recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Escort Missions - Please Act Like a Human!

Escort missions are sections or levels where you essentially have to babysit an NPC and help them accomplish a task or

    find safety. Including an escort mission in a game can be a major risk, they are notorious for being something gamers hate to see. However, they can be done well, but doing so is no easy task. Games such as Bioshock Infinite and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, are rare examples of games that are almost entirely escort missions, but which do it right, and the main reason why is the realistic AI. When designing an escort mission, the important thing to keep in mind is “what would a real person do?” The worst characters to escort are the ones who cower in a corner, who seem to be completely incapable of taking care of themselves in anyway, who move at a snail’s pace, or who, heaven forbid, stand immobile between you and the enemy. A good character to escort would behave logically, if they have no combat experience, it’s unlikely they would try to help fight, but it’s even less likely they would simply stand there while getting wailed on by an enemy. They may even search for ammo and supplies, like Elizabeth does in Bioshock Infinite, or use what skills they do have to temporarily distract the enemy, giving the player a chance to get the upper hand, like Trip in Enslaved. And they should at least move at a logical pace, if the character is truly helpless, there is no reason why they wouldn’t want to keep up with the player, and having them hang back, and move slowly, even if the reasons are out of fear, is simply unrealistic, and adds unnecessary extra time to the gameplay.

### **Example #1 Dragon's Dogma**

###

In Dragon's Dogma you are occationally given tasks to accompany an NPC to various locations around the world. The game sees these quests as something like dates, which is really strange considering that sometimes you may be leading the NPC to a peaceful spring, but more often than not you find yourself taking them to some enemy infested area. The NPC's like to stick close by you, which is helpful when not surrounded by enemies, because you never have to worry about hanging back to wait for them to walk slowly up a hill, or around a pond. But it becomes a real problem during combat where they continue to want to stay pressed right up against you. One of the mechanics in the game is the ability to climb large enemies. This becomes a real problem when escorting an NPC as they will run around the base of the enemy, wanting to stay close to you, and often get flattened. That is just not someting a real person would ever do.

### **Example 2 *Bioshock***

The escort mission in the original Bioshock was extremely difficult for many players, and it was entirely due the design of the escort AI. Unfortunately the designers chose this mechanic as their primary mechanic in the sequel. Go figure.

### **Example #3 Resident Evil 4**

Oh the joys of escorting Ashley in RE4. She constanty gets in the way, cowers, whines...pretty much all the things described here as super irritating and unrealistic. This is one of the more frustrating moments from an otherwise awesome game.
Having human opponents in a game adds more dynamism than an AI

Artificial Intelligence is undoubtedly a great innovation for automation. It's the same AI which permits players to compete against the computer and its set of patterns. At the point when a player figures this pattern, it's easy for him to follow that route again and win against the AI making the system predictable. In my research with game players, I found that the vast majority adore playing with the unpredictable system. Despite the fact that AI is advancing at a rapid scale, it is no place close to a human thought process in terms of decision making and cognitive abilities. This makes it less demanding to consider Humans as a superior opponent than AI for a game that needs dynamics.

## Examples

#### #1) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings

Age of Kings is one of the finest games that ruled the RTS game scene in the 2000s. Due to the game's massive popularity, all the winning strategies(Economy, Army Building and War Strategies) against AI got released over online forums and people started using those to win the AI. To Balance this, Ensemble Studios and Microsoft provided the option of Multiplayer through which players can compete with other Humans over a local area network or from the internet allowing more dynamics in the game.

Example 2: Heroes of the Storm

When it comes to advancing in your skill level of a game. There is no better place to learn then in match making against other players. Players add variability that designed AI can not. Quick match in heroes of the storm is the best place to get better at the game because it allows you to learn the games core team mechanics that the AI cant replicate.
Dynamic Game Difficulty Adjustment..Takes away the player abilities to adjust frustration level and player's accumulated advantege

Some games uses Dynamic Game Difficulty Adjustment to dynamically raise up or ler down the game play difficulty to always provide player with intense and thrilling game experiences. However this seemling clever move is not a good design as it invites a worse thing: it takes away the abilities of players to play the game by their will - to go in an easy mode to experience the game, to want the threathen of failure and death to enhance their excitement, or to use their acumulated rewards and advantages to defeat the mighty enemies easily. This will make players feel played by the game. Another bad thing is that players can not show to others how well they played, as there is no standard of game difficulty.

