Complete List of Ramin Shokrizade's Public Papers 2010-

[Ramin Shokrizade]

Ramin's Articles 

Shokrizade's Analysis of Activision's Purchase of King.com for 5.9B

This is not a stand-alone paper but was published as an extensive comment regarding the sale at Gamasutra:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/258332/Analysts_react_to_ActivisionBlizzards_59B_purchase_of_King.php

The next three articles explain how the gaming industry's current design models are leading to a commercial extinction event, how we got here, and some solutions. It is recommended they be read in order.

F2P Tower Defense Games: A Detailed Analysis. 3rd in series. The popular tower defense genre is used to explain what we are doing wrong in the development of our mobile F2P products, and what we can do to improve product performance.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20151012/256006/F2P_Tower_Defense_Games_A_Detailed_Analysis.php

Secrets of F2P: Threat Generation: 2nd in series. Current models rely on Threat Generation to force consumers to spend on our products. What this looks like, and how consumers respond, is explained. 

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20151005/255285/Secrets_of_F2P_Threat_Generation.php

Whales Do Not Swim in the Desert: 1st in series. Current game design models are based on a false perception of consumer behavior created by poor analytics methodology. This paper uses the latest data to show that consumers are acting in the opposite way that we "need them to" for our current models to work.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20150929/254816/Whales_Do_Not_Swim_in_the_Desert.php

The Rise of Game Neuroeconomics: Entertainment is more than just "fun", it fills a physiological need for reward chemicals, some of which are neurotransmitters. Consumers need these chemicals and advances in game design technology combined with the emerging field of neuroeconomics will give rise to game neuroeconomics. The result will be products that better meet the needs of consumers. 

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20141202/230756/The_Rise_of_Game_Neuroeconomics.php

Community vs. Addiction in Interactive Media: There is a lot of talk about online games being addictive. There is a more important effect involved, the shift of communities from real space to cyberspace, causing conflict between competing communities.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20131122/205288/Comm...

Compassion in F2P: Just because we have the technology to identify and target whales, does not mean it is in our best interest to do so.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20131022/202782/Compassion_in_F2P.php

Mastering F2P: The Titanic Effect, 2013. Discussion of how interactive media induced altered states of consciousness can and are transforming the relationship between producers and consumers.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20131016/202489/Mastering_F2P_The_Titanic_Effect.php

Supremacy Goods, 2012. A new model explaining virtual goods microeconomics.

http://gamasutra.com/view/feature/177190/next_generation_monetization_.php

Group Monetization, 2013. Explains why consumers spend collectively in online social games.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130617/194428/Group_Monetization.php

The Top F2P Monetization Tricks, 2013. Details techniques used in games to trick the brains of consumers, with specific examples from current commercially successful products.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130626/194933/The_Top_F2P_Monetization_Tricks.php

The Barrier to Big, 2013. Defines virtual equity and equity loss, and how this affects consumer behavior.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130531/193353/The_Barrier_to_Big.php

Monetizing Children, 2013. Explains the vulnerabilities of minors to F2P monetization models and describes best practices for selling children's content in this business model.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130620/194429/Monetizing_Children.php

Systems of Control in F2P, 2013. Some ways to defeat the ability of consumer brains to properly evaluate products are discussed.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130516/192386/Systems_of_Control_in_F2P.php

Zynga Analysis, 2011. An analysis of the business and design models used by Zynga, predicting their commercial failure at a time when the company was one of the world's top media success stories.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/zynga-analysis-1

How 'Pay to Win' Works, 2012. Introduces the concept of the “ante game”.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/how-pay-to-win-works

Smedley's Dream Part 1 & 2, 2011. Predicts the detrimental commercial, design, and PR effects of using a Real Money Auction House in the game Diablo 3, six months before the game was shown.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/smedley-s-dream-part-1-2-predictions-of-the-diablo-3-rmah

Real Money Transfer Classification, 2011. Defines the three types of real money transfers and their effects on virtual economies and consumer behavior.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/real-money-transfer-classification

