I have recently become increasingly aware of a key point—
Chain games do not fail to retain players, but have never truly understood 'why players want to stay.'
The traditional mindset of chain games is:
Giving rewards, tasks, airdrops, and qualifications can make users stay.
But players are not machines; motivation is always more important than incentives.
If an ecosystem cannot explain 'why I should continue to exist here,' then it is bound to be short-lived.
The uniqueness of YGG lies in the fact that it is not about piling up incentives, but rather about rebuilding the 'motivation structure' of players.
In this article, I will delve into the value of YGG starting from the root of 'motivation.'
First, blockchain games relied on 'external motivation,' so their lifecycle inevitably collapsed.
What is called external motivation is:
Came for rewards
Came for tasks
Came for the airdrop
Came to follow the trend
The characteristics of this motivation are very obvious:
Incentives stop → Players disappear
Rewards decrease → Players complain
Tasks become difficult → Players exit
New narratives emerge → Player migration
It's not the players' fault; it's the industry itself that lacks 'internal motivation.'
YGG is changing this.
Second, YGG's reputation system shifts motivation from 'getting rewards' to 'gaining identity.'
Identity is the strongest internal motivation.
People will take responsibility for their identity, invest, persist, and pursue growth.
And YGG's SBT gave players the first true Web3 identity:
Participant
Contributors
Collaborator
Core players
Ecological members
Regional node roles
The deeper the identity, the stronger the motivation.
This is a reason that 'exists without relying on rewards.'
Third, YGG Play shifts players from 'completing tasks' to 'taking a growth path.'
Players who can truly stay in the game world are never there for rewards, but for some internal experience, such as:
Become stronger
Become more valuable
Become more important
Become irreplaceable
Become a character
Become a node
YGG Play essentially structures this 'growth path':
You do tasks not for rewards, but to enhance your resume;
You participate in projects not for the day's incentives, but to accumulate cross-game experience;
You collaborate not to complete a specific task, but to strengthen your social position.
Growth itself becomes a motivation.
Fourth, SubDAO gives players a sense of 'belonging motivation'.
A sense of belonging is not managed by community but forms naturally through structure.
Players from different regions have different cultures, rhythms, and communication methods, and the existence of SubDAO makes players no longer isolated individuals, but:
Belong to a certain area
Belong to a certain culture
Belong to a player community
Belong to a certain growth environment
Belong to a certain long-term relationship network
'Belonging somewhere' is itself a motivation.
This is more enduring than any reward's power.
Fifth, the collaborative structure among players shifts motivation from 'completing tasks alone' to 'what I build with others.'
Traditional blockchain game players have almost no relationships, leading to a lack of stickiness in motivation.
But in YGG:
Collaboration will strengthen identity
Collaboration will enhance reputation
Collaboration will build long-term relationships
Collaboration will affect future opportunities
Collaboration will help you advance
When a player's 'existential value' relies on relationships with others and the ecosystem, staying becomes a natural choice.
Sixth, YGG's incentive model is not 'exponential stimulation,' but 'structured reinforcement.'
Traditional incentives are short-term stimuli: give you a little more today, and you will do a little more.
But YGG's incentives focus on:
Your status
Your long-term participation
Your sustained value
Your ecological contribution
Your ability level
Your reputation strength
Incentives become rewards for 'who you are' rather than 'what you did.'
This is the core of the internal motivation system.
Seventh, player value is transferable, shifting motivation from 'today for this project' to 'I am investing for myself.'
What players fear most is wasted effort.
Game switching wasted effort
Ecosystem switching wasted effort
Chain switching wasted effort
Account switching wasted effort
But YGG allows players to think this way for the first time:
I am not doing tasks for a specific project
I am accumulating for 'my player resume'
I am not contributing for a specific airdrop
I am investing for 'my future value'
I am not contributing to a specific community
I am adding points for 'my reputation curve'
When effort no longer disappears, motivation naturally becomes long-term.
Eighth, I am now very clear:
The core competition of future blockchain games is not TPS, not issuing ability, not subsidy strength, but —
Who can provide a stronger 'internal motivation structure.'
And now the entire industry has only YGG achieving this:
Identity motivation
Growth motivation
Belonging motivation
Collaboration motivation
Value motivation
Resume motivation
Ability motivation
Social motivation
These eight types of motivational structures are the fundamental reasons why players can stay long-term.
To summarize —
When the project rewards players to stay, YGG is already building a structure that makes players 'want to stay.'
This point is where its true strategic depth lies.