## Example

   Homeworld is a real time strategy game. Although it was a very successful game with multiple good new designs, in the game the number of ships that enemy AI begins with in each mission is set depending on how powerful the game deems the player's fleet to be. Successful players have larger fleets because they take fewer losses, and will face a very challenging enemy power. This design makes some players complain that they play smart and hard but get no rewards, and even worse some players delibrately play bad to make incoming missions easier.
Blend of right technology captivates the game audience

Blending right technology with your game components creates a meaningful experience. The decision of going with a particular technology depends on the type of audience and the usability that you are trying to provide. If your target audience is internet browsers, then the best platform for the game would be a web browser which can run on cross platforms and consoles. Similarly, if you are planning application with complete user immersion, Virtual Reality can be an excellent choice. And if you are trying to build an application that would need an additional layer of information over the real world, then Augmented reality comes to play. Smart wearables like beacon, heart beat monitors, motion sensors can all be added based on the need to enhance the experience of the game.

## Examples

### #1 Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go took the idea of Augmented reality to a wider audience. And they did it when the world was ready owing to smartphone penetration and quality mobile cameras. The idea of finding Pokemon while exploring the real world captivated people as they saw the birth of a new style of gaming. Besides, they also gave the user the choice of having the AR experience turned ON or OFF. In essence, they used AR to the required game components creating a perfect blend of technology and game elements.
Communication Channels Among Players Across the Game

It is common among most of the Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games(MMORPGs) to have a form of communication among players to help them collaborate better together for group content and other activities. The most basic form of communication channel provided to players is text-based chatting system, which allows them to send messages to different players across the game or in the same instance.

## Examples

### Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2 launched in 2012 by ArenaNet is one of the MMORPGs which utilizes a text-based communication channels with various options to send messages to players in the same party, map, instance, personal messages, guild messages.

### Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4 has voice over IP (VoIP) which players can use to talk to players in their 'squad' but also includes traditional text based communication methods. By pressing the correct key, players can communicate with their squad, team, or everyone on the server.
Member

Members are users on the forums who have passed the stage of being a New Member.

Members have access to all features of the forums including, formatting (BB Code), Posting images, posting links, having a signature and a profile picture.

If an inactive account earned the rank of a member, they usually stay that way.
Festival and Seasonal Content Updates

In massive multiplayer online games, which is played by thousands of players at a single instance of time and is ran by the revenue generated by its player base, it is always a good idea to keep adding new content into the game to keep the player base interested. In such a scenario, it s always good to make use of traditional and cultural festival which are common across the globe and re-skin the game or add promotional or seasonal events for the same.

## Examples

### Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars launched in 2012 by ArenaNet, is one of the most popular mmorpgs which is famous for its seasonal and festival related themes and events, which would only be accessible to the players during that particular season or festival. e.g. Halloween Events.
Fluid Combat Systems - Keep Combat Fresh and the Player Engaged

A clunky combat system can really frustrate players, disengage them from the story, and make them disinterested in continuing. When combat flows well it can help a player to feel more connected to their character and the game. It also helps keep combat from getting stale.

### **Example #1 –**

**Kingdoms of Amalur: The Reckoning**

            A criminally underrated game, Kingdoms of Amalur has a very fluid combat system. Switching between weapons, blocking, and dodging is almost instantaneous, magic can be easily weaved between attacks and chained for even stronger attacks and the whole experience feels very fluid and natural. This helps to keep the combat interesting, and helps the player to feel connected with the adventure.

### **Example #2 –**

**Batman Arkham Asylum**

The first Arkham game developed a unique combat system called, "Free Flow Combat." The basic idea was that the player is controlling what almost seems to be a choreographed action sequence. It doesn't just keep the player involved, it's also one of the major factors in helping the player really feel like a bad ass. The developers wanted to give the players the feeling of not just controlling any old schlub, they are controlling Batman and as long as you don't mess things up he's going to casually dispatch a horde of goons with style.

Batman's constant variation of moves, customizable gadgets arsenal, and the point rewards all give the plays variety, feedback, and reasons to keep practicing. While many of the bosses in the game end up using some other mechanic that is less tied to the combat, the challenge maps make improving your combat feel rewarding.

This system was very successful and the creators pulled it into sequels for the game. This gave an extra reward to past players who can skip the learning curve and just wade into any gang of enemies fully confident in their abilities. Sort of like Batman would.

