What would you define as “table stake” features?

"Table stakes" are features players expect any game in the genre to ship with, despite generally being unmemorable or uninteresting. That's what makes them "table stakes" - we have to build them just so we can sit at the table and try to compete, but they aren't the real things we're competing over. Table stakes are usually the minimum bar to entry to even try. Even though table stakes don't really add much to the game, we must still build them or suffer a lot of complaints if they are missing. Here are some examples of current and former table stakes:

• Story/Arcade mode in fighting games
• Ridable Mounts in open world RPGs
• Collectible doodads sprinkled through each level in exploration/Action Adventure games
• Contextual pings in FPS games

Of course, the king genre of table stakes is the MMOG. There are so many features players expect to exist for any given MMOG - mail, different flavors of chat, a player bank, guild systems (chat, bank, guildhall, etc.), an auction house, player housing, crafting, and so on - yet most of these features aren't really compelling, they just kind of exist. Table stakes will, of course, change from genre to genre and will shift over time as certain things rise and fall in popularity.

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