This is my analysis paper of Pox guys. Thx for all the help Topic: Select a game that you are familiar with. Write an analysis of the game world. Analyze the game world from physical, temporal, environmental, emotional, and ethical dimensions. • Comment on good, bad, and interesting design decisions. What change would you • Include screenshots and/or links to gameplay videos, if possible. Most of the captions for these pics, videos, sprites, and etc dropped off but u guys play this game use your imagination. This essay is so chunky sorry about that, but other then that all feedback is welcomed(sorry if i got something wrong). Poxnora: Background: Poxnora(Pox) is a free to play(f2p) turn-based multiplayer online trading card game(tcg) that is played on a board (a variety of boards) like Chess. The game was originally developed by Octopi Media Design Lab and release on August 1, 2006. The game was sold to Sony Online Entertainment(SOE) on January 16, 2009. As of April, 2014, Poxnora was sold to an indie company called Desert Owl Games, which consisted of several of the original indie developers. Poxnora’s gameplay consist of a player built battle group(bg or deck) consisting of 30 runes(cards) that is played on a board with a player or the Artificial Intelligence(AI). Runes consist of champions, spells, relics, and equipment. Also, rune rarity tiers include common, uncommon, rare, exotic, legendary, and limited edition; common being least rare and limited edition being most rare. Champions are movable pieces that players can constantly move around i.e. similar to Chess pieces.Spell runes can enhance or weaken champions, deal damage, or apply temporary rules to the game. Relic runes are nits that can’t move and can be deployed from a deployment zone or in a space next to a champion rune. They do damage, strengthen other units, weaken your foes, or other special effects that are similar to spells. Lastly, an equipment rune is a weapon or artifact that can strengthen a champion(s) and/or have special effects similar to relics and spells. Winning condition in Pox consist of destroying the enemy shrine or avatar; however, surrenders are more common. Draws are not possible in Pox, but players can ask for friendly quits where no win/loss is recorded. Conflict revolves around nora fonts(fonts) that allocates specific amounts of nora(the currency which players use to deploy runes) to the specific player that holds control over the font each turn. Units are fighting over the central nora font(in blue and gray). Currently, the font is in neutral form, where no nora is allocated. Units have red or blue hp bars for viewers to differentiate the player they belong to. Analysis of the Game: Poxnora Maps: Pox currently contains 25 playable maps(boards) that offers gameplay in 3D. Maps are built on grids filled with 1x1 square boxes; each box can be occupied by a single unit only (a champion or relic). The monotone routine of a standard board game between two players can be very boring. To get around that, developers for Pox made maps that contain no visible or natural boundaries. This, in turn, allows players to feel like they are in a open world/terrain instead of being stranded on an island every single game. Furthermore, the lack of boundaries in certain maps simulates a real world feel where enemies can face off anywhere at any time upon contact. On majority of the maps, natural terrain such as a body of water, dense forest, mountains, lava, tar, and etc. convey to players a general no go zone on the boundary of the map; however, only one map, Forsaken Waste, is completely surrounded by a natural terrain(water) thus making it the only map in Pox that is completely surrounded by physical barriers. Because of the fact that computers don’t have infinite memory, some sort of boundary is always necessary within a game world (map). And since most of the maps don’t offer clear boundaries, developers created a function called hotkey G. This function allows players to turn the grid of the map on and off allowing players to clearly see the edge of the map. However, some players do not know this mechanic, in which case, the units cannot walk or be deployed past the invisible boundary. In some maps, like Ironfist Mountains (hourglass shaped), players might potentially get confused to where units can go i.e. some champions with abilities like flying or mountaineer(This champion ignores movement restrictions and movement penalties imposed by terrain elevation and terrain restrictions while moving) can move across some rocks/parts of the mountain while not being able to move acros the mountains on both sides. Middle section of Ironfist Mountains. The hotkey G is in place where the map is full of a black grid clearly outlining the boundaries of the map. Mountains on the sides serve as physical boundaries where no unit can deploy or travel. Forsaken Waste With the recent updates of old maps, developers gave more