### **Example #3 -**

**Lugaru**

Lugaru is a small independent game developed by Wolfire studios, that focuses on combat encounters between small numbers of characters. Generally the player is presented with a number of enemies and must navigate the level, using stealth and combat to eliminate all enemies. The combat feels intuitive and fluid because attacks are determined by a combination of button and movement input - the attack used changes as the player moves. So sweep kicks happen while crouching, regular kicks happen while standing, diving kicks while jumping, and so on. This means that one button, 'kick', explodes into a large set of actions based on movement - and the player learns to tie their movement into their attacking strategy. As the player comes to understand the necessity of constantly moving, they add in rolling, flips, and wall-runs to evade groups of enemies or confuse single opponents. Thus the game provides and encourages a fluid combat system that relies on movement and speed.
Difference in Level Length - Allows player to break up play times

In games with campaigns level length variation is important for the player engagement. In RPG's the ability to chose quests or side levels when time is short, a player accomplish goals without requiring a major investment of time. This can avoid player frustration with being thrust back into an intense level that was previously started.

**Dragon Age: Origins**

Dragon age is an RPG that allows the player to select quests that want to work on at that particular time. this allows the player to chose a quest depending on how long they might be interested in playing and elevates the feeling of drudging through a level just to "get to a good spot to save"
Forced Platforming in Non-Platforming Games

Requiring platforming in non-platforming genre games (usually action games) tends to leave the player frustrated. The main culprits of this frustration are usually poorly suited controls which make platforming imprecise and platform size/placement which demands precise movements, usually leaving the player overshooting the platform they are aiming for. Giving the player a larger margin of error can alleviate the player's frustration, although may not entirely remove it.

Example:

**Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep**
Birth By Sleep contains a collectible system in the form of stickers and chests. These are usually hidden

away, locked behind some sort of platforming challenge. One world in particular has a frustrating series of designs meant for precise platforming, with timed jumps/moving platforms and long distances between them. Players tend to wait to gather these items (which are needed to access the last part of the game/view the final cut-scenes) until they are given extra skills which can be used to skip these sections, an oversight in design as these skills are accessed later in the game than the world.
Downloading additional content once the game has been downloaded

Most mobile games tend to download additional content once the game is downloaded from the Play Store or App Store when it runs for the first time. To exacerbate it, a few games don't specify the amount of data to be downloaded or time taken to download.

## **Examples**

### 1) Asphalt 8 (Gameloft)

   Asphalt 8 build is only 35 Mb if downloaded from Play Store. Once the game is run, it then downloads around 1.2 GB of data in content and additional content. This may be deceiving to some players. Also once the content is downloaded, it takes a significant amount of time to install or apply the downloaded content to the game.

### 2) Uncharted 4 (Naughty Dog)

This is true for most console games as well. Gone are the days when we just need a disc to play the game. Uncharted 4(PS4) Blu-ray would require you to get the DLC(Downloadable content) before playing the game. Also, some elements of the game content are available only after purchasing a separate add-on.

### 3) Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5: Guardians had a huge day one patch which caused a furor because it affected people with a slow internet connection. Some gamers had to wait several hours after buying the game before they could even play it while their friends were already playing it.

### 4) Plants vs. Zombies 2: Its About Time

*Plants vs. Zombies 2*, exhibits this behaviour of downloading files post initial install as well. These downloads deal mostly with updates to the app's content. By applying this approach, the developer has bypassed the need to release a formal update through the various mobile app stores. Instead the app automatically updates itself when new content is uploaded. While this might be convenient for the developer, the player often must wait for the said update to be applied before playing the game. Further, since this is a mobile game, often this download might take much longer or fail to complete, owing to cellular network issues.

5) Hearthstone

In Hearthstone, specifically for mobile, they have large downloads that will automatically download without asking. These can sometimes be upwards of 2 Gigabytes of data, and one must go in and manually change the option to not download it automatically. Also, it asks to download, but will not tell the player how much the download will be. This can cause overages for players, which turns people off from the game.
Allow for a modding community to contribute to your game.

When you allow players to create new content for your game you open doors that could keep them playing for a very long time. Entire genres of games have sprung out of the mods of other games. One game that did this with a great deal of success was Warcraft III.

Warcraft III was primarily Sas a competitive online RTS. However, Blizzard Entertainment had the forethought to include tools for building modifications. At times, the competitive elements of the game were completely unbalanced. When this happened players could simply click over to a custom game for a different experience. Defense of the Ancients (DotA) was one of those custom games. It has evolved into a whole new genre of game but it began from players constantly iterating on the tools given to them by Blizzard inside of Warcraft.

## **Examples**

### **Barony**

Barony is a 3D Roguelike Dungeon Crawler that is a perfect example of how to make one's game easy to modify: Turning Wheel LLC recently released the entire source code for t
he game on GitHub! By releasing the source code they've bypassed the need to create a modding API for its users and, instead, allow anyone who wishes to create a mod to simply look at what's going on under the hood. Now, the entire game is not free; you still need to purchase a copy in order to acquire the game's assets, models, etc. But this will allow developers who wish to create something interesting inside the engine to do so without having to work with limited access to the code base.

