Reward and Response

From my Gaming Blog, I talk about using a little bit of cognitive science to improve gamer connection to the game.

For many of us, gaming is a pastime, something we can do to escape the humdrum quagmire of our rather mundane existence. For a few hours, we can sit down at a table—virtually or in real-life—and we can create fictive worlds and relationships with others. The idea is that everyone is doing this because they are having fun, but as GMs, how can you tell if your players are having fun? And if they aren’t, how can you fix that?

The answer to these questions may seem obvious. “I know my players are having fun because they are laughing and joking and smiling,” answered one DM friend of mine. The problem is that through these signs your players are not always telling the truth. Certainly, in that moment, they may well have been having fun, but for others this can be a social camouflage they use to avoid attention.

“I can ask them if they are having fun,” said another friend, who went on to say, “I have a good rapport with my players and they would let me know if they weren’t having fun.” Great rapport definitely goes a long way, but remember that most people do not want to hurt their friends either. I know for me, I have blatantly exaggerated the amount of fun I was having because I wanted to save my friend and myself the embarrassment of having to say, “Dude, I hate your game.”

Some of you may be asking, then, “ok, if I can’t trust what I am seeing or what they are saying, how can I tell if they are having fun?” The answer to this question starts before the game even begins. It starts with a pre-game Q&A that you do with the individual players.

This is something that I have been experimenting with for a little bit now. When I first started running games, it was all about me. I had a story that I wanted to tell and I wanted my friends to provide the characters. The problem for this was there would be times, and they were a plenty when I first started, when the characters would want to go one direction inside the story and I needed them to go a different way. Of course, as a GM I would force their decisions to still take them where I needed them to go. The harder they pushed, though, the less fun I could tell they were having and I know the frustrations were detracting from mine as well.

The answer to my quandary came about from my own academic interests in cognitive theory and roleplaying. One of the things that we know about aesthetics and the study of why we read fiction, it is that our brain likes response and reward systems. We even use it as a way to socially pattern ourselves, providing kudos and positive rewards for good work, and admonishing not so good behavior with criticism and negative responses. If we, as GMs, work smarter, by using a similar system, we can produce hours of fun for everyone involved alongside memories that will outlive the game itself.

The first thing we want to understand is what constitutes positive rewards for our players? We want to know what their wants, interests, and needs are. I generally hate this terminology, as it is also what many folks use to determine sales pitches, but the fact is that it works. A few things to consider are:

• What does the player want to get out of the gaming experience?
• What are they interested in exploring during the game?
• What do they need in order to have a fun experience?

Understanding what the player wants to get out of the gaming experience helps us put in perspective what the game means for them. For me, when I have the opportunity to game, it means that I am taking a break from work/school/personal life to get away and relax. This means that I don’t want my time wasted with unnecessary distractions that aren’t related to the experience. My frustration triggers are excessive out of character discussions during designated game time or when the story isn’t moving forward.

Taking a moment to understand what the player wants to explore recognizes one of the historic uses of roleplaying—a safe place to question and consider things that might be bugging me in the real world. Lately, I have been interested in exploring other genders and making sure that gender or race are actually important within the game. This does not mean that I need the games I play in to be filled with gender rhetoric or racism, but rather I want the choices I make about my character to matter within the story. If I am playing a bearded dwarven female, I am ok with being mistaken for a man and consider how that might affect me.

Balancing what people need in order to have fun helps to make sure that you are giving each player a little something that is just for them. One group I have been with does this by giving them some sort of in-game item on (or around) their real-world birthday. It is recognition that they are important. But also understanding what kind of situations are rewarding and fun for the player is useful too. I have friends that love riddles and puzzles, not something they can simply roll a dice and figure out, but something engages them as players to figure out. For others, they like role-playing scenarios where their choice of words can have direct impact on the game. For me, I want to feel like my character is real and my decisions matter.

A way to help figure these things out is working with each player during character creation. I enjoy writing character backstories, as they help set the stage for my character and help me figure out how they fit into the world. I recognize that not every player is going to want to do that, but if it is something you want your players to consider, look at giving them some kind of reward for doing it. An example can be an heirloom item—something they start the game with that comes from their background. The more information given about the backstory and how the character came to possess it, the more the heirloom can be worth.  Remember, rewards can encourage players. If you do this though, make sure to recognize that players are going to come from different comfort levels with writing. You might get someone like me, who details their character from birth to the beginning of the game, or a player that might only provide a list of events.

