On content and why we're hurting for it. (Destiny)

by stabbim , Des Moines, IA, USA, Sunday, March 22, 2015, 04:04 (3782 days ago) @ Hoovaloov

Not to speak for Cody, but here's how I understand it. Progression is a pretty specific thing - you are progressing somehow. Usually that means leveling up or gaining new abilities. Not inherently a bad thing, and in a lot of games it's used more to ease the player into wrapping their head around all the possibilities, rather than to limit their fun.

Investment systems are a little more nebulous as far as what mechanics they can entail, but are defined by a pretty specific aim - to keep the player invested in the game. Or to put it another way, to artificially keep them playing beyond the point where they otherwise would have stopped. This is a real thing, whether people want to admit it or not. Destiny had people specifically employed to design this aspect, and it's hardly the only game to have done so.

Where the distinction starts to get a little fuzzy is that sometimes the lure of progression is used as part of the investment design. The carrot-and-stick effect of always having some upgrade or new item just around the corner. So they're often related, but not necessarily the same thing.