Name: YoVille (http://apps.facebook.com/yoville)
Developer: Zynga
Monthly active users: 5,285,997 (as of April 9, 2009)
Description: A social virtual community where users interact with each other in real-time, go to work to earn currency, customize their appearance with new clothes and accessories and decorate their living spaces.
Demographics: 18-30 years old, approximately 65% U.S. traffic and 35% varied international traffic.
Earn currency by interacting with other avatars
Virtual currencies:
- YoCoins: each player starts with 500 coins upon adding the application to their Facebook profile. Coins are earned within the game by going to work at the YoVille town factory (starting at 200 coins per shift), interacting with Facebook friends through simple actions like telling jokes or dancing (up to 10 coins), or by challenging someone to a game like Tic-Tac-Toe or Rock-Paper-Scissors (10 coins). Coins can also be purchased directly, or players can try their luck at the slot machines at the YoVille Casino.
- YoCash: YoCash can only be acquired two ways: by completing offers or through direct payments. YoCash can be converted into YoCoins ($1 in YoCash = $100 in YoCoins), but not vice-versa.
Some virtual goods require the premium currency in order to be purchased
Virtual goods: Home furnishings, accessories, clothing, pets, food.
- Food is required to build back energy, which is depleted throughout the YoVille day. Energy enables a character to move faster and perform actions.
- All other virtual goods have widely ranging prices– many are affordable to a player just starting the game (e.g. a safari-print chaise lounge for 300 coins), while others are significantly more expensive (e.g. a hot tub for 7500 coins).
- Certain items (e.g. a red velvet pool table, pets, hula skirts) must be purchased using YoCash, while others are only offered in limited quantities for a limited period of time.
- New items are advertised in the game as being added weekly.
Recruiting additional players into your crew earns you more daily currency
User incentives:
- To buy: a user’s room gets ranked by other users based on appearance, motivating users to obtain nice furnishings and decor to move up to 1st Place. As well, setting aside certain items as exclusive makes them all the more appealing to users who have become invested in the game. A user’s avatar– in both appearance and possessions– becomes a representation of that user’s personal style, taste and interests, and premium items can serve as status symbols. Everyone wants to set themselves apart and stand out as an individual, and premium items help enable that.
- To return: A user can only “work” at the factory once every six hours. Because the effort required to go to work is so minimal and the payout so rewarding (200-350 coins per shift, depending on worker status), working is an easy way to acquire YoCoins. Thus, a player eager to amass more wealth can be persuaded to run the Yoville app once every six hours.
- To grow: By recruiting more players into YoVille, a user’s “crew” grows, and the more people in a crew, the higher a worker status is achieved (meaning higher wages).
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Also of note:
When Facebook users first access YoVille, they are immediately prompted to begin customizing their avatar. Upon completion of this, only then when the users choose to continue on to the actual game are they given the Facebook prompt to allow access.
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TAKEAWAYS:
- Give the user incentive to return to the game. The easiest incentive, of course, is more virtual currency. The more often a user plays, the more engaged they become, and the more engaged, the more likely they are to pay real money for virtual goods.
- Having multiple tiers of virtual goods is a beneficial strategy. Low-priced goods can be immediately purchased by brand-new users, who thus are able to develop an interest in continuing to buy more items. Mid-priced goods provide reasonably attainable goals for the user and incentivize them to keep playing in order to earn more currency. High-end goods that can only be obtained through payments or offers allow for the deeply engaged users who are willing to pay to feel more exclusive and unique.
- Regularly offering new virtual goods to your users also motivates them to purchase goods regularly.
- For users who have never added a Facebook app to their profile before– by engaging them at the outset (e.g. asking them to develop their character, providing them with a “sneak preview” of the app, or having them play through a brief “tutorial” level), you are less likely to have them balk at the “Allow Access” screen because they’re already invested in the game and will be more driven to continue on. For users who have no hesitation in adding Facebook apps, it’s still a bonus to lock in their interest and curiosity before they run the app.
ALSO CONSIDER:
- If utilizing a dual-currency system, make the premium currency attainable only through direct payments. Completed offers can be rewarded using the basic currency. This gives the virtual goods that must be purchased using the premium currency even more exclusivity and appeal and encourages users to make more direct payments.
<-end goods that can only be obtained through payments or offers allow for the deeply engaged users who are willing to pay to feel more exclusive and unique.
This is a very smart move as it encourages loyalty in the user base and increases the feeling of exclusivity that is necessary for a SNS to take off.
Well done. Very well written.