泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌_A pleasant confession

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

A pleasant confession

 

I have a confession to make today. Recently I found out that my prediction in public about two years ago was completely wrong. As the introduction says, I've lived as a gamer for twenty years and I've worked in the gaming industry for the last ten years as so-called the game expert. Only two years ago, I predicted that League of Legends (LoL) would be way ahead of the others in the domestic online video game market for quite some time. And I also expected that Sudden Attack would leave all the other FPS games far behind for a good while. I forecasted that even Sudden Attack 2 couldn't be as good as the original game. Of course, I didn't think that nothing could escape my attention. It's just very embarrassing that the potent argument proved to be wrong in two years.

The best way to enjoy a video game is to play the game oneself. And it's also enjoyable to watch someone playing the game. Plus, there is the pleasure of playing the game with the others. Playing oneself doesn't mean a single-player game mode. It means that the user amuses oneself because there is nobody to play with. As you know, the fun of watching is not only from seeing games of top players in e-sports gaming leagues and tournaments but also learning from them. The pleasure of having together is from "true" offline friendship in the physical world, not from the online universe. Team play amongst close friends is not comparable to teaming up with a stranger in the online world.

What I got exactly wrong was about the pleasure of having together. The key to this enjoyment is based on the universality of the rule. During the holidays, family members can have a good time playing Yunnori, a traditional board game played in Korea, because the participants know the game rules. Likewise, the market power of League of Legends (LoL) or Sudden Attack is from countless customers all around the world who know the rules of the game and are ready to play with. My argument was supported by the fact that it's not easy to draw lots of users who can join in on the fun in a short time.

Overwatch was soon released as if I was ridiculed for my claim. And it proved that the Overwatch-like good game could attract enough users in a short period. The team-based multiplayer first-person shooter has topped the game charts after one month of its release overtaking Sudden Attack, which had maintained No.1 sales in the domestic FPS market over ten years, and League of Legends (LoL), which had been the top-ranked in local game market for several years. I had new kinds of fun with the Blizzard game. It was hope. In recent years, a star hasn't been born in the domestic online game field. New games had disappeared so quickly not stomping on the existing game's parade for a long time, which made me hesitate to invest in an online video game in the market's stagnant atmosphere. However, Overwatch showed that a new game could dominate the market and it is worth putting money in a game company for a new project. I'm very happy about having the pleasant confession because I found hope. I should find out a game developer which can make a game over Overwatch.

 

 

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

(http://www.khgames.co.kr)

 

Translation by Kim Ki-hui

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌_What "stylish" means in a video game?

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

What "stylish" means in a video game?

 

We often use a word misunderstanding the meaning of it. For example, there is a word of "mudaeppo". It is from a Japanese word "無鐵砲", which is pronounced "むてっぽう (mudeppo)", the meaning of reckless behavior of a solider lunging for his adversary without a gun on the battlefield. There are also frequently misused words in the filed of the gaming world. Many people enjoying video games don't know the meaning of RPG or RPS—video game genres—and MMO or FPV as well. I'd like to talk about one of these kinds of words "stylish" this time.

 

Recently, I talked the word over with the CEO of a game developer. I asked him about the meaning of "stylish" after he used the word many times since I did not quite accept it. According to his account, it meant 'brilliant computer graphics'. I will leave it to readers' judgment now that I might be wrong when it comes to it.

 

I believe that the standard of "stylish" was from Devil May Cry, a Japanese action-adventure hack and slash video game series, where the word was used for the first time. It defined the word as "폼생폼사 (pomsaengpomsa)"—grandstand play. The key point is not splendid graphics but the fancy character moves. Players even can get extra points for exuberantly defeating their enemies. In an action game, a heavy-armed knight attacking monsters doesn't look cool, in spite of the character's stable movements. In comparison, the character taking evasive action looks cooler. A character who narrowly avoids a weapon with a remarkable tumbling skill looks much more attractive than one who protects himself with a shield. It'd be better to make good use of geographic features to maximize the effect of the evasive movements. For example, double jump with stepping on a wall after avoiding a weapon looks much cooler. The use of a combo attack is recommended in terms of attack. A combo, a timed sequence of moves that produce a cohesive series of hits making an opponent be pushed up into the air and be floated up again before he falls to the ground, looks much better than a ten-time sword attack straight in the face. Plus, the attack in a small space, not in a large grassy plain, using natural and man-made features is preferred to exhibit a flamboyant playing style. Skilled techniques of a gamer are necessary for the series of processes—in other words playing style of a user has to be stylish. The skills related to avoiding, floating, and capturing the perfect timing for a well-coordinated attack, etc. make the game more noticeable and exciting than just pushing the attack button successively.

 

I can't explain every element for the "stylish" game at this time. However, I can say that flamboyant playing style and striking displays are not the points. Of course, an unstylish game is not a bad game, only the twisting explanation about the game is like a false advertisement. I'm sure that the definition of terminologies for the gaming industry is one of the most important factors to deepen its foundation. I expect that a "stylish" game, which meets my standards, will be released soon.

 

 

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

(http://www.khgames.co.kr)

 

Translation by Kim Ki-hui

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌_Building a good business model (Part 2)

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

 

Building a good business model (Part 2)

 

Thirdly, there is a flat rate. The flat fee is a pricing structure, regardless of usage, that charges a single fixed fee for a fixed term. At the beginning of online games, the linear rate was used most and it still is used. Developers simply needed to come up with a way to have more users for a convenient source of income and it could be the ideal model for the game makers if they attracted regular customers. However, it was hard to keep a "game over"-like exciting balance compared to the pay-to-play model because it guaranteed playtime within a given period time. Also, game developers used to feel pressure due to continuous updates to increase service hours or production of additional content. Besides, as competition intensified, they had to take other customers. Therefore, marketing costs to attract potential players for a new game tended to be increased, which caused market contraction. Unlike the existing business models—developing a game and selling it—, the flat rate, which charges a single fixed fee for a service, changed the paradigm of game production. It was the pretty unconventional method in those days, even though a much bigger service operation cost than production cost is about to open to doubt today.

 

Lastly, there is in-app purchase which is the most used app monetization strategy recently. As competition for the flat rate intensified, rival game developers adopted the in-app purchase model to enhance their marketing. It is a pretty simple way for users not to pay unless they have fun with a game, however, I think that the idea—a free game—was very radical at the time. The very simple idea doesn't mean to be easy to plan. Developers need to work hard to make purchases within an app. They have to continuously update the game and add new content to generate a better retention rate, percentage of paying users (PPU), daily active user (DAU), and average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU). Due to free-game characteristics, game makers are required to encourage users and induce purchases through multiple devices because users, who got bored by the game, easily get out of it. On the other hand, unhappy consumers imposed excessive requirements for purchase also easily leave the game. Game balance also needs to be appropriately differentiated according to paying or non-paying users not to bring about discontent. Also, the balance for paying users has to be reasonably varied depending on their purchase amount. Summing up, the essence of the in-app purchase is to maintain a balance and a steady pace of updates, which is a daunting job because it needs to satisfy the requirements of difficulty levels of both the flat rate and the pay-for-play.

I've looked at the game business model briefly. There is still much to talk about it and I expect that it would form the basis of future columns about a variety of business models. And I hope that users would be satisfied with games with ground-breaking game business models in the future.

 

 

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

(http://www.khgames.co.kr)

 

Translation by Kim Ki-hui