NonymousBalancing the game - Vampire Wars
July 23rd 2010 10:57
Couple of musings...
A lot of the changes Zynga makes are about "balancing" the game. For instance, when they initially made the New Orleans missions non-resettable, and when they restricted the energy boosts to 10 (health and rage don't seem to be restricted; and candy doesn't count against your boost total on FB -- only on MySpace).
But what does "balance" actually mean, and what sort of balance are they trying to achieve?
Well, no one really knows, but here's a couple of possiblities:
1. Balancing in terms of time played. For instance, making it easier for new players to compete with players from two years back. And this happens all the time -- like the way new, more powerful items have been added to Akem's Gamble. Other games (for instance, the card game "Magic: The Gathering") have employed similar measures, so that they don't scare off potential new customers.
2. Balancing in terms of time invested per week, so that 24/7 players don't have such an advantage over once-a-week people. Restricting boosts available from voting might be an example of this, or maybe that's more targeted at the bots.
3. Balancing in terms of style of play, so that energy vamps don't have so much of an advantage over combat vamps and hybrids (kinda like how World of Warcraft and Guild Wars keep trying to stop certain set-ups being "imba"). In practice, Zynga haven't succeeded too well at this...
4. Balancing in terms of strategy, so that one strategy (like strategically hoarding your energy boosts) doesn't give you a big advantage over other types of play. Obvious example: restricting boosts to 10 (grr!).
5. Balancing in terms of opportunity, so that if people had an opportunity earlier in the game (like the chance for a particular avatar costume), others aren't too disadvantaged for being on holiday that week.
Now, all of these sorts of changes are supposed to: (1) make more money for Zynga; and (2) maximize the happiness of VW players, so that each change creates more happiness than it costs.
It's a tricky thing. The problem, at the end of the day, is that VW players don't want a bland, balanced game. They want inequality. They want to be rewarded for loyalty to the game and for time investment.
Most of all, VW players believe in status. Clicking the same button over and over again is not an inherently fun activity; there's plenty of more interesting things. The fun comes to some extent from social interaction with one's clan. But, more than this, like many online games, it comes from the ego-gratification of thinking that you're better than someone else. It's a competitive pleasure.
A lot of the changes Zynga makes are about "balancing" the game. For instance, when they initially made the New Orleans missions non-resettable, and when they restricted the energy boosts to 10 (health and rage don't seem to be restricted; and candy doesn't count against your boost total on FB -- only on MySpace).
But what does "balance" actually mean, and what sort of balance are they trying to achieve?
Well, no one really knows, but here's a couple of possiblities:
1. Balancing in terms of time played. For instance, making it easier for new players to compete with players from two years back. And this happens all the time -- like the way new, more powerful items have been added to Akem's Gamble. Other games (for instance, the card game "Magic: The Gathering") have employed similar measures, so that they don't scare off potential new customers.
2. Balancing in terms of time invested per week, so that 24/7 players don't have such an advantage over once-a-week people. Restricting boosts available from voting might be an example of this, or maybe that's more targeted at the bots.
3. Balancing in terms of style of play, so that energy vamps don't have so much of an advantage over combat vamps and hybrids (kinda like how World of Warcraft and Guild Wars keep trying to stop certain set-ups being "imba"). In practice, Zynga haven't succeeded too well at this...
4. Balancing in terms of strategy, so that one strategy (like strategically hoarding your energy boosts) doesn't give you a big advantage over other types of play. Obvious example: restricting boosts to 10 (grr!).
5. Balancing in terms of opportunity, so that if people had an opportunity earlier in the game (like the chance for a particular avatar costume), others aren't too disadvantaged for being on holiday that week.
Now, all of these sorts of changes are supposed to: (1) make more money for Zynga; and (2) maximize the happiness of VW players, so that each change creates more happiness than it costs.
It's a tricky thing. The problem, at the end of the day, is that VW players don't want a bland, balanced game. They want inequality. They want to be rewarded for loyalty to the game and for time investment.
Most of all, VW players believe in status. Clicking the same button over and over again is not an inherently fun activity; there's plenty of more interesting things. The fun comes to some extent from social interaction with one's clan. But, more than this, like many online games, it comes from the ego-gratification of thinking that you're better than someone else. It's a competitive pleasure.
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Comment by Anonymous
All they are trying to do is make more money and they are creating a big diference between CC Vamps who can get whatever they want and the rest of vamps who work really hard to get some of the things they want.