Hallowed Nights Updating Part III: Player Incentives and Monetization

[MrMNWorm]

Hello Forums,

Here is the 3rd installment for the seasonal events updating pitch regarding Hallowed Nights. In this post we will be covering ways to increase player interest and engagement in the event as well monetization.

Once again, let's start off with a question: what are some fun ways for game developers to incentivize players to have a positive engagement in their game as well as their community?

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

In the past, specifically for Hallowed Nights, Klei has offered the community fun opportunities to "compete" in contests. These contests included a Hallowed Nights themed modding contest as well as an art contest. The modding contest produced one of my favorite mods, Giant Pumpkin Lanterns, plus 19 others. That contest sparked quite a bit of interest in Hallowed Nights and the only criticism anyone could say of it was that maybe it had a narrow focus on those who could participate. The next year, this was remedied by offering an art contest where more people could participate. However, there were a few submissions created by AI and that's not exactly "good sportsmanship" in an art contest.

Then this year... no contest was offered... and for someone like myself, I feel like that is a missed opportunity. Contests are great way to kick off the event season and are a fun activity for the community to share and bond with one another in. So I was little bummed to see that nothing was offered this year... especially since I was considering a recommendation to offer a pumpkin decorating/carving contest.

SIDENOTE: After becoming a Kleicord mod a few months ago, I decided to join the Massive Monster and Terraria Discords.

For comparison...
DST was released in 2013 and the Kleicord has 50k+ members.
Cult of the Lamb was released in 2022 and the Massive Monster Discord has 80k+ members. 
Terraria was released in 2011 and their official Discord has 500k+ members.

So it would appear the developers for Cult of the Lamb and Terraria are doing an excellent job building their communities. One thing I saw both of them do was announce pumpkin decorating contests. I thought that would be a great idea for the Klei community since there are plenty of DST-themed pumpkin stencils available online and Wormwood literally has a pumpkin head skin... so why not?

At a time that would have prudent to announce such a contest, I didn't say anything because I had just made a post recommending that Klei scrap their Ice Crystaleyezer plans and offer a Brightius Shootius item that I had been thinking about... and I kinda felt like an idiot after making that post, so I thought it best to "keep my yap shut". But now... after thinking about it a bit more... I realize a pumpkin decorating contest would have been a really good idea and I shouldn't let fear or embarrassment stop me from trying.

Now... you should have seen the pumpkins that people submitted for Massive Monster's Discord... their members went ALL OUT making all sorts of crazy looking pumpkins. And you know why they put forth such an effort? Because the PRIZES they offered were TOP NOTCH! I'm talking plushies, figures, blankets, and all kinds of merch were up for grabs... and all you had to do was carve a pumpkin.

With the right incentives being offered, people got super creative and super interested in doing this contest... here, just check it out the results.

Looks like AI can't help you win a pumpkin decorating contest... and if everyone at Klei is too busy to organize something like this... I'd be happy to do it... I'm more than capable... but being an official writer/developer for DST would help in promoting it.

And I'm not the only person who thought decorating a DST-themed pumpkin would be a fun activity... here are 6 people who did it without any incentives whatsoever.

I was able to reward the first person who first posted their pumpkin pic with a code for 10,000 spools that I got from Ambassador Cranky Old Dude for helping out with his Alzheimers Charity Stream. And even though Crimsonn was SUPER excited and grateful when she got those spools, it was sort of like giving a gift card or cash for birthday gift. Sure, it's appreciated and will be used, but... Klei has some pretty cool shirts now... and posters... and new plushies... and those things PAIRED with some spools would be excellent incentives, if you ask me.

But... you know what would have been a REALLY incentivizing contest prize... that skin set Klei gave away to everyone as a log-in gift, the Hallowed Woodworking collection.

