Case studies:

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1. MOBA gameplay design:

  MOBA is a complex genre. It includes a pool of champions, skills, items/progression and regional objectives. I developed my first MOBA on Core to test my understanding and learn to balance different gameplay mechanics to ensure fair competitive experience.

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  In short, I found that the strength of each character often tight with his/her class. To eliminate the option of hybrid builds that allow players to build alternatively helped to minimize the risk of creating overpowered playstyle. However, to balance this, different classes should have their own playstyle branches. For example, Damage duelers can have the options of building more mobility, more ability-oriented and even more damage each hit. 

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2. Gameplay Innovation:

  After publishing 3 hybrid MOBA games, respectively  MOBA+ Sport, MOBA+ Racing and MOBA+ Traveling+ Trading, I am certain that MOBA genre has a great potential in bringing some old genre into a refreshing presentation. 

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  In "War of Merchants", I was determined to change how the player progress in a MOBA game. Instead of facing certain player in a land like "League of Legends", player need to establish territory control, trick enemies of his/her intention and gain the most power in a limited time. I have achieved that by designing 4 different kingdoms with unique playstyle options, gatherable resources and trading price. 

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  As the result, I've built a MOBA with completely new experience and can attract different group of target audience. I enjoyed the process and I would love to innovate on other genre in the future.

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3. Network Gameplay Optimization:

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  I've built 6 online multiplayer games on Core, which helped me to understand the principles of networking mechanic design, especially with a limited budget of server capacity.

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  Most of the problems are rooted in the data structure of the game. Ideally, event broadcasts should only send small size message like numbers, but not lengthy strings. Also, some sort of transition effects are always preferred to hide the unwanted frames while the client is waiting for the server's respawn. 

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4. F2P Monetization:

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  In designing the monetization model for free to play games, I analyzed both the models of selling functional advantages (pay to win) and cosmetic focused economy. 

  After I have built "League of Agents", I have been seeking to build my IP "The Agents". However, this monetization has a higher demand of player retention and longevity. I realized the pay to win model is not a bad business model especially if the target audience is a niche group.

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  To conclude, the pay to win system is more focused on short term revenue, while the cosmetic focused economy focused on long term community building and IP establishment.