[2021] Tweets by Markyetter on 11 Feb

It’s not so easy though because it’s also very important to gather feedback and data constantly to evaluate and improve on your work. It wouldn’t be a good method to release a game update and say “ok see you in a year to find out how this went” 4/

So the better goal to pursue is long term engagement trends like “are more players playing this year compared to last year?” (Even better if it’s a longer time frame) Over really long periods of time it’s more about actual player satisfaction with the game. 3/

The pitfall is that chasing short term engagement is so tempting and uses tactics that burn players out long term A demanding design that pressures players to log in a ton of hours is really effective in the short term but it chips away at their long term trust or interest 2/

“Engagement” is one of those tricky metrics for game devs. It can be good or bad depending on how it’s used. The intention is usually good because if people are playing the game, they must be happy. 1/

1. Are players engaging more or less now? + 2. Player sentiment around long term (Stuff like surveys asking players if they think the game is improved, or if they feel like we’re demanding too much time etc) 6/6

So in the end I try to keep the focus on long term goals rather than short but check for signs quickly. Real success is when players are satisfied long term. 5/

Another thought - short term engagement spikes can be a positive edition if done at the right pace A double xp weekend or expansion is an exciting moment for hardcore play. But if they’re too frequent or constantly running it feels like the game just expects all of your time

@MaTtKs True it’s a big confounding issue

@IksarHS Ya finding the real source of long term effects is the white whale. Short term sentiment is sometimes a good indicator but even then it’s not perfect. Sometimes a feature is loved at first and fades or the opposite occurs.

@MorelloNMST @IksarHS Yea metrics can help to understand past strategies, but you can’t really use them to innovate by definition because that involves trying something untested. Which leads to design craft basically - break things down more to fundamentals and apply them in new ways.