Submitted by SWATJester on Tue, 06/09/2009 - 19:43.
In a report to be released later this week, a company called Absolute Quality (a subsidiary of gaming services company e4e) has completed a bio-sensory study of how "engaged" gamers really are when they play.* The study concluded that while game developers get the biggest reaction out of cutscenes, exposition, and scripted ecnounters, their target audience does not and prefers the simpler gameplay aspects of "running and gunning". Using a wireless headset from EmSense that scans subjects brain waves (EEG), visual reactions, and the like from dozens of sensors, the test involved subjects playing through a game, with moments of emotive activity being recorded and tagged with the in-game action that they correspond to. According to Absolute Quality, the system measures "objective and continuous emotional and cognitive responses."
So what does this mean for MMO Gamers? It means that we need to start questioning what it is that makes MMORPGs fun. Obviously, that's a colossal topic, and that is precisely why Absolute Quality's test results are so exciting. "Brainwave and bio-sensory measurement technologies give developers insight into the visceral engagement and emotion of gamers, all with the precision of real-time measurement,” said Tim Hong, SVP Product Development and Analytics, EmSense. “Traditional focus groups or surveys have their fair share of biases and only try to get at the thrill and fun of a gamer experience, but using this powerful technology clients have quantitative, benchmarked measures for game engagement."
According to Absolute Quality, in future studies, Absolute Quality and EmSense will continue testing to explore gamer experiences in other genres of the game industry. They intend to probe deeper into the issue of developing games which are engaging for women, who now represent more than 40 percent of gaming consumers. In the future, this could mean that we'll see games that are more tailored towards the mythical "what women want". But the potential runs deeper than that. For example, free2play model gamers have different likes and dislikes than subscription model gamers. Future tests can help reveal more detail into what these differences are, and theoretically this will lead to improved games. Right?
Maybe. The core result of the test showed that gamers prefer gameplay to cutscenes; solid mechanics vs. plot exposition; and that women prefer story and cutscenes more than men, who want more visceral engagement. Is that really all that surprising? Over the past years, WoW has refined their gameplay model to focus much more on play mechanics and solid design choices over forcing plot and cutscenes on players (of course, it still has a rich lore available for the people who want that). EVE has rock-solid gameplay and freeform environments putting less importance on story and plot exposition, and more on the tactical aspects of gameplay. In the shooter genre, we've found that the most successful games included Counter-Strike with nearly no plot; and old-schoolers will remember the buzz around the Serious Sam series, which was hugely popular in bringing gameplay back to the simple roots. The concept that this is surprising is a little bit of a stretch, but it is nice to have some raw data to back up these numbers.
The study won't be the end of the "story/plot vs. gameplay/mechanics" fight in game development. Far from it. That debate will probably rage until hell freezes over. But this, and future studies, can provide a glimpse into the intangible answer to that question. “The gaming industry has changed considerably in response to changing demographics. Factors such as age, gender and socio-economic conditions play a significant role in gamer experience”, said Shirish Netke, President, Interactive Entertainment, e4e. “Better gamer-market segmentation is crucial to delivering the right gaming experience for the right audience. It is also clear that game developers appear more inclined to develop games based on their own personal preferences, rather than truly understanding the needs of their target market. By more thoroughly exploring the target consumers’ gaming preferences, game developers can significantly increase the success rates of new titles in the market.” Greater success rates in new titles means more choices for us as gamers, and that's always a good thing. A copy of the report can be viewed here.
*Full disclosure: I was one of the subjects of this test at GDC 2009.
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