The Art Of Addictive Game Design : Analysis of World of Warcraft's game mechanics & the possible future of the gaming industry
Niemi, Klaus (2024-10-28)
The Art Of Addictive Game Design : Analysis of World of Warcraft's game mechanics & the possible future of the gaming industry
(28.10.2024)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024111291070
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024111291070
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this master's thesis is to analyze the game mechanics of World of Warcraft through the lens of addictive game design and the sunk cost fallacy. The purpose is to identify how addictive design and sunk cost is being used in the most popular aspects of the game in the expansion packs: Shadowlands and Dragonflight. The study is also supposed to help understand and prepare for the possible changes coming to the video game industry as the idea of cloud gaming and streaming services that operate as subscription services become more commonplace. MMORPGs like World of Warcraft already operate on a subscription model and have been able to retain a robust playerbase for multiple years. This means that mechanics from World of Warcraft can become more common in other genres.
Certain design choices while playing such as visual and auditory cues during the gameplay loop can be compared to casual mobile games and slot machines. These cues are supposed to create a reward schedule which keeps the player invested and playing, since they are played whenever the player achieves something. This works since the human brain releases dopamine which makes us feel good and the visual and auditory cues are there to trigger and enforce it. This is the same effect gambling and substance abuse has on the brain, addiction forms when the person becomes reliant on the addiction for the dopamine release and subsequent abuse makes the release of dopamine less effective, requiring more abuse. There is a distinction between addiction and enjoying video games, however developers can leverage this facet of human neurology to their advantage in order to increase gametime.
The sunk cost fallacy in addition to economics can be applied to gaming. MMORPGs are a huge time sink and playing World of Warcraft requires a monthly fee. There are however a multitude of unique rewards players can achieve and with most cosmetic items being account wide (usable on all characters) their value goes up. A player character’s, in-game gold and cosmetics can also have real world monetary value applied to them. This means a long-time player's account can have an actual price tag attached to it. The player's time is also a resource that is invested in the game in a multitude of ways, within the game and outside of it. The player's knowledge and skill in a game is also a result or payout of commitment and time. The social connections and status the player garners within one game can also be seen as a reason to stay. This sunk cost can inspire loyalty to the game and make it harder to switch to another game since the player would have to start from scratch.
With the advent of cloud gaming looming we may see companies leverage more of addictive game design strategies to prolong players’ time on a platform, and the use of reward systems that reward the player for the time they sunk in and compelling them to stay. Most games already have multiple progression systems and multiple goals giving more meaning to their playtime, which is supposed to increase playtime since humans tend to be goal-oriented. With a subscription model there would be incentive to make these design choices in new games. Furthermore with cloud gaming eliminating restrictions caused by hardware gaming could reach a wider audience (as large as mobile games have) , hence video game addiction could become a more widespread problem. This is why ethics in video game design could become more important than ever before.
Certain design choices while playing such as visual and auditory cues during the gameplay loop can be compared to casual mobile games and slot machines. These cues are supposed to create a reward schedule which keeps the player invested and playing, since they are played whenever the player achieves something. This works since the human brain releases dopamine which makes us feel good and the visual and auditory cues are there to trigger and enforce it. This is the same effect gambling and substance abuse has on the brain, addiction forms when the person becomes reliant on the addiction for the dopamine release and subsequent abuse makes the release of dopamine less effective, requiring more abuse. There is a distinction between addiction and enjoying video games, however developers can leverage this facet of human neurology to their advantage in order to increase gametime.
The sunk cost fallacy in addition to economics can be applied to gaming. MMORPGs are a huge time sink and playing World of Warcraft requires a monthly fee. There are however a multitude of unique rewards players can achieve and with most cosmetic items being account wide (usable on all characters) their value goes up. A player character’s, in-game gold and cosmetics can also have real world monetary value applied to them. This means a long-time player's account can have an actual price tag attached to it. The player's time is also a resource that is invested in the game in a multitude of ways, within the game and outside of it. The player's knowledge and skill in a game is also a result or payout of commitment and time. The social connections and status the player garners within one game can also be seen as a reason to stay. This sunk cost can inspire loyalty to the game and make it harder to switch to another game since the player would have to start from scratch.
With the advent of cloud gaming looming we may see companies leverage more of addictive game design strategies to prolong players’ time on a platform, and the use of reward systems that reward the player for the time they sunk in and compelling them to stay. Most games already have multiple progression systems and multiple goals giving more meaning to their playtime, which is supposed to increase playtime since humans tend to be goal-oriented. With a subscription model there would be incentive to make these design choices in new games. Furthermore with cloud gaming eliminating restrictions caused by hardware gaming could reach a wider audience (as large as mobile games have) , hence video game addiction could become a more widespread problem. This is why ethics in video game design could become more important than ever before.