1/16/15

Why Pottermore Needs a New Game

Remember when you thought this would be a thing?
Now while I've said that Pottermore's best asset is it's users... this isn't necessarily a great thing for the website, especially as users cycle though and get bored or ostracised due to the troll problem. So for details check here after the break.
Community is what gives most games some sense of staying power, but this is not it. Even World of Warcraft can suffer user fatigue as users just leave as they get bored with the game. They master it. There is not much new and there is no challenge. They get to the level cap and they succeed. Transferring that logic to Pottermore, as soon as you can brew any potion you wish, win a majority of duels or get to the leaderboards, after a set amount of time, there's not much motive to return to the site other than for friends, but even as that loses appeal, what would bring people back to the site?

The theory I'd like to bring up is that of a meta game. Now, the overall game of Pottermore is that Duels earn the most points, followed by potions, then collection, then nothing. Duels have the draw back that they could give points to another house, Potions are held back by galleon amounts, and there is a limit to how many items can be collected for points (1 point per item). However, the balance of the game still heavily favors dueling. People can pick their targets, and for some people they can win 99% of the duels they send out and they can do so quickly, so the metagame right now is heavily in favor of duelists as a whole. While potions have almost had a good chance with doxycide, it is still wasn't a good balance in the long run, especially considering duels that can be sent out in the same period of time. Thus, it would still make more sense to duel than it would be to brew, unless you were bad at dueling.

So what beats dueling? Seemingly nothing. There is little strategy to the dueling game itself, meaning it is more or less a game of skill and chance, as not only does your OWN skill have to be high to win consistently or in a regular amount, but that you can always hit someone higher if you are dueling in opens, as most people do. This gives way to hunting and other strategies considered shady by most, but there's really no thought put into the game other than "what's my best spell?", "how strong are the people that are out?", and "am I winning enough?" Potions is similarly simple being "am I good at it?", "do I have the time?" and "do I have the funds?" The problem in all this is there is no element of strategy beyond this point and Potions are usually considered inferior to dueling as a result. As such, here is a "quick fix" solution batch for Pottermore.


Hey Remember Me? I'm Gobstones!
  1. Potion points increase, duel points made variable via a wager system. You wager points for the duel, in incriments of 5, maximised at 20, you then are matched up against someone that makes a similar wager. This should have the effect of new players wagering 5 points and more experienced players wagering 20. This adds a bit more strategy and forces people a bit more. In addition a "any house but mine" button would be added to help people keep dueling and be set up against opponents faster. 
  2. Potions points increase DRASTICALLY, but in return one cannot duel while brewing. 
  3. NEW GAME: Gobstones. Incorporate the wager aspect from suggestion 1, and set it up so that it is effectively a 3 part game of rock paper scissors.  (spin, straight shot and bounce) though this could also possibly be done as a wizard's chess or even quidditch. 
  4. New game: you have 30 seconds to get the quaffle past the keeper as many times. he moves, you click a hoop he can't be there. After that you have FIVE seconds to catch the snitch. If your points are higher than your opponent's you get ALL the points you have earned. It is scored like quidditch, but you can only do it ONCE per house. (one match v puff/one match v lions, one match v eagles if you are in slytherin.) 
  5. New Game: BS. This would be an interesting one, so you wager INGREDIENTS for this one, your opponent would have to guess whether they wagered more or LESS than the opponent. If they get it right they are rewarded with as many as the opponent wagered. 
  6. Add Progression as a goal: Give people the ability to shorten brew time as they brew more, or give people special bonuses occasionally. Help people score more with certain spells as they win more often with those spells. Let it show, let people gain experience and level themselves up. 
  7. Allow sabotage. give potions abilities to interfere with a house's point earning it seems cruel, but it gives more purpose to potions as they 
The goal here is not only to add something new, but to add some complexity and strategic choices that would allow individuals to start playing a deeper game, and get more discussions going about HOW to win and what would be a better strategy. 

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