Chapter 412 Lying and Dynamic Difficulty


    Lilith was a little confused: "Reverse... dynamic difficulty?"


    I have to say that this idea proposed by Qin Fengliang is really novel, and it is indeed a direction that Lilith has never thought of before.


    Players of different levels do have different demands for game difficulty.


    For less experienced players, if they have been suffering in the game, their appeal must be for the game to be made simpler so that they can successfully pass the level without being stuck at a certain key node and unable to move forward.


    For those expert players, the current game difficulty is unchallenging, and they will hope to increase the difficulty of the game to further stimulate their potential in the face of more powerful bosses or more stringent mechanisms.


    The traditional dynamic difficulty mechanism is actually designed to satisfy these two different demands at the same time.


    In a nutshell, it means "always providing players with a certain level of challenge."


    But this actually improves players'' overall gaming experience and is not conducive to collecting negative emotions.


    And if Qin Fengliang''s idea really succeeds, it sounds really beautiful.


    Just imagine, a player is very strong, but he has already lost some of the challenge at the current difficulty level. However, he did not expect that as the game progresses, the game will become easier and easier, and the bosses that appear later will become more and more bad!


    It is conceivable that after easily defeating the boss behind him, he must have exploded with extremely strong negative emotions and felt bored.


    On the other hand, if a player is relatively weak and cannot bear the current difficulty of the game, then the difficulty will continue to rise, even completely beyond his ability!


    There will undoubtedly be a lot of negative emotions.


    The best thing about this mechanic is that these two types of players can see each other''s mechanics.


    Suppose that a very good player tries to challenge a certain boss but cannot beat it. He desperately searches the Internet for live broadcast videos of high-level players and bosses. As a result, he sees that the bosses played by other bosses are different from my bosses. ah?


    It was obviously the same boss, the only difficulty level, but the boss''s movements were slow and the damage was low. The boss defeated it easily without using any skills at all.


    It''s so simple, can I have **** with you?


    But why is my boss so perverted?


    After discovering this, additional negative emotions can arise.


    It does sound beautiful!


    If this plan really succeeds, Lilith can foresee that there will be a lot of negative emotions.


    But Lilith was not too happy because she also realized that this approach actually had serious flaws.


    That is...how to ensure that players do not quit playing?


    If there was no problem of players quitting the game, then Lilith would just mindlessly increase the difficulty of the game and design a lot of dung monsters. For example, the final boss is a blood bull, with permanent dominance, and full-screen unlimited AOE. Players will die immediately if they encounter it. This level of difficulty is definitely enough to generate a lot of negative emotions.


    But players will quit playing and run away, so this design is meaningless.


    Lilith is a hellish demon with pursuits, and she can still distinguish between "a full meal" and "a full meal".


    If it is designed according to Qin Fengliang''s plan, this new "dynamic difficulty" will obviously seriously dissuade players, which may not be sustainable.


    Lilith expressed her worries, but what she didn''t expect was that Qin Fengliang had already thought of this in advance.


    "Mr. Li, didn''t I just say that? In order to prevent players from quitting the game, we also have some other mechanisms to adjust the dynamic difficulty.


    “What I said before was all about passive adjustment.


    “For example, players are frequently injured and supplies are in short supply, which are all classified as passive.”


    Lilith interrupted her: "However, players can also take the initiative to complete these actions. Objectively, they can still adjust the dynamic difficulty."


    "No, no, no, Mr. Li, they can''t."


    Qin Fengliang shook his head confidently: "Compared with the previous regular dynamic difficulty, this is the main difference between my set of dynamic difficulty!


    "In the traditional dynamic difficulty, the difficulty for the weak is reduced and the difficulty for the strong is increased. So if you want to control the dynamic difficulty, you only need to deliberately take a few hits in vain and deliberately empty the gun to waste some ammunition. That''s it.


    “After all, whether they are rookie players or expert players, they only want to lower the difficulty, not increase it.


    “Under the traditional dynamic difficulty mechanism, players can indeed actively adjust the dynamic difficulty.


    “But under this new dynamic difficulty mechanism I designed, they can’t.


    “Because in order to reduce the difficulty of the game, players need to perform perfectly, such as being completely unharmed during a certain period of the game, or hoarding a large amount of supplies.


    “And that’s exactly what a true master can do.


