Specialization Game Engineer

Term 7

Research on MOBA/ARTS/AoS-style
games
Anne Wijning Den of Thieves 2013-2015

Table of contents:
Research question
Desk Research
- Lifetime Spendings
- Monthly Spendings
- F2P vs P2P
- Attracting powers of popular MOBA games
Interviews
- Interview 1
- Interview 2
- Interview 3
- Interview 4
- Conclusion
Survey
Survey Result
- Notes
Conclusion

pg 3
pg 4
pg 4
pg 5
pg 6
pg 7
pg 8
pg 9
pg 10
pg 11
pg 12
pg 15
pg 16
pg 19
pg 29
pg 30

Research question:
Main question: What are the dos en donts of MOBA games?
Sidequestion: How many people are willing to pay for microtransactions?
Sidequestion: What does the average player buy with real money?
Sidequestion: Does the average player spend money periodically, and if so, how
much?
Sidequestion: Would the average player rather have a Free2Play or pay-at-the-door
Pay2Play business model?
Sidequestion: Do players spend more money if your game is F2P?
Sidequestion: What attracts players to specific Moba Games?
Sidequestion: What are the biggest shortcommings in the most popular Moba
Games?

Desk Research
Lifetime Spendings:
For this part of the research, we look at existing data on the game League of
Legends. The data has been collected from multiple polls on the spendings of
players.
The following sources where used:
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1994153
http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=187610
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3991100
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/954437-league-ofhttp://venturebeat.com/2013/07/27/comparing-mobas-dota-2-vs-league-of-legends-vs-heroes-ofnewerth/legends/66295191
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/954437-league-of-legends/65485312

When made into a chart, it gives the following image:

Free Player
13.45%
22,74%
21,59%
23,72%
15,17%

1-20 Dollars 20-50

Dollars
12.87%
12.28%
23,98%
18,85%
19,32%
27,27%
14,92%
13,2%
13,31%
16,41%

50-100
Dollars
13,45%
14,96%
31,82%
19,56%
17,65%

100-1000
Dollars
47.95%
7,99%
24,98%
37,46%

1000+
Dollars
5,62%
-

50-100
Dollars
19,49%

100-1000
Dollars
29,6%

1000+
Dollars
5,62%

On average, this gives us:

Free Player
19,33%

1-20 Dollars 20-50

Dollars
16,88%
17,6%

A large group of people (about 20%) are the so-called Free Players: people that
never have, and likely never will spend any money on the game. Then, theres the
main group(ca. 50%), people that will spend between 1 en 100 dollar on League of
Legends. Following the 100 dollar threshold there is a gap, with percentages
increasing as the amount of money spend goes up. These super-spenders(ca. 30%)
will spend anywhere from 100 dollars to, in some cases, over 1,000 dollar on the
game.
When charted accordingly:
Free Player
19,33%
-

1-100 Dollar
53,97%
52,94%

100+ Dollar
35,22%
47,05%

The second row of data comes from the following poll:

http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=785101

This gives the impression that there are 3 distinct types of players. You have players
that never have, and never will spend money on the game, you have players that will
spend about 1 to 100 dollars on the game and you have players that will spend
upwards of 100 dollars on the game.
You can clearly see there is a notable group of people (about 30%) that spend much
more on these games than on your average Pay2Play 50 euro/60 dollar triple-A
release. On the other hand, there are also many players that spend nothing on the
game, and as such cost the game studio money.
Of course this data, because of the nature of online polls, isnt nearly conclusive
enough. Because of this, questions about this will be asked in the survey.
Monthly Spendings:
While having Lifetime spendings is good, one of the nice features of Free2Play games
is that it can earn money more than once (as often as the player buys items). Because
of this, we also take a look at players that spend money on League of Legends on a
monthly basis.
De data comes from the following sources:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1001455-How-much-do-you-spend-on-LoL-monthly
http://forums.na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=3189100

1-15 dollar/month
60,87%
51,67%

15-30 dollar/month 30-50 dollar/month 50+ dollar/month

28,26%
10,87%
23,33%
11,67%
13,33%

These statistics show that the majority spends between 1 and 15 dollars per month on
the game.
You can also see that, like the Lifetime spending chart, as the amount of money
increases, percentages increase as well. More research is required to find if this is
actually the case.

