More incentive talk

by Stephen Laughlin , Long Beach, CA, Wednesday, July 10, 2013, 20:15 (3945 days ago) @ Cody Miller

Incentives don't justify modes, they don't replace solid core gameplay. They're multipliers. Multiplying zero by anything still leaves you with zero.

They are divisors.

However when there is a reward involved, this alters the ability of the player to enjoy the moment to moment pleasure of the game, simply because now instead of focusing on the present, the player has to focus on future. If you are driven to play because of that reward, this shift prevents the player from merely enjoying the present moment on its own, since the expectation is now that the present moment carries later on a future reward. Obviously if you are not driven to play because of the reward, the reward is unnecessary. So by playing for a reward, you are undermining the inherent value of the game's moment to moment pleasures.

http://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=6921

There is such a thing as context. The knowledge of a promising future doesn't necessarily diminish my enjoyment of the present unless my entire purpose is bent on the outcome. The knowledge of a reward doesn't necessarily demand that the moment to moment experience must suffer unless it is presented in such a way that the reward is all encompassing and all important. If the balance is right, a reward simply makes the journey that much sweeter.