I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT ONE SIDE PROFILE OF THE MARIO BROS NOR CAN I TELL YOU WHY

I DONT KNOW WHY OUT OF ALL OF THOSE DRAWINGS THATS THE ONE I LIKE THE MOST BUT IT’S ALL GREAT WORK FACTUAL

YOU’RE GETTING ME THROUGH FINALS👍👍👍

(Post in question)

STAAAAHP you're gonna make me fall back into my Mario phase!!1! XDD

(FR THO THANK YOU SO MUCH!! :DD I'm glad you liked that doodle! I was rather proud of how it came out😊!!)

BTS WORLD: A Game Built on a Community

I had been listening to a lot of stories from my brother about the different game communities he has had the pleasure (?) of joining around the time I was researching for this blog. For example, a few years ago, he had played Pokémon competitively both online and offline. His days back then were spent on grinding for good Pokémon stats and natures (did anyone actually understand that back when they played Pokémon as a kid? Like that is seriously a thing?), craftily building mono-type parties to become a community’s Gym Leader, and he even opened a quite reputable Pokémon trade shop to support his eagerness to play in the competitive scene. Compared to the times when he played Pokémon for fun or modded the MissingNo.’s out of the Pokémon Emerald ROM, he had a completely different experience playing the very same game.

At some point, he went on a tangent about another Nintendo franchise, the Super Smash Bros. series. He noted that the game was never really intended to be a part of any competitive scene; the idea was to make a party game, “that was more party than Mario Party.” However, when Super Smash Bros. Melee came out, players saw the opportunity to take the game to another level and created the esports scene around it today. The developers seemed to still be keen on their original direction with their release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The game stripped away the more competitive mechanics such as the Wave Dash, guiding players to experience the game within simpler mechanics. The reception around the third installment became mixed; at this point, the competitive scene brewed a specialized community who were primarily invested in fast-paced competitive play. The new game suited players who were more casual and the fact that it was released along with the Wii made it a potential entry point for players new to gaming as well. Super Smash Bros. Brawl simply did not fulfill existing fans’ expectations. Still, the game brought in new fans and expanded the fanbase, albeit having segregation between those who liked Melee (a.k.a. competitive players) and those who liked Brawl (a.k.a. casual players) (Scott The Woz 2018). Future iterations of the game try to strike a balance between these two scenes in the community but still tries to stay true to the developers’ initial vision of an accessible party game.

Through both Pokémon and the Super Smash Bros. series, we can see how a game community influences gameplay experience. Pokémon’s simple premise attracts many children who have just started playing games, but its depth in mechanics allows for more complex gameplay. Depending on who players interact with and how they interact, the community can gear a player towards one playstyle or another, shaping their experience into many forms. On the other hand, the community Super Smash Bros. built up in one installment sets up players’ expectations of their experience. As a result, instead of putting forward initial intentions, developers must also be aware of what fans are attracted to—why do they play the game in the first place—in order to tap into an existing fanbase. It shifts the perspective of why developers make games from creating a game of their dreams into constructing a game that people will play.

This leads to the question of whether or not a developer should stay true to their intentions. Developers want their games to be played a specific way because they want their players to experience specific things, so wouldn’t community input ruin the game itself? Depending on what the game is and what are the intentions of those behind the game, it can make or break a player’s experience. So, following that train of thought, what if, instead of developing a game based on a developer’s personal vision, a game is developed based around a community that isn’t necessarily related to games? What would it be like, what would it take, and why would it be a good idea?

The most obvious reason to create such a game would, of course, be money. There is a community that is already invested in something, and to incorporate that something into other mediums is more or less the 101 of selling more using fewer resources. In a reversed setting, it would be akin to games selling merchandise of their franchise in order to gain more income. The game’s story, characters, and its impression is already deep-rooted in players’ minds. Selling merchandise evokes these impressions without actually having to deliver the actual experience. Utilizing existing properties as a base for a game is, essentially, the same thing.