Free2Play versus Pay2Play:

The dominant method of payment of Moba games is Free2Play. Because of this, most
Pay2Play Moba games are ignored.
The following source have been used for this part of the research:
http://steamcharts.com/app/204300
http://steamcommunity.com/stats/204300/achievements
http://store.steampowered.com/stats/
http://www.lolsummoners.com/stats/rankings

Well-known Pay2Play Moba Games are Warhammer 40.000: Dawn of War II: The
last stand and Awesomenauts. Both of these games dont nearly have the playerbase
that games like DOTA II and LoL have.
Both DOTA II and Lol have, at the moment of writing, an active playerbase of about
half a million players each. In comparison, Awesomenauts has only 1,041 active
players, with a peak of 12,050 players.
These stats also give the impression that player retention of Pay2Play Moba games is
bad. For example, the global steam achievement board of Awesomenauts shows that
only 32,7% of players ever won an online match.
Following is a chart with the amount of active players of some Free2Play Moba
games. The data comes from steamcharts.com. With active players, we refer to
players that have played the game in the last 24 hours. The peak is the maximum
number of concurrent players that game has ever had during its lifespan.
Game:
DOTA 2
Forge
Airmech
Super Monday Night
Combat
Bloodline Champions
Smashmuck Champions

Active players
601,027
1,358
282
108

Peak
702,792
2,716
2,336
1,277

60
50

295
1,235

As you can see, DOTA II has more players than any other game on this list. That is
no coincidence, as DOTA II and LoL are simply way more popular than other games
in the genre.

Attracting powers of popular MOBA games

In the Moba market there are 2 big players: DOTA II and League of Legends. What
makes these games so popular?
Both games are 5v5 team games. They both use maps that are very similar. Games
made through matchmaking, which is possible because of its large userbase. Both
games are also Free to play. This also helps attracting the large userbase. In dota 2,
you can spend money on skins for your characters. In League of Legends you can
also do that, and spend money on boosts and rune pages.
There are many characters you can play as. Dota 2 has about 108 which you can all
play for free (though that does confuse new players), and League of Legends is
approaching 150 characters. In LoL, youre expected to pay for every single
character. Older, simpler characters cost the least, which gives some kind of natural
tutorial.
A popular theory is that players that have spent a lot of time and money on one
game would naturally stick with it because theyve already invested so much in this
game. This would explain why LoL and Dota II retain their playerbases while new
Moba-games pop up left and right, losing their players very quickly.
Sources:
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/pc-mac-discussion-1000004/dota-2-vs-lol-educatedcomparison-29187896/
http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/1nioso/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/27/comparing-mobas-dota-2-vs-league-of-legends-vs-heroes-ofnewerth/

Interviews
Focus group: MOBA players
Deel 1: Basic information
Whats the interviewees favorite Moba? How long has he been playing thay game?
Did he play other Moba games before starting with his current Moba? If so, why did
he switch games? Is he missing features that his previous game did have? What
would it take to get the interviewee to switch games?
Deel 2: Monetisation
Does the interviewee spend money on his Moba game? If not, why? Would he buy
items if they went on sale? How much money has the player spend on the game in
total? Is there a clear pattern (Is he spending money monthly)? What type of item
does he usually buy? Does he only buy when items are on sale? Does interviewee
prefer to buy single items, or bundles? Has he ever regretted purchasing an item?
What does he think of the pricing of items? Would he buy more where the items
cheaper?
Deel 3: Popular MOBAs
What is the interviewees opinion on League of Legends? What about Dota 2? Which
did he actually play? If he has played one but not the other, why not? Did the
interviewee play othe Moba games aside of LoL and Dota 2? How much titme does
he spend on Moba games per week? Why did the interviewee start playing Moba
games?
Deel 4: Improvements
What would make the interviewees Moba game of choise better? What are his pet
peeves about his Moba game? Are there any major shortcommings?

