How to design an emotionally significant loss?
Earlier in this article, I wrote about how giving rewards in bits makes it more satisfying to receive them. Today we will explore how game developers design losses that leave lasting impact on the mind. Similar to positive rewards, negative losses are less frustrating when the person receives them in bulk, and more when delivered in consecutive pieces. For example, losing all of your money in one poker round feels less impactful than losing the same amount of money in multiple rounds. For the former, you will say, “it’s just bad luck” but the latter suggests of your poor skill which translates to a more hurtful loss.
I will give you two good examples from video game industry that present astronomical losses. Unfortunately, it has become a little of gaming cliché to take away everything the protagonist owned in the previous game of the franchise so that he/she can start as a clean slate with new powers in the new game. This is simply because the technique is used too often in the industry. However some games do this better than others so it is worth investigating.
Mass Effect series is a trilogy in which the important decisions made in the first game affect the outcomes of the second and so on. After I put all the sweat and tears saving the galaxy in the first mass effect game, the second game opens with an unknown alien craft outright destroying the Normandy (my ship) in a spectacular explosion and my character was ‘spaced’. My first reaction was that, ‘give me back my money’ because I thought that was the end of it. This loss was powerful because it was unexpected and the visual presentation of the destruction is fantastic. A negative experience hits much harder when it comes unexpectedly.
God of War 3 starts the game with Kratos, the main character, being incredibly powerful because he gained his godly powers in the second game. However, as he confront the main antagonist Zeus, he was blasted off the Olympus Mountain with a thunder bolt. Around 3:30 minutes into the video, he fell into the River Styx, the river that is teeming with eternally suffering ghosts. As the ghosts starts eating Kratos, first he lost some green orbs which represent his health bar. A few moments later the blue orbs are eaten away which means he can’t use magical powers anymore. Then all the red orbs are forcefully taken away which represent the experience points. For the first hour of the game, the player was given several opportunities to collect red orbs by opening red chests or killing enemies. Now those actions don’t matter since they are all taken away. When he is out of the water, Kratos is limping with weakness and defeat. Although Athena came and restored his two blades, he was nowhere compared to the god he used to be. Similar to the video commentator’s reaction, I was very frustrated when I first experienced it mainly because I couldn’t control Kratos when the ghosts were eating him. That loss of control annoyed me a lot. Negative reinforcements like punishments are more infuriating when they are applied in consecutive rounds with some delay.
Where is this knowledge useful? For one in parenting. Punishing your child in a specific way to make sure the undesired behavior is never repeated again without creating too much tension in the relationship. Or discouraging your employees to stop unproductive competition by putting in negative reinforcements that I have mentioned above. On the other hand, if you are delivering bad news to your friend, say everything in one go. Dumping all the negative experiences at once with the help of your emotional support is much better than telling him a little of the bad news and saying more at a later time. Intentionally designing a loss is useful because it creates a sense of urgency that compels the target person to act quickly and effectively. Then the loss gives an opportunity to progress towards something new. Unsurprisingly, this influence only lasts for a short time so I don’t recommend using it often or for an extended period of time.