Posted 25 December 2012 - 07:11 PM

​Summary



As the usefulness of each behaviour varies in real-time and for each player, attempting to set fixed rewards for these behaviours that incentivise the proper behaviour at the proper time is fundamentally impossible. Instead reward the achievement of a win condition, incentivising players to determine the optimal composition of behaviours for each situation.





Body



Rewarding Behaviour



When designing an incentive system, one should normally envisage the desired behaviourd and design incentives that reward that behaviour as directly as possible.



In MWO, there are multiple game modes, each of which has a win condition. PGI have identified individual behaviours that contribute to the player's team achieving a win condition and introduced rewards for these behaviours. Their ongoing problem is the balancing of these rewards against each other, such that players undertake a mix of behaviours that comprise a cooperative effort to achieve a win condition.



I propose an alternative approach. If we want players to work towards achieiving a win condition for their team, why not directly reward the achievement of a win condition? Players will be free to make their own determinations about which behaviours are useful - determinations that can be adapted in real-time. In a situation where a kill is more useful to achieving a win condition, players will be more likely to kill. In a situation where a capture is more useful to achieving a win condition, players will be more likely to capture. Players can even adapt to the roles their team-mates are taking in deciding what behaviours will be most useful.



Individual Versus Group Rewards



Having read the previous section, you will note that I am proposing a group reward rather than an individual reward. Some people may find this problematic, but it is essential. Group rewards encourage cooperation, while individual rewards discourage cooperation. If the desired behaviour is that players work together as a team to achieve a win condition and the achievement of that win condition is to be rewarded directly, individual rewards would likely encourage direct contributions (like capping) while discouraging indirect contributions (like scouting). For everybody to cooperate without PGI micromanaging the reward structure, a group reward is necessary. Better players (in the sense that they contribute more to their team achieving a win condition) will still win more frequently, leading to a greater reward for these players over time.



Free Riders



'Free riders' pose a threat to the integrity of any system built around a group reward structure. This is normally dealt with through punishment, and certainly the existing reward structure provides a means of identifying and punishing non-participation. Perhaps players would have to do at least one 'useful' task to receive a share of the group reward? The group reward could be split equally among participating players, such that a team operating at a disadvantage has a higher potential reward to assuage their higher risk of loss.

