tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22749834.post6016577340219221735..comments2023-08-01T03:45:24.206-07:00Comments on Branded Newb: Love thy neighborKenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00747751824993948425noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22749834.post-64123185860798099262007-02-14T12:41:00.000-08:002007-02-14T12:41:00.000-08:00I agree that the intangibles are and should be eno...I agree that the intangibles are and should be enough. However, that doesn't prevent us from enjoying some systematic benefit (tax breaks for donations come to mind).<BR/><BR/>What I'm ultimately trying to get at is that we have designed and enjoyed games with a singular purpose in mind: advance ourselves. Is this really the only way to think about gameplay? I think our gamer uber-brain has been inoculated with this sort of thinking and it's become calcified in game design. With games becoming more social, the design itself should mimic our breadth of motivations for doing things.Kenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00747751824993948425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22749834.post-91503598521499190242007-02-14T12:28:00.000-08:002007-02-14T12:28:00.000-08:00I think the intangible rewards are enough. If I d...I think the intangible rewards are enough. If I do something to help you, there is some level of likelihood that you'll remember that I helped you. It may directly benefit me down the road, perhaps in the form of a guild invite or an offer of help, or the benefits may be less direct, in more of a pay it forward vein. Either way, I believe the benefits of in-game altruism are currently more advantageous than formalizing it as a game mechanic could ever hope to be.<BR/><BR/>In fact, you might even say that altruism *is* part of the game design. For example, EQ2 doesn't allow drive-by buffs for the most part. (this might have changed, it's been awhile) Therefore, unless you are in my group I can't buff or rez you. The designers did it to alleviate players from being burdened with "can u rez plz" requests from clear across the zone. But I think it was a terrible design decision, because it took away the choice from the players. Yes it sucked to get those kinds of tells and then having to make the hard decision (I always have to play healers dontchaknow) but these are the same ideas we wrestle with in real life when we see the panhandler at the intersection. But other games do allow drive-by buffs and rezes, and so altruism in this case really is part of the design. The benefits are, as you point out, more nebulous, but don't we already have enough numbers and status bars to keep track of? :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com