As we know, evaluation of any SG comes both from the buyer/client/underwriter and from the players. Learning designers (should!) spend time up front understanding the purpose and desired outcomes for the game, as well as the pertinent characteristics of the players. This process enables us to, among other things, anticipate what each of these constituency's evaluation criteria will be - and plan accordingly.
One of the branches in the players' evaluation tree is how well the game matched the experience they expected to have. What are some of the basic components of Player Expectation?
Putting myself in the role of the player, my basic expectations fall into three categories. Unless I've been told otherwise:
- LEARNING
- I know what I can expect to learn
- I know what my investment of time will be
- I'm safe, and therefore free to make mistakes and learn from them
- I'm pretty much equal with everyone else
- GAME
- It's competitive
- It's fun
- There are rules of play
- GROUP EXPERIENCE
- Other players may be people I really know, so I have to be careful what I do
- We learn with each other
- We learn from each other, both directly and indirectly
- Player interaction is encouraged, facilitated, and rewarded
- There are rules of interaction
How do your players' experience match their expectations?
I'm serious,
Anne