### **Skyrim**

Bethesda's *Skyrim* is an open-world RPG in which players have a great deal of control over the way their adventure will play out. It has enjoyed extraordinary success and popularity since its release in 2011; however, this isn't entirely due to its initial design. One of the reasons it has seen

such success since its release is because of a dedicated and ongoing modding community. Fan-made mods have added countless new details to the world of *Skyrim*, everything from new textures to more weapons and armor to entire new quests. Many of these mods have enjoyed just as much if not more success as official DLC for *Skyrim*. Overall, allowing modding has allowed *Skyrim* to remain relevant and popular among fans until Bethesda decides to make the next installment of the Elder Scrolls Series.
Highlighting Interactable Objects Helps the Player Recognize them in a Busy Space

Older RPGs, especially Eastern ones, due to the trend of having a 2D background in a 3D space, often left the player trying to interact with every location on the terrain in order to find every item in the space. This created a tedious and time consuming process that occasionally broke the flow of gameplay. With the move to a more 3D space, most worlds have become even more graphically complex, so certain games have started to ‘highlight’, or give a graphical cue, on what objects are interactable or contain loot.

## **Examples:**

World of Warcraft

While World of Warcraft has always given lootable bodies a sparkle, more recently, they’ve started adding in ‘treasure hunts’. The chests or containers for these hunts are accompanied by a purple outline around the object, giving a visual focus for the player.

Diablo III

Diablo III is a great ARPG game. Normally in the screen, there are a lot of elements such as monsters, objects, items and so on which make the space kind of busy. In the game, all interactable objects have nice highlighting cover them, which can help players to identify them easily.

Uncharted

Though not an RPG, this game franchise utilizes the concept of highlighting certain interactable objects through both color-based visual cues as well as brief animations. In the game, the player knows whether they are able to scale an obstacle if a ledge or other hand-hold is of a contrasting color from the rest of the palette. If they observe close enough they can also find hidden treasures among the map by following miniscule and fleeting shimmer animations. Both of these features save the player a great deal of time as the virtual world is very complex and detailed.

**Tomb Raider**

Highlighting the specific object which the player has to collect or at least should include in their inventory is a very fair strategy of the game designer. In most of the games where the scenes are not lit properly, the player cannot see the objects and hence they are programmed in such a way that when a player is around or looks at that object, it starts to glow. This makes the player understand that they are supposed to collect or interact with those items while making the objective of gameplay clear. It also helps in busy areas when player is trying to combat with the enemy and the ammunition's kept on ground are not visible. At that moment highlighting indicates the exact place so that player can quickly grab some without wasting time of searching.
Giving too many combat/fighting options to player.

In survival games, there is no need of too many combat weapons since its a survival game. Still in some games, the developers include lots of weapons which makes the whole theme useless. There won't be any meaning to add combat to survive. So, if it is with limited ammunition's then the gameplay can be balanced.

**Example: Silent Hill: Homecoming**

In this game, the player has lots of choices to select their weapons and majority of them doesn't require ammo which makes the game vulnerable. The player can easily proceed through difficult levels and complete the game in few hours.

###
Ban War Origins

## What Started it All

The rivalry between MASTERFARKOS and Alpha654 was a short-lived one, but good while it lasted. It was a rivalry from a chain of bans in the game Ban the User Above You, which eventually launched The Great Ban War. Shortly later, the two became amazing allies and are now a team in Random Forum Fight and allies in the Story Arc. This Alliance

```
has remained intact ever since.

```

## Trivia

* The reason for this rivalry being known as Ban War Origins is because The Great Ban War began out of this rivalry.
	+ The Great Ban War has died down, but it can still be continued by anyone who wishes to.
Annoying side quest pop ups

To keep things interesting, game designers will sometimes
offer a side quest to the player. This offers a new territory to explore and
possibly new treasure. This is can be a useful tool to keep players interested
and give them more things to do however, it can also be really obnoxious when
they don’t want to do that quest and the game keeps popping up to ask them if
they do. In addition, the pop ups often have a timer to tell the player
something will expire if they don’t take advantage of it now which is bad for
the player because it forces them to rush playing the game.

## Example: Candy Crush Soda Saga

   In the game *Candy Crush Soda Saga* it will often have pop ups as soon

as the game opens telling the player that there’s a new side quest for them to
play but it expires in a certain period of time. The player has to close that
pop up if they don’t want to do the side quest every time they open the game so
they can get to the part of the game they want. In addition is the timer which
is stressful for the player to look at and makes it less appealing to play the game.
Choices about randomization, allow for players to choose preferred play styles.

