Comments on: Rewarding the Character vs Rewarding the Player

By: On Story at Righteous Orbs

On Story at Righteous Orbs — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:14:08 +0000

[...] a little while ago I was looking at a post over at Spinksville, which got me thinking about a couple of [...]

By: What makes it click? « The Nomadic Gamer

What makes it click? « The Nomadic Gamer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:11:36 +0000

[...] the game should be interesting in concept and easy to play, it should be challenging and rewarding. Spinks wrote a nice piece of rewarding the player or rewarding the character, to which I can only say that it doesn’t matter in the end: the player –if the game has been [...]

By: Character and Player Rewards - Blog3000

Character and Player Rewards - Blog3000 — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:37:09 +0000

[...] Blog Post Spotlight comes from Spinksville. The article is titled Rewarding the Character vs Rewarding the Player and it’s a great insight into what really motivates people. :character, design, mmo, [...]

By: Zach Sebag

Zach Sebag — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:28:05 +0000

I particularly liked your comment on Eve, I really think player driven progression is the future of the MMO Industry. I think this is one of the few ways your actually going to get a dynamic world “feel”. For example, look at Eve, there news and politics is directly related to the players and the story they create. This really adds to the player attachment to the world and makes them feel like they can REALLY make a difference in the world. I believe this is integral and one of the few ways you’re actually going to get dynamic story that “affects the universe”

Sorry to derail the comments a bit, but I really wanted to touch on that part of your blog. Excellent post though, I REALLY liked it.

By: Chastity

Chastity — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:40:47 +0000

I’ve played both, but that doesn’t tell me what Bioware thinks story is.

If you restrict your definition of story to major plot events then you’ve got real problems with an MMO. It’s not like everybody in SW:O can be Darth Revan, after all. If you expand your definition of story to include all of the other things players can do in the game, it doesn’t make sense to me to call it “story” any more.

By: Kring

Kring — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:30:47 +0000

You can view that from both sides. In guild wars you spend a few hours and reach the level 20 cap. Then, you grind out all the spells and after that you reach endgame.

I don’t think we have to define endgame as the game when you reach the max level. I would define endgame as what starts after you’ve reached the level cap and got all the spells you need.

Also, the path of the titans is Blizzards way of putting character rewards into endgame. We’ll see how that actually works out.

By: Telling Stories « Procrastination Amplification

Telling Stories « Procrastination Amplification — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:12:01 +0000

[...] posted an article yesterday dealing with player rewards vs character rewards. While interesting in itself, it caused me to think about something only [...]

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:16:57 +0000

Housing is an interesting one, because it really could be implemented as character progression .. it just normally is just a box to store your decorations with a few extra bank slots thrown in.

So for example, imagine a game where while you are levelling, you’re some kind of a questing knight. Then you reach max level and settle down, or get given a grant of land and a castle. And then a big focus of your game becomes managing your land holdings, with some adventuring thrown in.

In something like that, housing would be more directly related to the character’s power, story, and progression. Just no games have had the balls yet to actually make housing quite that front and centre

By: Thallian

Thallian — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:51:35 +0000

Fantastic thoughts Spinks. I personally don’t think Story is “evergreen” so to speak. Its more like Content. Fun to chew through and by some slowly chewed and by others chewed through in no time flat. Adding story does add more meaning to end-game activities though. I always am more interested in fighting a big boss if I’m going to learn more about the story rather than if I’m going to get some special candy treats in pretty colors instead.

I agree that player housing is a player reward but its a very weak one unless other players can and will see it/use it somehow. Contributing in other ways can also be a player reward, and player generated quests and content are great when pulled off well.

By: Stabs

Stabs — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:27:39 +0000

If you’ve played KOTOR or Baldur’s Gate you know what they mean by story.

It’s not going to be great literature but it’s pretty entertaining in a Choose My Adventure type of way.