Things to do in order to make online games "like fun without explanation"
A lecture entitled "Basic knowledge of the game planner required for the network game era" was done by Mr. Honjo of Dropwave at Japan's largest game developer conference "CEDEC 2011".
"Firstly charge yourself until you become a scrapped person!With regard to the design, development and operation method of online games aiming at maximizing the customer lifetime value (LTV), based on his own production experience, we will go beyond the level of lecture and enter fine I entered the management philosophy and production philosophy naturally told.
Honjo:
I will explain the purpose of this performance. From the perspective of consumer game developers, I would like to talk about developing and managing online games.
Although it is the subject of the present performance, although I am making confident of building game software for home for years, I was suddenly told that I could make a free game with the order of the company, I was in trouble Those who do not need it. Also, those who do not know what to do at the same time being told that they will manage the online games they created. I would like to speak from the basis of the operation of online games centering around such people.
Although the
Thirdly, I will tell you about the fundamental movement of the operation of online games, and also the trap that people who experienced consumers experience. I myself was a developer of consumer games, but when I made the online games for the first time I made a number of mistakes, so I told that "If you look online at the consumer game developer's point of view, there is such a trap" I will. And finally I would like to answer questions.
First, it is basic knowledge. Firstly, the difference between online games and consumer games is that "your motivation for games is different", "your business model is different", "community elements are different". Especially when compared with social game, customer's layer is totally different. You must also change the operation feel and degree of difficulty of the game. It is a caveat that the premise of the customer's play style must also be changed drastically. Then, we will follow on each one.
The first is about the difference in your motivation to the game. People who are highly motivated to play the game are doing consumer games so they can pay 5800 yen first. Compared to that, people social games, online games say "I tried it because it's free because it's free." The point is that the motivation for the game is totally different depending on whether it began with the feeling "I will pay it for the first time" or "I am free".
Therefore, when you make a free online game basically, you have to make a game from the viewpoint of "How to prevent it from escaping when Ichimi who came by chance happens to come in by chance" Hmm. Also, since physical packages do not remain at hand, we must also be aware that "If you forget the existence of the game you will never come back to the game again".
Specifically, it is necessary to make such a directive as "I will care about it in the first 5 minutes and completely add 15 minutes." Actually playing social games and online games, I think that the level suddenly rises suddenly, but that is exactly what I do for this. Such a director is included to make it interesting to the game suddenly "suddenly this game is not good" or "this is amazing" and to make it feel like "I'm going to do tomorrow", too.
Also, you need to have a mechanism to recall the game the next day and start it up. I calculate properly how much the person who played the game for the first time goes, and I put a thing that I am very surprised at the moment the play ends. For example, if there is a mission of "Please compost treasure", play for the first 30 minutes and end the game with the timing "You can compile with two more!" Then do not worry, "I wish I could come even more if that was the case" and I will come tomorrow as well. I will put in such a mechanism that you can come up with such a customer's psychology and come over the next day. This is a concept that no consumer has at all.
Secondly, it is the difference of business model. In the consumer game, the development team had just created interesting games, and after that the operations and the store worked hard and sold us so there was no need to think about money. However, in online games, you must sell billing items by yourself to customers in the game. Not only skills to make interesting games, but also product design and store management, such a sense is also required for the game's proposal book.
Specifically, it means "you must incorporate items you want into the game, considering what you want". I will explain it in detail later, but in essence you have to charge an item that will become a key in the game. Like pasting an advertisement banner of a sale item in the game or skipping to a purchase page at the timing when the item is wanted, it seems like the store clerk is doing it normally at the game shop, "Let's push this little bit today" Let's do "on your own in the game itself. That is to make a game by keeping in mind such things. Also, as in time sale and set sale, since sales promotion methods such as Seiyu and Daiei can all be used, it is also necessary to research them and incorporate them into their own games with consumers and It is a big difference.
Third is the existence of community elements. In the case of consumer games, there are exceptions that emphasize community parts such as monhans and Wii parties, but basically it is for one person. But online games, social games, community elements such as friends and guilds are sure to come in. Online elements in online games are very important factors to boost the continuation rate. Also, it is different from the consumer game at all that you must include means to maintain communities such as mails, bulletin boards and group chat.
Specifically, it is very important to "do something with your friends and raise a sense of solidarity". Why is it because users of online games happen to be free so they just came in, there is no reason to play tomorrow at all. However, when you first talk to people during the first 30 minutes and answer "I understand" by being told that "Please enter into the guild of our house tomorrow" and have your weapons strengthened, then promises will be raised I am sorry if I can not go tomorrow, "" I feel sorry if I got a weapon and I have to do it again tomorrow ", I would like to log in again tomorrow.
