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Negative Reciprocity

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Tue, 2011-11-29 15:36

Erenthia

Negative Reciprocity

So I've been thinking about the gift economy and how it seems possible to do lots of little favors for people, and then call in those favors to help you do larger favors for people and so on. This allows you to "build up" to very large favors in the end (especially if you create a "Broker" AI to help you data mine the social networks and keep track of the favors owed to you). Of course then I realized that doing a lot of favors for a lot of people results in a higher reputation, which is exactly what the reputation score is probably an abstraction for. Unfortunately, the game mechanic is passive whereas the reality is highly active. While I could be persuaded to ignore this and allow for "things going on off camera" it's still problematic because people who are new to the system might not understand the gift economy and think it runs entirely on celebrity (not that celebrity doesn't have a role to play). So I'm looking for ways to [i]show[/i] players the active nature of gift economy. I would prefer not to modify the rules extensively, but it seems the only way to increase your reputation permanently is with Rez points and "burning" rep is pretty much the opposite of what I'm going for. How would you do it?

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The end really is coming. What comes after that is anyone's guess.

Wed, 2011-11-30 11:27

TadanoriOyama TadanoriOyama's picture

Re: Negative Reciprocity

You can include NPCs who are actively bettering their habitat, such as constructing an expansion or using part of their resource allotment to create something for the entire community. Or you might make an example of it. You could show your players that "grinding" Reputation doesn't always work well. Suppose a habitat has two gifted sculptors, one who does photo realistic pieces and another who does abstract. Both want to earn the respect of their fellows and so both are creating piece after piece and giving them out to people but there's only so much space in the habitat and both of them are beginning to get on people's nerves, regardless of how good the statues are.

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Tue, 2011-11-29 17:54

Herbo

Re: Negative Reciprocity

Don't let players take you hostage with the reputation system. In-game reputation advancement is in YOUR control, and if you feel like players are "grinding reputation" in an uncreative manner or otherwise trying to just cheese it to get a bigger gun and a sexier morph...just call them on it. And likewise, if they are really coloring up the tasks they are doing in a way that benefits the fun of the group at the table...throw em a reputation bone. Keeping reputation narrative in-game allows for you to use it as a GM tool as well to provide some rise and fall consequences for a player's actions. Don't forget to have NPC's show up to collect on favors from the PC's (the more abstract the connection to the PC the better). You can also showcase some of the grass-roots operation of a new economy with favor trading (people trading shifts in the power plant control room for reservations at a swanky restaurant serving real food). Give the PC's some random favors that they are owed that can be bartered and traded with NPC's that come calling on them (that reservation at the swanky restaurant may have changed hands 10 times in the last week, but it's in high demand because the food is still relatively fresh there).

Tue, 2011-11-29 21:23

Erenthia

Re: Negative Reciprocity

Several really good ideas, thanks. Though I have to say I'm not worried about players manipulating the reputation system. I'm more worried about them ignoring it. Now that I think about it, Rep grinding really does have the potential to not go so well if it isn't done properly. On the other hand, if it is handled well (in a way that's fun for everyone) then the sky really is the limit. My concern is that players will see the reputation system as a stick rather than a carrot (though I understand, in principle, it's both). I suppose that's really up to me though. As you both pointed out, demonstrating examples of what works and what doesn't before the players get in there and try to do things on their own. So, the examples so far are: 1) show someone rep-grinding poorly, and not benefiting from it 2) show someone rep-grinding well and profiting from it. 3) Introduce Brokerage AIs The last one, I think, functions as a great tool for the GM. The players tell the Broker what they need and it comes up with a list of hilarious and seemingly unrelated tasks they need to perform. The thing I want to emphasize is that the way to get ahead is by getting out into society and helping people. I want to reward and encourage social involvement. Of course now that I think about it, Brokerage AIs are probably semi-taboo. Lots of people use them but no-one wants to have them used on them. No-one wants to feel used.

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The end really is coming. What comes after that is anyone's guess.

Sun, 2011-12-11 22:29

Azlinea

Re: Negative Reciprocity

Do you feel used that facebook uses your posts and what not to build an empire of ad revenue? Most people don't even realise its happening, and I suspect most wouldn't care just like most people don't care about google's ads on the side. Similar thing with brokerage AIs, its simply a part of modern digital culture. Although maybe it is a taboo or seen as distasteful in the inner system or anywhere with a mixed economy instead of a new economy. The brokerage AIs would probably be the person's muse as its a natural fit for what the muse already does (filter news and ads, manage schedule aspect of life). I'm not sure the brokering would be so taboo as people would understand the necessity of it to get what they wanted out of the favour trade business. Not only that but if you have a well built muse that has been with you for a while it probably keeps a cached list of favours so when you need something it just says hay how about this. No wait, no fuss, no hassle. Another suggestion is the first time you actually play is seed the characters with a few favours they already owe or some time during the first mission give them a chance to get some items through rep. in trade for actual written down favours instead of abstracted favours (rep points and rolls).