Reward Distribution Priority in an RPG

[Black Pagan]

Is there a Simple and Effective way to distribute Reward in an RPG ? What I mean is at what points of game should a Player acquire Weapons, Armor, Actives, Passives, Stat Boosts so it would make the Player feel motivated to continue playing ?

Although this seems like a rather Simple and Contextual question, It has been bothering me a lot since all of them seem equally valid rewards at any given point in the game.

 

[bgillisp]

Anything that is better than what they got already usually works. So if everyone has Rusty Swords, start letting them find Iron Swords, or whatever your next tier is.

 

[MushroomCake28]

There isn't one right answer. Different games and different genres will have different reward system. It's mainly up to you to pick one or multiple reward systems that will work with your project.

If you want an example, in one of my game heroes have abilities which can be level up with special items. As the game progresses, as the player complete quests, farm some items, the player will get more of those special items, or will get the items needed to craft them. So as the player progresses, he'll be able to level up his abilities, making his existing skills way stronger. An ability can be something like "add an extra hit after the skill that deals X% of damage" and as you level up the ability the value of X increases.

 

[gstv87]

I guess the quickest most direct answer to "when?" would be "a number of encounters AFTER the player really begins to need it"

is a level 1 enemy a challenge? -> no? -> go to level 2
is a level 2 enemy a challenge? -> yes? -> player might need some help? -> yes? -> wait until level 3.

rewards should be..... well.... *rewarding*.
not *a must-pick-up-on-the-way*-ing.

So if everyone has Rusty Swords, start letting them find Iron Swords, or whatever your next tier is.

if a rusty sword is sufficient to kill a low level monster, giving them a proper sword would be overkill, and might create a surplus of loot.
more loot, more money, more gear, more battle, more loot.

Economics-101.

 

[rue669]

Players love to feel like they are getting stronger. Always make sure that the progression is just that—progression is story, gear and skills.

 

[bgillisp]

@gstv87 : It does depend on the area, but players want to feel like they are getting stronger. If they already have a rusty sword and you give them another, they will just be disappointed, and not feel like it was worth getting. Psych 101.

Either way you got to find something that feels like it is worth the trouble of getting.

 

[gstv87]

@bgillisp precisely why I say that it should be *rewarding*.

and I'll add that this approach would require a differential drop system, so that the player doesn't use the higher gear to power-farm the loot from lesser mobs with lesser difficulty.
or, a strictly linear story, where the player would be removed from that area as they level up, and forced into a more challenging one.

 

[Zreine]

I'll go with what I do myself.
-I like to reward the player with unique items that the player cannot buy in the store. I just hate when I decided to grind to buy myself a sword, just to have the game give me that exact same sword in the next area. It discourage me from buying stuff, because I always tell myself: "The game will probably give it to me at some point anyway."
-The harder it was to get, the more useful the item should be. If you give me a super hard boss at the end of a really hard side quest, I expect way more than a potion and 100 gold as a reward.
-I usually make the item relate to area you find it in. So let's say you have that dungeon when a lot of ennemies deal poison, giving an item that give immunity to poison to the character wearing it could comme in handy. Or giving a weapon that deals poison damage would fit in the theme of the dungeon.