It is absolutely necessary for online gaming to have a mechanism to increase the continuation rate by putting in such habits of human relations. To do that, you must implement the community element and the message tool. Please consider "Message function" "Bulletin board function for yourself" "Group chat function" is indispensable for online game at a minimum.
I think that I can not understand the importance at the beginning because it is a part not made in consumer games. So when it comes out of the initial specifications, "When I am short of budget", "Let's cut this", I will become candidates for man-hours reduction at once, but please be careful as it can not be absolutely done. Lifetime is short for games where community does not get excited.
Up to now I was talking about mixing online games and social games, but from here we will explain the difference with social games in particular.
First of all, it is a difference of the audience layer, but customers of consumer games are advanced core gamers. Because it is so-called "trained geek", I like games that are unfortunate even if I pay 20,000 yen for game machines. In comparison, social games are non-gamers, "common people" that do not have any game machines. But I do not dislike playing games, but I'm thinking "Doing games for killing time is a different thing, is not it good" but those who think that "It is not as good as PSP or DS."
When making social games, we fail unless we are strongly conscious of making games for layers that are not gamers. If you like games and have several hards, it means "You should never make the game that you enjoy most." "Users who play social games do not have any consumer games, only beginners users do it." You have to be very conscious of it.
Consumer games are paid money at the beginning and are bought, and the rest is going to be "how do you please customers?" But, if the person who has made the game for 20 years with that concept thinks, "Let me do various things", put synthesis elements, add adventure, put a story, and give it to social game users Well, all go out backwards.
Social gamers stop thinking that it will be troublesome at the moment when there are two things to do. It is wrong that thinking that the developer of the consumer game "I'm happy if this enters myself" is first wrong. Telling your okan, "Do you understand this meaning?" Is OK if you say "If you press something, you know, you understand! We have to make it easy to such level. It is not saying to be boring, but to make a mechanism that can be enjoyed even by myself, at the same time it is necessary to make it as simple as possible even without explanation of your own okan. Please be aware of the difference in the user layer.
Next is the difference in game operability and difficulty. In the case of consumer games, customers are trained core gamers, so they will respond to requests for advanced operation techniques and complex rule understanding. I am thinking "I do not have to take the original because I am paying 5800 yen," and thinking that "This is a game that suits me," paying money, so if you buy a game, that game creator It is not much deviated from the assumption.
A lot of people think that customers of social games are completely non-gamers "I wish I could do it if I could enjoy enough only by playing for a few minutes in one hand at a little idle time." Also, if you can not proceed with games without getting lost in a simple operation, I think that it is "difficult to understand" and stop at that moment. Therefore, it is important to make input simple and simple anyway.
However, it is not a game because it made the input simple. It is very important to secure the diversity of results, leave the pleasure and strategy as a game properly. So "Social games are not games" is a misunderstanding idea.
I think that Sugoroku or Life Game is a fine game, but for example, every time you move a piece in that Sugoroku, you gain equipment and defeat the enemy, or it will become RPG with it as the story progresses. It is complicated to talk to the villagers and walk in the dungeon if you decide to do an ordinary RPG, but you can express RPG with another grammar by evolving a category that simplifies it.
You can experience RPG by just shaking the dice. It might be thought that "It is not a game then." "But it's a goal with one squat, but I wonder if he should shake it again one more time, choose to go one mass with paying 100 yen, or go to a mini game to get the item" go one mass " Even if it is simple with respect to the progress of the game, there are various strategies such as "Do you pick it up?" Since input is simple, it is not good not to lose game properties, but "how to give deep gaming with simple input" is the key point.
I think that you will notice it when you play a social game that is popular recently, but I'm pretty game game. The GMS "Dragon Knights" I am into now are completely card games, battle games. What you do is just a mission and a battle, but "what timing will you do?" "What to use for an attack roll" "whether to log in one more hour after another" is a strategic element and can be enjoyed very much.
Next is the difference in premise of your play style. Consumer games will make games on the assumption that customers will concentrate and play for 1 or 2 hours in a row. On the other hand, in the case of social games, you have to say that you can enjoy enough in a few minute vacancies and "I have nothing to do anymore". Users of social games do not hang out the time of the game, but I'd like to play for a while when I say "I'm bored" for 5 minutes of commute time and 10 minutes during lunch break. Those people do not want to do it anymore if they eat more time.
It is necessary to carefully simulate how the game you make is played in the customer's lifestyle, and that customer is supposed to be a busy general person with non-gamers Hmm.
For example, a 25-year-old OL working in an office in Marunouchi in Tokyo is 5 minutes in the morning commuting time, 5 minutes in lunch break, 5 minutes of 3 day break, 5 minutes by returning train, and 30 minutes after returning home ,like. Assuming such a lifestyle, at the point point to do, let's finish everything we have to do in just 5 minutes in the morning and say "Yes, please leave the game." Without stress, I thought "Oh, I finished doing it. Let's do it again for lunch," and when I got a lunch break I decided to do it again.
