[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Rewards

[Sean Howard]

> On 25.4.2007, at 7.45, Sean Howard wrote:
>>
>> Rewards aren't something that are basic to the fundamental gameplay. If
>> I draw a Super Awesome Kill Dragon from my self-crafted deck of cards,
>> that's not a reward for drawing a card.
>
> Actually, being able to play the card just might be a reward. As you
> pointed out in the previous email, social interaction is a very
> complicated thing. Given that playing down a card happens in a social
> context, the player with the MegaCard might get immense satisfaction for
> surprising the other player who just didn't have a clue you possessed
> the card.

That's rewarding, sure, but not a REWARD. A reward is "do this, get that".
It is something given in order to influence somebody's behavior. It has
nothing to do with satisfaction. In fact, in my experience, most rewards
haven't been particularly satisfying.

Plus, there has to be a division - a point at which some positive action
is NOT a reward. Otherwise, everything you do is a reward, and that's
silly. Making my daughter smile is not a reward. Riding a bike on a sunny
day is not a reward. Listening the to new album by my favorite band is not
a reward. There's just no way to spin that stuff into a reward unless you
believe that all we do in life is respond to environmental reinforcement -
in which case, don't be a game designer! For the love of all that is
beautiful and pure in the world!

> The satisfaction you get from this particular interaction with
> the other player is the reward for having acquired the card. Hence the
> reward is not a reward in the context of the game being played but in
> the context of activity related to the game.

No. Just no. However, if you wanted to say that getting a particularly
rare card that you wanted were the reward for buying dozens of booster
packs with one random rare card each, I'd agree. That influences your
behavior. That is a controlling, manipulative aspect that encourages
players to buy more cards than they otherwise would.

> However, this doesn't make the reward any less of a reward. In fact, the
> satisfaction of possessing an item you can use in the game that someone
> else doesn't have might be the prime reason for someone to play the
> game.

A reward has nothing to do with satisfaction. Satisfaction is dependent on
the person, not the reward. For instance, the reward for doing your
homework is a better grade. You don't have to be eager for a better grade
for that to remain a reward. In fact, that's when rewards most often fail
- when they don't influence enough. A good reward (if there is such a
thing) is satisfying, but being satisfying doesn't make it a reward.

"Do this, get that". It's not an if and only if situation. You can still
get the that without doing the this, but then it's not a reward. For
instance, if I got better grades because of a computer error, better
grades aren't a reward.

-- 
Sean Howard