Loot
Random items found in game worlds that function as rewards.
This pattern is a still a stub.
Contents
Examples
Dungeons & Dragons Dragon Age series
Drakborgen should an inverse example of the pattern; players try to get into a dragon's lair and get as much Loot as possible before it awakens.
Using the pattern
The two primary considerations for designing Loot is when players should receive them and what they should consist of. The most common source for Loot is Enemies that drop them when they are killed, as for example found in Dungeons & Dragons, Borderlands and the Dragon Age series. Other sources include Non-Player Characters but any type of Inhabitants that can be the target for Eliminate goals can work.
Typical types of Loot include Weapons, Tools, Equipment, and units of more general Resources, e.g. gold or energy. Loot can of course consist of many individual items, so these can be combined in one case of Loot. Randomness is a core part of Loot; if what Loot is acquired is completely known in advance the design instead becomes the more general Resources instead. This does not mean that Loot needs to be completely random among all possible game elements, the exact composition of any given Loot may be bounded to maintain Diegetic Consistency and to maintain Red Queen Dilemma. In games with Game Masters, they can tailor the Loot to having Balancing Effect or support Narration Structures, and the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons suggest that players should give their Game Masters wish lists for what magic items they would like to find as part of Loot.
For Multiplayer Games, Loot Rights may be used to mechanize how Loot will be distributed among players.
Diegetic Aspects
As mentioned earlier, Diegetic Consistency may influence what type of Loot should be given so not to break come into direct confrontation with it.
Consequences
Loot is a type of Resources given as Rewards for completing Eliminate goals. By providing this, they give a motivation for players to engage in Combat (besides any other that may already exist). Since letting Enemies, Inhabitants, or Non-Player Characters provide Loot makes them a possible way to gain Resources, this pairing makes the former into Resource Sources.
When players know about the potential for Loot, and especially if they know something about the distribution between different types of Loot, the pattern gives rise to Anticipation and Stimulated Planning on how to gain it.
In Multiplayer Games, the presence of Loot can give rise to several types of Social Interaction. The first is Negotiation about who should receive what part of the Loot and this can be done through Voting or game support for Loot Rights. A possible effect of this type of Negotiation is that some players willingly abstain from Loot in the belief that the other players' will honor this by Delayed Reciprocity. A second type of Social Interaction is Betrayal that easily emerges if any player engages in ninja looting, i.e. taking Loot without caring or discussing other players' wishes (this includes taking the Loot which one has had not part in generating). Related to this is scavenging, collecting Loot that has been left by those who produced it due to being of little value to them.
Relations
Can Instantiate
Anticipation, Red Queen Dilemma, Resources, Rewards, Stimulated Planning
with Enemies, Inhabitants, or Non-Player Characters
with Multiplayer Games
Betrayal, Delayed Reciprocity, Negotiation, Social Interaction, Voting
Can Modulate
Combat, Eliminate, Enemies, Game Masters, Inhabitants, Non-Player Characters
Can Be Instantiated By
Can Be Modulated By
Diegetic Consistency, Loot Rights
Possible Closure Effects
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Potentially Conflicting With
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History
New pattern created in this wiki.
References
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Acknowledgments
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