Although it is different from time, for example, "Kaito Royale" can not be done continuously because battle and mission take time to recover, but you can also greet friends, dragon collection and card composition. Card composition can be done slowly because there is no time limit in particular. So, if you are free for 5 minutes, use your physical strength to recover in time and do a battle or mission and stop being told you can not do it anymore. If I have time to go home and have time, I have to assume a play style like "I will synthesize using cards I collected today" and enjoying Pochoncho synthesis for 30 minutes.
As a specific precaution, even if you think that it takes 10 minutes to play time, "I will do only for 5 minutes when transferring trains", but I still have to leave my physical strength while I'm still doing Then, the customer becomes stressed. Moreover, I am tired of thinking that I have to do 10 minutes when I start this. That's why I'm thinking "Let's stop it again".
Next is the interval of play. Once all the things to do are done, after 10 minutes the whole physical fitness is recovering and you have to do it again, it will take a lot of pressure. So let 's make it 2 hours, 3 hours apart, just enough to recover your physical strength just like a customer's morning commute, lunch lunch, evening snack.
If it is too early, it will not work, and if it takes 24 hours, on the contrary it will be saying "I can not do today so I will do it tomorrow" and forget it inside and will not do it. It is important to design the playing time and recovery according to the lifestyle.
Among them, I think that it is a farm garden game. The most famous is "Sunshine Ranch" of the mixi application, but it is divided into 5 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, 8 hours depending on the plant to be planted, but if you continue doing 5 minutes continuously, coins are most efficiently accumulated It has become like. However, those who are busy and only able to do 2 to 3 times a day plant "I plant eight hours in the morning, harvest in the evening, plant 12 hours' thing to do tomorrow morning and harvest tomorrow morning" As you can control the time you play by yourself, it is the strength of farm games, it is a huge popularity among housewives.
Moreover, when planting farm-based games plant what you can do after 8 hours, there is a tendency that the continuation rate is very long because there is a waste to harvest, I think that I am sorry once more, and so on. In that sense, I think that it is one of the perfect answers to this problem that the farmer's customers can choose their own playing time themselves the ultimate solution.
That is the difference between consumers and online.
Next, I will explain the basic terms that will definitely come up as we continue to talk about online games.
First of all, it is the basic term of Online Game No. 1.
Daily active users, Daily Active User. This refers to the number of people who logged into the game on that day, the number of unique users, it is called DAU. The Unique User omits UU, so some companies say it is Daily UU. When this becomes monthly, it is Monthly Active User, MAU, or Monthly UU. This DAU, MAU often comes out so please remember.
Next, PU (Paying User) of the number of chargers. This is the number of users who have charged. This is mainly calculated by daily and monthly. When distinguishing between users who are not charging and users who are charging, I say the phrase "Today was DAU 10,000 people, PU was 100 people." This is 1% charge rate. And the average user charge for all users, ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). This is the amount of charge for that day divided by all users. For example, if DAU is 10,000 people and daily 1,000,000 yen, the ARPU for that day is 100 yen. It is said that "You earned 100 yen per capita". After that it is the charged user average charge amount, ARPPU (Average Revenuer Per Paying User), which is the value divided by just the person who paid the daily deal for that day. It will be an index of how much people paid money on average.
For example, if you say "DAU was 10 thousand people and sales were 1 million yen, there were 100 chargers," ARPPU would be 10000 yen per person if 100 people divided by 100 people. When looking at the whole it is common to see the average user charge for all users, it seems that 10,000 people used 100 yen each time, but in reality only 1% of them are using money, and that People used 10,000 yen per person, for example.
As for how to use, if it is ARPU, it is used to measure advertisement effectiveness or to judge whether to hit an advertisement. If the unit price per capita is 300 yen and ARPU is 500 yen, it will be "This will be profitable if you see it, but profitable if you can see it", but if this month's ARPU was 300 yen with an acquisition price of 300 yen "3 I will judge that it is better to stop this because it will not make a profit unless it lasts for a month. " If we do more strictly we will calculate using the continuation rate, but it will be one indicator at that time.
Charging rate is the percentage of people who charged for all users. If the number of people charged by DAU with 10,000 people was 100, the charge rate is 1%. Although you can easily calculate this charge rate, I will talk about it like "I made a charge rate of 1.5 times today" or "I will aim for a charge rate of 10%" calculated by daily, monthly.
The continuation rate is an index of how much the customer is playing in the next day, 1 week, 15 days, 30 days after starting the game. The online game is free so I'm stopped shortly. It is very important to examine how many people are continuing there. It works in conjunction with the story of the advertisement effect before, but there are also games that the continuation rate after 30 days was 5% or 1%. When the continuation rate after 1 month becomes 1%, it will be a disastrous story that only one person will be left after one month after entering 100 advertisements, so "Stop hitting".