While they are generating their character, ask them about questions about what they, as players, want to get from the game. Remember if you ask make it relevant in the game. The worst thing you can do is ask questions and feign interest in the answers and then do nothing with them. I would also recommend asking what the character wants to get out of the story too. What sort of short-term and long-term goals do the players have for their character? Because I like to work with pre-generated adventures, these short and long term goals provides ways I can reward the players and provide experiences they will have that is different from what someone else running that game will have.

Keep notes about the characters and what they are working on. I have found that keeping a GM document for each player is useful. I can use this to create side events, vignettes, and long-term story arches for each player and keep them separate. I can also use those to keep track of how they react when they get to interact with their storylines. If I throw out an NPC name that they interacted with during a one-on-one event and they light up, I can make note of that. If there is no reaction or clearly negative reaction, such as body language shut down or aggravation, I can make note to adjust how I am presenting information. Be sure that you are sharing the attention across all the players—everyone wants some time in the light.

As discussed in a previous post, be sure to set aside time are regular intervals to take the pulse of the group. This is a great time to talk about what the character is doing inside the game. Have they met their short-term goals? Based on what has been happening in the game, are their new goals they would like to start working towards and are there some that they want to abandon? Because it can be easier to talk in terms of the character, versus the player, you can also ask if there are different things the characters might like to see happen in the story? This can be especially useful if you have players that can be non-confrontational, who might not speak up about what they need or want. Be prepared to adapt to the information you get and experiment with new approaches.

Most importantly, as the GM, you need to do these things for yourself too. Why are you running the game and what do you want to get out of it? Take some time after the game to reflect on what happened, what went well, what didn’t go well, and review the in-game notes you made. Find a balance that works for you and your players and you will find that each of you are getting the rewards that makes the game engaging and fun and driving you to look forward to the next game.  

A Small Departure

Not that I have been blogging frequently, but I have realized that the bulk of my writing tends to split down into a few primary themes, with one of them being gaming. Because gaming is a big part of my social outlet and a dominant source of my writing, I figured it is about time for me to split off and have a separate blog specifically for my gaming related writing. I will still be posting my personal essays on my this blog and may occasionally cross post in both places.

My intent for this blog will be a space for me to give advice about gaming, character stories, advice, and reviews. This is not necessarily limited to role-playing games and it is my intention to include content about the various games I play. To this end, I am not much of a video gamer. I have really tried to get into them, but especially as graphics improve and there is a bigger push for first person style games, I find myself completely unable to play. Give me a good side scroll-er and I am set, but alas those days seem far behind us.

Customer Service Frustrations

A little background, I suppose, before I delve into my online frustrations. I graduated from high school in 1997, after which I planned to take a year off and then travel to Three River's Michigan to join a monastery. About eight months into my year off, I was struck rather suddenly by a feeling that if Michigan would be in my future, I needed to postpone and I started looking for a job. It didn't take long before I was contacted and eventually hired by USWest Communications. I spent five and a half years working for them, through their merger with QWest, before I opted to leave to go manage a movie theater. Since then, with the exception of almost a few months after I moved to Missoula, all of my adult employment has been in customer service. Sure, I have had my giggles at the First World Problems my customers have experienced, but in every transaction I have I genuinely want to help them get what they want within whatever confines I might have. And I expect the same when I get customer service at other location.

An important aspect of customer service for me is the words we choose to use. There are definitely times in face-to-face or over-the-phone customer service where I have stuck my foot in my mouth, but these don't happen terribly often. In written correspondences, I expect the person to take the time to consider the words they are using and at least consider how they sound. Read them out loud if needed, and try different tones, since writing lacks that part. Does it sound snarky or condescending (in a non-productive manner)? Additionally, does it sound friendly and professional?

I am currently in a business deal with an online printer. It wasn't the one I originally wanted to work with, but my husband assured me that this one was better-- he had previously worked as a graphic artist for this company and highly recommended them. He assured me they had quick turn around times for projects and were quite easy to work with. He took care of the logistics and placing the order. They quoted a 5 day turn around, printing it on my work order. He submitted the order and the image file on February 29th. They promptly sent me a confirmation email with the work order attached and links to their website to view the status of the work order at any time. On March 1st, they sent me a link to proof my job and did so a couple of hours after they sent it.

Generally when I work with businesses, I assume that any time frames given should be considered business days. Both my husband and I figured their quote of 5 day turn around meant that it would be here by today (a week after submitting it). I click the "check status" link from my first email and find the status as "Proof Approved" and had been in this status since March 1st. I email them to check to see what the potential hold up might be. The email I sent sounded concerned and asked the sales rep assigned to my order to check to see why it appeared to be stuck at one spot and what was preventing it from getting delivered within their promised turn around time. Her email read as follows:

     "Hello William,

     Our online system does not continually update the location. We did receive your approval on 3/1 and your order is in progress and will ship on Wednesday.

