Quote ("kerenf")

No matter what game you play you will find that this is very relevant, you might even see yourself fit into one of these categories of how you feel about the game you might be playing!!

I find that a lot of people when they get to the burnout stage, where they feel there is no more point in playing will go on a rant to blame everything on the game and sometimes even hurt other player's enjoyment of the game.

I decided to post the results of this study because I am tired of people blaming the game of others for the reasons to quit a game!!

Here are the stages studies have shown all gamers go through in their Player Life Cycle (a http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/001646.phpand the actual data behind it)

The player life-cycle proposed has 5 stages:

    1) Starting: The player has just started playing the game and everything is new and exciting.
    2) Ramping Up: The player has learned the basics and is now busy progressing through the content (whether leveling or crafting). They have a sense of where they want to be and are heading for that goal.
    3) Mastery: The player is at the higher-end of the game and is either well-situated in a guild and doing raids, or happily soloing high level quests, or competing in PvP content.
    4) Burn Out: The player feels like they’ve done everything they can do in the game, or they are beginning to feel burned out from all the raid and social obligations from their guild. They wonder where all the fun went.
    5) Casual / Recovery: The player has figured out a way to play the game without burning out. They may be doing intermittent raids, logging in casually to play with friends, casually leveling alts, etc.




The Entry Stage

Newcomer Euphoria

There are two main entry clusters. The first cluster is the typical new-comer who generally describes their game-play in terms of unlimited potential and the euphoria of being in a whole new world. Oftentimes, elements of advancement and exploration are repeated throughout their descriptions, but in general these early play styles tend to be undifferentiated and more driven by novelty rather than a focus on achievement (for example).

Playing with a Friend/Partner

The second main entry cluster revolves around playing the game to be with a friend or a romantic partner. Players in this category typically state that being with their friend/partner, rather than playing the game itself, is their primary motivation. More often than not, this changes as they experience more of the game.

The Practice Stage

Ramping Up / Progress

The initial exploration and discovery stage helps players learn the ropes of the game. As they explore more and more of the world (in terms of both geography and mechanics), they start seeing and understanding the boundaries of the game. These boundaries also highlight the game’s mechanics and many players then drift into progression-oriented game-play. Either they realize that they need to advance to explore further or progression makes more sense now that the boundaries have been made clear.

Joining Groups and Guilds

Typically, at this stage, players start to understand the value of grouping up with others. Whereas many players tend to favor solo play early on, they come to see that being in a group or a guild is either valuable or necessary due to a variety of game mechanics.

The Mastery Stage

Staying for Friends / Casual Guilds

A variety of things can happen after the initial taste of the treadmill. More often than not, this stage in of game-play provides a comfortable landing spot. Many players start getting tired of the leveling grind but have established stable friendships which become the focus of their game-play. In other words, these players are mainly staying in the game for other players. This was the most common ending point in players’ narratives.

High-End Content / Raiding Guilds

Players who love the experience of leveling and progression may find it natural to pursue the next step up via a serious raiding guild. It is typically via the raiding experience that players begin to gain access to more exclusive content or gear. High-end gear is now within reach. Thus, status and prestige elements start becoming more important. And even players in casual guilds may find themselves engaging in more and more complex raiding activities due to the progression of the guild or more serious players in the guild.

Social Leadership

For others, the knowledge and social connections they have in the game encourage them to take on roles that impact or guide their guild or community. Like the players who are in casual guilds, these players enjoy the socializing, but they see that they themselves can play a role in shaping the social interactions in the game.

PvP / Competition

And finally, while many low-level characters are afraid of PvP, a moderate degree of game mastery lowers the threshold for engaging in PvP. While many players expressed their own surprise at enjoying PvP, they tended to agree that PvP offered the excitement of a human opponent once the PvE grind lost its thrill. In many games, PvP also tends to be the only thing left for players who have reached the level cap but aren’t in a raiding guild.

The Burnout Stage

Grind Burnout

Whether for solo players or players in guilds, the gear-drop or XP grind oftentimes stops being fun. In many cases, it takes players a while to realize that the grinding is no longer enjoyable. They suddenly sit back and ask themselves, “oh - what’s the point?”

Social Obligations Burnout

Players in more serious guilds also burnout, but this tends to be from the social obligations and work-like consequences of raiding. What used to be fun with a group of friends has become a logistical nightmare fraught with stress and anxiety.

Restarts

Some players try to get around the high-level grind by re-rolling a new character as soon as they hit max-level. They want to feel the sense of progress and exploration again, and the closest thing they can do is to create a new character.

Nothing Left to Do

And finally, a very few players make it through all the grinding and much of the raiding, but then find that there isn’t anything left in the game to do and they have no desire to re-roll.

The Recovery Stage

End-Game Casual

For players who burned out on the grind or the raiding, some are able to find a more casual re-entry into the game. Knowing the situations and guilds that tend to make the game more work than fun, they consciously steer clear of them and make sure that the time they spend in the game is enjoyable rather than stressful.



Out of all the piles of data that has been gathered in the study i enjoyed this the most

Quote (brainpower777 @ 24 Apr 2010 14:26)

a uitat sa zica de noobii care nu o sa ajunga niciodata sa invete basics ... aia pe care ii vedeam pe nm cu lvl 80

Quote (Alexandru @ 23 Apr 2010 16:47)

Disclaimer : Nu imi apartine continutul, dar mi s-a parut interesant.