In the case of Japanese Garaka social game, it is good if it exceeds 50% continuation rate the next day. The point is that the user registers from the mobage or GREE site, and the world that only half will be the next day. As long as the continuation rate after 30 days is 20%, as much as it is said to be "amazing", Garakaisu social users will flow more and more. On the contrary, it takes time and effort to start applications of PC online and smartphones. Especially PC online games recently downloading files of GB, registering users, and taking quite a lot of time to make characters, the continuation rate of people who overcame it is quite high.
Next is KPI (Key Performance Indicator), which is the "key performance indicator". It is mainly the indicators explained above. DAU, MAU, PU, ARPU, ARPPU, Charging rate, Continuation rate, etc. Although I am watching these indicators everyday in online games, when it operates while confirming them, it is said that it is called "management index" "performance evaluation index" every time, so it is said with KPI in a word. Sometimes we call the tool for confirming this index KPI tool.
Finally it is LTV (Life Time Value). This is the customer lifetime value. Although this is not often told, it is a very important way of thinking, "Total amount of money used by a single customer from starting to stopping". Once consumer games are purchased once they have finished grasping customers, since online games pay money every month, if you increase the continuation rate LTV will be many times.
For example, if the continuation rate up to the next month is 50%, the customer entered 100,000 people and the sales for that month was 10 million yen. As it decreases to 5 million in the next month, sales are 5 million, so even if it decreases rapidly, it will accumulate as 10 million, 5 million, and 2.5 million, so sales increase Also going up.
If the continuation rate is 100%, online games are profitable for 10 million yen every month. If it is 50%, it will go down to 10 million, 5 million, 2.5 million, 1.25 million yen, but please think that it is quite different simply by increasing the continuation rate by 1%. LTV is to say, "How much does the customer use it?" Including its continuation rate. Maximizing this is the operation of online games. At first the basic term is over.
Next, I will talk about points of online game design.
The first major premise is to "make funny games". Although this is commonplace, there is a consumer developer who says "Online games or social games are boring", so there is a story saying "Well then you can make something boring", but that is not at all. Be sure to make interesting games.
Otherwise you will understand. If you think "This is a pinch," the continuation rate will not rise as it will not do the next day anymore. As LTV does not rise, the company itself will eventually have a very low profit. It is nothing to make interesting games, you guys are experienced with consumers, I think that it is a very difficult struggle, but I would like you to do the same with that feeling.
Secondly, "Design the game as a business model." This is a big difference. When creating ordinary consumer games, there are genres, worldview, stories, characters, and it tends to come from the point that "exhilaration is pleasant" or "This story is impressed".
Of course it is also necessary, but when you make online games and social games you must first say that "This game is profitable here". If you do not design it from scratch, it will be a game of "This game is fun and consumer like you, but you do not have to spend money," you will fail as a business.
So, in online games and social games, there is a "consciousness that you can not pay your salary if you do not make money in the game", from the beginning "Where do you want customers to pay money" also story and system Think about as seriously as possible, it is very important to incorporate where you always use money. Please be sure to plan game planning and billing at the same time.
Thirdly, "to balance game balance doubly with non-chargers and chargers". This is not a part of consumers. In consumer games, people who bought the game play, so if you think about game balance normally there is no problem. In online games, more than half the people are playing games for free. And the remaining several percent, tens of percent will advance the game advantageously using money. When designing consumer game developers to design online games, it says, "If you sell this kind of thing, will not you lose the balance?", Of course it will collapse. That "How to balance in balance when it collapses" is an online game.
For example, in Dorakue, you first can defeat Slime from "Hinokiba no Ibi", buy "what sword", buy a "big sword" after knocking down more and you will finally be able to go to the next dungeon. When suddenly selling the "Torianu sword" for 100 yen, the consumer's game designer naturally said, "The customer felt a sense of accomplishment to beat Slime, is not it possible to sell such a thing?" However, from the user I bought, I do not want to beat Slime, I want to go ahead earlier, so I bought a sword. Although the game balance collapses, that is fine, that is the point.
Even if it is for one person, it will not affect much as it progresses. However, consumers developers are concerned that consumers' fighting battle game fighting users is likely to make the difference between charged users and non-charged users so much that it will be very obscure . However, I'd like you to think about it, but only a few percent of heavy fee players are in the whole. If you say that the game does not advance unless you defeat that a few percent, you will get great dissatisfaction, but if you play games that do not hit such a few percent, it will not be a big problem.
