Extrinsic Motivation

This video presents theories about general game design concepts. It’s not meant to prescribe a set of ideals which all games must follow. However valuable any guideline might be, it’s always (or almost always) possible to imagine a game which is made better by ignoring such considerations. A great game cannot necessarily be made just by applying a set of principles.

I don’t know if/when I’ll be making another video but if you enjoyed this one and would like to support me, you can make a pledge. There’s no reward for doing so but this video wouldn’t exist without the support of my patrons.

[HeisenbergFam]

Its always a great year when Matthew manages to remember the password after 8 months

[omgcandyKimicari]

the through line between explaining basic motivational concepts with Mario World to demonstrating how players can completely ignore those by the end was incredible.

[Turbo_Bushwhack]

Hey Matthew, I don't know if you still read Youtube comments or if this will ever reach you, but I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all of your critical insight on games. I recently went to a local arcade that had a working cabinet of Point Blank and thought of your short section of Mega Microvideos that talked about it, and was stricken with how much of an influence you've had on me in how I view video games as an artistic medium. Whether you believe it or not, I think your insight into the medium is truly one of a kind, and if nothing else, you and your videos have forever changed the way myself and many others approach video game design as a true art form, rather than just as mindless entertainment.

[Benandkyoko]

Motivational engineering looks at video games as the pinnacle of motivation design. In other words, game developers were well ahead of the curve because they had to think about motivating factors well before any other industry had even considered how important it was. Education and Business are now riddled with lectures on Extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

[Veloc]

Been thinking about this a lot with TotK. Many players find the act of creative building and playstyles rewarding in and of itself, while others demand the game give them a reason why they shouldn’t take the path of least resistance. I bet many players experience both mindsets depending on their mood.

The timing on this video couldn’t be more perfect.

[unleashedbread]

Upon pondering the content of this video I realized that at least part of my internal/external motivation while gaming comes from socially driven feedback. The idea that I could talk to my friends and show off my cool cosmetics, or the percent of game completion I achieved.

It’s interesting how social pressure is still a motivator EVEN in a single player environment.

[IIIIIVEERATIIIII]

Great choice of ending, Mario flying over a level sums it all up and the difference between how people enjoy games and what they're trying to get out of them. From the thumbnail of this video I thought it was going to be about people just enjoying making machines for the sake of making machines in TOTK, but I guess it's still an observation on that anyway.

[bronzytwo]

What I like about Matthew is that he doesnt review for the sake of it. Titles like 'A case study of God of War 2018' are quite striking to me. The review of the game is secondary to the ideas on game production and implementation of features, and the general thesis behind that video is more of an idea that god of war was used to communicate rather than the reverse. To that end, Matthew always has something more to say, and its usually something i would never have thought about in a regular game review video essay, and that's something i very much appreciate.

It also explains why he never uploads, since he doesnt crank out content for the sake of it. We've all had thoughts of being a youtuber or, video essayist more specifically, but Matthew made me realise that if i wasnt going to add something new to the conversation thay wasn't restated reviews of games, i think i'd rather wait until i have something meaningful to say, and that is something i really appreciate about Matthew's channel

[Miniike]

its actually crazy how far ahead of everyone else matthew is. all the other "Detached Logical Game Reviewers" are still chasing what he was doing a decade ago in an attempt to do the best nintendo analysis or whatever. meanwhile he's dropping explorations of the boundaries of the very jargon lesser youtube critics hide behind. just so much more thoughtfulness and *curiosity* then anyone else in his niche (that im aware of)

[Owl]

The dopamine hit I get when I see an upload from this channel is ridiculous. Thank you for your work, always!

[masonquebbeman]

Games shown in order:
Ratchet & Clank (They play Jak & Daxter and then Sly Cooper)
Super Mario World
Persona 5
Astros Playroom
Sin & Punishment
Devil May Cry
The Legend of Zelda
Returnal
Ghost Of Tsushima
BELOW
Ghost and Goblins Resurrection
Splatoon 3
The Tomorrow Children
Super Mario Odyssey
Odin Sphere
Assassins Creed (not sure which one)
Legend of Zelda: BoTW
Super Mario World 2
Silent Hill 2
No More Heroes
Dungeon Encounters
Catherine

[MikeyJ]

