As with some of the most famous treasure hunting stories, this sort of narrative satisfaction may be problematic in its own ways. What effect does commoditizing upgrades, gear drops and do to player behavior? Is encouraging a consumerist mindset beneficial, ultimately, to game design? What identities are prized when we prize treasure hunters?

World of Warcraft, a very different style of game with similar loot principles. | cdecker9

For the effect of treasure hunting on players, the history of World of Warcraft (WOW) is as good a source as any. In the 15 years since release, the massively popular MMO has gone through numerous revisions to its looting system. In the newest iteration, players all automatically receive an item suited to their specification or an equivalent value in gold sent straight to their inventory upon the death of an enemy. This is a huge advancement from the original system. For years players had to loot bodies individually, first come first serve. Alongside this typical arrangement, in a group play session, the leader could choose between a number of complicated methods for distributing loot. One method specified a single player received all the loot and was tasked with distributing it equally. Often this system went awry unless the group was socially established, the draw to be treasure hunter prevailed against the social dynamic.

The history of WOW hints at how players behavior change around the ability to gain advantages within the game world. The world itself is entirely fabricated, the economic systems within it marginally dictated by the real economic factors outside. As a result, as time has gone on, the developers have changed the way the system works to distribute the items and means of progression (wealth, in other terms) more evenly to a wider swath of players. This helps to placate the anger, frustration, and disappointment felt by players in older systems. Each of these emotions can be linked to in-game actions that negatively impact teammates: group abandonment, hoarding of items and ineffective play strategies all are reactive methodologies against the other players. The design and balance of a treasure hunter identity is key to its production of enjoyable game experiences.

Overwatch’s lootbox. | Activision Blizzard

What are the downstream effects of the treasure hunter identity utilization across various game designs? One result, undoubtedly, is the rise of various, successful monetization strategies. If real-world capital can be utilized to continually advance and satisfy this in-game identity, developers are incentivized to implement both the monetization system and the identity whereby purchases are fulfilling.

Loot boxes are one of the more insidious examples of what treasure hunting identity can result in. Some of the most popular games of the last half decade, Overwatch perhaps chief among them, have implemented loot boxes as the only significant source of loot and progression. In situations like this, it becomes difficult for us to see the difference between the identity role in the game of treasure hunter and the exterior positioning of a player as customer and consumer. This begins to get at the heart of why the identity can be so powerful for players, especially in capitalistic societies like the United States.

Activision Blizzard

To begin discussing where consumer and treasure hunter overlap it’s best to start with who benefits from these systems. The simple answer is those with power. Inside a game, power can be held by any of the characters, and the system is serviced when the player can accrue more power as the game goes on. Outside of a game, power might just look like buying power, a matter of wealth. This relationship is mirrored for the player. Regardless of the operating environment, inside or outside of games, as players adopt identities in one they can reinforce behaviors in the other.

This relationship can help us understand who has power in a given system. Instead of assuming that games denote power purely by the arbitrariness of who picks up a controller, examine the external faculties contributing to both the player's mindset and the game's construction. Players enter with a set of beliefs, principles, and an identity gained from their everyday lives. Games are designed, their stories determined well before the first line of code is written, and the decisions at this early stage are driven by the identity of who a “treasure hunter” typically is.