     Thank you"

Having worked in customer service and with plenty of different companies online, I don't necessary need it to continually update. However, it is expected that if the company provides a "Click here to check the status of your order" that the company has some way to keeping the status updated, usually as they move from one stage to another. Additionally, there was no indication of why I was quoted a 5 day turn around when there is no way that a ship date of Wednesday works within that time frame. When I sent a followup email to get more information about the 5 day turn around, I was sent a response that simply said that the sales rep was incorrect and they expect delivery of product on Wednesday. Does this mean that the project will be finished and sent today? No indication.

This series of transactions is frustrating to me as it doesn't really seem like the sales rep is familiar with how to provide digital customer service. This is something I could expect if the bulk of their work was done as face-to-face transaction. However, this particular company is primarily an online print center, similar to VistaPrint but run here in Montana. This means that her primary means of contact with her customers is going to be online, which makes her emails the primary point of customer service and satisfaction.

Especially as we move towards a more global and digital market place, the power of text is that much more important. You can't tell what the customer service representative's tone sounds like or see their body language. This is critical, as we have cognitive systems that have been culturally adapted to combine tone and body language with words to provide the full context of meaning. In fact, a good chunk of our communication is tied to these two modes and digital communication eliminates them completely.

The question then becomes, "Can we map tone into our digital communications?" My answer would be an emphatic "Yes!" And we can do it in some of the same ways that we do it through phone. Now, I will admit that as a customer, I strongly dislike overly friendly vocal tones. They simply do not sound realistic, which makes me aggravated. Additionally, if your apology sounds scripted it doesn't come across as genuine and also leads me to distrust most of what happens during the transaction. My approach over the phone is to sound as much like myself as possible. I talk with people nearly every day and I am aware that I my tone can sound gruff at times. Especially now that customers are able to give direct feedback on their experiences, I have found that if I sound "overly peppy" they respond negatively, just like I do. But, when I use my regular voice, even if at times it sounds snarky or crass, customers react more positively than if I am bubbly and happy.

How does all of this relate to emails? It means that you want to stick with an every day tone through the words you choose. You want to avoid pre-scripted emails that are copy and paste as well. And you want to match your customer a bit. If I took the time to send an email with a few different questions, make sure to spend an equal amount of time on your response. It makes it feel less like my email was a waste of your time. So, an example response to my initial email could be:

     "Hello William,

      Thank you for contacting me this morning. It seems like this print order is a top priority for you and I want to make sure you get the business cards in a timely manner too. I apologize that your order status hasn't updated since 3/1. I checked in with our graphics team and it looks like everything is on time for them to be boxed and shipped today and we expect them to arrive at your shipping location on Wednesday. Feel free to reply if you have any additional questions about this order or if you have any further printing needs we can help with.

    (Representative's Name)"

This type of reply sends the message that this work order matters to you and also recognizes that this might be the one and only communication we have. It addresses the overall tone of my email, which was clearly broadcasting that the turn around time is really important to me. Instead of making me feel foolish for thinking that as the order progresses from stage to stage the status would update, there is an apology. This recognizes that most other companies that have an online status update it frequently so that customer's do not need to contact the company to find out what the status is. It shows an action that the sales rep took. Even if "I check with our graphics team" means "I looked up your order in our work order system and it shows X, Y, or Z" it demonstrates that you invested time in my concern, which validates me. Additionally, this email provides the followup actions that will take place today, reassures that the work order is on time, and provides an estimated arrival time for me. By closing out with an invitation for additional communication this way, the email is also soliciting future business. This is key, as it plants the seed in my mind that I may want to do future print jobs with this company. One other pet peeve of mine for email transactions are email signatures. They are a great way to provide name, address, phone number, etc. However, if you use them, make sure that they are in the same font that you use for the rest of the email.

While the email may have taken a few more minutes to write than the one I originally received, it prevented the sales person from having to read a second email from me, "sounded" more friendly and engaging, while anticipating that I may want to turn to this company for future work orders as well. There are going to be those who may say that people should not read too much into an email and that nearly any text communication can be read in a negative way. This may well be true, but people should be aware that each email is an advertisement for yourself, your business, and your brand. Cultivate it in your transactions with your customers and you are likely to build a reputation that will ensure your success.