Third Tier of Game Development, 2010. Explains in detail how significant sections of societal infrastructure will move into cyberspace by 2030. Methods, costs, and benefits are detailed, including how current forms of education will be rendered obsolete.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/third-tier-of-game-development

How I Used EVE Online to Predict the Great Recession, 2013.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130405/189984/How_I_Used_EVE_Online_to_Predict_the_Great_Recession.php

What Went Wrong with Star Wars: The Old Republic, 2012.

http://gamasutra.com/view/news/175409/What_went_wrong_with_Star_Wars_The_Old_Republic.php

The Language of Monetization, 2013. New virtual economic terms I have introduced are presented together in one article.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/188359/the_language_of_monetization_design.php

Guild Wars 2 Economy Review, 2013. A quick analysis of the Guild Wars 2 economy, explaining it's weaknesses and showing simple methods of evaluating any virtual economy.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130426/191346/Guild_Wars_2_Economy_Review.php

The Death of the MMO, 2012. Explains how the shift of investment resources to Facebook and mobile game development spell the end of MMO development.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/the-death-of-the-mmo-1

Moneyballification, 2012. The process of transforming an industry is generalized.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/moneyballification

Why Online Games are Tanking, 2013. Musings on how the time flow in games renders most of our conventional methods of evaluating games useless.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130418/190756/Why_Online_Games_Are_Tanking.php

Free is Getting Very Expensive, 2013. A critical analysis of “founder's program” promotional sales.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130503/191429/quotFreequot_is_Getting_Very_Expensive.php

Game Dosing, 2012. Introduces the concept of using a neuroscience approach to game design. A bit obsolete compared to some of my 2013 papers.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/RaminShokrizade/20130725/196848/Game_Dosing.php

Immersion, 2009. Details the various types of immersion and how they affect consumer behavior and game design.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/immersion-excerpt-from-sustainable-virtual-economies-and-business

Cheese: A Developer's Ultimate Weapon, 2009. An introduction to the use of reward systems in game design.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/cheese-a-developer-s-ultimate-weapon

Game Monetization Defined, 2011. Explains what a game is and how some business models can break games by definition.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/game-monetization-defined

Virtual Achievement, 2009. Explains some of the differences between virtual and “real” achievement.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/virtual-achievement

The Nature of Will: A Third Measure of Intelligence, 2011. Explains how changes in our species just in the last generation are reducing our ability to innovate while increasing our ability to iterate.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/the-nature-of-will-a-third-measure-of-intelligence

How to Become a Game Monetization Expert, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/how-to-become-a-game-monetization-expert

Mona Lisa and the Alchemist, 2010. An introduction to economic theory that is unique to virtual environments.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/mona-lisa-and-the-alchemist

Evolution of Interactive Media Monetization, 2011. A history of game monetization, explaining how we got to where we are now.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/evolution-of-interactive-media-monetization

Three Great Things About Zynga, 2011.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/three-great-things-about-zynga

Two Contrasting Views of Monetization, 2011. The way Zynga uses “fun pain” is discussed.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/two-contrasting-views-of-monetization

Wall Street: The MMOG, 2012?. Thoughts about how the collapse of conventional industries are pushing unemployed executives into the gaming industry, where they are poorly qualified.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/wall-street-the-mmog

Games and the World-wide Economic Downturn, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/games-and-the-world-wide-economic-downturn

The Fallacy of Interactive Media Business Intelligence, 2012. Concerns about the misuse of analytical techniques to predict consumer behavior.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/the-fallacy-of-interactive-media-business-intelligence

Gold Selling in Guild Wars 2, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/gold-selling-in-guild-wars-2

How (not What) to Charge for Games, 2012?.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/how-not-what-to-charge-for-games

Virtual Currencies and Money Machines, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/virtual-currencies-and-money-machines

Moneyball, Zynga, and Other Unconventional Applications of Economics, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/moneyball-zynga-and-other-unconventional-applications-of

Gaming Addiction, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/gaming-addiction

Unemployed? Become a Professional Star Wars Gold Farmer, 2012.

http://gameful.org/group/games-for-change/forum/topics/unemployed-become-a-professional-star-wars-gold-farmer