Klei... in terms of monetization and community engagement... would it have been a pretty good idea to give that skin set away to 6 community members as a prize in a DST-themed pumpkin carving contest and THEN have everyone else buy or weave it? I believe it would have been a very fun incentive for community engagement... and probably would have boosted the sales numbers on that skin set a smidge. Yes... it is really nice when you give us log-in gifts, but with a little planning and organizing... it could have been a CHERISHED prize that people EARNED... and then the rest of us would have been happy to buy it or burned up some spools on it. I imagine that seeing some people WIN that skin set might have increased the desire in others for it... 

So Klei... please keep in mind... if you were to put together a team to update the seasonal events with new, fun, non-permanent, experimental content... and if I were the writer for this team... I would absolutely love to organize and officiate some event contests to help kick things off ALONG WITH the work load of the writer... I can absolutely do both... if not a little more. (What if we did an ADORNMENT contest for Winter's Feast?!?) After doing something like this once, I expect that the following year will see a significant increase in the contest's participation because community members will know it's coming... and be ready for it.

IN-GAME EVENT ENGAGEMENT

Next, how could we get players to increase their interest and engagement in the GAME during the events?

As I mentioned in the last post, The Binding of Isaac uses time-based challenges to increase replay-ability in the game. I also pitched adding a new boss, the Ancient Gourdian, that would have two versions, one with 4k hp and one with 8k hp. Defeating the 4k hp version earns the player a blueprint for a new item, the Pack-o-Lantern, that is a backpack that can provide light. Defeating the 8k hp version will earn the player not only the blueprint for Pack-o-Lantern but also a new variant skin for it.

Here's the flow-chart I used to explain it a little better.

The strategy here is to offer players ways of earning free skins by playing with the new content, not just opening the game up. It is my perspective, after studying behavioral psychology in college, that people appreciate that which they earn far more than that which they are given. Klei definitely likes giving us free skins, and they can still do that, but by having players earn those free skins in-game will be a bit more fun, rewarding, and memorable than just opening the game to get them.

TIME-BASED CHALLENGES FOR EXCLUSIVE SKINS

Then... I also have an idea for how players can earn an exclusive skin by offering a time-based challenge.

If we use the Ancient Gourdian as our example, if a player can defeat it before Winter begins, they will earn a new backpack skin.

Here are some examples of what those backpack skins might look like...

These are some ideas... could be lots of other spooky things.

I was also thinking exclusive Walking Cane skins would work and might look something like this...

Wouldn't it be cute if the Bat themed one used the little bat animation from when you open the Coffin Skin Ice Box... like when you attack with it.

And if anyone says that we have too many Backpack and Walking Cane skins... I politely disagree. We can never have too many as they allow players to customize their character's appearance. So between the customization factor and the one-time only availability... that should pique players' interest in beating the Ancient Gourdian... hopefully more than once.

They can earn a NEW ITEM from defeating the 4k hp version, at anytime, by using Nightmare Fuel to start the fight.
They can earn a new VARIANT SKIN for the new item by defeating the 8k hp version using Pure Horror to start the fight.
And they can earn a new, exclusive BACKPACK SKIN by defeating the boss before Winter starts.

To me, that looks like a lot of fun incentives for players to participate in the new Hallowed Nights content.

Imagine players figuring this reward system out...

- A solo megabaser might quickly get the 8k hp version killed but... they'll have to start a fresh world to get the exclusive backpack skin... always fun to start fresh world.
- A newbie pub player might get the exclusive backpack skin if they stumble upon a squad that kills this new Pumpkin Boss everyone is talking about... should be a fun bonding experience for all involved.
- And then a veteran pub player might join a server and tell everyone about how they COULD earn all three rewards (the Pack-o-Lantern Blueprint, the variant skin for it, and the backpack exclusive skin) IF they can just kill the Nightmare Werepig, grow a Giant Pumpkin, and kill the new boss before Winter starts... that would definitely be a rewarding experience... if they can pull it off. If they don't... I bet they can do it on their second attempt (replay-ability).

And that's how Klei might offer some fun and incentivizing ways to increase player engagement and interest in Hallowed Nights... but all of it is free content... so we might need some monetization added. 

MONETIZATION

Since Hallowed Nights is the "spooky" event, the aim would be to offer spooky, gothic skins that match the exclusive skin offered as well as some skins that will be built into a collection that can then be sold as it's own skin set once the development phase is over.

