E-commerce game design and planning techniques (Part 2)

The era of content-based e-commerce has quietly arrived, and e-commerce games have gradually come into our sight. After reading the full text, I believe you will understand a thing or two about how to design and plan an e-commerce game with a sound ecosystem and good operation.

E-commerce game design and planning methods (Part 1)

05. Deconstruction of e-commerce game design

Next, we will enter Chapter 5 - Deconstruction of E-commerce Game Design. This chapter will analyze various aspects of e-commerce game design in a modular way, leading everyone to understand the overall architecture of a game.

In the eyes of players, the concept of game is enough with just one word "fun", because as users, players do not need to know the twists and turns in game design. The concept of ultimately satisfying user experience is just the word "fun". If players feel happy, they will have the motivation to continue playing the game, which can also bring about the expected user behavior we need. For designers, game design is more like a rigorous logical discipline, and there are many aspects that need to be considered. In addition to the logic of the game itself, it is also necessary to consider the subsequent user behavior generated by the game, as well as the corresponding operational strategies, etc. Therefore, before designing a game, please be sure to keep a clear mind and clear thinking.

The part of the game that players can perceive may only be the tip of the iceberg. Many of the efforts of designers may be hidden but crucial, affecting the stability of the entire game ecosystem. Let's take a look at how to deconstruct the game from a macro perspective.

If we compare a game to a pyramid, we can divide the game design into three layers according to the hierarchical relationship: the basic loop, game closed loop and weight distribution at the bottom layer; the game resource loop in the middle layer and the game social loop at the top layer.

Let’s start from the basic layer of the game and understand the closed loop of the game and its weight distribution. The closed loop of a game refers to the overall cycle consisting of the core gameplay of the game and its derivative processes. Users can continuously improve themselves while advancing the game process in the closed loop of the game. The core gameplay provides the basic game elements for the closed loop, while the closed loop provides subsequent game resource support. It is very important to correctly understand the role of the game closed loop. A sophisticated gameplay core is certainly important, but without the support of a robust game closed loop, it will be difficult to run continuously.

The role of a closed loop in a game mainly includes the following three aspects: at the business level, the closed loop of a game is a place to realize the core demands of various business partners. A typical game task system belongs to this part. At the experience level, the closed loop of a game, as the ending of the core gameplay, plays the role of sublimating the game experience and giving players meaning to the game. For example, in Dragon Quest, the dragon fight belongs to the core of the game, while obtaining treasures and winning princesses belong to the closed loop. An excellent closed loop can take the entire game experience to a higher level. At the functional level, the closed loop of a game plays a role in maintaining the stability of the system. For example, the consumption and transformation of game resources through a closed loop can stabilize the game's resource system.

According to our gaming needs, the proportion of closed loops at different rhythms is also different. Fast-paced games mainly focus on the core gameplay, extremely enhance the magic of the core gameplay, and produce a larger burst in a shorter period of time. Although long-term operation games also pursue user growth, they require more game closed loops to achieve long-term operation of the game, mainly including the sustainable growth of game resources and the long-term stability of game content. The above is an explanation of the game closed loop. Now let’s take a look at the game resources.

Game resources, in layman's terms, are the currency that can be earned in the game. Of course, the currency varies greatly in different games, but in essence, game resources are game symbols obtained by players that help advance the game process. We can understand that game resources are feedback rewards for users to meet established behavioral goals. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that the game structure determines the player's behavior, and the player obtains resource feedback after performing the behavior. These resource feedbacks are used in the subsequent game structure, thus forming the basic resource circulation model of the game.

So what can the resources in the game do? Here are 5 points:

1. Game resources are used to connect various game modules. For example, consuming gold coins to upgrade weapons opens up the weapon upgrade module.
2. Balance the differences between players. Through strategic game resource rewards, we can cleverly balance the gap between players, give more care to novice or low-end players, and give senior players rewards that match their positioning.
3. Encourage players to complete designated operations, use game resources as rewards, and encourage players to continuously complete their goals
4. Maintain the game life cycle by setting resource consumption thresholds to limit the player's game progress, so that the game cycle can be operated as expected
5. Conversion with other resources, which is particularly prominent in e-commerce games, that is, the conversion between virtual currency and real rewards

Resources are used for consumption, so what will the consumed resources be converted into? Here are four directions summarized based on the characteristics of e-commerce games:

1. Converted into game objects: Players consume game resources to obtain new game characters or other usable elements
2. Transformed into game mechanics: Players consume game resources to unlock new gameplay mechanics, such as levels, higher difficulty levels, etc.
3. Converted into e-commerce resources: In view of the characteristics of e-commerce games, game resources can be converted into corresponding commercial reward resources
4. Transformed into user growth: players accumulate game achievements by consuming resources, gaining higher levels and achievement points, etc.

