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The Number One Educational Resource for the Game Industry

Session Name: Drives: Helping More Players Get from First-Taste to Satisfaction
Speaker(s): Jason VandenBerghe
Company Name(s): ArenaNet
Track / Format: Business & Marketing

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Overview: Drives: those creepy, almost-chemical urges that sometimes seem to be beyond your control: "What's in the chest?" "Why yes, I would like to complete my collection." "Ow! NOW I CRAVE VENGEANCE!"Often, designers approach this topic with tongs and a hazmat suit. Rightfully! They want to avoid triggering addiction, or manipulating their players more than they would like. The speaker will argue that drive stimulation has a clear, positive purpose: to get players through the often-painful journey into skill development, entering a social context, and/or establishing autonomy.All successful games follow this pattern: every one.As a bonus, a significant portion of this talk will deal with the recently-discovered drive called "Tend & Befriend." This oxytocin-based drive has to do with the short-term reward systems that encourages you to make friends and care for others...and has the potential to revolutionize game design (if it hasn't already).(This talk is the fourth in the quite-poorly-named Engines of Play Trilogy.)

GDC 2018

Jason VandenBerghe

ArenaNet

free content

Business & Marketing

Business & Marketing

Design

Design