Are in-game pins worth the time implementing?

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
#1

I’m currently working on a simulator game and I intend to add support for trading items earned in-game. The game is designed to appeal younger audiences, who are at a higher risk of losing access to their accounts from scams.

I contemplated on adding an in-game pin for a while but have a few questions to ask before I do implement it:

  1. As the title implies, is it worth it?
  2. What happens if a user forgets their pin?
    a) Should in-game moderation be able to help restore access to users who forget their pin?
    b) If a user does forget their pin, what methods of verification could be used to restore their pin?
  3. Will UX of the game be impacted by being forced to add a pin to their in-game profile?
    a) Possibility if it being optional?

Any feedback would be appreciated regarding this subject. Thanks.

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#2

This is my opinion

  1. I don’t believe this is worth it. While in theory, yes, it would be a good idea, but is it really necessary? Roblox has security measures in place to help users protect their account, and it is not the developers responsibility if that user doesn’t enable those settings. This pin will absolutely not prevent scamming (I know you didn’t mention that, but it’s worth noting.)

  2. If a user forgets their pin, how will you verify that that user owns the account they are claiming they forgot the pin to? You’re limited to a “this is my account” with no other way to efficiently check.

  3. I do believe it would have some influence on UX, but not much. If anything, it would just be another step of the trading process that users dislike and ask to be removed. The only instance this pin would be useful is when someone’s account is compromised, which, like I said, is preventable with Roblox’s security measures that are in place.

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RoPIN - Verify client identity via numeric PIN
#3

This feature is essentially useless, and here’s why. PIN/PIC systems DO have a place in certain games, but on Roblox that is another story. It really comes down to the feature itself; what does a PIN/PIC system actually do? The first thing that would come to mind is to prevent accounts from getting compromised, which is what you stated above, but that is actually not what this feature is designed for. AFAIK these systems were first created to prevent people from messing with your game data if you are away from your computer (AFK) at internet cafes. You have the right idea trying to prevent cheating, but IMO this would be more inconvenient to your average player than anything.

Example: MMORPG makes you create a PIN/PIC and enter it before creating/deleting characters, opening personal storage, etc.

Just some final thoughts here. Personally, I don’t think this feature will ever truly be needed in a Roblox game. As it stands, around 75% of the player base is mobile, so assuming that 3/4 players are playing on a phone, you don’t really need to be worried about somebody getting on their account in public. Hope this helped :+1:

1 Like