The game resource system is an indispensable element in many games, but the use of resources needs to be restrained. Too many types of game resources are often accompanied by complex conversion relationships and confusion among players.

Finally, let’s talk about the social module within the game, which is the module that drives interaction between people.

The biggest difference between game social networking and SNS social networking commonly used by e-commerce platforms is that its sharing is based on the fun and self-motivation of the game itself. It is very important for players to have control over sharing. We need to make players realize that they are the protagonists and leaders of the game, rather than being dominated by the gameplay. The social fission based on game content is also more content-oriented and attractive. Compared with the bargaining assistance all over the streets, it is easier for customers to accept and will not lead to the depletion of social relationship chains due to excessive disturbances. At the same time, game sharing itself is a teaching mechanism. New players can first feel the tone and core logic of the game through sharing content, which can effectively lower their psychological expectation threshold.

In-game social interaction is subordinate to the concept of social interaction, and is naturally divided into two categories: strong relationship chains and weak relationship chains. Strong relationship chain social interaction is mainly based on players’ relatively stable social friends, and can achieve more in-depth co-construction of game content, such as the visiting mode and collaborative task mode in the game; while weak relationship chains do not require relationship binding between players, and therefore can achieve more effective breadth fission. We may not know some players at all because they are friends of our friends, but we can find some of their information through various channels such as rankings. This is the role of weak relationship chains.

The design of game social interaction is determined by the form of the game, but follows a general logical structure:

1. Building a community environment within the game: The community atmosphere is the foundation of the entire social module. A clear sense of community helps users use social functions more actively.
2. Social communication module: Strengthen global or regional communication functions, weaken single-line connection, and the value of the communication frequency between players reaching the threshold is much lower than the value of the communication coverage between players reaching the threshold
3. Game group cooperation mode: According to the cooperation intensity, it can be divided into strong cooperation mode and weak cooperation mode, and according to the participation, it can be divided into synchronous cooperation mode and asynchronous cooperation mode. The cooperation mode is conducive to social recognition and game goals among players.
4. Competition mode among game players: The competition mode has the ability to enhance user flow in a short period of time. It tends to be driven by black hat behaviors and can be used as a supplement to the white hat social mode, but the degree of competition needs to be controlled.
5. External links outside the game environment: Social scenes outside the game environment, mainly on social platforms such as WeChat. The form and quality of external links affect the first funnel of new user conversion

Above, we have constructed the overall structure of e-commerce games through a three-layer structure from low to high, and understood the closed-loop design ideas, resource design ideas, and social design ideas in e-commerce games. Next, let’s take a look at actual cases.

06. Practical e-commerce game design

In this chapter, we will take "Jingqi World" as an example to show how we implement game design ideas.

First of all, let’s take a brief look at the background and positioning of the “Jingqi World” project. We hope to design a game aggregation ecosystem that accommodates various independent games, and use this to support and promote each other among the games, and ultimately become a complete entertainment ecosystem for game users.

"Jingqi World" is a typical system architecture that integrates long-term gameplay and independent game aggregation. That is, the entire world itself is a long-term development game, and users can find all kinds of magical mini-games that suit their interests here. The advantage of this design is that it can not only maintain the rapid launch and iteration of a single gameplay, but also have long-term user incentives to ensure that user participation is effective in the long term, which can better conform to the ecological environment of JD's e-commerce platform.

Every independent game in "Jingqi World" is developed in cooperation with various business units. While fully meeting business needs, it also has its own unique gameplay excitement, thus building a value network between users and business goals.

We have planned many innovative ways of playing for "Jingqi World", which can ensure that when the demand for rapid online launch is met, we can provide a sufficient pool of solutions for the demanders to choose from.

