Keeping Recourse Collection Entertaining
Well, I agree with the idea that a crafting minigame should feel smoothly integrated into the theme, style, etc. of the rest of the game. But I don't think the controls should be the same; half the point of having resource gathering is to have a different kind of gameplay so the player has a way to keep playing while taking a rest from the main gameplay. That helps prevent the player getting bored of the main gameplay. As for whether it should be necessary for success or progress, it would make sense if the player would have to complete easy tutorial sessions to progress, but that higher levels/higher scores/more difficult achievements would not be required for progress; they could produce rare drops but these could be purchased from other players or an npc, or won as a pvp reward, etc., if the player wasn't skilled at that particular minigame. That's another reason why controls should be different; there should be a variety of crafting minigames such that every player has at least one they enjoy and are particularly good at, to use as a time sink and trade the rewards for those produced from other minigames.
I agree that new approaches could be worthwhile. Why would you ever want to put something boring in a game that people play for fun? Now sure, just for pacing purposes that may be good, e.g. "I'm all combatted out, I need a break", but something you spend a considerable time doing? No way.
I like the idea of it being optional, but you get a low yield for auto-fishing etc. I think playing it should allow a better yield or special items. You could also add special events to keep it interesting. For example one giant catfish that you need to find, find it's routines, get special equipment and tactics for, etc. If you don't put in the effort... well, you catch a regular fish. No harm no foul, but there are bragging rights to landing the big one. And special things can be crafted from it.
I like the idea of it being optional, but you get a low yield for auto-fishing etc. I think playing it should allow a better yield or special items. You could also add special events to keep it interesting. For example one giant catfish that you need to find, find it's routines, get special equipment and tactics for, etc. If you don't put in the effort... well, you catch a regular fish. No harm no foul, but there are bragging rights to landing the big one. And special things can be crafted from it.
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Thank you everyone for all your wonderful contributions, really got my mind ticking now!
This in particular caught my attention, the idea that you can upgrade the way you collect recourse so it's a balancing act: "Do I get a better axe for my wood-collecting or do I invest in better fishing poles??" - in my game money is hard to come by so this makes a lot of sense.
You can also upgrade fishermen by paying money for better equipment - So the Fisherman might be level 5 by default, but after fishing for 10 hours leveled up to level 6, but also you bought him a really good fishing pole which increases his level by 0.75, and a really sweet looking fishing hat, which increases a further 0.5 (making him level 7.25). Then, since you recently fished in his area, and you scored a +3.5 (on the -5 to +5 scale) in the fishing minigame, all the fishermen at that pond, including this Fisherman, gained +3.5 to their levels which wears off gradually over the next 15 minutes, and the Fisherman with the sweet hat is now temporarily level 10.75, making him fish you a fish every 1 minute, 20 seconds, instead of every 2 1/2 minutes.
This in particular caught my attention, the idea that you can upgrade the way you collect recourse so it's a balancing act: "Do I get a better axe for my wood-collecting or do I invest in better fishing poles??" - in my game money is hard to come by so this makes a lot of sense.
My point was actually more about making resource collection something you would want to play in your own right. If you let people play minigames to let people fight better, then resource collection is a means to an end. Also, people generally put more detail into combat then resource collection (have you ever gotten a status effect from mining? Have you had to keep a close watch on the "fresh air" bar and "energy" bar on the HUD?). How many quests have you gotten in games like Skyrim that not only didn't focus on combat, but didn't require any combat whatsoever? How many times have you slain monsters so that you could use the crafting materials to make something knew to help you collect more resources so that you could craft even more?
I find that games make resource collection fairly easy just by the instant gratification of the process. You mine this, you get this. Then they toss on a slight percentage for a "higher quality" acquisition, but the acquisition is still there. If you lower the amount of goods harvested versus what is needed the harvested product becomes more valuable once obtained. This keeps demand(crafters) high resulting in harvesting(supply) valuable.
Lower amounts harvested is something to look into as I know it is often the case in the real world that gold miners are extremely happy to find a pea sized nugget. Yet when we play games the ground that we mine just have large chunk after large chunk of ore to pull out of the ground? Not aiming for realism as that would result in needing to make mining a really REALLY fun activity, but something a little less bloated.
Lower amounts harvested is something to look into as I know it is often the case in the real world that gold miners are extremely happy to find a pea sized nugget. Yet when we play games the ground that we mine just have large chunk after large chunk of ore to pull out of the ground? Not aiming for realism as that would result in needing to make mining a really REALLY fun activity, but something a little less bloated.
A nice example is Runescape.
Gathering resources (cutting trees, fishing, mining, etc) is fun because you gain levels through the gathering. And after a certain level you can gather better/more expensive resources which make you want to reach That needed level.
That's the number 1 reason why resource collecting in that game is fun. The second one is that they use quests.
For the quests you need a some requirements.(example: you need level 17 woodcutting, 10cooking, 35mining).
The quests give nice rewards meaning you also want to get those levels.(and you still gather resources on a fun way)
And then the third reason, when you reach around 90+ in a skill you can collect very expensive resources which you can sell to get rich fast. :-)
Gathering resources (cutting trees, fishing, mining, etc) is fun because you gain levels through the gathering. And after a certain level you can gather better/more expensive resources which make you want to reach That needed level.
That's the number 1 reason why resource collecting in that game is fun. The second one is that they use quests.
For the quests you need a some requirements.(example: you need level 17 woodcutting, 10cooking, 35mining).
The quests give nice rewards meaning you also want to get those levels.(and you still gather resources on a fun way)
And then the third reason, when you reach around 90+ in a skill you can collect very expensive resources which you can sell to get rich fast. :-)
Resource collection doesn't have to be fun in and of itself. It depends on the style of the game, and how much resource collection you have to do.