    "The players who need to lower the difficulty the most are the novice players. They can''t do it no matter what."


    Lilith understood somewhat: "Oh, that''s right! In this way, novice players are indeed completely unable to take advantage of this set of dynamic difficulty.


    "Wait, but on the other hand, expert players can still increase the difficulty of the game by deliberately wasting materials and deliberately getting beaten?"


    Qin Fengliang nodded slightly: "Yes, Mr. Li, this is unavoidable. But it''s not a big problem.


    "Because for masters, they need to deliberately waste materials and deliberately get beaten up in order to increase the difficulty of the game. This in itself is a very troublesome and unprofitable thing, so they are not necessarily willing to do it."


    Lilith quickly understood what Qin Fengliang meant.


    In the traditional dynamic difficulty mode, masters deliberately waste bullets and deliberately get beaten in order to reduce the dynamic difficulty of the game. The purpose of lowering the difficulty is to pass the level more smoothly.


    However, in this new dynamic difficulty mode, there is no benefit at all from being beaten deliberately. It only increases the difficulty to give yourself some challenges and increases the probability of overturning. On the contrary, it runs counter to the goal of successfully passing the level.


    What''s more, getting beaten on purpose is boring and boring.


    If you want the dynamic difficulty to change significantly, the player needs to spend a lot of time getting beaten. The subconscious reaction is to avoid it, but they can only stand there and be careful not to die. This is also true for expert players. A torture.


    It is very troublesome and has no benefits. It is conceivable that only a few players will choose to do this. Although most players complain, they will still pass the level silently on the lowest difficulty.


    Therefore, although in theory players can reversely use this set of dynamic difficulty to adjust, in fact, not many people will actually use it.


    Lilith nodded: "I understand, let''s continue talking about how to prevent players from quitting the game."


    Qin Fengliang smiled slightly and continued to say confidently: "Mr. Li, what we talked about before were passive difficulty changes. Such as getting beaten, wasting materials, etc.


    "In order to keep players from quitting the game and to give novice players a little hope, we also need to introduce proactive difficulty changes." To address this, I carefully designed a... "Lying" system.


    "Lying allows players to actively adjust dynamic difficulty."


    Lilith didn''t understand: "Lying? How to lie? To whom?"


    Qin Fengliang explained: “Of course I lied in the game.


    "First of all, the mechanism of ''anti-dissuasion'' only applies to novice players. Although expert players will have negative emotions, they rarely quit the game because the game is too simple. They must at least finish the game quickly. twice.


    “So, we have to create an illusion for novice players, an illusion that ‘the difficulty of the game can be reduced through specific operations’.


    "After they rely on this illusion, we can... close the net tightly, and at a certain point, show him the real world again!


    “So, how this lying system works is simple:


    “At some key nodes in the game, when players talk to key NPCs, the NPCs will ask questions, and players need to choose one of two answers.


    “One true and one false.


    "To give a simple example: Suppose the player''s goal at this time is to defeat a boss with dual attributes. This boss has both "filthy" and "holy" forms, and it can freely switch between these two forms. .


    "We can first tell the players this information through the plot. Then before fighting the boss, the boss will pretend to be a friendly NPC and ask the player: What is your identity?


    "At this point, the player can answer that he is a clergyman or a mercenary.


    "Actually, the players are mercenaries, not clergy. In other words, the former is a lie and the latter is the truth.


    "But if the player answers truthfully that he is a mercenary, then the boss will appear in a filthy form. Due to the lack of sacred attack and defense means, the player will continue to be corrupted, and normal combat will become extremely difficult.


    "And if the player lies and says that he is a clergyman, then the boss will not dare to appear in the dirty form, but will appear in the sacred form.


    "It stands to reason that the main attack method of clergy is sacred spells. Such spells will not hurt or itch the boss who is in a holy state, but the boss can easily crush the clergy with its powerful force.


    "But the player''s true identity is a mercenary, with flexible skills and powerful physical attacks. The boss''s sacred spells cannot cause harm to the player.


    “In this way, players are actually making the game less difficult by lying.


    “We can be a little bolder:


    "For another example, if a player wants to enter a certain town, the town has a main entrance and a side entrance. The main entrance is heavily guarded, while the side entrance requires checking the player''s identity.


    “If players lie, they can easily sneak in through the side door and avoid many difficult battles.


