GDS314 - Week 6

Metrics & Analytics 

• metrics = meaningful hard data (e.g. numbers) collected, ordered and stored until it can be synthesized into useful information 

• analytics = systematic analysis of data and statistics, and the info that arises from that analysis 

• it can be really useful to sort by date, time, per-round etc. 

• clarity of data is crucial when it comes to metrics - collect as much as possible, but be able to control and filter it 

• we collect this data to figure out game balancing and pain points: 

  • which items/attacks are overused and underused?

  • what are the dominant strategies?

• it's also to measure user retention:

  • where do players stop playing? 

  • how long do players spend in a session/lifespan? 

• educational awareness: 

  • how well players are learning what you want them to learn 

• general trend detection:

  • do player behaviors align with design expectations 

  • demographic and psychographics of players

• track & drive monetisation: 

  • how/when/where do players spend money? 

  • who are the whales? 

• Bug detection: 

  • where and in what configs are bugs occurring? 

  • are players progressing in the expected manner? 

• There are legal requirements to data collection

• it is illegal to collect data on anyone under the age of 13 

• it is your responsibility to store all data for a minimum of 5-7 years, depending on the data