Many games have randomization features, such as items,
character selection, and level selection. This allows the player to choose
their level of randomization. This allows them the opportunity to select
between skill based play and luck based play.

### Examples:

#### Super Smash Bros

In *Super Smash Bros*
a player is allowed to choose to turn on or off items. When items are turned on
randomization mechanics are increased allowing for more casual players to enjoy
the game. When they are off, the game is more focused on skill based play.
Dialogue Trees to Nowhere - Distracts from the Story

When it comes to narrative, branching storylines and dialogue options can add a new and exciting layer to gameplay. It can help the player feel more invested in what is happening on screen, connect them to characters, and differentiate their experience from that of their friends. However, in some instances, trying to add a dialogue tree comes off as not only unnecessary, but just plain forced. Sometimes to the point of being jarring to the overall immersion of the player.

**Take Uncharted 4**, for example. While, overall, this game sports an intriguing and enjoyable narrative, there are moments where the player is given a choice. And that choice is, for some reason … To decide whether or not you’re going to be sassy? Or… To answer a question your wife asked? Basically, they don’t matter. Inserting any of the given choices would have worked the same or better than having the player select them. Nothing changes by these dialogue options existing except, perhaps, how long the voice actor had to spend in the booth.

Example:

Firewatch- Firewatch is built around dialog trees and the entire story is a narrative experience. However, no matter what the player will choose the ending will end up the same every time. Choosing different options doesn’t result in any changes as the game continues. The player might be rewarded with backstory but nothing to contribute to the main story. The story remains on its rails the whole time no matter what the player chooses to say.
Bad "Netcode" Ruins a Multiplayer Experience

It's easy to take for granted the lag compensation systems present in most competitive games, which is commonly referred to as "netcode." These systems are responsible for creating a smooth experience in which players from different areas may play together almost as if there is no network lag. However, when the netcode is poorly implemented or not present, it's obvious. Common symptoms include "rubberbanding," the inability for a player to travel in the game world before being kicked back to their previous position, or awful collision detection in first person shooters. These are crucial problems to avoid in these games, and no matter how solid the game's dynamics and systems may be offline, bad netcode will ruin the online experience.

Examples:

Battlefield 4

At launch, and for more than a year afterward, Battlefield 4 had horrible netcode, caused by many factors such as a low update rate (~10hz on servers, which is extremely low for a first-person shooter) and poor tuning. The most frequent symptom was awful collision detection; players who successfully ducked behind cover while being shot at would die anyway, seemingly "through the wall." This irreversibly drove away much of the game's player base, despite the game itself being an immersive and competitive gameplay experience.
GD Rivalries Wikia

## Welcome to the GD Rivalries Wikia

Welcome to the GD Rivalries Wikia! The wiki is for every rivalry amongst users on the GD Wiki. Need any help? Contact the Rivalries Founder for more information! We are looking to expand our bitter rivalries to make the ultimate community of competition!

## Bugs

Currently, some of the links are bugging out on us (wrong codors for links.) We plan to fix this issue in the near future!

## Rivalries

Here is a current list of the major rivalries throughout the wiki:

* Active Rivalries
* Healed Rivalries

No current Rivalries

MASTERFARKOS versus Alpha654

## Latest activity

Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Wikia's Video Library.

File:Placeholder

<chat> </chat>
Game gives wrong instructions to the player

Game gives wrong instructions to the player.

If a game gives the wrong instructions to the player it can leave them feeling confused or unsatisfied. If a game is confused about where a player is and starts telling them to go left instead of right. Or maybe the instructions for how to take out the enemy forces are incorrect.

### Examples

#### Star Wars: The Force Unleashed

   When the player gets to the scene where they get to bring down the Start Destroyer the game gives them the wrong instructions. Following the onscreen hints about where to move the ship leads it to the wrong spot. The player actually has to go against the instinct to do what the game says they need to do and move it more to the right a good ways. Only then can it be brought down. This leads to frustration, hatred and eventually the dark side.

#### Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Skyrim is a complex and deep game with many quests, in many of the more complicated quest lines such as reunification of Skyrim. The player is given instructions on what action to preform. Often times the quest information is missing non-specific or wrong, allowing player to flounder wondering what they are supposed to do.