For example, if a Frankenstein Head backpack exclusive skin were offered, the skin set might include...

- a Frankenstein Fist Hambat
- a Frankenstein Hair/Head Football Helmet
- a Gothic Style Bookshelf (because a laboratory has books...?)
- a "Specimen Jar" Style Fish Scale-o Matic

Or... if the Abigail Backpack was offered for the exclusive skin, the skin set package might include...

- an Abigail Tent skin
- an Abigail Ice Box
- an Abigail Crockpot
- and a new Sisturn skin

Or if we were offering exclusive Walking Cane skins, we might offer a Skull and Bones themed skin set with the Skull and Bones Walking Cane.

- Bone Chest Skin
- Bone Cartographers Desk
- Bone Spear
- Bone Fencing

And some of that might look something like this...

Then... the Pumpkin Lantern has no skin variants... and it might be fun to have a bunch of options for it... I bet megabasers will collect them all for decoration purposes. And if the seasonal events updating had a 6 year development period, we could offer 2 new Pumpkin Lantern skins each year, for 12 total by the end.

They might look something like this...

Another thing that would be fun to have are Character Specific Tombstones... and with a 6 year development phase, that would mean the team would have to release 3 per year to do all the characters.

They might look something like this...

Yes, there are lots of tombstone skins already... but I've also seen a lot of requests for build-able, place-able tombstones. So there might be a craft-able tombstone added to the crafting menu during the event, like the Mad Scientist Lab. Then these variant skins could be applied to the generic one that comes when the event is live or turned on. It might actually be a re-skinned Sign so that players can write little messages on them...

I think that will be pretty fun... I might be a little biased since I already do stuff like this... but I doubt it will take long for players to start memorializing their friends skeletons if something like this were available.

So the skin sets offered each year will include:
- 4-5 items themed around the exclusive item. Trying to focus on character accessories and base decor items to increase player customization.
- 2 new Pumpkin Lantern skins
- 3 Character Specific Tombstone skins

And now our yearly Hallowed Nights game plan might look something like this...

Hallowed Nights 2024
- Introduce Giant Jack-o-Lanterns and craftable Tombstones (and these are now a permanent part of the yearly event)
- Introduce the Ancient Gourdian Boss Fight
- Introduce the Pack-o-Lantern (and the variant skin)
- Introduce the Time-Based Challenge for an Exclusive Backpack Skin: option being the Frankenstein Backpack Skin
- Offer a Frankestein Themed Skins Package for sale: Frankenstein Fist Hambat, Frankenstein Head Helmet, Gothic Bookshelf, Specimen Jar Fish Scale-o-Matic
- Skin Package also includes: 2 new Pumpkin Lantern Skins and 3 Character Specific Tombstone Skins

Hallowed Nights 2025
- Introduce the Acceleration and Adhesive Experiments
- Re-release the Ancient Gourdian Boss Fight
- Re-release the Pack-o-Lantern and Jack Skellington variant skin
- Include the Time-Base Challenge for a NEW Exclusive Backpack Skin: possibly the Abigail skin.
- Offer an Abigial Themed Skin Package for sale: Abigail Ice Box, Abigail Tent, Abigail Crockpot, new Sisturn Skin
- Add 2 new Pumpkin Lantern Skins and 3 new Character Specific Tombstone Skins

Hallowed Nights 2026
- Introduce the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Fight
- Introduce the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Drop Blueprint Item
- Introduce Sacred Scarecrow Time-Based Challenge for an Exclusive Walking Cane Skin: possibly the Skull and Bones skin.
- Offer the Skull and Bones Skins Package: Bone Chest, Bone Cartographer Desk, Bone Spear, and Bone Fencing Skins
- Add 2 new Pumpkin Lantern Skins and 3 New Character Specific Tombstone skins