Interview 1:
The first subject plays League of Legends and has been doingthat for 3 years. Before
that he played DOTA (the original mod), but because he didnt know anyone to play
it with, he switch over to LoL. He would switch to another Moba game if that games
community was better managed.
He has spent money on LoL. Its less than 100 euro, and he doesnt spend in some
sort of regular pattern. The subject mostly buys skins. Sales and bundles would cause
him to buy thing quicker because its much cheaper. He once bought a character,
Graves, which he later regretted buying. He thinks the prices are fair, but did add
that he would spend more money where items cheaper.
League of Legends is a game he realy likes. There are many characters to play with
there are many maps and mode to play on. His friends also play the game. He
generally dislikes the community surrounding the game.
He has never played Dota 2; his friends already play Lo Land he doesnt feel like
switching over to a whole new game. Besides LoL also plays the Moba game
Dawngate. On weekdays, he plays about 2 hours per day and 15 hours per week in
total. His friends got him started with Moba games.
During the interview, the subject expressed his distaste for the LoL community on
multiple accounts, especially the attitude of the average player.

Interview 2:
The second subject has been playing LoL for about half a year. He has only been
playing for a few months, before that hasnt been played the game for 8 months. He
would switch to another Moba if that game had more reliable servers, and if players
had more influence on the development of the game, with regards to often requested
features and game modes.
He has spent about 30 euros on LoL. He mainly buys newly released items
(characters), and skins, especially if they are also on sale. While he would buy items
he want faster if they happened to be bundled, he tends to buy single items.
He once bought a skin and regretted buying it afterwards. This skin was on sale and
a couple of days after buying it, another skin, which he would rather have, went on
sale. He refunded the skin and bought the other one. Het quite content with the
purchases themselves, though he does think items are way overpriced for what they
are. He would spend more money if items where cheaper.
He thinks LoL is an awesome game. He thinks its very addictive and thinks that LoL
is the best game he ever played. He thinks the makers of DOTA 2 tried to make a
better version of LoL, but ended up with an inferior product. He has only played one
single game of DOTA 2. Besides DOTA 2 and LoL he has played Smite for a short
while. He stopped playing that game because he thought the characters in that game
uninspired, and there also was no sense of teamwork.
He plays Lol for about 4 hours per day and 32 hours per week. Friends got him
involved with LoL.
The subject also pointed out som flaws in LoLs online system: lag, and the glitches
that it causes, such as players jumping from one point to another. He also spoke of
trolls and other players with a very negative attitude. He thinks Moba games in
general lack variety in maps, and would like to see multiple normal 5v5 maps
instead of having just one.

10

Interview 3:
The third subject has been playing LoL for over 3 years. He didnt play other Moba
games before this and isnt willing to switch games unless LoL ceases to exist or goes
Pay2Play.
He has spent a total of about 300 euro on the game. He does this money monthly:
about 10 to 20 euros per month. He mainly uses that money to buy skins, both while
on sale and off-sale. He never buys bundles, only single items. He thinks the items
are priced fairly. He only buys skins he wants to have and doesnt realy look at the
price tag. Because of that, if items where cheaper, the amount of items he would buy
wouldnt change.
He thinks LoL is the perfect game. Especially because the game has a large
playerbase. He has never heard of DOTA 2. He plays LoL for about 48 hours per
week.
In LoL he would like to see more frequent and shorter sales, like the one steam has.
He often gets frustrated by what he calls unfair deaths, like 1 hit kills from
characters such as Teemo.

11

Interview 4:
For the fourth interview, we specifically looked for a DOTA 2 player, given that the
other subjects all played LoL. This 4th subject was found on the maker of DOTA 2,
Valves gaming community Steam. The interview was held over the Steam chat
client. A report of this interview, edited for improved readability, is added below.
What is your favorite MOBA game?
My first MOBA that I've actually played regularly is Dota 2. So, I'd have to say
DOTA 2 because of that, not having experience with other MOBA games.
How long have you been playing DOTA 2?
My first game was November 10th of 2012, so 1 year and a few months.
What would it take to make you switch to another MOBA game?
It depends what the game is and who it is made by, because I'm a fan of valve games.
Specifically because of the way they are responsive and receptive of feedback. I
would have to know that the game has a high skill cap.
Have you ever spend money on DOTA 2?
Yes.
How much have you spend on the game so far? It doesn't have to be precise.
I'd say close to $200 (over the course of almost 2 years). I make enough money in real
life to support myself and spend some money on gaming.
What's the main thing you spend money on?
I'd say I've bought more cosmetic items, but tickets to watch tournaments are pretty
expensive. After watching a fair amount of them, it eventually adds up.
Do you spend money on DOTA 2 in a regular fashion, or do you buy when
something (like a sale) comes up?
I try to only buy things when they are on sale, but if something catches my eye I'll
pick it up.
What do you mean with "something"? New items?
Yeah, if I like a new item for a certain hero that I play avidly I'll pick it up, it adds
flair to the game.
Do you ever buy item bundles?
Not really.
Earlier you said that you try to buy items in sales. Do you buy items in sales on
that you would not buy outside of sales?
Not usually. Like I said, I buy items for heroes that I avidly play and if it really
catches my eye, I'll buy it. There are plenty of sets that are really cool that I've seen
12