####
Fluid menu system - Navigating the menu becomes a pleasant experience

Most games have a main menu screen which has buttons to start the game or change the settings. The menu is usually just a means to get to the game and neither contributes nor adds anything to the game. Adding a fluid transition between screens and adding some fitting sound effects, can make the first menu you meet in the game a more pleasant experience. It can give a feeling of the mood of the game, and give the feeling that the menu is a part of the same universe that the game is set in, and not an obligatory screen you just have to get through.

Examples

**Back to the Future: The Game**

This game has a very pleasant main menu. Starting the game sends you directly to the main menu where the player sees the DeLorean from the movies. Navigating through the menus will make the camera pan over the car and show of the fancy details. The sound effects also adds with a mysterious tune and some swishing sounds as the camera moves around. It gives the fans of the movies a good look at the car and it properly builds the mystery mood of the game.

**First screen**

**Settings**

### Battlefield 1

Battlefield's entire UX design is a fluid experience that is enjoyable on both keyboard and controller methods. Transitions that fluidly move the player between actions, events, and information, DICE treats each screen as a window of information and section of gameplay with a concrete purpose never overburdened with too many options and purposes.
Boss fights with interesting and complex behaviour, giving the player a more dynamic experience

Boss fights have not been very popular in the modern age of video games. They've been relegated to easy to design fights with a boss that swings at you a couple of times in a very predictable way. They also have immense amounts of health points, giving the player the illusion that the fight is actually very difficult.

However, games that have boss fights with interesting behaviors and attack patterns challenge the player in a more dynamic way then just having them chip away health for forever.

Titanfall 2

   Throughout the single-player campaign of Titanfall 2, the player faces against a couple of bosses. These bosses don't have massive amounts of health. They just all have very distinct personalities and have very different and interesting attack patterns. It's also extremely unique where you fight each of these bosses also, making for an even more dynamic experience.

Dark Souls

The bosses in Dark Souls are large, unique, and require the player to learn how they move and what their weaknesses are to take each one on. It's up to the player to discover the pattern needed to take each one down and they make for complex and rewarding kills when you do finally master them.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

At the end of the game, spoiler alert, Raven is forced to confront Darth Malik. The build up to this fight extends throughout the entire game. Darth Malik continuously heals himself using the force to drain the life of the defeated Jedi in the chambers around the room. The player has to learn to defeat Darth Malik while destroying the other Jedi. It creates one of the greatest endings to a game.
In game menu shortcuts need to be fluid to prevent immersion disconnect

**In game menu shortcuts need to be fluid to prevent immersion disconnect**

Main RPG have a huge amount of options for the player character. They have abilities, powers, weapons, armor, clothes, etc. These options are great for RPG's because they help the player feel like they have a level of control and choice in the progress of their character. But all these options mean that the player has to spend a huge amount of time in menu's. In order to solve this problem, game designers decided to have a bridge between in game players and menu's, the result was in game menu shortcuts. These can be great, they give the player fast access to chosen items and abilities. This idea helped remove time spent flicking through menu's just to change a few things in game. But if these shortcuts are not done properly, they can destroy immersion for the player just as quickly as a menu screen can.

**Example: Mass Effect 1 (Xbox 360)**

In Mass Effect 1, the player is given many guns and powers through out the game. But in order to use these items and powers, you had to select them from a in game menu shortcut. Every time that you wanted to change a gun or ability you had to use this shortcut. In a single battle you could use multiply weapons and abilities. This meant that you had to stop, switch, shot, stop, switch, shot every single battle. This destroyed the battle system and the players experience when it came to combat in the game.
Control over A.I. allies lets the player feel more in control

In many multiplayer games often times players are replaced by A.I. controlled players in situations where a player may have dropped from the game or the game was created without the required number of players. This allows players to continue playing their game but it can also lead to a lot of frustration in situations where the A.I. player feels useless due to not really playing with the team or making what would be considered a wise decision. Games that allow a degree of control over these players decrease that frustration substantially and creates a more pleasant gaming experience.

Example 1: Heroes of the Stom

Often times in MOBAs a loss of one player typically results in a loss for that team. Blizzard in an attempt to give that team a fighting chance replaces the missing player with an A.I. controlled version of their selected hero. On top of the replacement Blizzard also allows any one on the team to give the A.I. simple commands such as to follow them or to attack certain objectives/structures/enemies. While the A.I. doesn't really have the same level of skill as a player, this inclusion of control over the A.I. at least gives the team a fighting chance to still win the game.