Hallowed Nights 2027
- Introduce the Electroshock and Effulgent Experiments
- Re-release the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Fight
- Re-release the Sacred Scarecrow Boss Drop Blueprint Item
- Re-release the Sacred Scarecrow Time-Based Challenge for a NEW Exclusive Walking Cane Skin, possibly the Bat Themed one
- Offer a Bat Themed Skins Package: Bat Black Scaled Chest, Bat Boomerang, Bat Themed Warly Crockpot, and Bat Thermal Measurer
- Add 2 new Pumpkin Lantern Skins and 3 New Character Specific Tombstone skins

Hallowed Nights 2028
- Introduce the Totally Normal Tree of Terror Boss Fight
- Introduce the TNToT Boss Drop Blueprint Item
- Introduce Time-Based Challenge for Exclusive Skin Item
- Offer Skin Package Related to the Exclusive Skin
- Add 2 New Pumpkin Lantern Skins and 3 New Character Specific Tombstone skins

Hallowed Nights 2029
- Introduce two new potions (not sure what those are just yet... but we got 5 years to figure it out)
- Re-release the TNToT Boss Fight
- Re-release the TNToT Boss Drop Blueprint Item
- I hope you get the idea by now on the exclusive skins and their skin sets...

Hallowed Nights 2030
- Begin the 3 year rotation cycle through the bosses starting with the Ancient Gourdian.

HN 2031
- Sacred Scarecrow

HN 2032
- TNToT

Here links to the two other posts that should fill you in on the new potions being added and the Ancient Gourdian boss fight.

And then to end our pitch presentation...

BENEFITS TO KLEI

If Klei were going to hire a few rookie developers to update the seasonal events with fun, new, non-permanent, experimental content... there better be some benefits in it for them to even consider such a proposal.

I've seen a few mentions of Klei wanting to increase the number of yearly content release dates... but without more developers one of two things will happen. They increase their quantity at the cost of quality or they increase the quality at the cost of quantity. Lower the quality of content will upset the community and lowering the quantity of updates won't achieve their financial objectives. So hiring a few rookie developers to work on content updates during the seasonal events will give the veteran developers more time to work on the permanent, big-picture content. Plus... the veteran developers will get to work stress-free over the holiday season while perfecting their content because the rookie team is releasing their content over the busy holidays. Wouldn't that be nice?

And if the veteran team can still produce the same amount of content to add to the game in a 12 month period, having the rookie team add 3 content updates creates more total release dates, right...? I may not know the exact numbers on sales volume... but I'm guessing that if the rookie team can add 3 new content release dates in a year, one of those release events will cover the cost of their labor for the year. So like one content update pays for the rookie developers and 2 content updates will be profit for the company. Buy one, get two free is a pretty solid deal if you ask me... 

Then there is something I will deem over-saturation. What I mean by over-saturation is having less time to produce more content will lead to more instances of poor quality content being added to the game... permanently. The seasonal events content is basically non-permanent, it can be removed or replaced rather easily... but the veteran team has to constantly be producing permanent content every time they drop a update. So if Klei wants to hit more monthly content updates, but doesn't add more developers, the chances will increase of adding lower quality content... permanently (or overworking the developers they do have).

So basically adding a few rookie developers to the company will help increase the quantity of updates, the quality of the permanent content, and thus the yearly revenues from DST... plus... if these the developers were hired from the community... I believe they/we would bring some renewed energy, fresh perspectives, and motivation to the rest of the DST development team. After 10 years of development... a company might see things like those erode a little... and the rookies would help repair any effects of "long term erosion"... plus... we would really appreciate the opportunity to work on our favorite game and will work very diligently to delivery fun, fresh, enjoyable content.

I would love to be the writer for this rookie team because I would provide writing that is humorous and heart-felt with proper haste... and I would be more than happy to organize and officiate event contests for the community... with whoever else wants to help... and whenever I'm not working on writing or events, I'll polish and pitch my scripts for the DST Animated Series to animation producers.

And with that said, we conclude our pitch proposals to update Hallowed Nights with fun, new, non-permanent content.

Thank you all for your time reading this, feedback is always appreciated!

Sincerely,
MrWorm

[Dr.Webber]

 

Nice Webber skull I want it