In an RTS resource collection is done alongside everything else, you have to keep a watchful eye on your resource collectors, protect them from attacks. It's something you have to be constantly aware of, and it's just a part of the 'main game'.
In MMOs like World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars 2, resources are scattered around so that while you're going about your other business you can snatch a bit here or there. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. If you focused solely on it, it can become tedious.
In shooters you (may) gain money simply from playing the game, and that allows you to buy upgrades. It's not something that the player necessarily thinks about, but you have to think about the balance of cost/return. You don't want to end up encouraging the player to 'grind' something endlessly for cash, or even worse - forcing him to do so.
If you need to resource collect constantly, then it needs to be integrated into the gameplay seamlessly. It should just be 'part of the game' and if the game is fun, then it will be too.
If resource collection is optional then you need to think about how often the player is going to want to collect resources because even the best game in the world can become tedious, especially if it doesn't fit into the rest of the game. If you were playing Guild Wars and every time you wanted to mine for iron you had to stop and play a game of pacman then it'll get old very quickly. It doesn't matter if pacman is a fun game if the player really wants to just play Guild Wars.
Resource collection doesn't need to be standalone. But at the very least, it shouldn't make the rest of the game less fun.
In an RTS resource collection is done alongside everything else, you have to keep a watchful eye on your resource collectors, protect them from attacks. It's something you have to be constantly aware of, and it's just a part of the 'main game'.
In MMOs like World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars 2, resources are scattered around so that while you're going about your other business you can snatch a bit here or there. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. If you focused solely on it, it can become tedious.
In shooters you (may) gain money simply from playing the game, and that allows you to buy upgrades. It's not something that the player necessarily thinks about, but you have to think about the balance of cost/return. You don't want to end up encouraging the player to 'grind' something endlessly for cash, or even worse - forcing him to do so.
If you need to resource collect constantly, then it needs to be integrated into the gameplay seamlessly. It should just be 'part of the game' and if the game is fun, then it will be too.
If resource collection is optional then you need to think about how often the player is going to want to collect resources because even the best game in the world can become tedious, especially if it doesn't fit into the rest of the game. If you were playing Guild Wars and every time you wanted to mine for iron you had to stop and play a game of pacman then it'll get old very quickly. It doesn't matter if pacman is a fun game if the player really wants to just play Guild Wars.
Resource collection doesn't need to be standalone. But at the very least, it shouldn't make the rest of the game less fun.
To the one that votes me down: isn't Runescape a good example?
From my experiences at gaming that game has the most fun resource collecting so please, tell me your opinion about this topic...
If you vote someone down it's gentle to comment the reason with a quote or something.
From my experiences at gaming that game has the most fun resource collecting so please, tell me your opinion about this topic...
If you vote someone down it's gentle to comment the reason with a quote or something.
[off-topic]
[indent=1]You can click on the number (the -1 or +1) and see who rated you down ([size=2]retaliatory ratings are frowned upon by the community, though).
[indent=1]Meh, people will rate people down - sometimes they don't have enough time to respond properly ([size=2]running out the door, or at work, or on a device like a smartphone where it's harder to type), but still want to participate through rating.
[indent=1]I rated you and PyroDragn up to compensate, since I think your contrary opinions add to the discussion.
[/off-topic]
[indent=1]You can click on the number (the -1 or +1) and see who rated you down ([size=2]retaliatory ratings are frowned upon by the community, though).
[indent=1]Meh, people will rate people down - sometimes they don't have enough time to respond properly ([size=2]running out the door, or at work, or on a device like a smartphone where it's harder to type), but still want to participate through rating.
[indent=1]I rated you and PyroDragn up to compensate, since I think your contrary opinions add to the discussion.
[/off-topic]
To the one that votes me down: isn't Runescape a good example?
From my experiences at gaming that game has the most fun resource collecting so please, tell me your opinion about this topic...
If you vote someone down it's gentle to comment the reason with a quote or something.
You're saying that you can make something fun by adding levels, and rewarding the players for it and for leveling up. Other than the fact that I think it's obvious someone would do that, it's vague and by itself doesn't help that much.
Resource collection doesn't have to be fun in and of itself. It depends on the style of the game, and how much resource collection you have to do.
In an RTS resource collection is done alongside everything else, you have to keep a watchful eye on your resource collectors, protect them from attacks. It's something you have to be constantly aware of, and it's just a part of the 'main game'.
In MMOs like World of Warcraft, or Guild Wars 2, resources are scattered around so that while you're going about your other business you can snatch a bit here or there. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. If you focused solely on it, it can become tedious.
In shooters you (may) gain money simply from playing the game, and that allows you to buy upgrades. It's not something that the player necessarily thinks about, but you have to think about the balance of cost/return. You don't want to end up encouraging the player to 'grind' something endlessly for cash, or even worse - forcing him to do so.
If you need to resource collect constantly, then it needs to be integrated into the gameplay seamlessly. It should just be 'part of the game' and if the game is fun, then it will be too.
If resource collection is optional then you need to think about how often the player is going to want to collect resources because even the best game in the world can become tedious, especially if it doesn't fit into the rest of the game. If you were playing Guild Wars and every time you wanted to mine for iron you had to stop and play a game of pacman then it'll get old very quickly. It doesn't matter if pacman is a fun game if the player really wants to just play Guild Wars.
Resource collection doesn't need to be standalone. But at the very least, it shouldn't make the rest of the game less fun.
Did you click on the link in the OP? You're missing the entire point. The point is to make resource collection fun as a central part of the game.
This topic is closed to new replies.
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