User:Adamcastlestaffordshireuni/sandbox

Rewards In Games
In General Gaming, Rewards incentivize the player to play the game that they are invested in. Very rarely do games not have a form of Reward, whether it’s through satisfaction completing a level, or completing a mission objective and receiving in-game currency. Rewards can take different forms, such as Intrinsic Rewards, and Extrinsic Rewards, which massively varies. Rewards help give the player purpose, and gives them something to work towards whilst they play the game. Without it, some players could deem it unnecessary to play certain games, as progressing the narrative, or finishing high on a leader board, may not be enough. Games in the MMO genre heavily rely on Rewards being one of the main reasons why players play that game genre, as loot has such a heavy impact on what they do, and how they play. It helps simulate the real world, how if players dedicate enough time to a certain task, they will get a reward. Players are even willing to “grind”, which leads them spending a significant amount of time trying to earn a specific piece of loot, or maybe even currency, for themselves. Players typically find Grinding unenjoyable, as they have to do a tedious task like repeatedly killing a certain NPC, just for a Reward. Grinding can also lead to the player also gaining XP, which would help them level up. Levelling up can also earn players Rewards.

Intrinsic Rewards
Within Gaming, there are different types of Rewards, such as Intrinsic Rewards. Intrinsic Rewards focuses on the motivating the player with gameplay, narrative, or simply wanting to explore. The motivation here is the player simply enjoying the game as it is, without any Extrinsic Rewards. It allows the player to be creative and take their time with everything. Typically when the player first enters the game, they would be met with some form of Intrinsic Reward. From then on, it depends on whether they would want to continue for that sole purpose, examining the Extrinsic Rewards, or finding a different game. This could also occur if the player is met with faulty gameplay, or questionable visuals, that detract from the Extrinsic Reward.

Extrinsic Rewards
Extrinsic Rewards focus on receiving in-game currency, achievements depending on the console, items, and loot, that can correlate to the game that they are playing. This can be received through different methods, such as again Grinding, exploring, gameplay, etc. To many, this can become addictive, as players would want to be able to compete with their new in-game rewards. Extrinsic Rewards can also increase the length of their game, as players focus on getting loot past the end of the game.

Merging Intrinsic and Extrinsic Rewards
Merging the two different types of Rewards allows the player to be able to enjoy Intrinsic Rewards, such as Gameplay, Narrative, and exploration, while also being able to be Rewarded for it, with loot, In-game currency, and new items for the player to use. This allows for the player to be further involved and incentivised to play, as engagement is key. Games nowadays, especially MMO’s as they tend to be online services, provide users with constant access to content, they can unlock through defeating NPC’s, mission objectives, the narrative, and even purchasing content with real-world currency. == Xbox 360: Achievements, A Reward In Gaming == In 2005, Microsoft introduced their version of Online Achievements, which was the Gamerscore. This allowed other people to people show it off to their friends and compete to see who has the higher Gamerscore. To be clear, Gamerscore was earned from completing certain tasks in games, depending on the game, as it did vary. To verify, Achievements are digital rewards that are earned through completing tasks in different games. Before Gamerscore was released to the public, no other company had done this specifically online. This was a massive hit for gamers, as it led to other companies following suit, as Sony also created their own version called Trophies.