Shared Link | Saturday, May 30, 2020

Creating stronger bonds between players and NPCs through group-conflict

Creating stronger bonds between players and NPCs through group-conflict Link preview image

This article explores how we can use psychology to strengthen players’ emotional bonds with NPCs in order to give them a more fulfilling experience and keep them playing for longer.

Site iconwww.gamasutra.com — May 26, 2020

This writeup discusses a study showing the unsurprising result that group dynamics make people care more about others, whether they are real or fictional - we want good things to happen to our allies and bad things to happen to our enemies. This is relevant to game design because caring more about a game’s characters is a recipe for improved engagement. But what I found particularly interesting about the study was that it implies that a good way to make players care even more about their allies is to have them suffer setbacks and losses together, and a good way to make players care even more about their enemies is to make their rivalries as evenly-matched as possible.

Tags: Shared Link, TOPIC: Psychology, CREATOR: Jonas Pastoors

⇐ PREVIOUS LINK: Cheating Lets You Experience the Best Parts of a Game More Often - Escapist Magazine ⇒ NEXT LINK: What Casual Games Are Like For Someone Who Doesn't Play Games

Search Pixel Poppers

About/FAQ

First time here? Lost or confused? Got any questions? Start here!

Related Content

  • [SHARED LINK] Why Players Blame Skill-Based Matchmaking for Losing in Call of Duty
  • [SHARED LINK] Effects of a violent video game depend on whether you’re Superman or the Joker
  • [SHARED LINK] ErotiSim: Sex and The Sims
  • [SHARED LINK] Inviting Player Creativity Through Game Mechanics
  • [SHARED LINK] Group Report: Coziness in Games: An Exploration of Safety, Softness, and Satisfied Needs

Top Tags

  • Review (340)
  • Thought (278)
  • Shared Link (118)
  • TOPIC: Consumer Experience (63)
  • Article (60)
  • TOPIC: Difficulty (49)
  • Video (32)
  • TOPIC: Storytelling (31)
  • GAME: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (24)
  • TOPIC: Marketing (21)
  • TOPIC: Authorial Intent (18)
  • TOPIC: Psychology (18)
  • TOPIC: Preservation (15)
  • GAME: Dragon Quest Builders 2 (14)
  • TOPIC: Completionism (13)
  • TOPIC: Player Choice (13)
  • TOPIC: Learning (12)
  • GAME: Bubsy: Paws on Fire! (10)
  • GAME: World of Warcraft (10)
  • TOPIC: Accessibility (9)
All Tags

Newest Posts

  • [THOUGHT] I might have found a pill that makes me not like video games anymore.
  • [SHARED LINK] Game Demos Need to Come Back For Many Reasons, Especially for Accessibility
  • [THOUGHT] Alto's Adventure wants me to wait
  • [REVIEW] The Sea Eternal
  • [SHARED LINK] A Story of Boxes, and How Players Can’t Think Outside of It – GD Keys
All Posts

© 2021 Pixel Poppers. All rights reserved. Site powered by Hugo. Comments powered by HashOver. Search powered by Lunr. Social media sharing buttons provided by Sharingbuttons.io.