draft/gns_and_players_rewards.txt
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    30    [25]argology                                            05:56:13 AM)
       
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    36    rewards                                                           >>
       
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    40    Author     Topic: GNS and player rewards  (Read 1480 times)
       
    41 
       
    42     [44]JMendes   [47][IMG]  [48]GNS and player rewards
       
    43     Member                   << on: October 31, 2002, 01:21:08 PM >>
       
    44 
       
    45     Posts: 187    ----------------------------------------------------
       
    46 
       
    47     [45]View      Hi, all, :)
       
    48     Profile
       
    49     [46]Personal  Appols if this has been asked and answered (in which
       
    50     Message       case check out this thread replies are appreciated).
       
    51     (Offline)
       
    52                   Anyway, how does one reward players in the various
       
    53                   GNS modes?
       
    54 
       
    55                   (Ex. would be: a gamist mode rewards a player by
       
    56                   awarding character advancement; or, a gamist mode
       
    57                   rewards a player by tallying problems successfully
       
    58                   solved, thus allowing said player to bask under the
       
    59                   glory of said tally; or something else entirely...)
       
    60 
       
    61                   Cheers,
       
    62 
       
    63                   J.
       
    64                                                             [49]Logged
       
    65 
       
    66                   ----------------------------------------------------
       
    67 
       
    68                   João Mendes
       
    69                   Lisbon, Portugal
       
    70     [50]M. J.                 [59]GNS and player rewards
       
    71     Young           [58][IMG] << Reply #1 on: October 31, 2002,
       
    72     Member                    06:15:17 PM >>
       
    73 
       
    74     Posts: 2123     --------------------------------------------------
       
    75 
       
    76     [51]1735114     It's not so cut-and-dried as that, I think.
       
    77     [52]MarkJYoung  There's a sense in which the rewards can be almost
       
    78     [53]tiras1      anything and fit any type of play; it's more a
       
    79     [54]View        matter of how they're earned than what they
       
    80     Profile         are--although yes, there are some rewards that fit
       
    81     [55]WWW         some kinds of play better. But maybe I can provide
       
    82     [56]Email       an outrageous example.
       
    83     [57]Personal
       
    84     Message         Multiverser has no "reward system" at all; there
       
    85     (Offline)       is a sense in which nothing is rewarded and
       
    86                     nothing is given as a reward. Yet people play it,
       
    87                     and find rewards, because the rewards are inherent
       
    88                     to the experience.
       
    89 
       
    90                       [*]To the Gamist, the ultimate reward is that
       
    91                       feeling that you just won, that you beat the
       
    92                       odds or overcame the enemy or solved the problem
       
    93                       in a significant way. I'm currently playing in a
       
    94                       Multiverser game in which I was engaged in a
       
    95                       battle of magic (and my character was completely
       
    96                       new to magic, making it up as he went along).
       
    97                       The attacker fled; the attacker's conjured
       
    98                       assassin was driven away. I had beaten the
       
    99                       enemy, I had won the conflict. The gamist reward
       
   100                       here is phenomenal.
       
   101                       [*]To the Simulationist, reward is a lot more
       
   102                       subtle. It involves feeling like you've entered
       
   103                       another reality, in some sense, that you've
       
   104                       explored a possibility and discovered something
       
   105                       about it. In that same game world, my background
       
   106                       in law convinced the local prince to assign me
       
   107                       the rather complex task of organizing his
       
   108                       judicial system and creating a legislature as a
       
   109                       way to bring his medieval princedom toward a
       
   110                       modern democratic citystate. I've spent quite a
       
   111                       bit of time figuring out how to organize a dozen
       
   112                       judges into a tiered judicial system with an
       
   113                       emphasis on precedent, and more on devising a
       
   114                       bicameral legislature in which one house
       
   115                       represents the fading nobility and the other the
       
   116                       mostly illiterate peasantry (how do you arrange
       
   117                       elections for representatives when the
       
   118                       electorate can't read and write?). I'm watching
       
   119                       the world evolve, and I'm involved in the center
       
   120                       of it. There is a great reward in being part of
       
   121                       something like this.
       