Another probable reason to develop a community-based game would be to expand a brand. As many have argued, the value of games lies in their ability to create an experience. Having players connect with a brand through a unique experience further develops the brand identity and potentially, a player’s loyalty towards the brand. The brand can introduce new ideas they would like to associate themselves with, but these ideas are also developed through player interaction and interpretation of their experience.

I believe that BTS WORLD is a product of the culmination of these reasons.

The game was released on June 26, 2019, and have since tapped into many channels of BTS fans. As a group that has been operating for more than six years, their fans vary in age, race, gender, interests, and most of all, opinions regarding the band themselves. To be able to cater to a majority of the fanbase requires a product that not only showcases the group’s familiar branding but also integrates a unified idea that represents the group as a whole. The group does not originally represent a body of experienced players so mechanics needed to be relatively simple, but it has to have enough challenge, variety, and depth in order to sell itself as a justified part of the brand rather than merely a shameless cash-grab. Fans’ behaviors would also need to be thoroughly investigated in order to deliver a compelling experience. Any one-note gone wrong and the whole game would be under fire—just like with Super Smash Bros., the community has expectations and they expect developers to deliver (because, y’know, they kinda have the money). The game did actually receive strong criticism for their lack of gender-neutral pronouns, although it was more of a fault on the localization team’s side than the original writers, and was later fixed in an update patch. Being able to monitor community response and adapt accordingly is perhaps one of the reasons that the game launched so successfully as well.

So with that said, how did the developers manifest the community’s investment towards BTS into the game? First of all, they incorporated many of the concepts fans associate with BTS. In the game’s narrative, the player becomes BTS’s manager before their debut, progressing through the chapters with hopes of bringing the group together and helping them to perform under a spotlight for the first time. The experience is very reminiscent of the relationship between BTS and their fans: in many ways, their following had presented them with the many opportunities they have today. The narrative may seem like a superficial, fantastical romance delusional fans would eat up, but the game’s narrative goal keeps the player’s motivation in focus. Instead of pursuing a character in a game, the player is pushed to help BTS to achieve their dreams and become who they are today. Progressing through obstacles, both through narrative and gameplay mechanics becomes an expression of experiencing moments together, which is another concept BTS emphasizes to their fans.

BTS also invested a lot of their primary source of income—as in music and performance—into the game, tying it back to their prevalent branding. OSTs, cut scenes, and even the promotional MV was created with a polish no half-hearted work could have. They brought in collaborators for some of the songs and added references to theories about their MVs’ lore, showing that the game is an extension of their craft, which fans already adore. Seeing the developers put so much effort into the game motivates fans to appreciate the hard work and explore the content, trusting that they will be served with a familiar enjoyment they experience through BTS’s pre-existing works.

And then there is the “Another Story” section to the game; a side-story collection featuring individual members of the group. It can be said that the whole section is a quality recreation of fan fiction (which is probably where most of its appeal comes from), but developers also made sure to include themes of personal growth that BTS is known for in each storyline. In that sense, even though players are given the opportunity to experience a closer relationship with each member, they are also reminded that the player’s support through the narrative is pretty much what they have been doing as fans: giving support and helping the group’s members progress through their lives. Being able to relive the same experiences through the side-story helps to tie the game’s different narratives together.

In terms of gameplay, their solution to the whole ordeal was to use trading card gacha mechanics. Simple, keep people invested even through loses because it’s a game of chance, and could easily be assimilated with BTS’s visual identity. Player progression is not necessarily locked to these mechanics, but securing better gacha items helps players progress quickly and obtain lucrative bonuses. I personally think that this system is very familiar to BTS fans who play a violent game of chance to get tickets, buy multiple different versions of their albums to complete their photocard collection, and spend a hefty amount to obtain an object representing the member they connect the most to. The developers basically migrated that system into a virtual game space to structure their potential cash flow.

True to their visual novel style, there are also affinity meters players can fill by interacting with the characters through texts and social media, as well as choosing dialogue that would appeal to each individual member. Although in all honesty, I have not found a single reason that makes the affinity meter have as much of a significance towards the narrative as they stereotypically would (more cut scenes, story progression, etc.) aside from unlocking side-story chapters. I suppose that can be attributed to the fact that it gives a reason for the fans to focus on the main narrative, arguably the experiences that are most relevant to them.

