Once again, Mr. Miller has it backwards

by electricpirate , Friday, May 03, 2013, 07:34 (4229 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Apologies for not responding in a timely manner, I didn't see that you had responded under this mountain of a thread.

Punishment ENHANCES THE NOW.

Which scenario do you think is more thrilling / exciting / satisfying:

1. Hitting a jump shot in a pick up game with your friends in which your team is up by 30 points.
2. Hitting a jump shot at the buzzer, winning the NBA championship by one point.

Obviously number 2. Why? Because something is on the line, and failure leads to severe consequences. Missing the jump shot in 1. is no big deal, thus success carries little satisfaction since failing is not significant. But in 2. if you miss, your team loses the NBA championship, and your team spent the entire season winning for nothing.

Right, so something on the line beyond the simple joy of play can increase tension, and improve the now. We both agree to this point. You still haven't established that giving the player a boon for something is somehow different.

I posit that depending on implementation of the reward structure, it is no different. Here's a simple example, time attack modes with ratings or leader boards. These contain both a punishment (hey you didn't go fast enough so you failed and can't get to new content till you get it right) and rewards (Hey you completed the level really fast, here's a trophy to show off, or a place on a leader board, or some bonus content to play with). Monaco is a recent game that does this really well.

And that's just one example, there's many more.