Welcome,
Well this blog is about both about Player Behavior and their relation to numbers, equations and, ultimately, design choices. I'm a Psychologist and a gamer myself, so I believe I can share some useful information, ideas and hypotheses about Playing Behavior.
Many Game developers already utilize psychology to fine tune gaming elements, making the player behave in a particular way. Whenever they know the consequences of a particular setting or not it's not always clear to both designers and players. Here a few examples:
- The reinforcement theory, from behaviorism psychological school, allows us to understand why a player play a stage or dungeon frequently to get that valuable random "Drop" (this is quite common behavior inside MMORPGs). It's a Variable Ratio Schedule. But doesn't this system always frustrate a player that wants the reward but never gets it after trying many times? Is this the only possible system? (True Randomness is not always fair or desirable - it's a design choice)
- When we have several different dungeons each giving different reinforcements (Rewards), we have have a series of Alternative schedules, making some players do one dungeon instead of the other. Usually we can see patterns because each reinforcement has a different value either to the player himself or to the other players (Market). But can't we use math to change this behavior? (I have some ideas on how to apply math to adjust the relative rewards so we can control player behavior better)
- The energy system, common in games inside the social networks, work as a Fixed Time Schedule. This schedule makes people come back to play the game again at predictable intervals, and usually in a condensed playing rate session. But also causes frustration or money costs for players and possibly financial loses to the company if badly tunned. Which playing pattern is the company is really seeking to make the highest profit?
Expect some more material about these topics in the future, but for next time expect a discussion about:
Gold - Currency x Token
For more information on Rewards (Reinforcement) and Reinforcement Schedules (Operant Conditioning) check:
Reinforcement - Wikipedia
Operant Conditioning - Wikipedia