thread: 2006-10-05 : Reward systems
On 2006-10-09, Georgios wrote:
Frank, it's not the size that matters, it's what you do with it. ;)
Every reward system has to start with a reward. There are two ways to establish some kind of reward in a game.
1) The players look over the whole game, pick the one thing they want and align their playing behaviour accordingly. They employ whatever rules the book has to offer that help them get their reward.
2) The rules point out that "THIS RIGHT HERE" is the reward and it's what players have to go after. The rules in the game are expected to support playing behaviour that aims for that reward.
If you're going by Method (2), which I think many here do, than it makes perfect sense to look for the mechanic that actually rewards specific player behaviour, by handing out "currency". That's why such a mechanic is important. Without it, you cannot tell how the game is supposed to be played.
If you're using Method (1), finishing the mission might very well be the reward you've picked. A reward mechanic is completely worthless to you, because you already know what the reward is.
