Facilitating Rewards

Rewards that ease gameplay actions or the completion of a game instance.

Games provide many types of rewards. The ones that enable players to act more surely or effectful in games are Facilitating Rewards. Rewards that progress players closer to completing or winning a game are also Facilitating Rewards.

Examples

Taking a Power-Pill in Pac-Man provides a temporary Facilitating Reward in the ability of being able to eat ghosts.

Finding new weapons in games such as the Half-Life series, the Halo series, the Quake series, or the Tomb Raider series are Facilitating Rewards, as can finding ammunition for the weapons. Some games also provide Facilitating Rewards in the form of vehicles.

Gaining experience or levels in Roleplaying Games such as Dungeons & Dragons or Basic Role-Playing result in Facilitating Rewards in the forms of better abilities, powers, or spells. Gaining magical items in these games also provide clear Facilitating Rewards.

Using the pattern

Facilitating Rewards are Rewards that enable players to perform new actions or existing actions better. The main difference between Facilitating Rewards and Access Rewards is that the former gives new Abilities or action to players while the latter provides the possibility for players to choose to get such Abilities or actions.

Typical ways of creating Facilitating Rewards include giving players New or Improved Abilities, providing new Powers, or increasing Skills. Giving players access to Game Items that affect or provide Abilities or actions, e.g. Tools, Vehicles, or Weapons, are also very common. Letting players get Ammunition and Money can either be seen as a Facilitating Reward or a Sustenance Reward. Less common are providing players with Player Augmentations. Another way of providing Facilitating Rewards and which focuses on progressing spatially in games is to move players to new Levels. In these cases, the use of One-Way Travel can ensure that it is actual (forced) progression towards the end of a game.

Consequences

Facilitating Rewards provide Empowerment and/or possibly Exaggerated Perception of Influence to players. While being able to perform better in games can provide Freedom of Choice and Player Agency regarding what they can do in those games, it also works against it when players have not been allowed to choose what to become better at.

Relations

Can Instantiate

Empowerment, Exaggerated Perception of Influence, Freedom of Choice, Player Agency, Rewards

Can Modulate

Dynamic Goal Characteristics, Levels

Can Be Instantiated By

Ammunition, Fudged Results, Money, New Abilities, Improved Abilities, Player Augmentations, Powers, Scores, Skills, Tools, Vehicles, Weapons

Can Be Modulated By

One-Way Travel

Possible Closure Effects

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Potentially Conflicting With

Freedom of Choice Player Agency

History

New pattern created in this wiki. However, it is based upon the concept of "Facilitating Rewards" discussed by Hallford and Hallford.

Acknowledgements

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