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Human Needs: The Psychology Behind Successful MMORPGs
Bazharkhan
Member UncommonPosts: 31
I wanted to talk about intrinsic motivation and the 16 basic desires theory put forward by Professor Steven Reiss. You can find his study online with any search.
The study included more than 6,000 people, and tries to explain our behavior, our evolution - even the role of genetics in determining 14 of these 16 desires. These basic needs guide nearly all human behavior, and are being put forward as an alternative way of looking at the old bottom-up human needs pyramid. The basic desires are:
* Acceptance, the need for approval
* Curiosity, the need to learn
* Eating, the need for food
* Family, the need to raise children
* Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group
* Idealism, the need for social justice
* Independence, the need for individuality
* Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments
* Physical activity, the need for exercise
* Power, the need for influence of will
* Romance, the need for sex
* Saving, the need to collect
* Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)
* Status, the need for social standing/importance
* Tranquility, the need to be safe
* Vengeance, the need to strike back/to win
Note that none of the above 16 desires are ranked by 'weight' or how much preference they are given in a choice model. These basic desires represent intrinsic desires that directly and deeply motivate a person's behavior, and not aimed at indirectly satisfying other desires. People may also be motivated by non-basic desires, but in this case this does not relate to deep motivation, or only as a means to achieve other basic desires.
I wanted to take the time to look at those 16 needs over a series of posts and find where MMORPGs and other games that we have played fulfil these desires. For any type of activity to be rewarding, human needs and desires should be taken into account, so let's start from the top:
* Acceptance, the need for approval
This is an easy one in most cases. Social games, at their core are games that fulfil our desire to be accepted in society, whether that society consists of 2 people or 12 million people. The vast majority of forum posts (and blogs, admittedly) are a way of seeking approval - for opinions, writing style, wit, ideas, etc. When we link a brand new item we just found in an MMORPG, we are fishing for acceptance at a very basic level; that is - "Hey guys, I do well in this game, and I feel rewarded by your approval of my success."
* Curiosity, the need to learn
This one is also present in all MMORPGs, and I don't just mean for the 'explorer' archetypes. Curiosity can be sated by any type of knowledge; including new dungeons, content, quests, and even the learning curve of a particular class/system.
* Eating, the need for food
Rough one here; my guess is that MMORPGS can only do this one indirectly, unless you count the ones that allow you to order pizza in-game and have it delivered to your house!
* Family, the need to raise children
This one, believe it or not, is easier than it looks. Vanity pets, guild mates or even our characters themselves fill this desire rather directly. When we take time and care with our characters, going over every piece of gear and every hairstyle, facial type and clothing variety we can, we are, evolutionarily speaking, "raising" a child. Guilds provide a sense of belonging in a very large world full of strangers. I have been in plenty of guilds where I didn't know certain guildmates at all, even in game. Yet when I see that familiar guild tag over their heads, I instantly feel a sense (even a miniscule one) of comraderie with them, and am more likely to speak, quest or group up with them than any other stranger of equal class, level, and even attitude.
* Honor, the need to be loyal to the traditional values of one's clan/ethnic group
Again, in MMORPGs, this can be fulfilled by guildmates as well as very directly by a code of conduct in the game, whether that be a ToS (with actual penalties for infractions) or a set of unwritten rules (don't gank someone doing their dailies). We also see people of different ethnic groups forming their own guilds in some of the larger MMOs, and it isn't always a matter of language or servers. Humans are tribal creatures, and MMOs have found many ways to exploit those instincts in order to achieve a sense of welcome and familiarity.
* Idealism, the need for social justice
Most MMO communities provide this one well, as do those with proactive GMs and moderators. We play games where some sense of justice, be it from game mechanics or ToS, exist and are known to all (even if they are not obeyed by all).
* Independence, the need for individuality
MMO developers know very well that we all want to be the hero, and we all want to be the best, the most recognized - and most importantly - we want to be unique. We don't want to be railroaded into playing the game ONE way; we want to do as we wish and chart the course we're most comfortable with. Sandboxes fill this need very well, and solo content will never go away in mainstream titles precisely because there will always be a customer-base for it. We just can't help it.
* Order, the need for organized, stable, predictable environments
I once had an Israeli guildmaster who thrived on this one. The man spent many a night screaming and yelling at his guildmembers before, during and after raids. "Where's my DPS? Where's my aggro, Tank? Why aren't you guys spamming (place maneuver here) when the boss enrages, morons?" Now, granted, he might have been able to achieve far more than he did by not being the Soup Nazi on raid nights, but he was effective nonetheless. Had he been disorganized, no one would have let him get away with his crap. He knew the science of raiding, knew every boss, pull, and role in the game at one time. His success rate didn't hinge on his personality; it hinged on his organizational skills. We like our game to follow a predictable path - if I hit "X", "X's" effect happens every time. If I wear Gear "B", I have "B" abilities.
We want a game that provides these, both at the mechanical level and at the functionality level. Who remembers quitting a new MMO because on launch day nothing went right? How many of you who quit went back in? Maybe 50%?
* Physical activity, the need for exercise
I'm going to have to defer this one for another time. Unless you count your heart rate spike whenever you get ganked (or for those of us who partake, DO the ganking), I am not sure how to qualify this one.
