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TIGSource ForumsPlayerGamesWhy is nobody talking about how addictive Pokémon Go is?
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Author Topic: Why is nobody talking about how addictive Pokémon Go is?  (Read 3598 times)
Pineapple
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« on: July 08, 2018, 08:15:45 PM »

I played Pokémon Go when it first came out like everyone else, and I got bored after a couple of weeks. The game had so little content back then. More recently, a friend starting playing it again. I downloaded the app, too, to try to play it with him.

Since release they've added several new game mechanics that are absolutely insidious. For example, the game now has two distinct mechanics (streaks and field research) that reward the player for participating in the game every day. (Or, as another way of describing it, they punish the player for putting the game down even for one day.)

At release, it already had the hallmarks of a profitable microtransaction app; the core game loop that involves collecting items like pokéballs and using them to catch pokémon is balanced so that you're always running low on pokéballs, unless you go into the microtransaction store to buy more. More recently they added loot boxes to the store, too, to exploit players with a weakness for gambling.

A couple of articles I found mention how Pokémon Go takes the normal dopamine and serotonin manipulations of addictive games to a new level by associating endorphins from exercise with playing the game.

I've recently stopped playing the game because I was getting irritated and concerned with how habit-building the game was designed to be. It's not even fun, if you step back to look at the gameplay. It's just repetitive and addictive. I'm a little worried about my friend who said that he had become addicted to the game when it first came out, and who's playing it constantly now. I looked online for articles or studies or anything about Pokémon Go's addictive game design. There was some concern around when the game was released, mainly about safety due to people playing without paying attention to their surroundings, or playing while driving. But nobody seems to be talking about how scary the game design is. Most of the articles that mention "addictive" seem not even to use the word as a negative quality.

If someone told me a couple years ago that a developer making a Nintendo game was going to be the new and more extreme Zynga, I would have never believed it...
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Kyuugatsu
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« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2018, 08:19:58 PM »

Nobody might be writing about how addictive Pokémon Go is, but:

This story is on the front page on Kotaku right now.
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Pineapple
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« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2018, 08:33:28 PM »

But my friend isn't addicted to gaming. He's not addicted to MMOs. He's addicted to Pokémon Go, which has got to be the most insidiously designed game I've seen. I suspect that the reason he's addicted to Pokémon Go but doesn't have the same problems with other games is mainly to do with the walking. The endorphin release feels good and the player associates it with the game instead of with the exercise. The Kotaku article doesn't mention AR games at all.
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Schoq
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« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2018, 02:02:16 AM »

manipulating ppl who otherwise wouldn't into exercising seems like a good thing. in seriousness that might be why nobody's been quick to write pieces on it.
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« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2018, 02:14:59 AM »

manipulating ppl who otherwise wouldn't into exercising seems like a good thing. in seriousness that might be why nobody's been quick to write pieces on it.


Yeah, exercise is a good thing. Using it as a novel way to addict players to a game with an exploitative microtransaction model, maybe less so.
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Cobralad
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« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2018, 02:22:28 AM »

its ex google people and problem with that it startup crowb is that they big on design psychology buzz but also are idiots who probably dont employ any real psycologists or designers(beside illustrators).
the proof: coding teams as "spiritual nerds", "proactive jocks" and "others"; failing in basic organisation of real life event; really basic sense of responcibility and rules on directing children and young adults around urban areas etc
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« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2018, 03:53:00 AM »

I had 300+ hours of Oblivion. Was I addicted? Nope. I liked the game and was basically the only one I played at the time.
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Yeah.
gimymblert
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« Reply #7 on: July 13, 2018, 07:33:11 PM »

300+ of oblivion? I have 500h of arms
not even open world
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« Reply #8 on: July 17, 2018, 10:09:45 PM »

But my friend isn't addicted to gaming. He's not addicted to MMOs. He's addicted to Pokémon Go, which has got to be the most insidiously designed game I've seen. I suspect that the reason he's addicted to Pokémon Go but doesn't have the same problems with other games is mainly to do with the walking. The endorphin release feels good and the player associates it with the game instead of with the exercise. The Kotaku article doesn't mention AR games at all.

While I do agree with you, the issue is not the kind of game but rather of the person. The issue of gaming becoming addictive is not of the game itself but that of the person. If he hasn't disconnected himself with family or friends and has been "Living his life". I don't think there is an issue.

The core gameplay for Pokemon Go exploits the needs of people in its core. I think it was called the Skinner Box model which uses a psychology theory known as Operant Conditioning. Which in cases would associate good feeling from doing what you are supposed taught to do.
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« Reply #9 on: July 17, 2018, 11:44:49 PM »

Roping people into an addiction for profit isn't ethically ok just because it works better on some people than others, which is what you're implying.
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« Reply #10 on: July 18, 2018, 12:05:48 AM »

i only use my phone according to gods laws, to avoid doing work and prolong my time in the bathroom
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Türbo Bröther
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« Reply #11 on: July 18, 2018, 03:35:19 AM »

I think a more important thing that people should take note of is that "addictive" is the correct word to use not "addicting".
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Schoq
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« Reply #12 on: July 18, 2018, 05:20:34 AM »

Smiley I'm addicted
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« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2018, 08:36:53 AM »

Since video games now have doctors' certificate, I see a big comeback of chore gamification!
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« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2018, 10:37:21 AM »

Smiley I'm addicted
Smiley I'm addicted
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Manuel Magalhães
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« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2018, 10:40:21 AM »

Smiley I'm addicted
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eyeliner
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« Reply #16 on: July 18, 2018, 10:41:43 AM »

!I'm addicted
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« Reply #17 on: July 18, 2018, 10:53:02 AM »

Grin im addicted
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gimymblert
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« Reply #18 on: July 18, 2018, 11:04:46 AM »

Hand Any Key Crazy imma addicted
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« Reply #19 on: July 18, 2018, 01:07:49 PM »

It'll pass
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