Value of Effort
The gameplay experience of that one's efforts during gameplay have value.
Practically all games make players perform action during (and/or before) game instances. However, not all require or allow for actions where players can put meaningful effort into these actions. Those that do try to give players the sense that they provide players with a Value of Effort.
Contents
Examples
Chess and Stratego offers one player the possibility of have a Value of Effort through eliminating the other player and winning, while of course denying the other player of this sensation. Go is similar except that both players in nearly all instances have created groups that survive until the end. However, both players in all these games can also feel a Value of Effort in developing, testing, and succeeding with strategies and tactics which let them perceive their developing skills in the games.
high score lists
Games with levels, e.g. the Super Mario Series or the earlier instances in the Quake series let players feel a Value of Effort by
quests
Achievements, Character Development,
Using the pattern
Supporting players in being able to feel a Value of Effort is typically related to providing them means of performing actions and ways of providing feedback that show that these actions had meaning.
Letting players set up goals allow them to feel a sense of satisfaction when they goals are met. On a general level this means that Pottering can support Value of Effort but more narrow or controlled ways include Abstract Player Construct Development or Character Development. The former can take the form of allowing Construction which has a level of permanence through being Irreversible Events or taking place in Persistent Game Worlds, while the latter can take the form of letting players create Characters with Player-Planned Development. Persistent Game Worlds also work for making the consequences related to Character Development or Player-Planned Development more permanent, so this pattern is useful in many ways for supporting Value of Effort. In contrast, games with Further Player Improvement Potential allow players to experience a Value of Effort in getting better at playing the game, and one example of this (which ties into the section on making efforts visible to others below) occurs in games which allow or encourage Extra-Game Broadcasting of Speedruns.
While letting players met goals can support Value of Effort, strengthening the effects of those efforts can also support the pattern. Persistent Game World Changes is a general way of doing this by making the consequences of player actions at least not automatically disappear. Another way is to make efforts feed back on themselves through Geometric Progression of the consequences of Extended Actions or by letting players set up Positive Feedback Loops building on these progressions. In contrast, Arithmetic Progression does not so much in itself create Value of Effort but makes any such value created by other actions more predictable and less dependent on earlier actions. Exaggerated Perception of Influence can also work for strengthening the effects of player efforts, but in these case typically by tricking players. Providing extra effects of efforts, for example through Unlocking new content or new abilities, is another way of increasing Value of Effort in a game design.
One way to provide extra value to the effort players have shown is to make this visible to others. This can be more or less automatic in Massively Multiplayer Online Games but in general Public Player Statistics (such as High Score Lists) can be used for this purpose. Like Speedruns can give Value of Effort when presented to others through Extra-Game Broadcasting, so can Construction (for example through showing what one has built in Minecraft).
Achievements are something that typically can be added to a game design after the core and main gameplay is in place. Not all types of Achievements support Value of Effort — for example Testing Achievements is more related to making players explore the possibilities of the game — but Goal Achievements, Grind Achievements, and Handicap Achievements add value to completing certain goals, showing endurance, and taking on extra difficulties respectively.
Designing for Value of Effort in a game is not only about making players effort feel meaningful for them, it is considering how player actions and game events can diminish or destroy those efforts. Therefor, giving players the possibility of feeling a Value of Effort can often require much thought about what other patterns to avoid or at least use carefully. A prime example is Setback Penalties which quite clearly can remove player effort. Others, for example Luck and Randomness can put in question if making an effort is worthwhile. Balancing Effects, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, and Fudged Results can do this also to a lesser degree and may not disturb Value of Effort if done skillfully. Non-Player Help, Player Augmentations, and Player/Character Skill Composites all remove so of the skill needed by players to complete goals or overcome challenges which can reduce the Value of Effort of doing so; Grinding and Purchasable Game Advantages can likewise do so by replacing a need for skill with endurance or money. Backtracking Levels lessens the value of having reached the turnaround point of the Level but otherwise does not have to critically affect the Value of Effort in a game. In contrast, reaching Unwinnable Game States can make players realize or feel that all their previous efforts have been in vain.
Multiplayer Games can both remove Value of Effort for individual players by having other players do the necessary work (typically in games with Cooperation) or by allowing players to perform actions that goes counter to other players efforts; in the latter case this is especially likely if actions are Interruptible Actions. Multiplayer Games that are designed to support Drop-In/Drop-Out gameplay or Late Arriving Players typically also have issues with Value of Effort since the design goal described by those patterns typically require solutions that affect how stable or necessary players' efforts are. Finally regarding Multiplayer Games, those that allow Predictable Winner can completely remove the Value of Effort for other players (except maybe through encouraging Kingmaker actions).
Besides being a Subjective Pattern, Value of Effort is fickle since players may feel that a game rewards their efforts at one moment but the next feel they don't due to some event or action by another player sabotaging those efforts. Irreversible Events can avoid this by making players action cause such events, but this often needs to be balanced with letting players influence each others gameplay and providing Tension. Discontinuous Progression can be used as an alternative. By having efforts that can be interrupted or sabotaged be translated into safe effort at certain points, a game design can provide Tension and possibilities of players influencing each other until enough effort has been put into some action or goal and then translate that to something which players can safely feel a Value of Effort about. Related to the fickleness of Value of Effort, Player Elimination can ruin the Value of Effort of eliminate players but the threat of it can also strengthen that Value of Effort which has been obtained. An even stronger case of this is found in games using Winning by Elimination.
Consequences
Players can feel Tension when they perceive that Value of Effort can be achieved in a game since this makes their actions more valuable and therefore more important to succeed with.
Relations
Kingmaker Quests Closure Points Strategic Planning Tactical Planning Gameplay Mastery
Can Instantiate
Can Modulate
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Can Be Instantiated By
Abstract Player Construct Development, Achievements, Character Development, Discontinuous Progression, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Further Player Improvement Potential, Goal Achievements, Grind Achievements, Handicap Achievements, Irreversible Events, Massively Multiplayer Online Games, Persistent Game World Changes, Pottering, Public Player Statistics, Unlocking, Winning by Elimination
Characters together with Player-Planned Development
Construction together with Extra-Game Broadcasting, Irreversible Events, or Persistent Game Worlds
Geometric Progression together with Extended Actions or Positive Feedback Loops
Persistent Game Worlds together with Character Development or Player-Planned Development
Speedruns together with Extra-Game Broadcasting
Can Be Modulated By
Arithmetic Progression, Player Elimination
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
Backtracking Levels, Balancing Effects, Drop-In/Drop-Out, Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment, Fudged Results, Grinding, Interruptible Actions, Late Arriving Players, Luck, Multiplayer Games, Non-Player Help, Player Augmentations, Player Elimination, Player/Character Skill Composites, Predictable Winner, Purchasable Game Advantages, Randomness, Setback Penalties, Unwinnable Game States, Winning by Elimination
History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgements
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