Classic energy-based mechanics are also implemented to encourage (or maybe even force) short bursts of play over a long period of time over hours and hours of short-term play. I personally swore off this type of mechanics for a long time, but I found myself working around it because of one, I am interested in the content, and two, limited energy (or wings, as they are called in-game) isn’t the only resource preventing player progression. After I’ve spent all my wings in one sitting, I could level up cards, increase stat bonuses, or gacha my in-game money away to ensure my progress the next time I can play wings-restricted content. Instead of feeling like I had to wait hours to do barely anything, waiting resembles the feeling of discerning the perfect timing to seize the day. It took me some time to realize this but the gameplay structure fits the narrative of waiting for the perfect chance to debut: working, progressing, and having off-times to rest and recover, patiently anticipating the arrival of the day. Perhaps because of its simpler mechanics, some fans even choose to lay out a spreadsheet and calculate the most optimal way to play the game, further enhancing the game of chance into a more elaborate strategic play.

What is interesting about the game is that it gives players enough wings to progress through the first chapter seamlessly. This gives players the starting satisfaction of the narrative and BTS-related content the game boasts of while providing enough motivation for the players to strive for the end goal. In the middle of a torturous grind to complete their launch event, I found myself repeatedly thinking that I’ve come so far and there is no way that I could (read: would) stop now, finally realizing that they’ve got me hook, line and sinker. Using BTS as the bait as well as the end goal, somehow everything in-between can be tied to a journey necessary to develop one’s soul.

Lastly, and by far an observation I am most keen on seeing through, is how the game’s narrative, design, and mechanics can appeal to the many types of BTS fans. Those who casually enjoy BTS’s music might be attracted to the OSTs and sound design, and those attracted to their visual branding will find exclusive new content by progressing through the game. I have seen a fair share of players who claim that they play the game so they can draw visually stunning four-star cards instead of actually progressing through the game, which funnily enough, looked like they were faring better than players who were more invested in the gameplay. There are also fans who could relate to the more personal side-stories, earning an emotional investment separate from the group’s debut story. The side-stories developed on the idea of who they were and who they could be, but essentially adding another layer of depth to the fans’ understanding of the members’ characters and personalities. As I’ve said above, it wouldn’t be strange to see players who go above and beyond to play the game as efficiently as possible either, calculating all their moves to not let one resource go to waste. And, even to those who doubt the narrative of the game and worry that it is a way for fans to step outside of their boundaries and affirm delusional fantasies that should not be encouraged, can see that those ideas are not at the core of the game. Despite the title of “Manager” and chances to interact more with the members’ virtual persona, the game is, as a whole, created for their fans, and arguably, because of their fans. Each fan’s way of interpreting the narrative and progressing through the game is as valid of an experience as any other. In a way, even though the game was created through the representation of a brand and the community surrounding it, the experience of playing through the game is personal to each player. And that, I believe, is why and how a game developed based on an existing community can work to a developer’s interests.

In conclusion, there are countless ways in which a game community can influence a developer’s vision of a game. Players invested in a specific style of game and play may contribute to the developers’ and other players’ decisions and alter a game’s experience. Sometimes, this may be detrimental as the development of the game becomes a fight of balance between intentions and what will essentially sell. However, if taken advantage of, such in the case of BTS WORLD, the game opens up to the possibilities of an alternate stream of income and development of brand identity in exchange for the community’s investment. Even though the community is not primarily based around gaming, the narrative, design, and mechanics all contribute to unique yet familiar experience fans would not be able to obtain otherwise—the perfect merchandise for their ever-growing brand and fans.

References RandomTens 2014, Is Melee Better Than Brawl? - A Super Smash Bros. Love Story, Youtube, 6 February, viewed 13 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhHTF3_pON8>. Scott The Woz 2018, Super Smash Bros. Brawl | The Worst One, Apparently - Scott The Woz, Youtube, 29 July, viewed 13 July 2019, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhRx-FHiIvc>.