Seagull Droppings

I have been doing some catchup reading on the CSM minutes. (The Council of Stellar Management is a player elected group which CCP consults on design focus & decisions for EVE Online.) One of the most interesting sections, and the section that has made me the most hopeful for the direction of EVE Online, was the session titled EVE Online - The Next Decade. This section was lead by CCP Unifex and CCP Seagull.

I was extremely impressed with CCP Seagull's comments on how the company is starting to analyze new features for EVE. The biggest contribution seen in the CSM minutes is her additions to the EVE developer lexicon. She identifies 5 major types of players:

• Instigator: Players with ambitions who inspire groups to act.
• Enabler: These players run the logistical side of large groups so that things function smoothly.
• Lurker: Solo players who have little contact with others.
• Group Player: Players that want to engage socially with other though joining activities.
• Small Scale Leader: These players put together activities for others to do. They differ from instigators in not having as large a scale, more an evening's activity verses conquering an empire.

The objective behind defining player types is so that CCP can get into the mind of the players better. In particular, examine the question "What do I do now?" from the players' perspective. EVE is an incredibly open ended game and figuring out what to do when you play is often a more daunting prospect than how to do something.

To me the fact that people in the company are starting to definite types of players and design specifically for those types of players shows that CCP is maturing. This shows a better understanding of their game and more focus in improving EVE. In reading the minutes it is clear that CCP Seagull it talking on a level above the CSM and even most of the other developers in the meetings. This terminology and way of thinking is clearly very new to many people are still adjusting to it.

There is a similar evolution in vocabulary and way of thinking that happened in Magic: the Gathering, most of which was driven by Mark Rosewater. I have blogged a bit about the Psycographic Profiles before. It is interesting to see that both CCP and Magic created terminology to talk about different types of players after about 10 years of existence. This seems to be a natural evolution of game companies as their products age they develop a lexicon to facilitate thinking and discussion of feature.

The last thing worth pointing out is the 5 player types CCP Seagull defines are categorized by what role they play in a group. The Psycographic Profiles of Rosewater are about why people play. These two different systems don't compete with each other as they define different parts of the player. In theory one could use both systems to construct a more detailed profile of a player. Though that is an exercise for another blog post.

Social Games are not designed for Spike

I just read this blog over at Gamasutra and my impression is that the author is a type of Spike. He wants to demonstrate mastery through goals in game and doesn't understand how games like FarmVille can be appealing. Essentially these games are not designed for him but a very different market segment.

The way these social games work is people have their space, in FarmVille a farm, which they can customize & use to produce things. These products can be used for further customization or traded with other players. Also each player's space can be view & discussed by their friends. In truth, this is not much different from having a flower garden in one's yard. It provides a topic of conversation among friends and complementing the garden is a compliment to the gardener. In essence the garden is an expression of the gardener's self, just like the farm in FarmVille. Which is what Johnnies are all about, expressing themselves.

This isn't to say that Spikes and Timmies can't enjoy the game. Timmies love the experience of hanging out with their friends and bonding over a shared interest. Some Spikes will relish mastering the production method in FarmVille to create the most productive farm. Granted once a Spike masters the game and proves that he has mastered it he will probably get bored. But this does not mean social games suffer from poor game design, just very targeted design.