   122                       [*]To the Narrativist--well, there are a lot of
       
   123                       ways to say it that will lead someone to object
       
   124                       to the terminology, but let me suggest that the
       
   125                       reward for narrativists is the creation of
       
   126                       something of a morality play; that is, we've
       
   127                       created a story which is about an issue. In that
       
   128                       same world, the man who appointed me his head
       
   129                       justice required that I "swear fealty" to him,
       
   130                       and I in essence did so: I told him that I
       
   131                       didn't promise not to argue with him, but in the
       
   132                       end I would recognize he had the right to decide
       
   133                       what the law was. But this man has closed all
       
   134                       the churches in the princedom. It was his
       
   135                       opinion that the religious people were fighting
       
   136                       with each other to the detriment of the
       
   137                       community, so he made public religious ceremony
       
   138                       illegal. My character is very religious; and
       
   139                       since he has taken his position he has
       
   140                       discovered that one of the major religious
       
   141                       groups which have been "shut down" is
       
   142                       essentially agreed with his own faith. He is now
       
   143                       in a position in which he has sworn obligations
       
   144                       to uphold a law that could easily be used to
       
   145                       persecute people who share his religious
       
   146                       beliefs, which indeed could be used to accuse
       
   147                       his self of treason. The tension here is a
       
   148                       wonderful narrativist premise, as the character
       
   149                       must wrestle with whether he can serve as the
       
   150                       chief jurist in a legal system that oppresses
       
   151                       his own faith, or whether he can from his
       
   152                       position of limited authority make it possible
       
   153                       for that faith (and others?) to continue to be
       
   154                       practiced and encouraged in the city despite the
       
   155                       strictures placed upon it. The reward here comes
       
   156                       from resolving those tensions in one direction
       
   157                       or another. Narrativist rewards can in some ways
       
   158                       be the most interesting. My character could be
       
   159                       the deliverer who puts the crack in the wall
       
   160                       that ultimately admits the flood, such that the
       
   161                       prince is forced to permit faith again to be
       
   162                       expressed and practiced openly. He could instead
       
   163                       be the martyr whose death galvinizes the people
       
   164                       to stand up for their freedom. There are great
       
   165                       story possibilities here, and the realization of
       
   166                       those story possibilities is itself the
       
   167                       reward.[/list:u]
       
   168 
       
   169                       Now, there's a lot of talk about how mechanical
       
   170                       reward systems can be gamist, narrativist, or
       
   171                       simulationist; but what that means ultimately is
       
   172                       that the rewards encourage one kind of
       
   173                       play--they are given for actions of a particular
       
   174                       type, and/or they are in a currency which can be
       
   175                       used for actions of a particular type.
       
   176 
       
   177                          [*]A character earns experience points for
       
   178                          beating the odds, whether that's for killing
       
   179                          monsters, solving riddles, capturing enemy
       
   180                          spies, disarming explosives, or any other
       
   181                          in-game challenge. That experience is then
       
   182                          spent to make him better at killing monsters,
       
   183                          solving riddles, capturing enemy spies,
       
   184                          disarming explosives, or some other in-game
       
   185                          challenge. This is a palpably gamist reward
       
   186                          system, because rewards are given to
       
   187                          reinforce the inherent reward of winning, and
       
   188                          are a type which help the character win over
       
   189                          greater odds in the future.
       
   190                          [*]A player recognizes that his character has
       
   191                          values which could easily be brought into
       
   192                          conflict. He moves that character into a
       
   193                          place where the conflict will be forced upon
       
   194                          the character, where he will have to choose
       
   195                          between one value and another, and in doing
       
   196                          so is given a credit. He may then use the
       
   197                          credit to purchase something to add to play
       
   198                          that will help resolve this conflict one way
       
   199                          or the other, such as bringing another
       
   200                          character into the scene, or placing a
       
   201                          previously unmentioned object within reach.
       
   202                          This is an arguably narrativist reward
       
   203                          system, because it gives rewards for the
       
   204                          creation of premise-enhancing situations
       
   205                          which are of a type which helps the player
       
   206                          advance the core of the story. (This is more
       
   207                          difficult, as a very similar reward system
       
   208                          could be used in a simulationist exploration
       
   209                          of character/situation game; it's just the
       
   210                          best I could produce at the moment.)
       
   211                          [*]A character in a new city takes a job as a
       
   212                          stablehand. The player puts effort into
       
   213                          describing the life and activities of a
       
   214                          stablehand, and his character's feelings
       
   215                          about this; he controls the character to be a
       
   216                          good stablehand. A tally is kept of the time
       
   217                          he spends at this activity, with extra
       
   218                          credits for doing it well. When a
       
   219                          predetermined score is reached, the owner of
       
   220                          the stable approaches the character and
       
   221                          offers to promote him to work as a groom.
       
   222                          This is arguably a simulationist reward
       
   223                          system, as the rewards are given for playing
       
   224                          appropriately in the context of the setting
       
   225                          and lead to new opportunities to explore
       
   226                          other aspects of the setting.
       
   227                          [/list:u]
       
   228                          There are countless ways to do reward systems
       
   229                          for each sort of play. I suspect that the way
       
   230                          to get at it, though, is to begin with an
       
   231                          idea of how the game works without any reward
       
   232                          system at all, to determine what sort of play
       
   233                          you want to encourage, and then create a
       
   234                          reward system which gives the players
       
   235                          currency in response to the sort of actions
       
   236                          desired which can be spent to make possible
       
   237                          more of that sort of actions.
       
   238 
       
   239                          Does that make sense?
       
   240 
       
   241                          (And anyone who wants to suggest a better
       
   242                          example of a narrativist reward system--or
       
   243                          any other--please do so.)
       
