I was reading over the recent Overwatch news about their developing progression mechanics and while I was really interested in the design around cosmetics, logos and all that initially, my interest suddenly waned when it began talking about Lockboxes. Now I could go into another rant about this as they will have a really word payment option but then, it is entirely cosmetic and Blizzard do seem to give a reasonable amount of coin just by playing there game. Hopefully it won’t be as less as say Hearthstone considering that this is a full priced release but we can only wait to see.
No, the part that made me groan the most was just the idea of having that sense of progression so inexplicable tied to RNG. I realised just how much certain designs like this really affect my enjoyment of the game and the will to progress, it creates this distinct break in my motivation between wanting to play and progress further and well, giving up in the process. It is nice to feel like as a character, and an account that you are making a certain amount of progress and often enough I make a lot of little goals around what I want to achieve in the game that are meaningful to me. This is what keeps me playing, completing these personal goals whatever they may be. even a possible cosmetic shiny is enough to keep me interested in the long run and I have seen this happen across many games.
Unfortunately when there is RNG in the way, or I should say too much RNG the whole process breaks down. I can see in Overwatch that you aren’t really guaranteed what new outfits or items you may get, or for even what character which doesn’t make a lot of sense. It feels wasteful to get those items and stuff you really aren’t interested in, and the longer you go without getting what you want the more frustrating the experience becomes. It is a design that’s already been perfected in the Call of Duty franchise, so I don’t know why they decided to cram a TCG progression system in a shooter, it just doesn’t make sense.
It is this element that made me burn out of Hearthstone reasonably quickly as well. I enjoyed playing certain classes, and was working towards certain builds but each time I saved up for packs, or even bought some I was unlucky and never seemed to get much for these specific decks. Even the basic, more powerful neutral cards seemed to elude me and getting a legendary was but an impossibility. I ended up getting two, in many months of play. It feels like you are being cheated in certain ways, that the game is toying with you but not giving you what you need and at the same time, when you are facing other players that have achieved such things it ultimately becomes incredibly annoying. After that I really didn’t feel like progressing. What was the point if I was merely rolling some dice whether I would even be able to grow my chosen characters over time.
Guild Wars two felt very much the same way with a lot of the gameplay, especially gathering materials being locked behind an incredible wall of RNG. You couldn’t be sure what you would get, or even what tier of materials you would get which meant grinding gold instead. And there there was all that trouble with the mystic ford, precursors, or getting that possible better piece out of the zone event chests – which of course never happened. It just wasn’t a fun way to progress, and you never felt like you could chart your progress over time.
Some games seemingly still have RNG but it doesn’t feel as obtrusive and annoying. I played a heap of Diablo 3 and even though the specific drop might take a while to get you still felt like you were making a certain amount of progress as you character would still be getting gear and weapons that would increase your power and survivability, and later on you had the paragon levels as well that helped you increase power when you earnt enough experience. The new token systems that most modern mmo’s have now for dungeons seems a lot better as well.
I know some enjoy the allure and excitement that comes from RNJesus bestowing gifts upon you, and I have those moments of elation as well. I just prefer having my progression being more consistent and easily understood so you can constantly see how far along you are, and continue to work towards the future.