Comments on: How Not To Reward a Player…

By: Juuso

Juuso — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:08:07 +0000

Newcomers indeed could be considered somehow.

@caesarsghost: uh… Golf something :)

@Lumooja: “almost, but not quite” approach sounds pretty good.

By: Lumooja

Lumooja — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:11:07 +0000

It should be done like in the C64 game word wizard, there a bear like wizard voice said: “Almost, but not quite.”. So be positive and say that the goal was almost met, but give some constructive criticism how to improve it.

By: Banker

Banker — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:18:58 +0000

I couldn’t agree more, I think people should always be rewarded for failure, no matter how badly they’ve performed. That way they don’t have to worry about improving at whatever they’re attempting, and can just feel all warm and fuzzy inside, despite failing miserably.

By: Steven Egan

Steven Egan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:10:59 +0000

I’d say the key to learning the most from this is, “The first time I tried … Eventually I got the ball in the hole, with a result like +9 over the par.” Experience playing the game, 0. Experience with the game UI, 0. Experience with the game controls, 0. Experience with the results of hitting the ball, 0. Hmmm… I think I see a pattern here.

So, besides the obvious ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_bite_the_newcomer ) I would like to point out a possible solution, difficulty levels; training, beginner … expert. That gives a context for “bad”. Normally par is set at advanced levels of difficulty to match the standard par values of real golf courses. being able to adjust the par values should be simple. Could even just be a matter of which values to calculate and show. That should make it possible to mitigate the effects of such “rewards”.

By: Russell

Russell — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:57:38 +0000

“Bad!” is how I scold my dog! Sit, Juuso, sit. Good boy. ;)

By: CaesarsGhost

CaesarsGhost — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:12:05 +0000

What was the name of the game?

By: psycho

psycho — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:07:15 +0000

Similarly, I played some strategy game on iPhone (“warfare incorporated”), and everytime I left the game, the woman told me a very motivating words: Mission Failed.
But nevermind, that game sucked anyway, unlike Red Alery 2, where just listening to messages alone was fun (“Why dont you drive?”, “Lets make a delivery” (suicide bomber), “Rubber shoes in motion” (tesla man), “The appocalypse has begun” (mammut tank)) etc, and it all sounded so enthusiastic.

But the woman commentator in that iphone game sounded soul-less, same with army units.

But back to your question: maybe we should just take the parenting advice: reward success, and be neutral or ignorant about non-success, because it’s normal part of life, one shouldnt be ashamed, but encouraged to try again.