both on and off sale, but I never picked them up, just for the fact of not playing that
hero.
Have you ever regretted a purchase you made?
Maybe at first, but I have been in the TF2 trading community long enough; I know
how to make my money back through trading.
I see. I get the idea you don't really buy on impulse. Is that true?
Yeah, I've been there though, in the past.
Do you think the items in the shop are reasonably priced, or are they too
expensive?
No, because if it's a workshop item, made by a community member they get a
percentage of the profit. So, I think they are priced fairly, to answer the question.
Would you buy more and spend more money if the items were cheaper?
Well, that answers itself. Think about that in real life, if (let's say) the price of cars
went down, more people would buy cars. So yes.
True as that may be, but don't you think that saying you'd spend more money if
they prices went down, that deep inside you'd think the items are overpriced?
If the prices went down I wouldn't have to pay more, I could get more for my
money. I think the prices are usually fair.
What is your opinion on League of Legends?
My opinion of that game isn't a positive one. I don't agree with their "Pay to Win"
policy and the way they handle feedback is a nuisance.
Why do you think that game is Pay to Win?
When I played LoL I was only given the option of playing a select number of
champions, and was offered to play other ones if I fork out some cash. As I played
games, I found that the champions that were offered to people who paid were
superior to the ones that were given to new players. Compare that to DOTA 2, where
I can play all of the heroes for free. 107 heroes in DOTA 2 for free compared to a
select 10 in LoL on a weekly rotation.
What's your opinion on DOTA 2?
I think it is very successful, coming from a mod and becoming its own standalone. A
lot of loyal fans to the Warcraft III mod are generally pleased with the outcome of the
game. I've been playing since it was in Beta so I've seen a lot of changes that needed
to be made, to make it more fair and balanced, and making competitive play more
watchable.
Have you played League of Legends?
Yes

13

How much LoL have you played?

I've played at least 20 real games and about 10 games with bots and "in house" style
games, with people I know on both sides. So about 30 games total.
Have you played other MOBA games apart from DOTA 2 and LoL?
Not really. I played a lot of Starcraft, just not as much anymore. Honestly I'm more of
a FPS gamer, I have history in competitive Halo, TF2 and other FPS games.
How much time do you spend on MOBA games on average, per week?
I'd say I play maybe 2 games a day on week days and maybe 4-5 games on
weekends, so say an hour per game. Per week I'd say about 12 hours, I don't play
every day.
What brought you to DOTA 2?
One of my friends from TF2 introduced me to it.
What would make DOTA 2 better?
What every player would say, an improved matchmaking system.
Whats wrong with the current system?
Having an unbalanced team and language barriers between some non-english
speakers.
What's you biggest pet peeve when you're playing DOTA 2?
I'd say when non-native english speakers complain about their teammates, and
people instalocking.
Are there any shortcomings to DOTA 2?
I'd say people who will always exploit. Which can't be fixed.
Anything else you'd like to add?
I don't think its fair how people who play LoL don't try DOTA 2 and judge it
basically off of the fact that it isn't LoL. I tried LoL and I thought it was far easier, and
had a lower skill cap and was unfair to new players. DOTA 2 is very successful and it
will continue to be so as more things are fixed and added.
Well, thank you very much for your time.

