Loot Theory In Modern Games 111
HDRL is running an analysis of loot systems in modern games. They talk about how in-game rewards, formerly the domain of RPGs and adventure games with powerups, have expanded to exist in every genre, as achievements and unlockable bonuses have become standard fare.
"For the majority of gamers, once the novelty is gone, they move on. To keep players interested, rewards are required. ... The Diablo series is a perfect example of the theory in effect. Just as in the story of the donkey and the carrot, a game's rewards cannot be too frequent, nor can it be too infrequent. If rewards are too frequent, they lose value in the eyes of the player, and they lose interest. If the rewards are too infrequent, the player loses sight of the carrot, and likely loses motivation to keep playing."
Hot Booty Theory (Score:5, Funny)
In addition the Booty Theory also works, if your audience is male.
The way it works is: Add lots of hot women into your game.
You can mix the two, to get the Booty Loot Theory, in which the in-game character gets laid a lot.
Re:Loot? No Loot? (Score:5, Funny)
Who here still lays Mechwarrior 3? Betcha not many.
Damned right. I had what you might call an "industrial accident" when I tried that.
Re:Hot Booty Theory (Score:5, Funny)
That's called Leisure Suit Larry.
I have so many achievables (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Ultima Online (Score:5, Funny)
No online graphical game has come close to UO in my opinion. No character classes, tons of items, a cool magic system with ingredients, nice summons, building ownership, good economy, scary PvP like it must have been in the medieval age...
It wasn't flawless though. The wilderness had more houses than the big cities since the developpers hadn't thought that players would have be interested in houses. Also, players were never able to create a good mercenary guild to protect the innocents so it was a world of crime. Yet, I never had so much fun with other games.
I mean, UO was a game were you could beg for a teleport stone and accept the stone from that complete stranger... only to find out it brought you to a lost rock in the middle of the sea with no way of getting back from there.
How cool is that?
:D
Re:Ultima Online (Score:3, Funny)
So it was you!
Re:WoW pretty much perfected it (Score:3, Funny)
Dude, you need to level up.