depth to maps by adding in water and lava movements on maps like Underdepths and K’thir Forest. However, due to the regular meta in recent years, scale, the physical size in terms of the size of the grid, is too small in some maps to play well. For example, on Ruins of Valdac, a first turn player can deploy a champion that can move 8 spaces in one turn and easily grab a side font 2nd turn off deploy i.e. the champion is deployed from shrine with 0 initial ap (action point is used for movement and abilities); this allows the first turn player(player 1) to get draw wins where they grab a side font in 3 turns (2 turns from player 1 and 1 turn for player 2) while the enemy player grabs it in 6 turns thus missing out in resources gained and pressure on the central font. Ruins of Valdac 8 spaces are between the nearest deployment zone to nearest shrine zone. Central font in the middle of the map(not shown). Player that grab the side font 3 turns in can easily pressure center font. Another example is the map Sundered Lands, where players need 7 spaces to grab a font that is closest to where the shrine is. And if a 1st turn player draws a champion that can move 7 or more spaces in the 3rd turn and the 2nd player does not, the 1st turn player will gain a significant advantage by grabbing the font 3 turns before the 2nd player like on Ruins of Valdac. Sundered Lands From point A to B: 7 space for both sides Attempts have been made by the developers to move font locations on some of the maps, but, due to the small grid space on maps like Ruins of Valdac, unique font combinations is very hard to achieve(near impossible). General speed decrement across the board would help make these maps feel bigger i.e. no more champs can move 8 or more spaces in one turn. This would change Pox fundamentally by making the overall competitive play(meta) slower while ultimately changing overall game play significantly reducing the effectiveness of bgs like rush. Also, some maps could also be redrawn, i.e. bigger grid space, to adjust to the higher speed meta game. Since Poxnora is a turn-based game, the game world, for all intents and purposes, is idle until player interacts with the game in some way. In an average pvp game, each player gets 1 min and 45 seconds in real time to effectively plan strategies and make moves(decisions). Yet, Pox does not contain a real concept of time in the game itself. In some cases, 1:45 is not enough for all the moves a player may want to do within a turn. For example, as it gets to late game, some players cannot make effective strategic decisions and moves in the same turn, and true to the statement, one wrong decision and the whole game is lost (especially as the game prolongs). Also, some battle groups that rely on mass champion or summon swarm strategies like Mogas, is hard to manipulate as the number of units increase on the board. Furthermore, on maps like Shattered Peaks, where there is no central font, a strategic stalemate can occur where no conflict is occurring for the majority of the game for both sides. And by the time conflict eventually occurs, there will always be way too many champions to control within the time given, and more often than not, some champions will be left untouched for that specific turn. The developers can potentially increase the amount of time each turn to fix this. Or, they can make an option where time increases gradually as the game goes on. For example, at regular intervals of 15 or so turns, the time in each turn can get increased by 5 secs until the game eventually ends. Game between Teascholar(SP) and Kiwi(FW). Teascholar is playing Mogas, a swarm style bg, that constantly swarm the field with cheap disposable champions. Environmental Context: Cultural Context: Poxnora consists of 2 general sides that are the Protectorate and Wrath. Each side consists of 4 general factions. Protectorate factions(the good guys) include Forglar Swamp(FS), Ironfist Stronghold(IS), K’thir Forest(KF), and Savage Tundra(ST). Wrath factions(bad guys) include Forsaken Wastes(FW), Sundered Lands(SL), Underdepths(UD), and finally the 8th and last faction, Shattered Peaks(SP). Each faction has its specific lore and story. And each faction has its own corresponding enemy in the opposite side while being enemies to all four; for instance, SL is the primary enemy versus IS. Furthermore, each faction has specific races that generally belong only to that faction i.e. Mogas in SP, Draksars in SL, and Liches in FW. https://www.poxnora.com/factions/viewfactionprofile.do Left side consists of the 4 Protectorate factions and the right side consists of the 4 from Wrath. Each factions corresponding enemy fact is directly opposite of each other. For example, SL were the result of an enormous Nora bomb that devastated the Old City of Valdac, and mutated the dwarves and humans that inhabited the Old City of Valdec, and mutated the dwarves(IS) and humans(IS) that inhabited that