14

Interviews: Conclusion
All of the interview subjects have been played DOTA II or LoL for a long period of
time. The LoL players didnt know DOTA II all that well. Theyve all spend money
on their respective Moba games, in some cases much more than other comparable
AA-releases. The LoL players mostly complain about laggy servers and players with
a negative attitude. The DOTA 2 player complained about players showing
unsportsman-like behavior; people that pick their favorite character and immediately
lock in their choice, not concerning themselves with the composition of the rest of the
team (this is also known as insta-locking). He also dislikes players that chat or speak
only in non-english languages on English servers. All players found their Moba
game via their friends.
Questions for the Survey will be: should players showing bad behavior be punshed
(cursing in chat, blaming default/being killed on other players that arent actually to
blame, instalocking, et cetera) and fiding out how a bigger mass of people find their
Moba games. The expectation is that most players have found their current Moba
game because of their friends. If this is the case, then it would be important to target
groups of friends directly, via a recruit-a-friend system. Because of that it would be
interesting to have data on that as well.
Half of the interview subjects have regretted purchasing items at some point. They
like to buy items in sales or in bundles, and want more frequent and shorter sales.
The LoL players have expressed interest in a bigger map variety. The DOTA 2
players has noted that if he makes a purchase he later regrets, he can trade it within
the trading community for something else. In LoL you can refund items directly: you
get your money back and you lose the skin. You can do this up to 3 times per
account. It would be interesting to know which method players prefer.
All of the subjects play Moba game between 15 and 48 hours per week. Seeing as
they have been playing for a longer period of time (some for several years), these
games appearantly have a good retention on these players; they keeping coming
back and playing it. This is mostly likely because of the replay value: every game
plays out massively differently. The monetization system can also play a role in this:
you dont just leave a game youve spend over a 100 dollars on.
The subjects also said that they think the price of items are pretty fair, though they
would spend more money if items where cheaper. The conclusion I get from that is
that they actually do think that the items are too expensive. The DOTA 2 player said
that he wouldnt spend more money while buying more items, because he money
would be worth more. The thought behind this is that lowering the prices would
also lower the barrier to buying items, which would result in more players buying
items. Those players-turned customers would also be spending more each, which
would result in an increase in total money spend across all players. More research is
needed to confirm this.

15

Survey:
Question 1: What is your favorite Moba Game?
- League of Legends
- DOTA 2
- Anders
Question 2: Which of the following Moba games have you played to any
substantial amount (as in: played more than the tutorial of, 5 hours or more)?
- League of Legends
- DOTA 2
Question 3: How did you get involved in your Moba game of choice?
- Steam frontpage
- Livestream
- Youtube
- Introduced by friends
- Ads outside of Steam
- Other
Question 4a: Have you ever spend money on Moba games?
- Yes
- No
Question 4b: If not: would you spend money if the prices were lower?
- Yes
- No
Question 5: how much money have you spend on Moba games?
- Nothing, 0 dollars.
- 1 to 20 dollars
- 20 to 50 dollars
- 50 to 100 dollars
- 100 to 500 dollars
- 500 to 1000 dollars
- 1000 dollars or more
Question 6: How much money do you spend on Moba games every month?
- I have never spend money on Moba games
- Theres no pattern to my spendings
- 1 to 15 dollars per month
- 15 to 30 dollars per month
- 30 to 50 dollars per month
- 50 dollars per month or more

16

Question 7: Have you ever used a recruit-a-friend or similar system in your

Moba game?
- Yes
- No
Question 8: What kind of items do you usually buy?
- I dont buy items
- Boosts (such as Exp boost) (LoL only)
- Skins/cosmetics
- Champions (LoL only)
- Tournament tickets (DOTA 2 only)
- bundles
- keys (DOTA 2 only)
Question 9a: Would you buy an item faster i fit where on sale?
- Yes
- No
Question 9b: Do you buy items in sales you wouldnt buy outside of sales?
- Yes
- No
Question 9c: Would you buy a bundle faster i fit was cheaper if it contained items
you want and is cheaper than buying them separately?
- Yes
- No preference
- No
Question 10: If you buy an items you later regret buying, what would you like to
do with it?
- Id like it to be refunded. Having my money back seems the best solution to me.
- Id like to trade it with someone else. That way I can always get what I want.
Question 11: How many hours have you spent on your Moba game of choice?
- 5 hours or less
- 5 to 10 hours
- 10 to 50 hours
- 50 to 100 hours
- 100 to 300 hours
- 300 to 1000 hours
- more than 1000 hours
Question 12: How many hours per week do you play Moba games?
- 1 hour per week
- 2 hours per week
- 5 hours per week
- 10 hours per week
- 15 hours per week
- 20 hours per week
17

- more than 20 hours per week

Question 13: Whats the reason you keep playing your Moba game?
- Its free, and I never buy games.
- My friends also play this game, and this is an easy way to spend time with them.
- The gameplay this game has cant be found anywhere else.
- Ive invested quite a bit of money in this game, and I dont want to waste it.
- The community is very supportive, its fun to play with people I dont know.
- The game has a lot of replay value; no game is the same. It doesnt get boring.
- I enjoy the competitive nature of the game.