Example 2: League of Legends

In League, the player is able to choose which difficulty of A.I. that the player wants to face. There is an Intro A.I, which runs through basic mechanics for new players, beginner A.I, which is a little bit more advanced, then Intermediate A.I, which is a bit smarter, and will react better towards your spells. These different tiers of difficulty allow players to increase their skills, and feel more in control of their gameplay experience.
Force Players to go Online

A good game won’t affect player’s real life schedule. However, there are always games that are afraid to lose players and try anything they can to force players to go online. Some methods are acceptable, such as daily rewards letting players collect if they go online each day. When accumulating to a certain amount of continuous days, players get an even better reward. But there are always games that have a bad design to force players go online and make the player’s Daily life affect by to the game.

Example:

Tree of life

This is an MMO base building exploration game that lets players explore the world and build their own base in the game. However, the base building process is extremely tedious. If you don’t have friends to help you, crafting materials and building the whole base can take up weeks and month. What is really dumb about this game is that it forces players to log in. If you don’t log in regularly, your base might be raided by other players and lost all your hard work. What is the most annoy part of this game is that once your base reached a higher level, you have to constantly log into the game. If players don’t do that, the game itself will spawn AI monsters to invade your base. That is a guaranteed loss of all the progress you have put into the game.

Example 2:

I would say all of the Blizzard's game force the players to go online. Players have to log in to its platform first so that they could continute getting in the game. I was thinking why there is no single version to play against the AI without logging in Battle.net. If I want to play overwatch, but there is no internet connection.
Forcing the Player to Follow a Single Pattern When Solving Puzzles Can Lead to Frustration

## Concept

Many puzzle/mystery games require the player to piece together evidence to solve a problem, generally requiring that the player make some sort of logical connection and synthesis amongst the available information. Games of this type will generally encourage the player to make these connections in small steps by revealing new information slowly or by prompting the player to examine current information in a new light. This approach can be helpful to players who are struggling to synthesize the given information on their own.

However, this approach to puzzle solving can be boring or even frustrating to players who have synthesized the available information and already come to a conclusion, given that the player is not allowed to present this knowledge early on and skip the small step approach.

## Examples

*Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc* is a puzzle game where the player must collect, present, and defend evidence to solve murder trials. This game follows the small step approach to nudge the player down the correct path by having other characters suggest to the player to examine certain rooms or certain characters.

(Spoilers if you haven't finished the 1st trial in Danganronpa)

During the first investigation, the player finds a death message left by the victim. The game encourages the player to view this message (see image) as the number '11037'. However, some players (myself included), viewed this as the name of another character in the game, Leon. This character had been acting very nervous and defensive regarding the death of the victim, leading some players to suspect his involvement.

Leon was eventually revealed as the perpetrator but players who made this connection very early in the investigation were not allowed by the game to present this evidence. The player is first made to move step by logical step through the entire body of evidence before the death message is brought up in any detail. Even at this point, the player is not allowed to present this interpretation of the evidence and must instead wait for another character to make the connection and present it to the group.
Clear visual cues nearby enemies - Give player time to avoid impending doom

Most games in today's market, especially RPGs, have clear visual cues above the enemy's head. Some of them even indicates the level of the enemy with different colors and icons. It is a way to tell the player where he/she is in the game world, as well as directing players to the appropriate path. In other words, when the player wanders off the main path and approaches a high-level area, they will be warned to not step further until they get higher level equipment, etc. By doing this, players can have a better gaming experience, because they will see the flow of the game and act accordingly.

## Examples:

### **The Witcher 3**

In The Witcher 3, when player approaches an enemy, he/she will see the level of the enemy from far away. For example, enemies that have lower levels will be displayed in green text, indicating they are easy targets. Higher level enemies will have red color text indicating they are tough to kill and players may die if they don't tread carefully. Enemies with red text and a skull icon means certain death for players.
Game mechanics/modes constantly changes.

Party games / Couch games are bringing quite a bit of attentions to players these days. Having a good time playing these games with friends seems to be the number one priority when designing these games. Mario Kart, Smash brothers, for example, are decent party games. However, they seem to get repetitive really quick. In order to let players not being bored while playing, game developers can also think about the core mechanic of the party game, what can make them constantly play the game?

**Game Example:**

**Move or Die**

Move or Die is a party game where game mechanics changes every 20 seconds! As we can see from the title, the players need to move constantly to avoid HP going down. The game has a decent amount of game modes. For example, bomb tag, zombie run, laser shot, etc. Each mode has its unique game mechanics and it changes every 20 seconds. Every round, the points will be counted depending on player’s performance and lead to a final score. It is a unique design that was worth to play with.