I've been having a lot of similar thoughts recently. I started playing Tears of the Kingdom recently and initially i was motivated by the cosmetic items in the game which led me to rush around all over the place, hunting down tunics and stuff. I realised that this mindset had actually ruined the opening hours of the game for me once i had acquired enough cosmetics and had started to slow down and play the game normally. When i flipped from extrinsically motivated by cosmetics to intrinsically motivated by having satisfying interactions with the game's many incredible, interwoven systems, I enjoyed the game far, far more. So much so that I restarted from scratch and replayed the game while consciously trying not to be motivated by anything other than the moment to moment level / game design. This resulted in me being gently guided by the developers down some incredible sequences where all of the systems compose beautifully together into a long, single adventure narrative which felt entirely my own, but was actually gently orchestrated (the canyon on the way to the desert is the best example of this because the walls funnel you through a series of situations which all flow into each other really well)

This whole experience made me think about freedom and player agency and how much of it is too much. Freedom of expression is BOTW's and TOTK's main design philosophy, but some of the most magical moments are when you are funnelled through a tightly and intentionally designed area which has been purposefully constructed to nudge the player towards easily creating what feels like their own cool emergent gameplay scenarios (the shrines kinda do this but are a little too restrictive i think). The great plateau did a bunch of this in BOTW, and I think this is why so many people remember that specific area so fondly. You want to give people lots of tools but also take some of them away at points so that they can't rely on the same tactic over and over and are forced to come up with something new. (the rain stopping you from climbing but also creating opportunities for massive electricity damage to both you and your enemies is a great example of this)

Philosophically, what happened with my motivation for playing this game was profound. I went from chasing an external reward, to simply being in the moment and leaving what cosmetic loot I might find up to chance instead of googling everything i wanted and systematically hunting it down while running past all of the carefully curated stuff that the developers had set out for me. It made me stop and look to see where I may have been living my life wrong by approaching it in a similar way...

[Golem]

Im glad Matthew is following his dreams but i really miss his reviews and takes on game design

[rat]

As always, Matt using footage from dozens of games. Even in his shortest videos, he still puts more effort than anyone else to show his points. Always happy to hear your thoughts. The part about cutscenes really spoke to me

[bigscheesy]

Fantastic video. This puts into words very well something i was thinking about, where people can be to blame for their own enjoyment or lack of enjoyment of a game. In order to give a game a fair shake to grab and show you what it has to offer you need to meet it halfway and let yourself be open to its design and the possibility of being engaged. Wish u the best with ur game project mr matosis.

[KJS]

This just makes me think how I could possibly gear my brain towards finding better or more engaging 'extrinsic motivation' for things I do in real life.
Great video Matthew. Always pleased to see a vid of yours in my feed.

[Astro_Crunch]

I remember trying out EarthBound for the first time in high school. I liked it well enough. I thought the visuals were charming, the music was weird and interesting, the writing was fun, and the combat was servicable even if item management was clunky at times. I had mostly positive impressions of it, but I never made it past the third town. I didn't dislike it, but I never found the motivation to pick it back up for a while. It wasn't until I decided to play it again on a whim a couple years later, around the time I was about to enter college, that I was suddenly enamored by it. I played it through to the end and still couldn't stop thinking about it for days after I finished it.

Clearly, the game itself hadn't changed. I don't know what it was. Maybe the theming resonated more with me during an uncertain transition in my life, maybe I'd grown less impatient as I got older, I'm not really sure. Regardless, I became more aware of how my own mindset can affect my enjoyment of games and even other things too. Ever since then, I try to revisit games that didn't click with me when I was younger, and I've managed to find a few new favorites because of it.

[rkraccoons]

Whenever I watch a Matt video I watch for like 20 seconds, then skip back 10 seconds to watch the gameplay section again to see the point hes making, then skip back and watch the section again internalize the point. Repeat for the whole video. Awesome food for thought as usual, there's nobody on the site who does it quite like matt

[HANIMEME]

The fact that with each video he makes delves deeper into the underlying fabric of "why videogames" makes me think that all the time between videos he makes he spends in deep contemplation and meditation to achieve videogame nirvana. Thats why every video might be his last, he may or may not ascend and leave us behind.

[HowdyYT]

The past 2 videos have been incredible gifts. Thank you Matthew, and I hope your game development journey has gone well! I can’t wait to enjoy this video!