18

Survey result
Question 1: What is your favorite Moba Game?
- League of Legends
7
|
15,6%
- DOTA 2
34
|
75,6%
- DOTA (Warcraft III)
4
|
8,9%
- Other
0
|
0%

Question 2: Which of the following Moba games have you played to any
substantial amount (as in: played more than the tutorial of, 5 hours or more)?
- League of Legends
20
|
25%
- DOTA 2
39
|
48,8%
- DOTA (Warcraft III)
21
|
26,3%

19

Question 3: How did you get involved in your Moba game of choice?
- Steam Frontpage
3
|
6,7%
- Livestream
0
|
0%
- Youtube
4
|
8,9%
- Friends introduced me 27
|
60%
- Ads outside of Steam
1
|
2,2%
- Other
10
|
22,2%

Other:

20

Question 4a: Have you ever spend money on Moba games?

- Yes
33
|
73,3%
- No
12
|
26,7%

Question 4b: If not: would you spend money if the prices were lower?
- Yes
10
|
58,8%
- No
7
|
41,2%

21

Question 5: how much money have you spend on Moba games?

- Nothing, 0 dollars
10
|
22,2%
- 1 to 20 dollars
11
|
24,4%
- 20 to 50 dollars
10
|
22,2%
- 50 to 100 dollars
6
|
13,3%
- 100 to 500 dollars
6
|
13,3%
- 500 to 1000 dollars
1
|
2,2%
- 1000 dollars or more
1
|
2,2%

Question 6: How much money do you spend on Moba games every month?
- I have never spend money on Moba games 11
|
24,4%
- Theres no pattern to my spendings
27
|
60%
- 1 to 15 dollars per month
4
|
8,9%
- 15 to 30 dollars per month
3
|
6,7%
- 30 to 50 dollars per month
0
|
0%
- 50 dollars per month or more
0
|
0%

22

Question 7: Have you ever used a recruit-a-friend or similar system in your

Moba game?
- Yes
20
|
44,4%
- No
25
|
55,6%

Question 8: What kind of items do you usually buy?

- I dont buy items
11
|
24,4%
- Boosts (such as Exp boost) (LoL only) 0
|
0%
- Skins/cosmetics
20
|
44,4%
- Champions (LoL only)
1
|
2,2%
- Tournament tickets (DOTA 2 only)
4
|
8,9%
- bundles
1
|
2,2%
- keys (DOTA 2 only)
4
|
8,9%
- Other
4
|
8,9%

Other:

23

Question 9a: Would you buy an item faster i fit where on sale?
- Yes
24
|
53,3%
- No
21
|
64,7%

Question 9b: Do you buy items in sales you wouldnt buy outside of sales?
- Yes
22
|
66,7%
- No
11
|
33,3%

24

Question 9c: Would you buy a bundle faster i fit was cheaper if it contained items
you want and is cheaper than buying them separately?
- Yes
39
|
86,7%
- No
6
|
13,3%

Question 10: If you buy an items you later regret buying, what would you like to
do with it?
- Refund
7
|
15,6%
- Trade it
33
|
73,3%
- Other
5
|
11,1%

Other:

25

Question 11: How many hours have you spent on your Moba game of choice?
- 5 hours or less
1
|
2,2%
- 5 to 10 hours
0
|
0%
- 10 to 50 hours
0
|
0%
- 50 to 100 hours
1
|
2,2%
- 100 to 300 hours
3
|
6,7%
- 300 to 1000 hours
19
|
42,2%
- more than 1000 hours
21
|
46,7%

Question 12: How many hours per week do you play Moba games?
- 1 hour per week
1
|
2,2%
- 2 hours per week
1
|
2,2%
- 5 hours per week
7
|
15,6%
- 10 hours per week
11
|
24,4%
- 15 hours per week
6
|
13,3%
- 20 hours per week
9
|
20%
- more than 20 hours per week
10
|
22,2%