**Hearthstone: Tavern Brawl**

Every week the developers set up a game with some arbitrary change to a major mechanic in the game. This gives experienced players something fresh to look forward to. They don't always end up being fun but they will just rotate in a week anyway.
Disjointed Game Events Cause Players to Lose Interest

Without connecting to the whole, any game action can lose meaning and cause players to lose interest. Game events that live isolated from the game can be quite engaging, but they miss out on a valuable opportunity to push the player towards the realm of target experience. Without connection, players can lose sight of the purpose of their actions and why they matter in the context of the game. If you want players to return to your game, make every action contribute to the whole.

### **AudioShield**

In Audioshield, a VR, rhythm-based guitar-hero style game, the song finishes but the player has no reason to play again. There is no progression that player performance contributes to like a tour, there is no experience that you accumulate, and no supporting motivation pulling players back into the experience. The gameplay for Audioshield has some wildly engaging elements, but this game felt forgettable because of its lack of polish and the lack of connection each performance had to the rest of the game experience: none.

**The Three Stooges**

This is a video game released by Cinemaware in 1987 for Commodore Amiga PC based on the comedy act of the same name. Commodore Computing International criticized the game's lack of a "common theme" and called the game "disjointed". The Games Machine also resonated these views.
Alternate game experience - Keep player away from being bored by giving them different game experience (Good Snack)

Players can easily get bored from doing the same thing again and again and again. So designers are always trying to let player feel different and fresh when playing their games. One way to do this is to mix several set of game rule into one game, and arrange them well through level design. If this goes well, player would constantly feel they are getting new experience and never feel bored.

## Examples

### 1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

In *Batman: Arkham Asylum*, Player are constantly needs to face 3 kinds of challenges: battling, sneaking and puzzle solving. When I play this game, I never feel tried because these mode alternate in a perfect pace. Just when I about to feel boring from controlling batman to battle enemies, the next scene change from battling to sneaking. Or when I was controlling batman chasing clue, several gangs will appear and change game to battle mode. The game design is so good that these switchs are very smooth and I can hardly feel any glitch.

### 2. Saints Row IV

In Saints Row IV after learning that Johnny Gat may still be alive, the player is given a mission to rescue him. The player is then put into a two-dimensional side scroller which provides him/her a vintage arcade experience different from the regular experience of playing Saints Row.

### 3. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (Mario & Luigi RPG3 in Japan)

   Although Bowser's Inside Story is mainly an RPG game that player needs to travel through maps to finish different quests and goes through all kinds of turn-based battles, the game does have a lot of different, unique and rather interesting Mini-games and boss battles that really make full use the entire functionality of Nintendo DS.
Appeal to Niche Groups if Possible

Nowadays, there seems to be the objective to appeal to the "least common denominator" in games.  While this will ensure your game has "base" appeal, it fractures your potential audience by excluding those who are looking for something different than what is "mainstream".  By focusing only on the portion of your audience that is the largest, you ignore and potentially exclude a large portion of the total audience.

Thus, when one can, one should create games that appeal to niche groups.  This does not mean one should focus exclusively on a niche group.  Instead, one should aim to create games that appeal to niche audiences since it is likely that these audiences have been deprived of content that appeals directly to them.  I.e. they are untapped potential for a business.

## **Examples**

### **TIS-100**

TIS-100 is a puzzle programming game available on Steam.  A player solves puzzles using a modified form of Assembly language and programming individual nodes in order to accomplish tasks such as adding two numbers.

This game clearly appeals to a niche group (gamers who are also programmers).  Despite this, it simplifies the concepts of assembly programming into a very narrow langauge that it's possible it could also be of interest to the average puzzle gamer.

According to SteamSpy, the game has approximately 270,000 owners.  At it's lowest price (during a sale) of $3.50 for a copy, that puts the minimum gross income for a deceptively simple puzzle game at $945,000.  Very nice for a niche game by an indie group.
Continuous Player Movement - Makes for a Much Smoother Platforming Level

Platformers are at their best when a player’s movement is
continuous. This type of movement in these games or game sections forces
players to think quick on their feet all while keeping up a smooth pace to a
level. Abrupt halts in the speed or movement can be jarring to the player and
breaks the immersion that a well-designed platforming level should provide. That
does not necessarily mean that a level should force a player to be always on

the move but it should allow a skilled player to flow through it.

   Example:

Take a look all the way back to the original Super Mario Bros.
Players can glide through levels and almost never have to stop unless they want
to play it safe. Levels in this game are designed so that players getting
better will be able to advance in levels faster making for some great pacing as
the game progresses.

Example2:

*Ori and the blind forest* have well designed level and verbs that support players - a few times force them - to move smoothly. And skilled player can really get the flow when play this game. There is simply no immersion breaking.