Comments on: Successful Social Games Are All About Status http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/02/24/successful-social-games-are-all-about-status/ Tracking Innovation at the Convergence of Games and Social Platforms Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:17:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Quora http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/02/24/successful-social-games-are-all-about-status/comment-page-1/#comment-57443 Quora Sun, 09 Jan 2011 00:11:26 +0000 http://www.insidesocialgames.com/?p=2928#comment-57443 <strong>What is the next evolution of social games on Facebook?...</strong> Good answers guys: I think graphics will improve but they can only improve SO much - are 47 yr old women really going to continue upgrading their PC? Facebook games are now accessible by Tablets like Blackberry's playbook so we want to make sure that ... What is the next evolution of social games on Facebook?…

Good answers guys: I think graphics will improve but they can only improve SO much – are 47 yr old women really going to continue upgrading their PC? Facebook games are now accessible by Tablets like Blackberry’s playbook so we want to make sure that …

]]> By: Tadhg Kelly http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2009/02/24/successful-social-games-are-all-about-status/comment-page-1/#comment-3602 Tadhg Kelly Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:59:09 +0000 http://www.insidesocialgames.com/?p=2928#comment-3602 It's pretty reductive to say that social games boil down to just one trait. Another is the ease of discovery and recommendation: perhaps people are playing a lot of them simply because the applications are taking advantage of the network's structures to promote themselves. Only a small percentage of social network users really understand the publishing functions and what they mean. I think it unlikely that the networks consist of millions of fameballs all looking to be seen as mafia dons or whatever. It's the games doing the distribution of these messages automagically, not the users choosing to publish every little thing they do. Certainly I think there is an element of status to some games and I think it's a motivator for some players. It reminds me of nothing so much as high score tables in the arcades. There was always a certain brand of dedicated player who wanted to be known as the number-one guy. But that guy is the minority. As I may have said before in a previous comment, I think it's very easy to come up with the idea that just because games are on social networks that this automatically confers some power of difference on them. I think that is not true. Social networks open many doors, some useful for promotion, some genuinely different for gameplay. It's important to understand what they can be. I'm liking your recent posts by the way Andrew. They're very good thought pieces. Keep em coming! It’s pretty reductive to say that social games boil down to just one trait. Another is the ease of discovery and recommendation: perhaps people are playing a lot of them simply because the applications are taking advantage of the network’s structures to promote themselves.

Only a small percentage of social network users really understand the publishing functions and what they mean. I think it unlikely that the networks consist of millions of fameballs all looking to be seen as mafia dons or whatever. It’s the games doing the distribution of these messages automagically, not the users choosing to publish every little thing they do.

Certainly I think there is an element of status to some games and I think it’s a motivator for some players. It reminds me of nothing so much as high score tables in the arcades. There was always a certain brand of dedicated player who wanted to be known as the number-one guy. But that guy is the minority.

As I may have said before in a previous comment, I think it’s very easy to come up with the idea that just because games are on social networks that this automatically confers some power of difference on them. I think that is not true. Social networks open many doors, some useful for promotion, some genuinely different for gameplay. It’s important to understand what they can be.

I’m liking your recent posts by the way Andrew. They’re very good thought pieces. Keep em coming!

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