The gaming industry is awash with lucky packs, spinning wheels, random effects, and parcel drops, all of which are designed to enhance the playing experience. With most titles now existing online, it’s imperative that developers give all players a fair chance of receiving special gifts and prizes. So how do game creators make sure that there is no perceived favouritism involved with their rewards, if at all?
Lucky Packs Have Become a Staple of the Gaming Industry
Games have always included rewards to stimulate players and keep them playing for longer. This has come in the form of high scores in the past, but lucky packs and upgrades have become more prevalent in the modern age. These usually come as part of a marketing model, in which players can pay money to get more. For example, in FIFA Ultimate Team, players can earn card packs through playing the game, but they can also purchase them. These packs usually feature several common cards, along with the odd rare one. The developers need to use RNG to ensure that every player has the same chance of receiving the top cards when opening packs. Whether this is the case or not, remains open for debate.
World of Warcraft from Blizzard Entertainment has always had daily draws and random loot rewards, but the developer has consistently managed to upset certain players over the years. Look at any WoW Reddit forum and you’ll find gamers complaining that the results of these lottery draws are far from fair. Some gamers are convinced that it isn’t random and that the game is purposefully giving them things they don’t need. However, it could just be to do with the fact that Blizzard Entertainment doesn’t have a high return to player percentage on the most valuable prizes.
Online Casino Industry Has Refined RNG
Every developer in the gaming industry that wants to ensure fair results in random draws needs to use a random number generator. RNG has been refined over the years, thanks to its inclusion in the online casino industry. In the early stages of the industry, some players needed persuading that the games were fair. It is clear now, that RNG has managed to achieve a level of randomness that couldn’t be predicted in a million years.
Online casinos have a few other stipulations in place that help players realise that the games are totally fair. The sites must list the RTP percentage of the games so that players know how much they can expect to win based on what they put in. This means there are no complaints like with the rewards in WoW. Players can use this knowledge to go in search of the best RTP slots, with some games, such as Book of 99, paying out at a whopping 99 per cent. The combination of RNG and RTP means that the results of slots are unbiased, and this is a model that developers in other areas of the gaming industry should look to replicate.
RNG is the only way that developers can ensure that their games are impartial. Creators in other areas of the gaming industry could learn from online casinos, though, and make it clear what kind of RTP percentage players can expect on the top prizes.
