A feature I would be really excited about, is a system that does two things; At first it should reward the player for playing the game. Secondly there has be a greater goal to work up to for the player. I’ll try to explain why I believe these two goals would be a great addition to the game.
The ReasonRewarding players for playing a game is something we encounter in a lot of games, and up to a certain point it can be found in Awesomenauts. But when you’re at the maximum level in Awesomenauts, the only direct reward you gain by playing is rating. You collect rating points to climb up in the leaderboard. The issue I have with rating being the only reward, is that it can only be awarded to the winners, the one and only objective you get rewarded for is winning. When you lose, you actually lose your rating points. The losers don’t get rewarded but actually punished for losing, and playing, the game. There is nothing wrong with getting or losing rating, for it’s not a collectable but a system to match you with worthy opponents. But it's never a great feeling to 'only' lose something when playing a game.
If you would gain some kind of points, or currency, for playing the game; It would be an additional motivation to finish a match. Instead of only rewarding winning, these points could be awarded for multiple objectives, like destroying a turret, killing an enemy, and of course still reward winning the game. This kind of system would reward the player for playing the game.
Being rewarded for playing is nice, but it’s even better if you have something to work for. A greater goal, something you will eventually reach if you play the game enough. Even if you’ve lost a game, you still achieved something. Because you will have your points, or Awesomepoints as I like to call them. With
Awesomepoints you will be able to purchase something new at some point. I would like to introduce the spiritual successor to the Solar Point System, the Awesomepoints System.
Points for being Awesome!
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Awesomepoints rewardsBut what could you purchase in Awesomenauts with Awesomepoints like these? Something new would have to be implemented into the game. There are a lot of possibilities for this, some are more complicated than others. The well received concept called the Solar Point System only had a few rewards, and these were nice, but in the long run the points won’t have a use anymore. Here’s a list of the kind of ideas which would be neat rewards to purchase with your Awesomepoints.
Visual EffectsSomething I once saw in another game, were special armor effects which served no actual use except the visual effect. These were quite expensive and utterly useless, yet it was really awesome to see players with it or actually get it yourself. It depends on how difficult this would be to implement, but just small additions would be a really nice thing.
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(Visual Effects: Froggy G is back, with his track: Pond Pimpin! And Raelynn’s Snipe is loveable!)Examples could be that your Gnaw would have a stench aura surrounding him, or perhaps little mushrooms growing in his spit. Maybe your Froggy G starts his “Pond Pimpin” track while he’s in his tornado move, with the little music notes surrounding him. And my personal favorite would be the confetti explode Clunk! I think it would be a really nice feature if you could spend points on unlocking effects like these. Visual effects could apply to: Abilities, Attacks, Upon death, Upon kills, Teleporting and basically everything. These effects could cost quite a lot of Awesomepoints, how awesome would it be to finally see someone ingame with it? Or actually get it yourself?
Special SkinsAnother larger goal to play for could be the unlocking of special skin variants. These could be entirely new skins, or actually just small additions to existing ones. If it would be entirely new skins, these could be unlocked in the store after which they can be purchased. If you get to the point where you unlock an awesome skin, you simply must purchase it.
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(Small Modifications: By having a gold gun your Lonestar would even be more awesome than before!)The reward could also exist out of small modification to an existing skin. Maybe Lonestar would get a Gold gun, or maybe Gnaw would finally get a saddle on his back. Simply by achieving something prestigious like this, it would make you feel special about having it. The gold gun has no practical use, except being Awesome, for Awesomepoints!
Custom EmblemsEmblems have been in the game for quite a while. They’re currently awarded for special occasions. And how awesome would it be if you could use your points to purchase a Froggy G emblem to represent your most favorite frog while playing. These emblems can be based on the characters, their skins, other ingame creatures like the Solar Boss and perhaps even the abilities. You would be able to purchase the one you like most with your gathered Awesomepoints. The ‘old’ and known emblems would remain in the game and become quite exclusive compared to these medals. At first you would purchase a Bronze emblem, which you can then start to upgrade to silver and finally to a gold shiny emblem!
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(Custom Emblems: Purchase your favorite emblem to represent your ‘Naut!)Custom DroppodsWhile falling down in our droppods we currently all look the same. Pretty much like the skin customization it could be a nice addition to be able to select between a variation of droppods. These could be small modifications, like other flight-fins or maybe a different pattern or entire new designs. Select a different droppod to happily drop down in, how Awesome would it be to see a brand new droppod design dropping down next to you? I would know where to spend my Awesomepoints on!
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(Custom Droppods: Because why wouldn't you look Awesome before the fight starts? Special thanks to RiceMaster for the art!)Purchasable EffectsLast but not least, there could be purchasable effects which increase the speed at which you accomplish something. With this we don’t mean balance-effecting things, but something like
“Double prestige level speed” or
“Unlocking an upgrade when using prestige”. This could encourage players who are currently stuck on a prestige level to start getting to the next prestige level without being limited in playing the way they normally want. For a couple of Awesomepoints, you can get to the next prestige and level up again, but without having your favorite upgrade locked!
