Personal Progression Undermines Team Cooperation

Some of the best experiences in games come from teams. They create feelings of camaraderie and shared purpose that can't be achieved any other way. The best team games keep everyone focused on the team's goals. But when you tie a player's progression to their individual performance, it can create toxic incentives that lead them to prioritize their own interests over the group. Worse, it highlights struggling players, giving others an easy target to blame for failure.

The problem with personal progression is most clearly seen in League of Legends, a MOBA infamous for players' toxic behavior. Though they share a common goal, players also progress in personal power by gathering gold and experience individually. Playing poorly can lead a player to fall behind their teammates in levels and feed experience to their lane opponent on the other team, their level creating an obvious target for resentment when things go badly. The desire for power leads players to take actions that advance their own character, even when those actions undermine the group.

To see what happens with the opposite approach, look no further than Heroes of the Storm, a rival MOBA, which employs a different philosophy. All progression in Heroes of the Storm is shared among the team, which levels up together. This has two advantages: first, it obscures how much each player is contributing. If the team is performing poorly, it is everyone's responsibility to find a solution, not just for the weakest player to shape up. Second, it enables unique roles that are not focused on combat or other activities central to progression, such as healers like Lt. Morales, who are almost incapable of dealing damage.

There is a notion that players must earn their progression, which makes personal progression appealing. But this is false: progression doesn't need to be tied to actions at all. Consider Spirit Island, where players automatically choose one "growth" option each round. Their growth choices are made simultaneously at the start of each round, before they all come together to figure out how to deal with the current invader threat. Progression in Spirit Island lets players express their identity by choosing how to grow, rather than functioning as a badge of honor for their skill.

Progression systems are more than just rewards; they tell players a story about how they changed over the course of the game. Systems that link personal performance to progress send a message of virtue or blame that separates players based on their abilities. Systems that focus instead on individual expressions of common progress towards a goal foster the camaraderie that makes team games unique.