ancient city. Presently, in the lore, races like Draksar and Skeezick in SL (reptilian creatures) constantly attempt to seek revenge on Protectorate factions. The majority of races in SL evolved in the desert, and each race has its own specific lore or culture that they developed over time. Draksars(once human), for instance, is a very warlike and violent race that worships 3 different dragon gods. The 1st god, Vindrax, is the God of Destruction. The 2nd god, Valdac, the sister of Vindrax, is the God of Creation. Lastly, the 3rd god, Vex, is the mother of Vindrax and Valdac. Additionally, Draksars in the Pox lore raised pantheon devoted to the Dragon Gods. Due to the harsh like environments Draksars evolved in, they developed dragon-scale plating and regeneration. Also, individuals in this society are encouraged to breed rapidly in order to build an army. This eventually made Draksars the largest standing army in the SL faction. And in the aftermath of the catastrophe, Akakios, a dragon, became the leader of the Draksar army. Furthermore, due to the fact that Draksars were originally humans, they are somewhat advanced in weapons technology have guns and rockets. However, due to the lack of resources, Draksars appear more primitive then they really are in game with Native-Indian styled tribal clothing and assortment of weapons ranging from spears, swords, arrows, guns, rockets, and etc. In reality, Draksars are very advanced in war tactics and rank-and-file combat while also being versatile in fluid and adaptive combat styles i.e. they are very experienced in warfare. And a highly advanced system of taxes is also in place to help support Akakios’ army. Slavery is also widespread in this society. Draksar forerunner seen here with a telescope, spear, Draksar Rocketeer seen here with a nora fueled Rocket. primitive clothing, and compass. Akakios, Lord ruler and commander of the Draksar legion. Judge Torien seen here wielding a pistol A judge passes the divine judgment of the Dragon Gods and preaches the principles of Valdac and Vindrax. Physical Surroundings and Attention to Visual Detail: As many can guess from the Poxnora sprites above, Pox sprites contain some of the best artwork in this industry including an emphasis of detail on the equipment, weapons, clothing, and etc. From the artwork, one can assume that game designers for Pox work hand in hand with the artists to ultimately make all the designer ideas come true with the artwork. Each faction also contains war banners that clearly define what faction and army they represent. Furthermore, relics like Idol of Kain Taris symbolizes the various gods these races pay respects to. Also, warlike or nomadic races, like the Draksar or Jakei, ride race specific mounts or rides representing the various amounts of creatures that can be found in these factions. For example, Basilisk Templar is a Knight that rides a 2x2 Basilisk; the basilisk in this case symbolizes and represents the various reptilian, lizard, dragon, and/or dragon like creatures that exist in SL. Another example would be Juya White-Eyes, commander of Jakei Wingmasters in ST that rides a 2x2 owl like creature know as a Strig, and in this case, the owl is representative of all the arctic creatures that can be found within ST. Even though the developers implement overused but familiar races like dwarves, elves, and dragons, they ultimately drew in players that are use to these races in the fantasy genre of this industry. At the same time, developers succeeded in developing new unique races with supporting artwork that clearly differentiate one race from the other. In addition, clear similarities shadow developer inspiration for new races from a plethora of locations like the natural world(Strigs) and religious communities in history(Dragon Gods). For example, Sokolov, the primary designer for Poxnora, drew inspiration from League of Legends by mimicking the skin system(changes how the champion looks in game). In this case, Sok made the correct design decision to only do skins for Heroes(champions that serve as leaders in their factions) that are included in most meta bgs i.e. they will see more play then most other runes. Pox also has unique music and sounds to compliment the game. For different actions in Pox there is a different but unique sound that helps players define conditions on the map with sound. And in some cases, sounds for certain actions will help the player figure out what the enemy player did if he/she missed it in game. Also, Pox music accompanies every single map; however, long years of a sound bug that turns off Pox music sometimes when a champion dies practically made Pox music non-existent in recent years. When it works, Pox music is set to play the same song over and over again on a loop until the match ends. However, Pox music doesn’t mesh with the game play or the environment completely as it is repetitive background music. Furthermore, environmental sound