The problem and solution: Developer-powered web integration
I’ve always felt like something was missing in the way Roblox presents its social gaming experience, but I could never put my finger on it. Now I feel like I’ve figured out exactly what it is, and I’ve come up with a proposed solution to the problem.
I know Roblox has experimented in the past with expanding games through web integration, specifically integration with in-game features through your profile on the website. An example of this is the Player Points system: A good idea that was ultimately scrapped for the leaderboards feature, because it simply works better on game pages—a trait that supports the point I’ll be making in a moment.
I think the reason Player Points and related ideas usually haven’t gone over well is because:
- Developers didn’t have enough control over the application of these systems
- They cluttered users’ profile pages with irrelevant information
- Abuse is easy, with the only real solutions being restrictions and artificial limitations
I have an idea that not only solves all these obstacles, but brings several already-existing features snugly together, and opens up the massive barrier between the website and in-game content.
Game Profiles
The basis of my idea revolves around the concept of game-specific profile pages, contained entirely within the scope of their respective games. As opposed to your main user profile, game profiles could be accessed from the game page.
The URL might look something like this:
https://www.roblox.com/games/606849621/Jailbreak/profile/1753381
Or it could use a multi-page format like user profiles:
https://www.roblox.com/games/606849621/Jailbreak/players/1753381/profile
https://www.roblox.com/games/606849621/Jailbreak/players/1753381/inventory
The profile IDs may be either Roblox user IDs, or game-specific IDs that are created as people join. In this way everybody could be considered to have a profile on every game, or they could be created the first time that game is visited.
Main Features
I have some ambitious ideas about the types of things that an addition like this would be able to expand on, but let’s start simple. Some of the core features I’d like to see in game-specific profile pages might be:
- Game-specific inventories for browsing purchased content or virtual items in the game
- Programmable stats managed by the developer
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- Universal stats such as time played or number of achivements
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- The ability to display DataStore content (strings, numbers, tables) as stats
- Preferences such as privacy settings or developer-set options that reflect in-game
- Safety and comfort options such as server joining preferences or blocking on a per-game basis
It can also expand on existing features, such as:
- Better leaderboard integration:
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- Leaderboard rank displayed on game profile
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- Click a user on the leaderboard listing to see their game-specific profile
- Better interface for personal servers
- Status updates / blurb posts
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- If a friend plays the same game, their posts will show up in your feed
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- Useful for posting about a specific game without producing clutter
- A proper home for badges and other awards
Ambitious Features
And of course, some of the possibilities for the future of a system like this make me excited. Consider the ability to do any of the following from website-integrated game profiles:
- Item trading for in-game items defined by the developer
- Moderator options for managing users from the site
- Social (friendship, etc.) options isolated to specific game communities
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- Groups or guilds specific to games
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- Community posting options, e.g. forums or review pages
- Catalogues of user-generated content for specific games
- Setting your avatar for a specific game
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- Per-game nicknames?
- User interaction web API or something like Discord webhooks
Conclusion
This concept has the potential to be applied in many ways besides the ones I listed. I think it would give developers more power to build communities around their games, and it makes sense for a platform where in-game experience is so tightly integrated with your website profile.
Developers having the option to branch off and isolate their game-specific experiences and complex systems is something that’s been sorely needed ever since Roblox’s decision market as a platform for game development. It’s the next logical step after and several hit-and-miss attempts to merge web and game into a uniform concept, especially the ones following the introduction of Games (Universes) and all the recent pushes for increased developer control. It would organize so much stuff.
In summary, I like the idea of empowering developers and further selling the concept of Roblox as a platform, so long as we have the right tools. And this would be a perfect container for those tools.