Automating Online Game Balance
Game designers go to great lengths to improve gameplay balance, often modifying game parameters after release with better gameplay balance in mind. Why do this, when it often angers portions of the player community? It is important to note that balanced gameplay itself is not the goal, but is a tool to improve the overall player experience, and by doing so, improve player retention. Poor gameplay balance can lead to a playerbase which normalizes to dominant strategies, causing player attrition through either boredom or frustration. Gameplay balance is a significant contributing factor to playerbase normalization, but not the only one – aesthetic factors will contribute to this normalization, as well as community trends and meta-gaming. Gameplay balance can be used as a lever by the game design team to affect this, but it is important to distinguish between the tool, gameplay balance, and the goal: strategic diversity.
Traditional approaches to gameplay balance have become more and more refined, but many games still need to make gameplay balance adjustments after the game is released. Attempts to 'solve' a game for the correct balance parameters using analysis of average damage given/taken omit subtle complexities in the gameplay system, as well as predispositions in the player base towards particular tactics. Direct observation of player efficacy, when an option, is labor-intensive and potentially misrepresentative. Data mining for game designer analysis, while often more effective, requires too much analysis to keep up with an evolving player base and new content introduction.
The solution: automate, automate, automate. Game designers build rich algorithmic systems to govern many aspects of gameplay, but will stop short of using algorithmic control to adjust game balance parameters in a way that changes over time, opting instead for a static set of game-world rules – if the same players play the same content a month apart, the experience will be roughly the same each time.
By changing gameplay models from static-state systems which need frequent resets, to a dynamic system where gameplay balance control is one among many game systems for the players to explore, a game designer creates a richer player experience. This experience is created while at the same time ensuring that the design team can focus on creative challenges, rather than number-crunching, resulting in a better end product.
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in the future of gameplay balance
Prerequisites: Familiarity with balance issues in MMOs and current methods of addressing gameplay balance.
Format: Lecture
Date/Time: Thursday, 11:00 AM
Room: Parliament
