Instead of intro

Hello my name is Andrii Goncharuk, but you can call me Andy, I'm a game designer working in Ubisoft, and to be honest... I’m lost right now...

From part one we established a lot of things and found out how our memory and emotions works, but why? What it gives?

---   *disclaimer*   ---

As previously we discussed in part 1, process of writing/reading memory is really complex and involve emotions (hormones and neurotransmitters) a lot. Here in this article I will give some examples on existing motivational models and some simple examples on how they can be applied in game design process. Also in bonus there is points that was not included to part 1 since it already was big enough.

---   *end of disclaimer*   ---

Where we are now?

In Part 1 we established how our memory works and how emotions are interconnected with it and with process of gaining them(learning). We prove that some psychological models are working and explained how they work.

You may ask, why we spend whole part just questioning psychology?

I would say, there is a superpower that we all possess, the power of doubt. And managers and especially top-managers are one of the strongest doubt heroes

Also as a small addition  journal Science recently published a study “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science”(link can be found in references).

In short, article explains that fewer than half of 100 psychological studies published in 2008 in three top psychology journals could be replicated successfully that decrease credibility of psychology a little bit…

Self determination theory

From a previous part you may already know about self determination theory. Let’s dive a little bit deeper to it’s application in real world. SDT core idea that human being have 3 basic psychological that are in same line with hunger, thirst and other necessary needs for just being alive.

Autonomy - Need to be causal agent of one’s own life and act in harmony with one’s integrated self.

Low autonomy:

Mass Effect 3 ending is a great example of taking away autonomy from player, because in the end all their choices matter nothing. That’s why it was taken with such distress. But for some people who have a lot of autonomy in their life that could be not a big issue because they had a great story and pleasant experience.

High autonomy:

On the other hand Minecraft is a great example of a game that gives and reinforce autonomy in it’s core, you can do whatever you want you can go whenever you want. But for some people who have a lot of autonomy this game can be not interesting cause autonomy is not something that they seek.

Competence - Need to control the outcome of one’s actions and experience process of mastering any of one’s skills.

Low competence:

Hearthstone is example of a game where luck plays a big role, but more extreme example will be a slot machine working on real randomness. Slot machine is example of a game with a low competence. In general random elements that cannot be controlled by player are reason that suppress competence. But if player already have source of competence in their life they may seek for games that give feeling of random reward or have elements that controlled by pure chance.

High competence:

If there is methods and techniques that can increase or guarantee success in game it is an example of a game with high competence, for example chess. If player doesn't have enough competence refilled in real life they may seek for games or activities that have predictable outcomes and can be mastered, DJ Hero is a good example, since every time you will have same pattern and you simply need to master it, another example is Dark Souls where everything is scripted, and can be mastered also, to a some extend.

Relatedness - Universal need to interact with, be connected to someone/something, and experience caring for others or care from others.

Low relatedness:

Tetris or No Man’s Sky or any game that don’t have a relatable characters or anything that player can tie up himself are example of low relatedness. You may argue about example of No Man’s Sky and you will be partially correct, on paper it should have high relatedness levels through mean of being able to name your own planet and species, but because there are so many of them and all of them are generated, they stop matter to a player.

High relatedness:

Any standard MMO games or any games with relatable and believable characters and especially a co-op games where bond between players even stronger since they need to solve problem together are source of high relatedness. Even solo game streamed through twitch can give relatedness. But people who have a lot of relatedness may seek for solitude, solo games can be an answer.

Suppression quota - autonomy, relatedness and competence can be suppressed in your game during certain timeframes to a certain extent people can be flexible, it depends on each person individually, but there generic minimum and maximums can be found through testing beforehand, that can help you to outline boundaries that must not be broken.

Self determination theory is not the only one model that exist, there is many more others that can be applied to our industry.

Five more motivational models

Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

The Two-Factor Theory of motivation developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s.

Analysing the responses of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked about their positive and negative feelings about their work, Herzberg found 2 factors that influence employee motivation and satisfaction…

Two factors appeared to work completely independently of each other.

While motivator factors increased satisfaction and motivation, the absence of these factors didn’t necessarily cause dissatisfaction.

Likewise, the lack of de-motivator factors didn’t appear to increase satisfaction and motivation but if they existed, that caused an increase in dissatisfaction.

How to apply it in game design

This theory implies that for the happiest players, you need to work on both factors.

To help motivate players, make sure they feel appreciated and supported. Give plenty of feedback and make sure your players understand how they can grow and progress through the gameplay.

To prevent dissatisfaction, make sure that players feel that they are treated right by offering them the best possible UX and fair reward. Make sure you pay attention to your players and form supportive relationships with them.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy of Needs theory was established by Abraham Maslow in his 1943.

Core of the theory is that individuals most basic needs must be met before they become motivated to achieve higher level needs.

The hierarchy has 5 levels:

1. Physiological – needs to survive, such as food, water and shelter.

2. Safety – personal and financial security, health and wellbeing.

3. Love/belonging – the need for friendships, relationships and family.

4. Esteem – the need to feel confident and be respected by others.

5. Self-actualisation – the desire to achieve everything you possibly can dream of.

According to the hierarchy of needs, you must be in good health, safe and secure with meaningful relationships and confidence before you are able to have dreams.

How to apply it in game design

If you targeting your game to a certain audience, consider on what stage most of them are of this hierarchy and offer them gameplay that will resemble not what they desire in real world(next stage) and not what they have already(current stage) but stages they already passed, because this is what they familiar with and can easily relate and associate with.

Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne Effect was first described by Henry A. Landsberger in 1950 who noticed a tendency for some people to work harder and perform better when they were being observed by someone important or someone whom they considered important.

The Hawthorne Effect is named after a series of social experiments on the influence of physical conditions on productivity at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, Chicago in the 1920s and 30s.

The researchers changed a number of physical conditions over the course of the experiments including lighting, working hours and breaks. In all cases, employee productivity increased when a change was made. The researchers concluded that employees became motivated to work harder as a response to the attention being paid to them, rather than the actual physical changes themselves.