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Eldwood11 days ago

What makes an RPG addictive? The same thing that makes anything addictive: the repeatedly broken promise of satisfaction. If it actually satisfies, then it’s not addictive.

A satisfying game makes you happy, and you stay happy when your session is over and you walk away from it. Sometimes you can even stop playing early because you already got what you wanted from the game.

An addictive game makes you miserable, but you constantly feel like it could make you feel better if you play just a little longer. You don’t want to walk away because whatever psychological need drove you to play the game is still unmet, but it will remain unmet as long as you play the game.

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Foxekai11 days ago

What about a game that continues to act on that satisfaction. You do a quest and feel satisfied about it, and that opens a new quest to try and that leads to a new area and that leads to a new ore and that leads to new weapon creation combos and that leads to new damage and that opens new options for quests and repeat.

A good dev can chain that satisfaction. Rather than keeping you hoping it gets great, you could just instead continue being greater with each choice. Doesn't that sound more fun?

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Eldwood11 days ago

What about a game that continues to act on that satisfaction.

That’s kind of expected from a satisfying game, unless the game ends right away? The alternative is to either stop satisfying and become addictive or stop satisfying and become so bad that it’s not even addictive anymore.

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Foxekai11 days ago

Yeah, I follow you on that.

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redonihunter10 days ago

I think the term addiction is not the right term for the discussion. Because there are actual addictive games, designed to be so. Often including real money. Some are even outright gambling games, like online casino and such. Others try loot box mechanics or try to obfuscate the gambling.

And of course, people can get behavioral addiction to just about anything, like watching tv or checking social media. No need for broken promise, or gambling mechanics. Tbf one can get addicted to video games, but also tbf, one can play poker without being addicted to it.

Good rpg games just pull you in, like a good book would pull you in, prompting you to read it in one go, if possible. You would not call the urge to read that book an addiction. Well, you might, but you would not mean it in the pathological sense, but as a figure of speech.

That chain of satisfaction you mentioned is just the fact that a game is interesting and keeps being interesting as you play it. Or fun. Challenging. Immersive. Whatever the good qualities of the game are. Which is a complex question for rpg, because they have so many different things that can be fun in different ways.

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LalaLewds10 days ago

I more meant it in a light hearted sense, like fun enough to want more, but I see where you're coming from. You're right, though, I wouldn't want someone to become genuinely addicted to my game in any unhealthy form. 

Mm, chain of satisfaction! I think that's the perfect way to put it. A good chain of enjoyment where you jump from one thing to the next and it's still keeping your interest is a perfect way to think about it!

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redonihunter10 days ago(+1)
I more meant it in a light hearted sense

I understood it that way. Even if there are games that are designed with attributes like player retention in mind. Which is a fancy way of saying, how addicitive something is.

but I see where you're coming from.

Uhm, ... I was butting in the sub thread where it seemed to be about real addiction,  and tried to convey, that this thread is not actually about real addiction, but the thing one would only figuratively call addictive ;-)

While games, especially rpg, are not linear, this chain of satisfaction, for lack of a better term, is basically what you would see in a well written book. You want to read the next chapter. If you put in too many distractions, interludes, boring things and so on, readers might get bored and would see it as a chore and not a recreational activity anymore.

In a point & click puzzle adventure, this point would be, when players just give up and either play by reading a walkthrough, or just deinstall the game and move on.

For a rpg you have much more wiggle room, because they are usually very non linear.

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