[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Rewards

[Sean Howard]

"Raph Koster" <rkoster at san.rr.com> wrote:

> ANY reward distorts the playing field in that way, and dropping all
> rewards isn't a viable strategy either.

> A lack of rewards is a very good way to make your game inaccessible and
> unfun to most people.

Interesting. I disagree (of course), but I can think of dozens, if not
hundreds, of games with no reward structure at all (or at least a minimal
one), and they didn't seem to suffer. What, for example, rewards were
given in a game of capture the flag in Unreal Tournament that made it so
popular? Where are the rewards in a game of Magic: The Gathering? The
Secret of Monkey Island? Tic Tac Toe? Chess? Tetris? Basketball? These are
not reward based games.

But before people chime in with the semantics, not all positive outcomes
are rewards. Victory is not a reward, the effect of one's strategy is not
a reward, and measures (like a score) are not rewards. Sure, you can
reward somebody with a higher score, but having a score is not a reward in
itself.

-- 
Sean Howard