Comments on: Changing the Rules

By: Mats N

Mats N — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:37:13 +0000

Don’t some games have this already? I know Battlefield 2 on the PC has a medal for getting killed 15 times in a row in a single match (or something similar), which NO ONE wants. Yes, I have one :).

By: Making Tiger Perfect

Making Tiger Perfect — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:12:17 +0000

[...] you won’t even know it, because the camera’s rendering it invisible. I got my first Deer Ass prize (a 0gs Achievement called Lost the Plot which means you exceeded the shot limit for a hole) [...]

By: Adam

Adam — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:50:52 +0000

I am completely for this idea. It is not a sense of further rewarding winning but keeping people from giving up.

I can’t count the number of times that I will be playing a racing game and if someone crashes/spins out/messes up they will go in reverse and try to crash into other players.

Having a slight penalty placed on coming in last will keep people from intentionally doing poorly because they know they won’t get the gold.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

By: Skye

Skye — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:43:53 +0000

Interesting take, but I could see people actually taking pride collecting deer-asses in a virtual environment. Part of the motivation that keeps people playing strong through the tourney is the humility that goes with finishing last. Humility lies in wait for the poorest finisher since they have actually use and publicly show the deer ass everytime they head to the links and most likely have to explain it and relive their failure.

For this to be effective in a virtual environment there has to be some similar mechanism that a player would want to avoid. In addition, there would have to be an understanding that this award is meant in good natured fun and not being down right cruel. With your family it is the sense of familiarity with these people that allows this award to exist and be fun even if you were awarded it.

With the “detached” interaction with other virtual players that exists in most multiplayers it could become a very contentious issue.

Very interesting idea, but there would be a lot of socialogical obstacles to be worked out. It would make for a very unique set of data if it was tested out.

By: Lefty Redbeard

Lefty Redbeard — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:55:04 +0000

At first glance this seems like a good idea… but wont it scare away people that maybe aren’t that good at multiplayer but would like to give it a go? (like me!). I like to play online but for recreation and I think twice about firing up a game where I know I’m just going to get owned. I’m going to think thrice about firing up that game if I think I’m going to get owned AND get a black mark by my name.
Can’t we think of a way to generate more players by awarding them for PLAYING and not just for WINNING?
]:8)

By: realityfighter

realityfighter — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:20:58 +0000

Hey, this is the way most reality game shows structure their rewards! They give prizes for winning challenges, but the biggest motivating factor is always the threat of elimination. Judging from the intensity of play in those games, I’d say it definitely makes the game more interesting. (Of course, there’s also a big reward at the end of the show, but the disincentive of elimination is always more immediate.)

By: kormyen

kormyen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:03:12 +0000

Hehe I like that idea, would be cool to see how it fairs in game

`kormyen

By: Vit Peyr

Vit Peyr — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 03:04:23 +0000

I think you would have to be careful how you approach this. It could be very easy to make the Deer Ass appealing to some people in an online game context. Also I think it would matter less in games with less community, and if you don’t care that you have the Deer Ass, there’s still no incentive to not get it.