A few percent of the heavily charged players can play without play. "I bought 5000 yen this month and pull out the card and roll up the strongest card so I can afford to battle at all." Playing with thinking that "I was pleased to pay 5000 yen", free users will be played. And for free users, it is very important to make the game design that makes you feel that it is worrying that "You can not help it, even if you lose to the charging user" by generating an event by being accused by the accounting user.
In fact, except for overwhelmingly strong dude of such a few percent, users of 90% or more do not change much in strength. After thinking that "This is a charge user, let's give up" and go next time, it will be a good game with the other nine people so much dissatisfaction will not be elevated. So, there is a billing system that breaks the balance. However, it is absolutely not a situation that "I absolutely win if there is even one charged user in a fighting game" after my disappointment got stuck. The serum adjustment is very important.
At that time I will raise the price of the charge item. For example, I will make sure that I have to use 100 thousand yen to get the strength to be able to kill a free user. If you use 50,000 yen you can easily defeat, if it is 100,000 yen it will be an instantaneous breath. Still people who spend money use. As a balance, "It is quite advantageous to use 5000 yen, but I will lose to the free user who is doing my best", but even if "I use 30,000 yen you can truly be a musou can do" as much as possible.
By raising the charge amount or raising the sales amount of the synthetic success item as such, it is possible to properly adjust the balance between the charger and the non-charged person, and let the person who used more than a certain amount do the melee play properly You must do it. Please be conscious of taking "good balance between free user's game balance and charging user's game balance".
The fourth is "to make the difference between charging and non-charging less visible". Depending on the game, "an overwhelmingly strong item that explicitly understands being charged", "weapons and cards that can be seen by opponents who only get to the charger" is that the non-charged user " I will not win against you. "It will be an excuse to blame billing users. And it is easy to break the hearts of free users. I do not mean that you should never make billing weapons, but I will not recommend it.
Ninety percent of free users are very important because they will be charged as they continue. So it is not only to be unilaterally obliged, but we must satisfy it properly. In order not to break my heart further, I have to think that "You can be as strong as pay if you do your best at free." For that purpose, it is recommended that "charged items hard to understand what you are using". Instead of directly selling 'super strong billing weapons', we sell 'items for successfully combining super strong weapons'. Even if it is a free user, the material for making that super weapon gathers, but the success rate is 0.01% feeling. But inside it is that someone who says "I succeeded this free for free" is on the bulletin board and gives "hope of success".
In such a situation, if you buy a "charged item that its composition will succeed 100%," the naturally the charger can possess that weapon. But free users do not blame because they do not know whether it happened to be luck or have been charged. There is something which seems to be "if you are lucky if you are lucky", rather than selling weapons that can only be bought by billing, leaving behind the roads you can get free, It is good to sell by billing. Also, "time reduction items" can also obscure the boundary between charging and non-charging. I think that "This person is a heavy user so I think that the level is high" and I do not think that the level is high as I charged, so this is also recommended.
The fifth item is "Product design focuses on consumer items". "Consumption item" is something about the "probability UP item" "physical fitness recovery item" "short-term item" I told you. Because it keeps selling the same items because it keeps selling, operation is easy, cost is suppressed, it is easy to monetize easily.
On the contrary, the game is to add new weapons every month. As for why, first of all strength will inflation. As we sell new weapons. It gets stronger and stronger. "The strongest weapon at the beginning is that the strength was 500, eventually it will be 50,000 and the person who began early will not win at all", so we will add a new weapon. It is not recommended.
The sixth "Do not make avatar games". The problem of avatar games is "Billing will not be charged as chillin users remain". Next, "It is hard to direct the necessity of billing." Avatar is just satisfied with self-satisfaction. There is no necessity to buy it in the game alone, with satisfaction that "You can say that it is beautiful seen by people." This is a level that is failing as an online game. The rest is that "it costs the operation cost to keep adding new avatars." As monthly monthly labor costs of the designer, if you use outsourcing, its outsourcing costs will be applied, which will put pressure on the profit. Finally it is not very profitable because "the game tends to be shallow and the core user does not get around." So let's stop the avatar game.
Developers of consumer games do not know what they sell, so be careful as it tends to be an idea of "you should sell weapons". If you absolutely want to sell avatar items, please make at least the parameters that affect the main game. If you sell it with the parameter "It will make it easier to find good ones" if added, it is a fine game item, so even if you are not interested in Avatar but are enjoying the main part of the game you will also be bought.
The seventh is "Let's direct a scene that you want to charge." Purchasing items can not be sold at all by simply putting them in. Just saying "Please buy this item because there is such item" does not mean that the user wants to buy it at all, it will be a story "I will take it from next". "Why do you need to buy this item now?" Is important.
