Risk vs. Reward – The Horrible Truth
by Sam Witt
December 13, 2000
When looking at most discussions about the design of online games, you eventually come to the topic of "Risk Versus Reward." Next to the mythical beast called Balance, or the horned demon of PvP, Risk Versus Reward has the potential to start the largest number of out-and-out flamewars of any online game discussion.
The essential conflict of the topic consists of three parts:
- Players like to be challenged. They want things to get harder as their characters improve.
- Players want to be rewarded for engaging in challenging behavior. If it is much more difficult to overcome Obstacle A than Obstacle B, then players want a bigger reward for conquering Obstacle A.
- When it comes to the fate of their characters, especially characters that have been around a long time, players are extremely conservative. They do not want those characters to suffer any debilitating penalties for their actions, and if you even think of permanently killing a character . . . well, that's when the flamewars go supernova.
Numbers 1 and 2 are pretty reasonable, but are very difficult to implement. What is difficult for one type of character might pose no challenge at all to another - so how do you set the reward? Make it high enough to satisfy the first character's abilities, and the second character will sit and 'farm' the reward as long as they are able. Downgrade the reward to compensate for the second character's obvious ability to stomp the crap out of the obstacle, and the first player gets angry that the difficulty of the task at hand is much greater than the reward gained.
It's arguably the hardest task a designer faces, and one of the most important. If players do not feel as if they are being challenged, they grow bored and leave the game. On the other hand, if they do not feel they are receiving a great enough reward for their efforts, then they, you guessed it, get bored and leave the game.
A large part of the problem is that there seems to be some confusion (among both players and designers) about what they are really discussing when they try to reconcile "Risk Versus Reward." The truth is, what is typically being discussed is "Effort Versus Reward." Great rewards often take very great effort to achieve in online games, but the effort is mostly measured in time spent. Such rewards can be gratifying, and are certainly a status symbol within the game's community, but wouldn't having taken real risk to gain them make them that much more satisfying?
My goal is to provide a real return on real risk in Horizon Station. While it will certainly be possible to attain a great deal of success simply through effort, it is my belief that the truly game-shaking rewards should be reserved for those who take the real risks. But I have to wonder if people will truly appreciate the opportunities this presents. If I lost my long-time character during a particularly harrowing quest, I would certainly have a bit of remorse over the whole issue.
Unless, of course, there was always a return on every real risk a character chooses to take. It may only be the public knowledge that your one-armed character was maimed attempting to destroy a Rul-Aka warhulk. Or an engraved plaque commemorating the sacrifice of a noble character's life during an invasion of Kilifi brain-leeches. These are real rewards, and ones that can't be had just by expending effort. The character has suffered a real setback in his life, and the environment rewards him in a way more powerful than the SupaDupaMegaLasaGun. His sacrifice has become a part of the game environment - and perhaps it can rub off on his young nephew, who has taken up the path of the hero.
My belief is that real risk has been shunned by players simply because they don't see it as an effective way to get a good return on the investment they've made in their character. I hope that by showing a real reward for all real risks, that I can encourage players to welcome the dramatic opportunities available to them, and appreciate the greater rewards this can offer.
Of course, I could be wrong. Click the link below and let me know what you'd think about real risk where your characters were concerned.
Seeya in 7.
Happy holidays,
Sam
