Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25491026-20141110152917/@comment-24145588-20141111160012

ImagineKnit wrote: I'm starting to wonder if I have been wasting my time. If it will continue to be hard for me to breed these monsters, then should I keep playing? The breeding of the uncommon monsters is intended to be a challenge -- albeit in a strange sense, since it challenges the player's patience, rather than skill. If it was too easy, everyone would get it done immediately, and there would be no sense of accomplishment or reward. If was (consistently) too hard, too many players would get frustrated and leave the game. The game designer has to look for the sweet spot: challenging enough to keep people interested and feeling like they've actually gotten something, but easy enough that they'll feel that they'll be able to accomplish the goal "reasonably soon." Also, there is the element of money: by making it somewhat difficult, and giving players the chance to reduce the difficulty by spending currency (for example, by purchasing the monster directly, or purchasing a permanent wishing torch), they earn their money.

Compare it to an MMORPG that includes rare, ultra-rare, epic, and legendary reward items which can be found randomly. The frequency is more-or-less known to the players, but the only way to be sure of getting the item is to keep looking. (Although in those cases, I don't think there's usually a way to increase your odds of getting the more rare items.)

You could read more about the subject of [B.F. Skinner's schedules of reinforcement]