Fifth Journal Entry

Luis Lopez

GD 201 

Professor Richmond

03/28/2022

Journal Response

These two articles discussed the thought process that goes into the designs of multi player games and individual level designs. Multiplayer games can have a wide variety of player involvement from very little to very high. The nuances that determine how involved a player is as well as how long they can be retained in the game is whether the game is easy enough to enter but also requires skill and practice to “master” it. The balance is hard to find since a game that is too easy to learn and master will have a high initial player retention but over the course of time the number of players who are continuously playing will decrease due to their being no challenge. On the other hand if the game is too difficult in the beginning many players will have difficulty getting into the game, especially a team based one since any teams that have already formed will not want to substitute a player who knows the mechanics and has experience with a player that is new and needs to be taught the mechanics. The article provided a solution where players could share a collective goal and each player can have a certain class of character. Each class would have the same affordances but they can be executed differently so that one player with one role can realize they need the help of another player playing a different game. On the concept of level design, the level needs to not be generic while also adding contextual storytelling to the game. Assets can be reused to create links within the game and it needs to randomize elements of the game that other aspects can’t. Level design can be difficult and become mundane since it’s easy to recreate something we’re influenced by. To combat this issue, one can think about what is unique to the game that can be expanded upon in a given level. Build upon the games strengths and the players affordances and the level can be designed very well and fit into the overarching theme of your game.