I gave three examples. First of all, it is "a director who does not want to miss the lucky opportunity that rarely comes out." For example, in Dorakue, most people would probably pay if you are told that "an item that makes lost metal escape escape is 300 yen". "After three days of doing it, if you escape now, you will be raising the level again, which is really cheap if you can buy the item for 300 yen." That's why I can make it feel like "I do not want to miss this chance, I will pay it now."
Next, it is the director "Only profitable". For example, suppose you are doing dorakue. Suddenly the fanfare rings and "Fever time! It is three minutes experience value from now for 5 minutes" It is said. You can play normally if it is Dorakue, but social games can not play games if their physical strength is 0. Therefore, if you purchase this recovery item now and play it, it will be three times more normal than usual. "Only now, I have triple the experience value only for this 5 minutes now, please decide at this moment, 5 It will be over when we get through, "he says.
Finally, the director said, "If you do not charge now you will be troublesome again". "Kaito Royale" is a game that collects treasure, and collecting 7 treasure boxes will result in a state of comp so that you will not be robbed of the treasure you gathered. But repeating such a retreat like a trepidation deprivation as soon as six treasures returns like three steps will be much more troublesome. "There are 6 pieces and I got 0, but if I release it, I will be taken again, so I will use 100 yen and battle again and I will compile". This is the basis of the online game "Relaxing Stress". "If you do not buy this now it will be more troublesome, you are feeling the stress right now, I will give you a stress relief if you pay 100 yen."
However, recent negative charges of this kind are not very popular. Customers dislike it. Because it leads to disgust with feeling stress, it is a billing method that does not ride in fashion, but it is better than not entering anything.
It is very important to incorporate these billing directives within the main cycle of the game. If you make an online game normally, the game will start and the game will collapse without paying bills. Please be sure to direct the situation that you think "I absolutely want to buy this item at this moment" and put it in the main cycle of the game.
Since time has run out, I will skip a bit.
The eighth "Activating the community". The community will be revitalized by including elements of cooperation among friends such as "It will be advantageous if there are friends", "Help me", "Present is given". Afterwards there is a guild match like MMO, diving into a dungeon who happens to be friends by chance and talking like "I am a witch and you are a partner so you become a partner", everyone dives in a dungeon It is said that "it was fun today," it is exciting.
As for why this is good, deepening relationship with friends who got acquainted in the game will make you feel guilty about cutting that relationship and you will be able to play for a long time. Although I got tired of the game itself, it is very important to create emotions such as "I will annoy you if I quit," he thought. As a result, it leads to maximization of LTV.
Next is the operation. I will tell you the basics of online game management. I think that if you make a game with all the designs I talked about, I will not make at least a big mistake.
First of all, the purpose of online game management is to maximize customer lifetime value (LTV).
In order to raise the LTV, the continuation rate is very important first. How to make online games is often drawn in a stereoscopic graph, but there are two graphs, Charging Rate and Billing Charge, this area is the charge for that moment. As the online game continues, there is a continuation rate in the third dimension.
In fact, the revenue of online games is the volume of a triangular pyramid. Since the volume of the charge rate, the charge amount, the continuation rate becomes the basic potential of the online game, as you increase the continuation rate, as the volume expands, it will become more and more profitable.
Taking a look at the billing rate and billing amount tends to neglect raising the continuation rate thinking that "Today was profitable", it is actually the most important thing. So please start increasing the continuation rate when operation starts. Then, after thinking that "continuation is already okay," we will begin charging rate and billing amount. Charging rate and billing amount are summarized by how you can satisfy customers after all.
From here it is real.
The first thing is that "even if development is completed, it is absolutely unnoticeable". The thing that tends to be in the company of the consumer game is that it takes care at the moment the development is completed. If you are distracted here, you will instantly stall and crash. Development and operation are both wheels, whichever is missing will fail. Even though it can be released, if you say in the development of ordinary consumers, please think that it is the level of "alpha version was made". It is very important to start administering with the feeling that "we will not make beta version from now". Please be aware that it is still incomplete.
The second thing is to "change your mind that you are the manager of a convenience store from today." People who have focused on game creation until now must become charismatic salespeople. This is quite difficult, but it will be a fresh experience for game developers who are far away from you. People who have experiences in the hospitality industry or have experience in communicating with customers are suitable. It is also suitable for people who like sales management. On the other hand, it is not suitable for people who make craftsmanship games.
Every day I look at the number of visitors and POS data "How will my sales rise further?" "Is it better?" "I think that customers will go home on the way, but I wonder what they are" It is important. In the end, it is to think about "every day" about "how can you make this game more enjoyable".
The third thing is to "improve the tutorial passing rate first". This is the case for Garaka social game, but as I said earlier, the continuation rate of the next day is only 50%. Since the most people here go out, it is very important to say "how you entertain your day and how you will not let the customer get bored". Therefore, we measure the dropout rate of all phases of the tutorial, and improve the place where there are many departures more and more. And I try to aim to exceed 90% of the tutorial passing rate. This might be a bit better if it is a downloading PC game.
