Rewards and reward cycles
Yesterday I posted about 'Where the fun was' in playing a game, but I'm feeling that this is missing an important part of the process.
The reward, the payoff, the bang, the score.
The reason the context is important when performing a task is the concept that the action you are taking part in garners a reward from the greater context.
Lets go back to Monopoly, and it's structure.
But in this case lets look at "Buying Property".
You buy the property in your turn, and so what rewards and payoffs do you get - and in return for what and when?
Well, instantly in return for your money you get a nice card. But also you get the potential for a greater return for your investment when... if someone lands on the space.
The tension is caused by not knowing if your investment will payout bigtime, or if it will just sit there, unused until you go bust.
Within chess, again every move (investing the limited resource called 'your turn') creates the potential for a bigger payout.
It's this potential that is the immediate reward, and the payoff from the potential the distant reward.
In role-playing games, there are many conflicting ideas about what are the rewards - which is the point behind many of the 'theories' that abound.
I find it easier to catalogue it as being three types of reward.
Social rewards, Game rewards and Story Rewards.
Social rewards are that given to you by the other people in the social context. The respect of your peers, the jealousy of your enemies, the adulation of the masses.
Game rewards are given to you by the rules, and include increased currency (like money in Monopoly) or increase effectiveness (like 'queening' a pawn in Chess)
Story rewards are actually more common than is often thought. They are inclusion into the Story and validation of your input - even if there is no Game or Social rewards.
Best examples of this are in Computer Games, where (for example) you can change the outfit of your character. It grants no direct mechanical advantage - but it does allow you to 'customise' your pieces.
A reward cycle is, simply put, the time between investing in a Task and receiving a payout for it.
In Monopoly, you may never get any reward (a frustraiting experience), in Chess every increase in tactical advantage is a reward.
The balance is making the reward cycle the right length, long enough to allow the tension to mount but quick enough to keep the players intrests.
The reward, the payoff, the bang, the score.
The reason the context is important when performing a task is the concept that the action you are taking part in garners a reward from the greater context.
Lets go back to Monopoly, and it's structure.
But in this case lets look at "Buying Property".
You buy the property in your turn, and so what rewards and payoffs do you get - and in return for what and when?
Well, instantly in return for your money you get a nice card. But also you get the potential for a greater return for your investment when... if someone lands on the space.
The tension is caused by not knowing if your investment will payout bigtime, or if it will just sit there, unused until you go bust.
Within chess, again every move (investing the limited resource called 'your turn') creates the potential for a bigger payout.
It's this potential that is the immediate reward, and the payoff from the potential the distant reward.
In role-playing games, there are many conflicting ideas about what are the rewards - which is the point behind many of the 'theories' that abound.
I find it easier to catalogue it as being three types of reward.
Social rewards, Game rewards and Story Rewards.
Social rewards are that given to you by the other people in the social context. The respect of your peers, the jealousy of your enemies, the adulation of the masses.
Game rewards are given to you by the rules, and include increased currency (like money in Monopoly) or increase effectiveness (like 'queening' a pawn in Chess)
Story rewards are actually more common than is often thought. They are inclusion into the Story and validation of your input - even if there is no Game or Social rewards.
Best examples of this are in Computer Games, where (for example) you can change the outfit of your character. It grants no direct mechanical advantage - but it does allow you to 'customise' your pieces.
A reward cycle is, simply put, the time between investing in a Task and receiving a payout for it.
In Monopoly, you may never get any reward (a frustraiting experience), in Chess every increase in tactical advantage is a reward.
The balance is making the reward cycle the right length, long enough to allow the tension to mount but quick enough to keep the players intrests.
posted by Simon | 10:07 am
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