At the same time, "Jingqi World" has a complete game closed-loop mechanism. Users can gain achievements and currency through the game, unlock different DOGA family images, and apply these images to various games.

More game resources can also be used for lottery gameplay. While obtaining virtual props, you can also get commercial rewards, completing the unity of commercial value and game value. The above is our actual game explanation. Students who are interested in "Jingqi World" are also welcome to chat at any time_(:з」∠)_

07. Game numerical system design

Next we will move on to the design of the game's numerical system. Numerical design itself is a relatively big pitfall, so here we will only give some basic explanations from a macro perspective.

The first question to be answered is "Why do we need to do numerical design?"

The answer is very real, because there is no, so we need to do it ourselves.

Numerical feedforward and feedback basically exist in every user behavior process, which is why we say that numerical logic is an important underlying driver of the game.

Numerical feedforward: Before the user performs an operation, the numerical display in the game is an intuitive reflection of the logic of the game rules. The user establishes a basic perception of the game content by interpreting the numerical values.

Numerical feedback: After the user performs an operation, the numerical display of the game result is used to explain the cause and effect relationship of the game logic, that is, the relationship between the user operation and the reward. The user can specify the corresponding strategy for subsequent operations by interpreting the feedback value.

Users' perception of the game conforms to Norman's three-layer structure of emotional design, namely the instinctive layer-behavioral layer-reflective layer. The characteristic of the game is that it is quickly introduced through the instinctive layer and has a high frequency of circulation between the behavioral layer and the reflective layer. This is determined by the strong behavioral feedback nature of the game. The instinctive layer mainly includes the intuitive perception that the game's visual style brings to users. Whether the game image is good-looking, whether the scene is cool, whether the skills are gorgeous, etc., all belong to the category of the instinctive layer. The instinctive layer is certainly important, but we will pay more attention to the user's behavioral layer, that is, the user's game operation level - the core level that is directly related to user activity and stickiness. So what drives the user behavior layer? On the surface, it is the gameplay module, that is, the game's interactive form, gameplay mode, incentive rules, etc., and the underlying layer of all this is the logical network built by our game values. We use numerical design to ensure that each game logic can be executed as expected, and the normal execution of the game is the basis of user activity and retention. Therefore, although numerical design is relatively low-key in the game, it is indeed the big boss behind the scenes.

What we ultimately need to do is to control the growth of players and the advancement of the game through numerical settings. This is the essence of numerical design.

We will set up a numerical model to simulate user growth. Usually we expect users to smoothly transition from the initial period to the stable period, so the typical growth curve is a logarithmic function or a direct proportional function.

In long-term games, we may need to constantly iterate the user growth curve, because every major revision may mean that users need to grow again.

In an actual project environment, numerical design is certainly not something that can be accomplished simply by thinking about it, so we need some handy tools to help us complete each step of the numerical design. Flexible use of tables can help us get twice the result with half the effort when doing numerical design work.

It is recommended to set the numerical system in a top-down order. If you start from a very specific point at the beginning, you may lose yourself in various relationships.

Capable students are also highly recommended to simulate the dynamic changes of numerical systems, so that our goals can be better aligned with expectations.

An obvious feature in e-commerce games is that the distribution of players is not a typical normal distribution. It is often encountered that Buddhist players account for the majority, so please be sure to stay sober when designing values.

08. Conclusion

Finally, let me share some thoughts on game design.

First of all, you should constantly ask yourself whether a project is suitable for gamification, whether the complexity of the project and the development cost are acceptable, and most importantly, whether the game will be fun.

In game projects, we often take detours, which is normal and in line with the objective fact of the upward spiral of history. Game projects are subject to various conditions, and we need to be patient and constantly make it better.

At the same time, we need to have enough foresight to plan the future of the game according to the situation in order to provide direction for subsequent development.

Finally, I would like to share with you this sentence from McGonigal's book "Games Make the World a Better Place": "Games will not lead us to the destruction of civilization, they will lead us to reshape human civilization." From a higher perspective, every game designer will have such a mission, and we will eventually hope that games can make everything better.

Author: JD Design Center JDC

Source: JD Design Center