Fourthly, "First focus on improving continuation rate". We can raise charge rate and charge amount later, so we will increase the continuation rate. The reason why the continuation rate is low is that "the game is boring in the first place," or "The customer has not resigned to understand the game", so if you do not raise the continuation rate first, the life of the game is short. Before billing is said, it is important to raise the continuation rate first. Analyze all of "how the customer acted in 30 minutes from the start" and check "I wonder if I move as I thought". Be sure to design all the production for 30 minutes and think about how the customer moves accordingly.
Next, fifth thing is to "repeat improvement only everyday". Since it is a business that lasts 365 days a year, what we have improved today will be 365 times higher in a year. If you raise the continuation rate today by 1% today, it will be a tremendous difference as it is up by 1% for 365 days. Please understand that making small improvements on a daily basis will indeed give ridiculous differences.
Ideally, I'll change the tutorial using the real-time KPI tool. After 1 hour, after seeing the difference of the continuation rate 1 hour ago and 1 hour later and thinking that "who changed it" went up, I will try something again. Improvements can be made very quickly if you change it many times during the day. This can not be done easily because data becomes insufficient, but it is ideal if possible.
Sixth "Improve departing points from game balance". This is also improvement of the continuation rate. First of all, assuming that you have withdrawn from a customer who has not logged in for more than 3 days, extract the log of the customer's actions and thoroughly analyze where you quit. When analyzing the level band, there are points 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 where there are times when we leave, and where the rate of withdrawal increases. "Then, I thought that there is something wrong with level 5", first try playing the game by myself "Level 5 is hard here only compared to others" "You can not defeat here boss, do not you think?" "Successively from here There is absolutely a reason like "I will fly to a flow I do not understand", so it is necessary to fix it and fix it. This is also a measure to improve the continuity rate.
Seventh is "to devise item sales method". A fine event done by a real retail store is quite useful. First of all, "What is different every day is discount". By doing this you will be motivated to play the game everyday. You can think like "I will buy it tomorrow as it is cheaper to buy tomorrow." After that, I will do an "unexpected time sale". Because this is "Please judge at this moment", customers will lose reason and will buy it. Although it is a bad thing to say so, I think that time sale is done bang bang even at a real retail store as usual. "Let's do what we normally do at retail stores for granted."
The eighth thing is "to thoroughly advertise new products in the game". If you sell a new item or add a quest, make sure to make a dedicated introduction page to appeal the appeal of the product with full power. People who have just created games have no experience of advertising their products. But in online games, if you add a new item with a store and appeal it as "new product!", You have to make a flyer saying "This place is amazing". It is the same as a supermarket making a flyer, let's do it as expected.
The ninth is "Advertise". Consumer games will concentrate advertisements before and after the release date, but full-fledged advertising will begin after the release of online games. However, please do not advertise while the continuation rate is low. Customers entering will flow like a monkey. In essence, we can not collect anything even if we use 10 million when the continuation rate after 1 month is only 0.5%. Therefore, we will decide that "If the continuation rate after one month exceeds tens of percent, we will decide" and we will only improve our initial rate of continuation. Otherwise advertising costs are a waste.
Also, customers entering and going out once will never come back. In general, the customer acquisition cost of advertisement expenditure rises as you hit an advertisement. For some reason, customers entering the moment of seeing the banner will come in, but one month later, even though I did not respond slowly at first, I thought "I have been doing something forever and it is interesting" There are customers with low motivation to enter. So, "This banner is 1 million yen per month, this time 10,000 people entered and the unit price was 100 yen per person", one month has passed, "Since 10,000 people have come in this time last time Even though I thought that 10,000 people would come in once, please be careful because there are frequent talks such as the fact that only 3000 people finally entered by slow customers and the acquisition unit price was 300 yen. Next, the operation edition "trap that experienced consumers tend to fall". First of all, we were also experienced consumer game development, so let me express myself from my reflections.
The first place is "I made a game assuming a gamer." In the case of online games it is still good, but in the case of social games, as mentioned earlier, since users are completely different, do not make it assuming gamers. Even if you know with your head, it is important to be aware that nature and body will move and make it for gamers. In that case it is correct if you ask the office girls to do it and say "boring".
The second thing is "to satisfy customers with free". When you are in the world of consumers, you first pay for the money, so it means "How much further can you satisfy?" Since I've been pursuing it all the time, the service spirit is overwhelming and I think that I will put that too. Of course it is good to let you play, but we need to delineate the place "from here on for a charge". Rather than letting you play around with all things, it means that you have to divide the paying place and the free place properly.
