Competitive play and Meaning (Destiny)

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Sunday, June 18, 2017, 15:43 (2805 days ago)
edited by Cody Miller, Sunday, June 18, 2017, 15:47

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlWFX4vfn9w

Datto's argument is that he is concerned because it appears that competitive players will not be rewarded when it comes to PvP in Des2ny.

You've got to let the good players be good, and reward them for it. I want to see people in Masters get a new weapon skin for being in masters… right now the vibe I am getting is that they don't want to make the competitive experience rich and meaningful and rewarding.

This argument is wrong, and he is operating under an incorrect assumption about competitive players. They don't need to be rewarded, because the competition is the reward. Playing good opponents and getting better is itself the prize, just how it has been since the days of Quake and Street Fighter 2. I agree that there should be some sort of system to help you gauge your improvement, like stats or a rank or something, but as far as rewards go, no true competitive player will care.

In fact, rewards for competitive play often lead to toxic behavior - just look at all the lag switchers in Trials and the like. This is because the reward takes precedence. Again, I cannot say enough how non intrinsic rewards poison everything when it comes to video games.

If your game is fun and deep, lets you play against skilled opponents, and lets you improve, then that is all the reward a competitive player will need to stay engaged and have meaningful play time.