Comments on: Split-testing in Game Design http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/ A blog on virtual worlds, games, and digital content, from Matt Mihaly Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:59:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: Games » Comment on Split-testing in Game Design by Steven "PlayNoEvil" Davis http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35205 Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:12:00 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35205 [...] AC wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAfter all, since many online games divide themselves up by server, instead of just having role-playing servers and PvP servers, you could play with rules tweeks. Temporally, it would be very interesting to take A Tale in the Desert’s … [...] […] AC wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAfter all, since many online games divide themselves up by server, instead of just having role-playing servers and PvP servers, you could play with rules tweeks. Temporally, it would be very interesting to take A Tale in the Desert’s … […]

]]> by: Steven "PlayNoEvil" Davis http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35184 Wed, 10 Oct 2007 22:40:29 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35184 Matt - Thanks for reintroducing this idea! One way to do this for virtual worlds would be a combination of physical and temporal sharding. After all, since many online games divide themselves up by server, instead of just having role-playing servers and PvP servers, you could play with rules tweeks. Temporally, it would be very interesting to take A Tale in the Desert's model and torque it up on steroids - launch a new version of the world every week, or month, or whatever. For a game like Eve Online, this could be great as the world would be fresh and more balanced for the newbies. If a world dies due to lack of interest, no problem, just roll folks on to another server/shard/version (your mileage may vary ;) ). Matt -

Thanks for reintroducing this idea! One way to do this for virtual worlds would be a combination of physical and temporal sharding. After all, since many online games divide themselves up by server, instead of just having role-playing servers and PvP servers, you could play with rules tweeks. Temporally, it would be very interesting to take A Tale in the Desert’s model and torque it up on steroids - launch a new version of the world every week, or month, or whatever. For a game like Eve Online, this could be great as the world would be fresh and more balanced for the newbies. If a world dies due to lack of interest, no problem, just roll folks on to another server/shard/version (your mileage may vary ;) ).

]]> by: Games » Comment on Split-testing in Game Design by The Forge · Split … http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35106 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:22:47 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35106 [...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAbout a year ago I wrote about the idea of using split-testing to refine the user experience in online games (it’s not really suitable for stand-alone retail games). Today I caught a brief article on Redline China talking about how the … [...] […] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptAbout a year ago I wrote about the idea of using split-testing to refine the user experience in online games (it’s not really suitable for stand-alone retail games). Today I caught a brief article on Redline China talking about how the … […]

]]> by: The Forge · Split-Testing Games in China http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35105 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 19:04:04 +0000 http://forge.ironrealms.com/2006/06/30/split-testing-in-game-design/#comment-35105 [...] About a year ago I wrote about the idea of using split-testing to refine the user experience in online games (it’s not really suitable for stand-alone retail games). Today I caught a brief article on Redline China talking about how the Chinese online game giant Zhengtu is using a very simple version of split-testing for its newest online game - Juren. (For those who aren’t familiar, Zhengtu’s biggest game - Zhengtu Online - is, I believe, the #2 MMO in China, behind Fantasy Westward Journey. Don’t feel too bad if you’re a Westerner and haven’t heard of them.) [...] […] About a year ago I wrote about the idea of using split-testing to refine the user experience in online games (it’s not really suitable for stand-alone retail games). Today I caught a brief article on Redline China talking about how the Chinese online game giant Zhengtu is using a very simple version of split-testing for its newest online game - Juren. (For those who aren’t familiar, Zhengtu’s biggest game - Zhengtu Online - is, I believe, the #2 MMO in China, behind Fantasy Westward Journey. Don’t feel too bad if you’re a Westerner and haven’t heard of them.) […]

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