Interest and Disinterest
Interest and Disinterest are both game conditions. Yes, this is truth,bothof them are. It's not usual for such diametrically opposed concepts to have the same effect, so let's take a look at them and see why.
Interest
The applicable definitions of Interest are:
A) A feeling of curiosity or concern about something that makes the attention turn toward it.
B) Somebody's involvement with something that makes its progress or success important to him or her.
Encarta ® World English Dictionary ©
The goal of a game is to produce Interest. Interest in the plot, Interest in the combat, Interest in the competition, Interest in progression, Interest in the characters. The more things the player is Interested in, the more the game is successful.
A successful game produces Interest. An unsuccessful game does not. How to produce Interest is a topic on its own, and I will address it in time. For the purpose of this article, we're looking at the game condition aspect of Interest.
Well, it's fairly obvious, and doesn't really need to be explained. Interest in a game makes the game fun. Enough said on that.
Disinterest
Disinterest is simply defined as a lack of Interest or care. How, then, does Disinterest make a game better? One would think, at first look, that Disinterest would ruin a game. Well, yeah. Disinterestin the gamemakes the game less fun. Clearly, not giving a rats about the outcome of the plot kind of sours the thought of playing the game.
So how, then, does Disinterest play into making a game fun? As much as it would be easy to say "Disinterest in a person's life makes them spend more time playing the MMO," I don't think this is true, or healthy. No, let's keep the focus on the game, not on external concerns.
Disinterest in an aspect of a game gives a sense of depth and choice. Obviously, there are some aspects that you want to keep people Interested in. Plot, for example, is rarely safe to do away with. Others are almostexpectedto have some Disinterest. Take crafting in an MMO, for example. In your typical MMO, there are quite a few categories of crafting. Light, medium and heavy armor, weapons, and potion-making, to name a popular selection. Well, a player with a tank toon probably isn't Interested in the light armor crafting profession. This extends out to collecting cloth from mobs, and any other corollaries of the profession the game implements. While the crafting ingredients are, for the tank, merely vendor trash, he can't help but observe that thereisanother profession out there that he isn't taking advantage of.
Since this tank toon is Disinterested in cloth armor recipes, it adds depth to the game. If a player has to choose things to be Interested in (onlyarmorer oronlyweapon-smithing, for example) then the enforced Disinterest actually adds to the game, rather than detracts.
There are other examples, but choice plays a large role in Interest/Disinterest and the more you can cause the player to have one or the other the more fun he will find the game. For every choice the player has to make, he has to have Interest in one thing and Disinterest in the other. Enforcing Disinterest actually makes a game have re-playability. Next time around, he'll chose the other path, and if you can keep his Interest on it, he'll play happily all the way through.
Attention and No Attention
Attention is a game condition. No Attention is a no-game condition. Attention is closely tied to Interest, in that Interest cannot exist without Attention. With Attention can either come Interest or Disinterest. Since both interest and Disinterest are game conditions, it is vital, therefore, to produce as much Attention as possible.
Attention in a game can be either focused or broad. A player can have his Attention focused on a single mob that he's killing, or broadly over the whole of a story arc.
Attention also plays a role in map design. Landmarks and other functional aspects attract Attention because the plot requires it or because it structures the flow of a fight. A chasm across a battlefield enforces Attention on the bridge, which, in turn, produces Interest or Disinterest.
Attention can also be produced by beauty and aesthetics. A stunning vista, a cruel gorge, a brilliant cascade, these things and infinite others draw Attention. With Attention always comes Interest or Disinterest. If some part of the story is engaged in the scene as well, then you magnify the Interest, both in the story and in the scene. A fearsome cliff face is awe-inspiring to gaze upon and adds depth to the world, but if you then engage the player in climbing that cliff, he will take exponentially more pleasure from the same piece of environment.
The more flows of Attention to something, the bigger the Interest/Disinterest will become. Example: A quest line that culminates in the hunting of some legendary beast, fighting on a branch of a enormous tree with a drop to your death on either side, with a brilliant sunset with lens flares occluding the beast your hunting… Let's count the lines of Attention. 1) quest, 2) legendary beast, 3) monster tree, 4) fatal plunge if you fall off the branch, 5) aesthetics of the sunset, and 6) bloody lens flare making it difficult to see the monster and anticipate it. All these points of Attention combine to produce someseriousInterest. And, players following a different toon will hear about it and the intense Disinterest they feel makes them want to roll that character next.
Let's compare that to your typical MMO quest. Well, let's be frank. Killing 10 of the wolves pestering the NPC's village just doesn't have many Attention flows. Really, it only has one, the reward for the quest. This barely produces Interest at all, and with the typical grind, barely stays above boredom. You can spice it up a bit by putting it in an interesting landscape, and for some games, that's their only saving grace.
No Attention comes under several disguises. Boredom, for one. Boredom is very different from Disinterest, and should be avoided at all costs. No Attention is also different from Disinterest. Disinterest must have Attention to exist. You cannot feel Disinterest for something that has none of your Attention.
No Attention can be produced by routine. Something that once produced Attention can be more or less put on automatic. This is the 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 uses of skills, or the collection of crafting resources, to name a few. If something is done too often, or too repetitively, the Attention it once produced loses the potential to produce Interest.
Remember/Forget plays a role in No Attention. If something is forgotten, it once again attracts Interest when Attention is brought to it. In game terms, this would be like using skills reserved for tough fights. Having to expand out beyond the 3, 2, 1, 1, 1 routine attracts Attention and produces Interest in the use of skills which would otherwise be commonplace. This doesn't mean every fight should be like this! If your reserve skills become routine, you lose the influx of Interest in using those skills during boss fights. But it does mean thathavingthose reserve skills is important, and making use of them equally so.
Fighting can also produce No Attention. This occurs when a goal is sufficiently desirable that minor inconveniences like petty mobs getting in the way actually produces No Attention to the mobs. Whocaresabout these stupid mobs! They're so low level that I don't get any XP for killing them anyway. Why do the designers make me have to fight them? They're just speed bumps, nuisances, a needless stop on my way to reaching the infinitely more interesting goal! When the fighting isn't producing Attention and therefore Interest, a good rule of thumb is to not have the fighting necessary. If you must fight, make it attract Attention, and therefore Interest or Disinterest.
Things that produce No Attention should be avoided, or changed so that they instead produce Attention. Attention on a routine slides into No Attention. By breaking up the routine, you can revitalize some of the Interest.
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