Loyalty

The goal of upholding a diegetic agreement to support a person, group, or cause.

The concept of being faithful to other people or abstract causes is often used to

Examples

If the PC becomes the member of Thief’s Guild in the Oblivion game of The Elder Scrolls series, being loyal to the guild requires complying with rules that bans stealing from another member, killing while carrying out a task, and stealing from the poor.

In Crusader Kings, dukes and counts need to put their armies under the control of their king when war occurs to prove their loyalty, and failing to do so provides a reason for civil war.

In the Fallout series, the characters that accompany the player may

Using the pattern

Loyalty is a Continuous Goal (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) to maintain membership of a Faction. Maintaining membership g C 68 haracter-Driven Game Desi n may require Social Maintenance and performing quests, which are Predefined Goals. Loyalty include Preventing Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005) not to infringe the Social Norms of the Faction. Failure to comply the Social Norms leads to penalty such as declaring a character as an Outcast.

One design choice regarding Loyalty is whom or what to be faithful to.

Characters

Factions can also be the

The third option for Causes can from a gameplay perspective be seen as one way of diegetically presenting Quests.

Companions

For example, blood relatives in Crusader Kings have a bonus to their loyalty that depends on how closely related they are to their liege.

Internal Conflicts

Opposing Goals

Consequences

Consequences: The membership of a Faction has more value, as maintaining the membership is not automatic. Relations Continuous Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005), Preventing Goals (Björk, Holopainen, 2005)

History

An updated version of the pattern Internal Rivalry, first introduced in Lankoski 2010.