* Power, the need for influence of will
This one is almost too easy to bother with. You play a game, you gain levels/gear/experience/skills that you use to kill tougher and tougher foes. Some could argue that it works the opposite of that (as you increase in power, the world's relative power increases as well and you end up dying more often). Running a guild, leading a group, being the most powerful character in a fight, being in control of some portion of the game world (Eve comes to mind) all meet the requirement of power.
* Romance, the need for sex
ERP anyone? (I'm... not actually soliciting it, so don't get any ideas)
* Saving, the need to collect
My character finished a new set of PvP gear the other day, and it felt good to finally get him there. We are collectors by nature, dating back to our days as hunter-gatherers. Stock up, make more, earn more, build more, grow more, find more, etc. Every game is, in very large parts, built around this concept.
* Social contact, the need for friends (peer relationships)
What MMOs are all about. 'Nuff said.
* Status, the need for social standing/importance
Another 'nuff said one, but I will elaborate. When we play a game, we collect things, much as our need to collect (above) demands of us. When there is prestige to collection, then collecting fulfils two needs simultaneously in a very direct manner. Whether you are in command of a successful guild, are known to bear x-amount of PvP titles and accomplishments, or you just go around trying to get every achievment in the game you are fulfilling this need (it was no accident that the achievment system in MMO, RPG and even FPS games was copied, cloned and distributed to every other game in existence recently).
* Tranquility, the need to be safe
Haters of PvP know what I'm talking about here. This isn't just limited to safety from other players though. Safety from the bad guys in the game - through better gear, higher levels, better skills, spells or abilities, etc is the primary (visible) benefit of progression.
* Vengeance, the need to strike back/to win
Big one for most PvPers. Here, you have the ability to hit 'em back. No game is complete without at least some sort of player retribution; be it against other players or mobs. How many of you have reported someone in a game and found yourself morbidly curious as to their GM-imposed punishment, if any? This falls in the same category. We talk about class-balancing and runaway player abilities ad nauseum on forums, in-game, and in blogs.
The above list are just some of the ways that MMOs fill our human needs on a psychological level. Can you think of any more specific examples of this? If so I'd love to hear them.
Edited for spelling...
Comments
A problem I have with all of this, is my personal notion of a worry about supposed MMO games being socially sophisticated, and that it perhaps forebodes a psychology of fantasy, which imo risk debasing humanity and human spirit with a layer of authoritarian beliefs in addition to other modes of authority in what we like to simply call society (whatever that might mean).
Hehe, I started writing something here but ultimately decided to refrain from posting it. On a positive note, if game designers truly want to incorporate a certain finesse that offer more player options, I am all for it.
MMO has nothing to do with all the above.
The gameplay of MMO is focused on a particular part of the brain, the subcortical area. Each time you successfully do something in an MMO, dopamine is released, which tells your brain to do it again, and again, and again....everything in MMO is focused around success and failure, risk and rewards, which stimulates that particular area of the brain. Been known for a while.
You're mixing psychology and biology here.. But one doesn't cancel the other..
The OP is talking on what appeals video games, and particularly MMOs, are/should be developped.. You're talking about the process of having fun during gameplay..
Two different things, but yours implies that the person playing the video game have some interrest in the activity, which is not always the case..
He claims MMO are successful because they fulfill basic human needs, and that games cannot be successful without doing so. That's not true at all. We can fulfill those needs in real life or on-line without the need for MMO at all.
If MMO weren't addictive no one would play them. The only reason they are addictive is because of the dopamine stimulation and that's also the reason they are successful.
Then what you're saying is, if I put my 90 years old grandmother in front of a computer playing World of Warcraft, she'll end up addicted..
It's more complicated than that.. Addiction is a process, not a result of dopamine stimulation sole and only.. But like I said, you're point is as good as the one of the OP.. I think both are to be taken in consideration, the problem with yours though, is no one have any control over it..
I will just make a comment about porting real life psychlogy into gaming. I honestly don't think you can port them, maybe some; but you will also find a lot you just would want to avoid in real life.
Games are also for you to find and do stuff you are not suppose to need in real life; like kill your bro. So be carefull here.
In all virtual reality , games, books, movie, people will most likely also find stuff hidden in the human past, even more in animal past that is maybe writen into their gens. I just spiting a theory i heard here, i don't know how good this theory is, and i don't even know from where does it come from.
But ye virtual life is definitly no equal to real life, and i bet it reflect into the need too.
I think with some of your examples you are skating close to breaking these desires down into intrinsic and extrinsic motiviations, something that runs completely counter to what the Professor's theory is trying to define.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
While the described desires are part of what make succesful MMO's, it is not exclusively so...
An example of this is what is called the "Skinner Box". Created by Burrhus Frederic Skinner, The Skinner Box was an experiment which concluded that if you put a rat in a box, and trained it to push a lever to dispense food, then changed the conditions so that the lever dispensed the food at random intervals, the rat would continiously push the lever even if it wasnt hungry so as not to miss its 'chance' at getting food.
When translated into MMO's, this forces the player into playing certain aspects of the game, even if they dont desire it or like it, just so they dont miss out on the chance of getting item "X" or title "Y".
An example of this was a game which hid chests around the virtual world, and these chests might contain a special item, or it might contain nothing at all. The game also awarded the person who opened the most chests in a day with a special item... the catch, you ask? Well, the chests could only be opened with keys... bought from the games item mall, for real world cash.
Devious, isnt it?
Let us just hope that future game developers dont sell their souls for cash and instead keep making games with the passion with which they first joined the industry with.
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