The third is "Do not seriously listen to customer's voice." Customers are far away for developers of consumer games, so on-site programmers, designers, planners have not heard the customer's voice much. So, even if the customer's voice came, please be careful as "I do not know such a thing, I think that this is good". On the contrary, some of the operators may listen too much.
Fourth, "We can not design games according to customer's lifestyle." In consumer games, I'm making games for people who concentrate for hours, so I think that "Why does the game end in 5 minutes, I do not know what it means". However, in future social games, "game design that does not place a burden on customers" is important, so let's develop your life style research and develop.
The fifth thing is "Do not promote billing items properly". It is a common thing, "Where is that item sold?" "I will sell it here" "No, it is not good, it is a burn and a banner are not on the top at the first moment of entering." You must become aware of it and realize that at the moment when an amateur who does not know this game knows it at ease, "I'm selling such things". Please be conscious of it.
Sixth "neglect the communication element". Since there was no communication in the first place in the consumer game, I can not understand the importance of raising the continuation rate. So it's a story that "Because there is no communication element, even one alone is fun enough." But then, since LTV does not rise, it will be a game that does not make money. Therefore, I would like you to understand that you have to put in the communication elements firmly and have to be in a situation that "customers are really getting along with each other".
It is the seventh. "I feel guilty for charging." When talking about online use of 50,000 a month or more, you tend to think that "This guy is stupid" or "Online game company is terrible frustrating". But I'd like to think calmly, but when I am addicted to consumer games, I am spending around 100,000 a month. As soon as it gets online, it gets an atmosphere like "crime using 100,000 for online games."
I do not have such a thing at all, for example I like cars amazingly, but I used money like stuff. A friend who likes to fish buys great fishing gear, friends who like to travel abroad for half a year with 500,000 travel funds, and everyone calculates by month, 50 thousand, 100 thousand are using. In short, humans can use 50, 000 thousand. It is worth it, if you think that it's amazing fun, even if you use 50,000,000 it will not hurt at all, it does not itch.
So, I think I'm sorry for taking money by billing, I can understand online games in the first place. It is a line of people who are not addicted to online game online. Please try yourself a fee of 50,000 yen first. It's amazing fun. I think that you can feel that it is worth 50,000. Never give a feeling of guilt to accounting, and think that you can not make a game if you think so.
The eighth thing is "Do not try to analyze customer's behavior". I think that this is because I have never done it, but when operation starts, I'm going to fix it somewhat properly saying "I do not know well what is going on, what is it? This is no good. It is very important to analyze "Where did the leaving user quit" as I said earlier. This must be done absolutely, but since developers of consumer games have never done it, it is quite common that they do not notice.
Ninth, finally "I make an avatar game because clothes are likely to sell." This is my example. This is not good. Please be careful, please.
The first thing you should do is "get online games until it gets scrapped." I have not written this, but please charge at least 20,000 yen a month. Then you will understand the feeling when you charge. I can never make an online game unless I know it. An online game made by a person who has never charged will be 100% damn gay. If you are told that a company can make online games, please take care of yourself and decide beforehand to use it for 23,000 online games every month. Otherwise I will make fucking gauze. This is the most important study method.
It is more than once. Finally, I will mention my feelings a bit. I met Diablo and Ultima Online at the age of 19, and I have been working for 10 years thinking that online game is the ultimate game. In the world of consumer games, Japanese games have swept the world, but next time I think that Japanese online games will dominate the world with smartphones. I am trying hard to make games in order to realize such a dream.
"DropWave is a smartphone and I will develop the online game from Japan all over the world" is my thought. Those who agree with this thought, recruitment jobs for all occasions are under recruitment. Everyone in the hall join us and we want programmers and now, so let's make online games by all means. Especially, we are looking for those who have experienced consumers.
Since I've been playing social games so far, I have not gotten accustomed to consumer experience, but smartphones came out and these two are getting closer. I do not need experienced social games, I teach what I need online, so I think that those who have experienced consumers are welcome to come here.
Finally, I was thinking that you would like to answer questions, but I do not have much time so I'm glad only one person. Would you like someone?
Questioner 1:
Although I denied Avatar 's game, I think that I am successful if I look at ameba pig etc etc, but please let us know if anything about the neighborhood is pointed out.
Honjo:
Ameba pig is not a game in the first place. That is a community site. Avatar games are pursuing pleasures that people see. It is extremely important to show off to a person, and then say "Oh, that's good." In that sense, I think that it came as the next thing of blogging and real time chat, but I think that it is very bad as a billing composition. It is profitable to make situations where it is advantageous to enlarge the game and charge in the game.
However, because that is not a game. People gathering over there are not wanting to play games, so selling clothes on that site is not there. If you would like to create a community site, I think avatar is good, but if we are a developer of consumer games I would like to compete with game content and fun.
Well, it is over.
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