Some results from the previous post about the peer rewarding system in LoL
Category Archives: Musings on Game Design
Thinking about design in general or looking at games from a design analysis perspective. Game Design Toolbox entries may go here.
Calling out Good Behavior in LoL
League of Legend’s new Honor system lets you call people out for positive behavior. It’s a bit like reporting only for positive things. I’m unclear on whether any action is going to be taken on this data (like for matchmaking or whatever), but I still think it’s a good idea. Apparently Dota 2 has something similar, but I had not read about it.
Resistance 3 inspiration images
I thought some people might find this interesting.
When I was first assigned the boat level in Resistance 3, we had a very vague idea of what it was going to be. I'd been thinking about a mostly standard ride-down-the-natural-river experience until one of the concept artists did some drawings of a boat floating through a flooded city. Immediately I thought of my hometown of Louisville, KY, and the great flood that devestated the area in the late 30s. My good friend, Scott, had a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the flood, and generously lent it to me to bring back to California and share with my team as a source of inspiration. The environment artists were delighted! Here are a few of the more influential newspaper clippings that inspired us.
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102954115822334585421/albums/5790481371840515313
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.591872072054.2047400.59300542&type=1
In-game Bodyguards
This is a fascinating example of mentorship-for-profit in the competitive multiplayer space. I suppose that is one way that you ensure you get mentors who care about teaching and helping the new players – pay them! The idea that they also take deaths for their mentees is one I hadn’t considered before.
Battle.net RealID
http://us.battle.net/en/realid/
In spite of all the hooplah about using real names on the forums, one thing that RealID does EXTREMELY well is makes it way easier to find people you know who are playing the game. Because you can view the friends of people in your friends list, you can easily find mutual friends that you didn’t otherwise know played, and adding them is very simple.
I know more than once I’ve been on Starcraft 2, and none of my friends have been on, so I browsed THEIR list of friends to see if I knew anyone, added somebody, and boom, someone to play with that I knew!
SSBB’s Disconnect Solution
http://kotaku.com/331227/ssbbs-answer-to-disconnects
Article about the aforementioned solution that Super Smash Brothers Brawl implements for disconnects. Good for laggy connections and rage quitters alike! There’s a link to the more in-depth version at the bottom.
Team Fortress 2 “Coach” Mentoring
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/15/team-fortress-2-update-is-devoid-of-hats-full-of-training-and-t/
We thought that enabling player mentoring as part of the interface of your game would really help retention of new players seeking a safe way to learn to play. This update doesn’t mention the specifics of the system for coaching players, but the thought of it is promising!
I will be listening for success stories or otherwise.
Clever Asynchronous Co-op Idea
http://kotaku.com/5762842/this-game-lets-you-play-with-your-friends-even-when-they-dont-want-to
Asynchronous game modes and ways of play were a big point of discussion in our work group, because it increases the ability of people to play with people they already know, even if schedules don’t line up. This connection can lengthen a player’s commitment to the MP community, so new ways of playing games together asynchronous are great!
Juan Says..
“They beat us to the punch! But I can say we did something similar in Snowfort, our latest game. You play against your friend’s team (managed by an equal level AI).
We’ve got nominated to the “most creative game” at the Flash Game Summit for Snowfort. Wish us luck!http://www.flashgamingsummit.com/awards.html“
Balance by Attrition
http://thetipofthesphere.com/2011/01/07/balance-by-attrition/
A thoughtful article by a Bungie designer about what happens to MP communities over time. This gives some insight into the MP community retention issues we discussed in our workgroup.
League of Legends Tribunal
http://kotaku.com/5733206/a-new-and-maybe-better-way-to-stop-people-from-being-jerks-online
Will this be an effective means of utilizing the population of the community as a force to resolve harrassment issues? Is the system fullproof enough in its anonymous matching that it would prevent another Sims Online Mafia incident? Time will tell!
Peter says…
“Yeah, it potentially could [lead to another online mafia incident], but it looks like they’re doing a lot to make sure only experienced players can do it & that there can’t be collusion (judges get random cases, can’t communicate, don’t know how much their vote is worth). It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.”