   244 
       
   245                          --M. J. Young
       
   246                                                             [60]Logged
       
   247 
       
   248                     --------------------------------------------------
       
   249 
       
   250                     Check out [61]Multiverser
       
   251                     [62]M. J. Young Net
       
   252     [63]Cassidy             [67]GNS and player rewards
       
   253     Member        [66][IMG] << Reply #2 on: November 02, 2002,
       
   254                             11:04:29 AM >>
       
   255     Posts: 165
       
   256                   ----------------------------------------------------
       
   257     [64]View
       
   258     Profile       Quote from: M. J. Young
       
   259     [65]Personal  Does that make sense?
       
   260     Message
       
   261     (Offline)     Absolutely.
       
   262 
       
   263                   For me, the key to rewarding players is essentially
       
   264                   knowing what their premise is and making sure that
       
   265                   it's fulfilled.
       
   266 
       
   267                   I can only relate my own experiences but for players
       
   268                   with a narrative slant I very often let them assume
       
   269                   the role of significant NPCs in the game.
       
   270 
       
   271                   Mercenary Leader, Religious Zealot, Cowardly
       
   272                   Nobleman, you name it, I've had them play it.
       
   273 
       
   274                   It obviously takes a lot of setting up and
       
   275                   discussion one-on-one with the player concerned
       
   276                   prior to play which in itself is rewarding for the
       
   277                   players concerned.
       
   278 
       
   279                   For players coming from a simulationist angle, if
       
   280                   the setting, characters, conflicts and situations
       
   281                   within the game are engaging enough and really grab
       
   282                   their interest then playing becomes it's own reward.
       
   283 
       
   284                   The players like that in my group really don't give
       
   285                   a hoot about experience points, story points or
       
   286                   whatever in fact I never use experience points as
       
   287                   such.
       
   288 
       
   289                   The odd ad-hoc change in an ability from time to
       
   290                   time as a consequence of a characters experiences in
       
   291                   the game works well enough. It makes sense to me and
       
   292                   more importantly it makes sense to the players. It's
       
   293                   never a player initiated thing, it's just something
       
   294                   that I mention to the player in passing when I feel
       
   295                   the change is warranted. The player  modifies their
       
   296                   character sheet and thats all there is to it.
       
   297 
       
   298                   The problem I have most is satisfying players with a
       
   299                   gamist premise.
       
   300 
       
   301                   Winning and losing in RPGs is something that I've
       
   302                   never been able to get my head around. Maybe it's
       
   303                   just my own experience but the players in my group
       
   304                   who play the the game from a gamist standpoint only
       
   305                   seem to come alive when there is something to hit.
       
   306 
       
   307                   They really appear to have little interest in
       
   308                   exploring the setting or involving themselves in
       
   309                   situations that don't have an element of combat
       
   310                   associated to them.
       
   311 
       
   312                   The only reward they are interested in is
       
   313                   "improvement" of their characters abilities and a
       
   314                   desire for more combat in the game.
       
   315 
       
   316                   Combat for combat's sake bores me. Unless the
       
   317                   characters are in a truly threatening situation and
       
   318                   they stand a real chance of dying then it appears to
       
   319                   be a real waste of time. I can't do that every
       
   320                   session.
       
   321 
       
   322                   Conversely, a session without combat is often seen
       
   323                   as boring or unrewarding certain players in my
       
   324                   group.
       
   325 
       
   326                   I do run my games primarily from a
       
   327                   simulation/narrative angle and I do introduce combat
       
   328                   intensive scenes as a means of presenting the group
       
   329                   with a dramatic life or death situation.
       
   330 
       
   331                   I just feel that I can't satisfy the players in my
       
   332                   group who play from an apparently gamist standpoint
       
   333                   because I think the type of game they want to play
       
   334                   isn't really the type of game I want to run.
       
   335                                                             [68]Logged
       
   336     [69]MK                  [73]GNS and player rewards
       
   337     Snyder        [72][IMG] << Reply #3 on: November 02, 2002,
       
   338     Member                  07:32:32 PM >>
       
   339 
       
   340     Posts: 116    ----------------------------------------------------
       
   341 
       
   342     [70]View      I think that given an awareness of what style of
       
   343     Profile       play is most satisfying to the player, and having
       
   344     [71]Personal  the play tailored to that style by the GM or group
       
   345     Message       or at least respectfully ackowledged as a desire and
       
   346     (Offline)     given a share of the session form and focus (turns),
       
   347                   that players are rewarded by play itself.
       
   348 
       
   349                   Conflict and frustration are lessened as players are
       
   350                   not attempting to force/encourage one another into
       
   351                   playing to misunderstood and possibly conflicting
       
   352                   standards.
       
   353 
       
   354                   It enhances the process of play. Mechanical/ design
       
   355                   changes may not be necessary.
       
   356 
       
   357                   In other words... if the players are having more fun
       
   358                   because what they like to happen is happening, they
       
   359                   don't need no steenkin XP's to sweeten it.
       
   360                                                             [74]Logged
       
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   449   75. http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?action=markasread;sa=topic;topic=4075.0
       
   450   76. http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?action=sendtopic;topic=4075.0
       
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