Live Ops: The TV Conundrum

When shopping for a new TV recently I was reminded very quickly what an overwhelming situation I was about to find myself in. ?Every TV boasts 4K resolution, smart features, HDR compatibility, and superior sound systems. ?Yet, it’s not clear which set truly offers the best picture quality, the richest colours, or immersive audio experience. This is the same challenge developers face when choosing the appropriate live ops platform for their newest title.

On the surface, all live ops platforms seem to offer comparable features.? Just like TVs all claim to be 4K, live ops platforms list their key offerings: leaderboards, configuration management, economy systems, and currency management. ?However, understanding which platform truly excels in delivering these features requires more than a glance at a feature list.

Imagine trying to figure out which TV will look and sound the best at home – you need to consider a variety of aspects such as:?

How big is the room?? How far from the screen will you be sat?? Do you have lofty vaulted ceilings, or wooden floors that will affect the acoustics? Do you have an abundance of natural light, or narrow viewing angles to consider?

Just like your living room, your game will be unique to you and have it own list of specific requirements. However, too many considerations can be overwhelming and in the worst scenarios can evoke either knee jerk reactions (you might get lucky and be right!) or worse - decision paralysis.?

If you’ll permit me to run with this analogy a little further, we can show some typical TV features with their live ops counterparts:

1. Leaderboard Support (Resolution and Picture Quality):

• TVs: Every TV advertises 4K resolution, but the actual picture quality can vary greatly. Colour accuracy, contrast ratio and panel type (OLED vs. LED) all play crucial roles.
• Live Ops: All platforms might offer leaderboard support, but the difference often lies in how customisable they are, how well they integrate with existing game mechanics, and how reliably they handle large volumes of data.?? Where are the stress points?? When will the type of leaderboard I want to show not be implemented out of the box?

2. Dashboards & Analytics (Smart Features):

• TVs: Smart TVs come with a variety of operating systems and app ecosystems. The user interface, third party app availability and the ease of navigation can significantly impact the user experience.
• Live Ops: For live ops, smart features include dashboards and analytics. How intuitive is the UI and what’s the depth of analytics provided?? How easily can I determine actionable insights from the data?? Where is the natural end of that implementation and when do I need to consider other options?

3. Real Time Event Handling (Audio Quality):

• TVs: Built-in audio systems vary widely. Some TVs might have advanced soundbars or Dolby Atmos support, providing a much richer audio experience.? Others aren’t much better than the classic polystyrene cups connected by a piece of string!
• Live Ops: In live ops this could be features like real-time event handling and notification systems. The effectiveness of these features can greatly enhance player engagement and retention by providing detailed oversights at speed, allowing administrators to react swiftly.

4. Scalability (Gaming Mode):

• TVs: Many modern TVs come with a gaming mode to reduce input lag and enhance motion handling for a better experience.
• Live Ops: In live ops, this is akin to the responsiveness and scalability of the platform during peak times or special events. How well does the platform perform under pressure?? What’s the maximum CCU it can take?? Where in the world should we host our game? ?

When faced with such a wide set of options, how can you determine the best choice and avoid the dreaded decision paralysis? ?This is where third-party expertise becomes invaluable. For TVs, I can turn to trusted reviewers who can provide a non-biased evaluation of each set against the other. They can help me understand not just what features a TV has, but how well it performs those compared to others, and I can whittle down to a shortlist.?

What specific features should you consider when choosing a live ops platform? ??

The answer is “it depends on your requirements!” If you asked the community you’d probably end up with a list looking list this:

1. Configuration Management: ?How easily can you manage and deploy configuration changes without needing a new game update?
2. Leaderboards and Competitions: Do they offer highly customisable leaderboards and competitions suitable for your game’s requirements?
3. Economy and Currency Management: Can you easily manage in-game economies, currencies, and virtual goods. ?How easy are they to adjust?
4. Real-Time Analytics: How deep are the analytics on offer?? Can you get real-time insights into player behaviour and game performance?
5. Event Handling: Can the platform handle events smoothly and at scale?
6. A/B Testing: Not sure how a new feature will land??Can you trial it on a small set of players first?
7. User Segmentation and Personalisation: Can you segment users within the game and personalise their experience to increase retention?

In reality that’s just scraping the surface, the list goes much further than that.? Here are couple of minor examples:

1. Publisher or Developer: If you’re a publisher and this is the first of many live ops implementations you might need to think further – am I having a centralised identity where I can see all titles for a player?
2. Scalability and Performance: What’s the target CCU?? Are there boundaries to the known CCU the platform can handle, and furthermore, does it cater for spiky workloads such as DLC drops, season pass updates or special events.
3. Integration: Every platform has a natural boundary edge where their responsibilities “end” – how extensible are they?? Is everything a code implementation to unlock custom functionality or can other platforms “plug in” as required.?? ?
4. Support:?What happens when the game is launched?? Do you need extended support on the platform itself – what does this look like?

In conclusion, whether you’re shopping for a new TV or choosing a live ops platform, the key is to look beyond the superficial list of features. Trusting third-party experts allows you to make an informed decision based on performance, reliability, and suitability to your specific needs. ?These are big decisions, and you need to choose wisely! Or simplest of all, remove all decision paralysis entirely and leave it to the Wizards.

Good luck everyone, I’m off to buy a new TV???