically, this is the newest, most exciting prize for players. In this latest revision of the store, we removed the guarantee while keeping the expected number of featured characters about the same. For many developers at Demiurge, this was a crazy idea. Many of us figured that the entire value of the 10-packs of cards was that they included a guaranteed character in them, but we were fairly unusual in our design here, so we decided to adjust the system. This change went live prior to the visual overhaul, and the results were phenomenal. The first event to feature this new design was a huge success despite having relatively simple content and no new character on sale. We’re not sure why players preferred this system, but we suspect the answer is a simple one: the uncertainty of opening packs is part of what makes them fun! If, in World of Warcraft, the boss was guaranteed to drop the loot you wanted, I suspect the game would be less engaging overall. Theoretically, you could apply the same principle to card battlers.
Lyrian wrote: In reality, the issue here is one on generational perception. For someone of my generation (Gen X), this type of monetization practice is quite alien and hostile to us. After all, we all grew up on Ataris, NESs, and Genesis. To us, we won't put money into a game unless there is decisively clear and discernible tactical advantage that is clearly in our favor to do so. As such, we are very tight on our wallets. However, the gaming industry has been slowly trending towards the opposite end of the spectrum during Gen Y. Over time, the industry has encouraged gamers of this generation to accept add-on purchases and DLC instead of finished products. Gen Y members tend to be apprehensive to microtransactions and subscription plans, but are not as outright resistant as Gen X members are. The current generation, the Millennials, are raised in an environment where there is minimal active knowledge of how the game industry used to function. Always online FPSs and MMOs are the norm, microtransactions are considered to be standard gaming practice, and subscription plans for basic gaming services are not given second thought and considered to be complementary (Xbox Live, PS+, and more soon to come). Members of this generation, right now in the lucratively exploitable age teen to young adult age bracket, have been conditioned to simply consume what is placed in front of them. Continually degrading educational standards are not helping matters either. After all, these offers that keep appearing on the screen have to be there for a reason, right? When fewer and fewer physical copies of the games being produced finally turn to zero within the next decade and gaming is nothing more than required monthly subscriptions to access your library of game licenses that be revoked at any time by a vendor, all of which have come full circle to be 21st century arcade "quarter munchers" (just in multiple dollar increments), then I will just shake my head and proclaim as a rightfully old geezer, "Get off my lawn".
Knock3r wrote: Part 6 focuses on Alliances and how they're trying to increase its player retention:http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/24/marvel-puzzle-quests-road-to-the-mythical-1-arpdau-part-6-alliances/ Interesting quotes: Because we believe that players who engage with the social mechanics in the game are inherently more valuable to us than those that don’t, we decided our KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for Alliances would be the percent of our active players who are in alliances. Hence the push for Alliances with Alliance-only rewards and Alliance daily rewards.
Because we believe that players who engage with the social mechanics in the game are inherently more valuable to us than those that don’t, we decided our KPI (Key Performance Indicator) for Alliances would be the percent of our active players who are in alliances.
atomzed wrote: The fact that my season progression reward 10-pack gave me ZERO 3* convinced me that its not worth the risk buying 10-packs anymore.
HawkeyeSucks wrote: atomzed wrote: The fact that my season progression reward 10-pack gave me ZERO 3* convinced me that its not worth the risk buying 10-packs anymore. That's interesting because my friend and I both got that 10-pack progression reward and both pulled THREE 3* covers. We figured that was the standard. They really need to introduce a 3* token as I have previously mentioned. It's the only way to balance out this game since they took away the guaranteed cover pack. Also his analogy to WoW was completely tinykitty, that monster boss (or whatever, i never played) drops one treasure but getting a guaranteed cover in a 10-pack still leaves 9 surprises
atomzed wrote: So short of mass exodus after Season 2 starts, D3 is likely to keep it that way.... (Which scares me because I don't know how to keep up).