Part I Introduction
Please allow me to list all the lens first so that we can find the link between
Lens 1 – Essential Experience
Lens 2 & Lens 3: Surprise & Fun
Lens 4: Curiosity
Lens 5: Endogenous Value
Lens 6: Problem Solving
Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad
Aesthetics Story Mechanics Technology
Lens 8: Holographic Design
Lens 9: Unification Theme
The game which I would talk about is Defense of the Ancient 2.
It is one of the most famous Moba(Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Games)s game right now. The designer of this game is IceFrog and this game is originally just a map of Warcraft3. Ice Frog coporates with Valve, which is a famous Game Company to reproduce this game with independent Game Engine. And it is one of the most popular MOBA game right now.
The aim of this game is to destroy the buildings of the opponents and defend your own building. Each player in this game would play a hero. Each team has 5 heroes totally. These two team would fight with each other.
Video Address for this game:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dota2
Part 2: My own Experience:
In order to play this game, I need to log in into the game platform provided by Valve first and find another 9 players who would like to play together with me.
Firstly, I would pick one hero. There are more than 100 heroes for player to pick and each hero has its own shape and skills. After picking heroes, game really begins. As a hero, you can choose to farm, push, gank. And you need try to kill your opponent so that you would become stronger and they would become weaker. As you get more and more advantages, you may choose to push and destroy their buildings. Once you destroy the last building, game over and you would win.
I would describe my experience based on different lens.
- Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad
Aesthetics:
The game is using Source2 game Engine. When I play the game, I would be able to appreciate the attractive scene. It makes me feel good. Besides the scene, the heroes have different kinds of equipments. With these equipments, the hero would look totally different and it makes user always feel interested and I seldom become bored because of the shape of the heroes. Skills are also very magnificent. Such features are all because of the aesthetics.
Story
In fact, during the game experience, I seldom think about the backgroud story of this game. Though this game also has its own story, even each hero has a description which talk about who they are and where they come from. However, story is not very important in this game. And during the game progress, only the dialogues of the heroes sometimes would illustrate some story. At other time, I just need to keep farming, pushing, killing enemies. Story is really not important here.
Mechanics
As a MOBA game, story is not important. In contrast, the Mechanics is quite important.
Dota2 has great Mechanics and it is the key for its success.
When I am playing, I can get extra money and experience by do the last hit to enemies. i can but different items which would help me to fight easily, I can copearate with my teammates and kill all our five opponents without scarifying even one of us if we make good combo. Such experience really make me excited and they all belong to the good mechanics of Dota2.
The designer, IceFrog also keeps improving Mechanics to make it a better game.
Technology
Same as Aesthetics, Dota2 take use of Technology to make sure the stableness of web connection. This is a online game. If the connection is not well enough, it would be quite annoying. When i am playing dots, the ping is smaller than 50ms and it provide me with a good feeling.
- Lens 6: Problem Solving
The secret of the success of dota2 is there are always new problems for you to solve because I am fighting with different real people!
Some game provides problem for player to solve but once all problems have been solved, the player may get bored. Dota2 is different. As a player versus player game, I have totally different problem to solve in every round of game. As there are also many heroes for me to pick. i also get different experience when playing different heroes.
3.Lens 4: Curiosity
Dota2 is keeping updating. Designers keep making new heroes. After some time, i would be able to play a new hero and it make the game always attractive.
Besides the new heroes, Dota2 also make people curious because there are infinitely many combinations of heroes. Each combination would create totally different game experience and I enjoy the process to try a new combinations.
4.Lens 5: Endogenous Value
Game can produce endogenous value. So does dota2. Equipments are the mainly endogenous value created by dota2. I can get new equipment after each round of game. I can also buy them in the store. These equipments would not change the power of heroes, but only the shape of them. I really like to collect new equipments for my favourite heroes and it make me feel proud when others see my hero.
5.Lens 9: Unification Theme
Whatever hero I choose to pick, I always get one same goal: Kill enemies and destroy their buildings. This is the unification theme of this game and therefore, I would never lose myself and do not know what to do.
Part III Others’ experience
Second part is the experience that I watch one famous Chinese player 2009 play this game. in order to avoid being bored, my second part would have another structure: I would describe what I saw and I would try to link the phenomenon to the lens
- He picks one hero whose name is Pudge and he explains to the audiences the skills of this hero.
Lens 6: Problem Solving
How to correctly use a hero is in face a problem need to be solved. As an experienced player, he “shares” his “solution” to the audience.
- He use good skills to kill the opponent and therefore h becomes quite excited.
Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad
Player versus player always make people more excited than versus computer. The Mechanics of this game allow you to kill others.
- He buys an item which can enhance the hero’s skill and try to prove to the audience how powerful his skill become.
Lens 4: Curiosity
There are 100 more heroes, there are 100 more items. It is always curious that how things would be if one hero get one specific item. Sometimes a good choice for the item can really excite the player.
- He appreciate the specially good effect of his skill.
Lens 7: Elemental Tetrad
Good design of Aesthetics make game much more fun
- When he farms, he is ganked by his enemies. He died.
Lens 2 & Lens 3: Surprise & Fun
Playing with other player can always give you much more “surprise” then computer. Human currently can give you more surprise~
- He feel very excited when his team destroyed their opponent’s building and win.
Lens 9: Unification Theme
He finish his goal for this game and it really excites him.
Part IV My final conclusion:
What I have learned from this experience:
- The experience gained from playing game myself sometimes is really similar to the experience gained from watching others’ playing experience. For example, I would get the same feelings when I kill an opponent as watch him kill an opponent.
- There can also be some differences, for example, I would be more excited when I finish some hard operations myself then watching others finishing them.
- From 1 and 2, I think the different is that the degrees of emotions can be different but the game determine what kind of emotions or experiences would you have.
- Different game focus on different lens, as a MOBA game , Dota2 focuses on mechanics much more than story. instead, some RPG (role playing game) may focus on story much more than mechanics.
- It is good experience to analyse game experience instead of just playing without thinking. I really learned a lot this time.