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(Purchasable Effects: Buy some helpful stuff to level up faster and get to the next prestige!)How to get these pointsThese points would be rewarded for playing the game. There could be modifiers which increase the amount you get. Modifiers could be objectives like, destroying turrets, getting kills and winning the game. If you would quit a game, you wouldn’t get any points. Therefore you’re always better off by completing a game, and trying to do as much as you can before it’s over. This system has to be quite solid, otherwise players would find ways to abuse it
(like kill-farming to get as many points possible with little effort).
In addition, there is the possibility to make money out of it. Selling the points directly for real currency would be the first option, however this would decrease the ‘epicness’ of someone with these things. He could’ve ‘just bought it’. Therefor I would suggest to sell multipliers. For quite a low price you could purchase a boost which increases the Awesomepoints you get for the next 24 hours by 200%. Everyone could get the effects, skins or emblems, yet you can speed up your progress if you’re willingly to put some money into it. But it wouldn’t give you an advantage over other players, it doesn’t increase your effectiveness ingame.
In addition to getting points from playing the game, there could be several daily, weekly or monthly challenges. The challenges would reward the player additional Awesomepoints for completing them.
“Finish 10 games”, or
“Get a double kill” could be examples of these challenges. These challenges can be used to encourage players to play more, and be able to achieve a positive effect even while losing.
“Well played guys, you’ve defeated us, but I finally got that double kill!” They could even be linked to specific skins to provoke the purchase of one. For example, one out of the five weekly challenges could be
“Get 10 kills as Teddy Ayla”.
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(Weekly Challenges: Reach these goals to get more Awesomepoints!)The Desired ImpactWith a system like this, players are encouraged to play the game more, to try to achieve and get something new. And probably most importantly, be rewarded for playing the game. By giving players additional goals to play the game for it can raise their motivation to play on during difficult games.
Most people don’t like losing, and when we lose and actually gain nothing… we like to complain. We complain about the system, our allies, the balance and basically everything except our own skill. Currently it’s even more difficult to endure losing, because the enemy literally steals your rating. While you would’ve been; ‘better of by not playing this match’, if you would look purely at what the game gives to players for playing. By rewarding your players for playing, not only for winning, and by giving them some greater goal to work up to; It becomes easier to focus less on winning, and more on playing the game why we should play it.
To enjoy it.Thanks for reading!
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Short Q&A:
Q: Why did you change the name from Solar Point System to Awesomepoints system?
A: This is because Solar Points were often confused with the ingame solar, and it’s even better to get Awesomepoints for being Awesome!
Q: I could think of a lot more ideas which could be rewards, how come you selected these?
A: The ideas I selected are based on things which are currently ingame already. Emblems exist, special effects exist (For example the music of Disco Voltar) and skins exist. I picked these because I assumed these would be more ‘realistic’ to implement and less work than entire new concepts. But feel free to share your ideas!
Q: Why didn’t you just update the Solar Point System thread instead of creating a new one?
A: All replies in the thread were replies on the original Solar Point System text. By changing my first post I would create the idea that people love this new idea, while it’s the old one they replied on.
Q: Could you name a few flaws to the system?
A: Of course, one of the most ‘dangerous’ one is when it gets implemented poorly. A mistake would be to make the Awesomepoints so Awesome that they overwrite the current goal of the game. Instead of playing for fun or to win, players would then only play to farm these points. This can be eliminated by rewarding almost every kind of gameplay with the same amount for minutes played. We don’t want to see premades teaming up to farm points, but for everything is a solution (bonus multipliers for solo queue could for example fix this one).
Q: Is the system of rewarding players for playing, and not only winning. New for Awesomenauts?
A: Not at all! Remember when you were leveling up to the first prestige in Awesomenauts? You got points for playing a game, not only for winning. The level up system is actually quite nice for new players. You get points for playing the game and unlock crazy new stuff! Remember when you first saw an enemy Yuri? I bet you were just waiting for the moment to unlock him and fly around yourself. The level up system is great at doing this, however it only works until players are happy with their prestige level. And I believe, a lot of us are and thus don’t get rewarded anymore.
Q: Has Ronimo ever replied to the original Solar Point System idea?
A: About 5 months ago (a bit after the date the idea was posted), Koen replied on reddit with: “Oh snap yes I loved this idea. I don't think there's currently any plans for them, but we've definitely taken a peek at it!” When someone asked him about it.
Q: Did Ronimo reply to the Awesomepoints idea?
A: Yes they did, Fabian replied with a "I like it! 
", it's of course awesome to know most of the community and a dev like the idea!
Q: Where is Ted emblem?
A: Ted didn't collect enough Awesomepoints yet, he has to prove himself first.
Q: What is the Solar Point System?
A: An idea I had about 6 months ago, this thread is mostly based on it. You can find it here: http://www.awesomenauts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=18668
Special thanks to:
- Daniel Brownie for providing feedback and introducing it to the beta-nauts
- RiceMaster for making the custom droppod
- Everyone who gave me feedback during the creation phase
- Ronimo for making an Awesome game
- And of course the whole community for supporting ideas!
