Difference between revisions of "Team Accomplishments"

Revision as of 20:47, 31 July 2015

The fulfilment experienced when being part of and accomplishing something as a group

Winning a game or reach specific goals in games are often experienced by players as accomplishments. A Team Accomplishment is a special case of this when players feel that they together with other players have succeeded in something that all players experience as an accomplishment. Since working together can require skills, this can in itself become an accomplishment so a Team Accomplishment can also be simply managing to work together towards a game goal without actually succeeding, or even just identifying how one could work together.

Examples

Examples of Team Accomplishment typically come from cooperative games, such as Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, the Left 4 Dead series, Pandemic, and Yggdrasil. Winning a game instance of any of these games is a clear example of a Team Accomplishment but many sub goals such as handling a crisis in Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game or completing a level or campaign in the Left 4 Dead series also qualify.

Many Tabletop Roleplaying Games, e.g. Call of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons put players in positions where they need to work together to succeed with tasks or even just survive. Handling these, and especially making use of the different skill sets the players' characters have, are examples of Team Accomplishments.

Using the pattern

A Team Accomplishment requires that several players together can act so they reach an accomplishment that they feel they share. This makes the use of Multiplayer Games a necessity for Team Accomplishments, and the players are often grouped together in Guilds, Parties, or Teams to have Mutual Goals. However, they can also just be given Mutual Goals explicitly or implicitly (in the latter case for example by having a common threat through PvE gameplay). While the common accomplishment can often be expressed as a goal within the game it can also be the successful execution of Collaborative Actions, and more specifically Team Combos, even if these do not lead to the fulfillment of explicit game goals. Likewise, Team Strategy Identification can be a Team Accomplishment even if the strategy does not work or is even put into action and a complete failure can be seen as a Team Accomplishment if the failure lead to Mutual FUBAR Enjoyment.

Consequences

Reaching a Team Accomplishment can be a Social Rewards for all those involved.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Social Rewards

Can Modulate

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Can Be Instantiated By

Collaborative Actions, Mutual FUBAR Enjoyment, Mutual Goals, Team Combos, Team Strategy Identification

Guilds, Parties, PvE, or Teams together with Multiplayer Games

Can Be Modulated By

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Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

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History

A pattern first identified in Exploring Aesthetical Gameplay Design Patterns – Camaraderie in Four Games^[1].

References

1. ↑ Bergström, K., Björk, S. & Lundgren, S. (2010). Exploring Aesthetic Gameplay Design Patterns – Camaraderie in Four Games. Paper presentation at Mindtrek 2010. Tampere, Finland.

Acknowledgments

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