is not included in the game for wind, water, lava, and other terrain features on specific maps. If developers were to pay more attention to the quality and general feel of the game play with sound, it ultimately set a better mood and tone for the whole entire game play experience. https://d2aao99y1mip6n.cloudfront.n.../dj9Dj9CG2Bg3Ae9BJ8GJ8HJ8Ikpuhykpnwqwxmeg.gif In game unit of Basilisk Templar https://d2aao99y1mip6n.cloudfront.n.../eJ8JJ8IG2BE8DG2AF0Bj9Cj9Dsmsmykpjgvftoqf.gif In game unit of Idol of Kain Taris relic https://d2aao99y1mip6n.cloudfront.n.../dj9Ej9Dg3Af1BG2Aj9Bj9Cj9Dsofrjpsjpsjtxkg.gif In game unit of Juya White-Eyes https://d2aao99y1mip6n.cloudfront.n.../dj9AJ8Jf1AF0Be9Aj9Fj9Gj9Humnevvoqfgkjtfg.gif In game unit of the standard exotic version of Euan Ironfist https://d2aao99y1mip6n.cloudfront.net/images/runes/idols/ej9Bj9AF0BF0Ae9Af1BJ8IJ8Jgkusqoshytonwo.gif In game unit of the Christmas skin version of Euan Ironfist in LE Sprite for Basilisk Templar Music for Elemental Plateau 2 hours worth of game play from a DOGz developer called Moles. Variety of sounds occur in the background as champions do various actions like moving, attacking, using active abilities and etc. New Player Experience and the Emotional Dimension: Poxnora consists of 2 forms of play: one versus AI and the other versus other players. Single-player campaign games range from daily skirmishes(daily missions players can do each day to gain additional gold) to a series of multiple of campaigns that are related to the lore in some way. Mainly, Pox single-player features generic and monotone game play, and unlike games like Final Fantasy, Pox single-player pertains to only player ambition, greed, desire, and other similar emotional qualities for f2p players in general i.e. saving gold from playing campaigns to buy runes. In some cases, F2p players that don’t spend money on this game have a hard grind of daily farming of campaigns until they can save enough to build a full meta bg. This, in-turn, makes Pox a somewhat pay to play game where new players that hate grinding can spend hundreds of dollars in the first couple months of game. However, for hardcore f2p players, the single-player grinds often makes them quit. Furthermore, all forms of communication in single-player campaigns are given in boring text base formats(sometimes lengthy) that a player has to read to understand the story around a campaign. This further serves to bore players that play campaigns daily or just for fun. To fix this, developers can implement voice over narration of key campaign events, and/or add anime movie clips that explain the story in motion picture(like in Maple Story). Adding better narrations of lore will ultimately serve to attract new players that actively or subconsciously search and/or play games that have good emotional qualities like excitement through stimulating challenges. In addition, some might argue that because Pox single player campaign offers different difficulty levels that players might find challenging, after awhile players will figure out easy ways(mechanics) to defeat the campaigns even on the hardest level. For example, a super champ bg, like Aspect of Violence, that focuses on throwing spells and other buffs on a specific champion can easily mow thru hordes of AI champions while successfully fulfilling objectives set by the Campaign. This, in-turn, can be fixed by a better AI in general. Pox was never really designed to be a single-player game nor does it really use this feature to attract new players. Similar to the single-player campaigns, Pox multiplayer still only offers monotone game play like League of Legends, where players have one objective, to kill the enemy shrine or make them surrender; to get there, players do the same activities every game by killing champions, deploying and supporting champions, and controlling fonts for resource. While some players might like monotone game play(male players in general), people that like more context in the game will enjoy the huge volume of runes Pox offers, the diversity of strategies and mechanics, and/or its detailed artwork on all aspects of the game. However, the major drawback for diversity is that this game is super hard for new players to pick up and learn. And old players that have stored an encyclopedia of Pox knowledge in their brains constantly bully out new players that are trying to learn by consistently beating them in pvp matches. To fix this, developers tried to implement a competitive rank system that generally allows players to face opponents close to their own rank, and in cases of facing opponents of lower rank, the lower rank player will always gain more experience if they win and vice versa. However, due to the lack of players in Pox, a true competitive ranked system simply cannot be achieved with the current game population i.e. high ranked players consistently farm lower ranked players for experience thus creating horrible