    "In addition, players can also lie about insignificant things, and can even choose to lie to every NPC.


    "Even lying about insignificant things will actually reduce the dynamic difficulty of the game. This is definitely a huge boon for players with handicapped hands and will give them hope of persevering."


    Lilith''s eyes lit up, and she understood completely: "However, the so-called lying to reduce the difficulty is only temporary. At a certain point in the future, it will all come back in greater intensity!"


    Qin Fengliang smiled slightly: "Yes, Mr. Li is really smart!


    “Lying feels good for a while, but it may be exposed by NPC afterwards.


    “Once exposed, the game difficulty will return directly to the original difficulty level, which is simply bad news for players who are accustomed to low difficulty.


    “The best thing about this kind of thing is that players will not quit playing immediately after being exposed once.


    "They will reflect on themselves: Oh, did I make a mistake somewhere, and that''s why I was exposed?


    "It seems that you need to be more careful when lying in the future, and do a good job in dealing with the aftermath.


    “To put it simply: I was wrong, I will do it again next time.


    "In the early days, players can indeed use certain operating methods to avoid being exposed. But as time goes by, they will find that being exposed is inevitable. But by that time, they have already generated a lot of negative emotions, even if It’s a retreat, and we’ve already made enough.”


    Lilith asked again: "Telling lies will temporarily reduce the difficulty, but telling the truth will increase the difficulty?"


    Qin Fengliang shook his head: "No.


    "Telling the truth just keeps the game as difficult as it is.


    "If the difficulty can be increased, those masters will definitely choose to tell the truth without thinking. Wouldn''t that also play a role in dynamic balance? It will definitely not work."


    Lilith nodded slightly: "Yes, that makes sense!"


    To sum up Qin Fengliang’s dynamic difficulty routines, there are actually two.


    For masters: the better you play, the lower the difficulty and make them bored. But even if they are bored, masters will not quit the game soon. Do they think that maybe the difficulty of the game will be increased in the future? But in the end, I found that the difficulty became lower and lower as I played, which inevitably led to negative emotions.


    For novices: The more you play, the harder it becomes, even more difficult than the master''s game. Lying can temporarily reduce the difficulty and give them hope, but in the end it will get them all back.


    The key is that when the rookie and the expert see each other''s difficulty, they can''t stand it anymore.


    This dynamic difficulty plan is indeed promising, you can give it a try!


    But then there is a new question: How to hide this mechanism cleverly?


    If this mechanism is seen through by players at a glance, they will definitely curse, make crazy negative comments, and try their best to persuade players who have not fallen into the trap. If fewer players enter, then the negative emotions collected by the game will inevitably decrease.


    At least this dynamic difficulty mechanism must have a seamless package in the game plot and world view, otherwise it will appear too abrupt and players will be wary.


    Qin Fengliang was actually prepared for this.


    "Mr. Li, this is not difficult at all, I have already thought about the world view.


    “This time the game is set in a Western fantasy setting, roughly in a Victorian + Gothic style. In this world, there are humans, living corpses, dolls, and some Cthulhu content.


    “Because it’s a cruel and dangerous world, it makes sense to lie to protect yourself, right?


    “In the game, players play the role of ‘half-dolls’, which are human beings transformed through puppet technology. They have two different development directions.


    “It can develop in the direction of pure dolls, or it can develop in the direction of pure humans.


    “Both identities have their own advantages and disadvantages: humans are naturally capable of lying and have flexible bodies, but their ability to withstand blows is weak, and in layman’s terms they have thin blood;


    "The doll naturally does not have the ability to lie. It needs practice. Lying in the early stage can be easily exposed. Only after lying for a certain number of times can you deceive the opponent. The doll''s body is relatively stiff, but it has strong resistance to strikes and has thick blood.


    "The more the doll lies, the more like a human it becomes; and the more a human lies, the more unstable its mental state becomes, and it is possible to see all kinds of dirty things."


    Lilith couldn''t help but her eyes lit up: "So that''s it, combining the world view, plot and dynamic difficulty, wow! This can confuse players to the greatest extent, making it difficult for them to distinguish the specific rules of dynamic difficulty changes in the early stage!"


    And as long as the players are retained in the early stage and form the inertia of the game, then it will be relatively difficult to quit the game if you torture them hard and collect negative emotions in the later stage.


    (End of chapter)