Scoring Points: Difference between revisions

But, as games began to develop plot, even the [[Excuse Plot|excuse kind]], gamers changed. They became more interested in things like the ending [[Cutscene|cinematic]], the new areas and [[Mega Manning|powers]] to explore, [[Bread, Eggs, Milk, Squick|the new hookers to kill on every corner]], and [[One Hundred Percent Completion]]. Games became about adventure, or in some cases, simulation.

About the ''only'' genres where scoring actually was--and still is--relevant to any significant portion of the player base are games with short, replayable levels, most commonly [[Shoot Em Ups]] and [[Rhythm Game|Rhythm Games]], where beating another's high score or getting a good rank/grade is one of the main points. Then there were the endlessly repeating games where score was the only practical way to measure success: Activision's Atari 2600 games always would have specific guidelines in their manuals for what score you should aim to attain to get their special patches or t-shirts for having become a pro at it if you could send them proof. Pinball is a good example that has survived (somewhat) into the modern age. [[Casual Game|Casual Games]] are also very score-heavy; you'd be hard-pressed to find a ''[[Bejeweled]]'' or ''[[Peggle]]'' player who ''isn't'' trying to beat their best scores.

If a scoring system is implemented outside of a gaming context, this is referred to as "Gamification". It's more common than you may think.

{{examples}}

== [[Fighting Game]] ==

** There was also an optional mode in Melee called "Bonus Mode" which decided the winners based off, you guessed it, score.

** What made the scoring in Melee's Classic mode really arbitrary was that if a computer opponent accidentally KOed itself 2 seconds into the fight, it would result in a long string of bonuses awarded for, e.g., not hitting the opponent, not moving, not getting hit, etc.

== [[First-Person Shooter]] ==

* ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'', the [[Trope Codifier]] for the [[First-Person Shooter]], had [[Scoring Points]] and a [[Video Game Lives|Lives]] system as baggage from earlier video games. Later FPS games, starting with ''[[Doom]]'', removed these.

* Points are used to determine the winning and losing team in VS mode in ''[[Left 4 Dead]]''. The infected team also gains points as they attack the survivors, but in the first game they contribute nothing to the competition, thus they are mostly for show.

** In the second game, it's a bit different. As it is much easier for both teams to get the exact same score on a level (if both teams make it to the end with everyone alive), the game gives an extra 25 points to the team that did more damage as Infected.

** ''DDR 3rd Mix'' and ''5th Mix'', for example, would multiply the value of each step by your combo. Thus if you missed exactly one step and it was exactly in the middle of the song, it would cost you half your score. In addition, it would salami-slice a couple points off each step, which accumulate into a bonus that only gets added to your score as a bonus if you get a Perfect on the last step to make a perfect score come out to a round number

** ''DDRMAX'' through ''DDR Extreme'', outside of Oni Mode (a.k.a. Challenge Mode), would increase the multiplier by 1 with every step. This meant that the 300th step of a song is worth 300 times the first step. Salami-slicing still applies. This gets increasingly worse as the step count of a song goes up; MaxX Unlimited, for example, has 611 steps. This means a Perfect on the first step is worth 540 points, a Perfect on the final jump is worth 329,400 points, and holding the Freeze Arrow on that jump until you get the OK gives you another 1,231,850 points (329,940 base + 908,020 added back from salami-sliced points).

** ''DDR SuperNOVA'' then threw out the old, arbitrary point system altogether, sticking with the Oni system in all modes (''MAX2'' scoring in normal play, ''Extreme'' scoring in Nonstop and Oni modes). Your score in ''DDR SuperNOVA'' is just your dance point percentage multiplied by 10,000 and rounded down to the nearest integer. Starting with ''DDR SuperNOVA 2'', it's your dance point percentage multiplied by 1,000 and rounded down to the nearest 10, minus 10 points for every Perfect or Great (thus making the Marvelous count a tiebreaker).

* ''[[Beatmania]] IIDX'' has two different scoring systems. The more visible one (known to fans as the "money score") maxes out at 200,000 points per song and has a small combo factor that maxes out after 10 notes. Even though songs commonly have significantly more than 1000 notes, this is still enough to render the money score unsuitable for comparison. On top of that, there are several bonuses that may be awarded, including one for a full combo and one for completing the song with the '''minimum''' lifebar needed to pass. (Due to the mechanics of this game, it '''is''' possible to achieve both, and doing so while hitting the best judgment on every note would in theory net a money score somewhat over 210,000.) The other score (known as the "EX score") is based solely on judgments (2 points per Just Great, 1 point per Great) and determines the grade awarded. All rankings, official and non, use this score. Since difficulty in this game is largely about weathering a sudden spike of notes at the end, EX score is usually taken more seriously than whether or not you actually pass the song.

== [[Role Playing Game]] ==

** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' and ''[[Video Game/Final Fantasy XIII 2|Final Fantasy XIII 2]]'' had two types of scoring: A numerical score, and a [[Gameplay Grading|Battle Rank]], denoted by stars. Your numerical score determined what battle rank you got, and was calculated largely by your stat level and time battling during encounters. In the first game, Battle Rank determined the rarity of your drops and how many Technical Points you regenerated at the end of battle, but the sequel reduces their overall importance.

* ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' has a score on your trainer card, not that it matters much.

== Non [[Video Game]] Examples ==

** It's carried over from the original British version, where the host would explicitly give and take away ludicrous amounts of points for no reason other than humor.

** Likewise, its spiritual successor ''[[Mock the Week]]''.

** [[QI]] is a prime example of this, as the difficulty is compounded by the fact that points (plus or minus) seem to be awarded arbitrarily by both the scorer and [[Stephen Fry]].

*** An even better example is "Talking bout You're Generation" where the points for awarded for the final round are always 1 point more than the difference between the points of the winning team and the points of the team in third.