new player experience. And if a system was in place where high ranked players cannot farm lower ranked players, it simply wouldn’t work because at certain hours of the day little people are on (let alone in queue). Emotionally, this builds nothing but frustration toward the game for a lack of runes, a difference in skill or knowledge of the game, and hatred toward ranked play. As a result, high ranking players get feelings of ambition, power, and excitement (sometimes subconsciously) when they reach higher ranks and achievements. Even if more players play join, the ranking system in Pox will never truly judge a player by skill. For example, like League of Legends, the ranking system in Pox is based on experience; where the higher experience player on the scale will have a higher rank. In some cases, players have gained little to no rank from a high amount of wins due to the fact that little to no experience is gained from players lower ranked then them. This, in-turn, will ultimately make the multiplayer experience in Pox feel unrewarding i.e. lack of excitement and/or fear(for losing rank). To sum it all up, Pox’s general solution to fix these problems is just more players. Ethical Dimensions: Rules that developers created are clearly outlined to players in terms and conditions. However, options like reporting a player and higher chances for permanent ban is non-existent. Frustrated players in all games in general eventually become toxic(calling players bad and insulting others) after consistently losing games and frustrations with the game in general. And if no report player option is given to players, these toxic players will never stop being toxic, and eventually a chain of events will occur where more toxic players are created as a result, or players start leaving Pox. And after DOGz took over, they implemented a system basically where they did not ban or take away privileges from players that traded in game runes for currency that is not in Pox, whereas in SOE days this was illegal. And around the period directly after DOGz transition, a lot of players got scammed and little action was taken by Senshu, a DOGz employee that deals with discipline and game morality, or DOGz in general to stop these actions. In some cases, players lost their whole rune collections and quit the game in frustration. Likewise, there are no rules in place to stop players from abusing the assortment of bugs that Pox has; these bugs in some cases will give a player a significant advantage in a pvp game or flat out win them the game. However, if a developer quickly realizes the scope of the bug and/or the rune(s) that surround it, they often ban the use of those objects in ranked play. Cases are known in the past, where runes are banned from ranked play for significant amounts of time because the developers simply cannot or do not know how to fix it i.e. people paid for runes they essentially cannot use Forum post by Senshu basically saying then advise against trading runes for currency out of game but they won’t condone it i.e. not illegal
I dont have time to go through them all but I amalmost certain there is a flavor text that refers to them as brothers.
@Moles I wish I could, literally I sat down for 12 hours with no food. And stopped at 4 am in the morning cause I had to work today. @Markoth I didn't have time to add **** analysis of expac that I promised u. But at a later time maybe....
I wouldnt worry about it. Its minor and for the sake of the paper irrelivemt. The paper is very well written and you have doen a marvelous job of describing the mechanics.
Hard to tell formating by a forum post. Most of it is lost during copy and pasting over. Grammar depends on the teacher. I took game design classes for several years and my professor would point out spelling errors but only the most obvious of gramatical errors.
@Dagda In case u were wondering, this is the first draft that I finished after 12 hours at 4am in the morning. So f grammer (maybe I fix later). But Dag, I understand, pedes have tiny brains after all Also, because I couldn't figure out how to upload my file I time I tried copy and paste... as u guys can see it failed too. I had so many pics to go along with this paper.
Sry almot forgot @Baskitkase @Sokolov @DMrBadguy @Moles I took a lot if u guys feedback and ideas. Thx guys
One must study under the great and mighty MikeLin. Why gee guis, thanks for your feedback! When I grow up I wanna write feedback just as good! Hurr hurr hurr
nice read. you choose a great game to write a paper of! iam missing a glimpse into the future (or have i overread it?). What would you do/change/expand? ie. mobile devices, marketing... all that stuff. You should check out kalasle´s videos. He also does a great job at explaining and commentating. This is my favorite match of the Pox Academy 16p Tournament:
I have gone off this game and gone onto elsword, because as Covah pointed out this game is too stressful.