26

Question 13: Whats the reason you keep playing your Moba game?
- Its free
0
|
0%
- My friends also play this game
7
|
15,6%
- The gameplay is unique to this game 8
|
17,8%
- Ive invested a lot of money
0
|
0%
- The community is very supportive
0
|
0%
- The game has a lot of replay value
0
|
35,6%
- Competitve nature
12
|
26,7%
- Other
2
|
4,4%

Question 14: Do you ever encounter trolls, AFKers, instalockers and palyer with
unsportsmanship-like behaviourship in general?
- Yes
- 31
|
68,9%
- No
- 14
|
31,1%

27

Question 15: Do you ever encounter a language barrier?

- Yes
- No
-

29
16

|
|

64,4%
35,6%

Survey: Notes
The survey was done over the
internet. Links to the survey where
place on three sites, with the request to
fill it in. The sites where:
forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com,
steamcommunity.com en
playdota.com. Because of an
unexpected high frequency of
respondents, the survey was done
much earlier than suspected, and with
a larger volume than was neccesary
(20 responses where needed, 45
received).
A big portion of the respondents came
from the playdota and Steam for a.
The steam forum does not have
hyperlink support, so a direct link was
posted instead. Because of that, many
respondents from the Steam forums
are listed as Direct.

28

AS you can see, most respondents play DOTA 2. When compared to the data from
the desk research, we conclude that the sample from the playdota and Steam fora
like DOTA II more than League of Legends.
The respondents are,
geographically, better
distributed: the land
with the highest
volume of respondents
where Malaysia, the
USA and Germany,
with 3 respondents
each.

Conclusion:
Players of the Dota genre are often introduced to it via friends that already play the
game. Not everyone uses the recruit-a-friendsystem, but its important to activate
your players to bring in new players.
If you compare the data on expenditure with the data from the desk research, you get
the following result:
Free Player
1-100 Dollars
100+ Dollars
19,33%
53,97%
35,22%
22,2%
59,9%
17,7%
Where the first row is sourced from the desk research and second from the survey.
You can see that the data more or less matches the pattern laid out by the desk
research. In the new, and more reliable data you can see that the proportions of these
groups are about 2/60/20. Most expenditures are random, with pattern. From
another question from the survey it is apparent that about 25% is a free player. The
majority of that group think items are too expensive, and would be willing to spend
money if the prices were lower. Because of that, (Steam)sales are a big weapon in the
developers arsenal.
The average player has played their Moba game for quite a bit, easily over 300 hours.
They tend to play their game for about 10 hours per week (as you can see from the
sharp drop-off angle on the charts at questions 11 and 12).
29

The respondents like sales, and thats when they buy most of their items. The
majority also claims to buy more during sales. They also say that theyre interested in
bundles, if they want the items separately and the bundle is a good deal. Because of
that, its a good idea to offer bulk-discounts: The more items the players buy in one
go, the higher the discount. This way, a player that spends 100 dollars in one go
would get more bang for their buck, and players would be activated to spend a lot of
money. Most players just buy skins.
The survey shows that if players have a choice between trading with other players
or just getting a refund, they would rather trade their items with someone else.
Because of this trading community its possible to end up with more than what you
started with, while the owner of the game (the developers) isnt affected in their
bottom line (the items from the trading circuit are paid for by other players, but who
paid for what is irrelevant when looking at total profit). Better yet, item trading is a
game in its own right and even attracts players.
Wanneer de respondenten gevraagd werden waarom ze het spelen blijven spelen,
gaven ze aan dat dat kwam door het competitieve circuit en door de replay value.
Hier zie je wel dat minder mensen kozen te spelen omdat hun vrienden het ook
spelen juist wat ze bij het spel gebracht heeft houdt hun er niet bij.
What really concerns us is that nobody plays the game for the community as a
whole. Many players are bothered by trolls, AFKers, instalockers and the like. Many
players often encounter language barriers, where teammates dont speak the same
language you do. It is imperative to actively manage your game community, and be
very clear what are and arent ban-able offences. You could also make separate
servers for separate language groups, and force people to use English on English
servers. Its important to promote a good, healthy community.

30