Do players with friends stay longer, or are friends just a sign of keen players?

Groups that play together nearly always stay longer in the raw numbers, but that may only mean the keen players are the ones who bring friends. This entry shows how to compare like with like before you build features around it.

Why this works

People who play with friends are not the same people as those who play alone, so a raw comparison mixes the effect of friends with who they are. Comparing only players who looked alike beforehand, and weighing them the same for both sides, removes that mix-up.

When not to use it

It cannot rule out every other difference. Friends who join together may simply be keener, and no grouping sees that. Where you can, run a real test, such as offering friend invitations to only some players, and compare.

In the full entry

• What to build, step by step
• Starting values and the reason for each
• 3 common mistakes and the fix
• 49 lines of example code with 3 checks that pass
• How your AI shows you that it works

Say this to your AI

Use the Spielerando entry "Do players with friends stay longer, or are friends just a sign of keen players?" (read_entry friends-effect-on-staying-compared-fairly) in my game. Build it step by step, and show me how you checked that it works.

Or skip this and connect the MCP: your AI then finds all of this by itself.Connect the MCP