685 Rarity And Chance

I’ve been playing Diablo III again recently, and it has me thinking about the rarity mechanic that is seen in many modern games.

It’s an interesting thing when you start to really think about how much chance drives these types of games. Let’s compare it with the Mario series, because that’s easy to do.

In Mario, there is no chance. The gameplay is focused around player skill, reaction, and adapting to the environment. You run, and jump, and win or lose. But in Diablo, it’s different. The game requires skill to play of course, you must understand the mechanics of how to use your character, and then enact them. But, every enemy you defeat, there is a chance-based calculation that happens in the game’s code that determines what items that enemy drops. And, if you’re lucky, you’ll get something that’s better than what you already have. And if you’re not lucky, you won’t.

The entire gameplay loop is built around this and only this. You play more, to find better things (by chance), to play more, to find better things. And I’m not saying that isn’t fun. It can be immensely satisfying. It’s just interesting to me how it works.

[ Today I Was Playing: Dishonored: Definitive Edition ]

#game-mechanic-system