Every single time a player snags another orb in Crackdown 2, they’re rewarded by a subtle audible tone in addition to visual cues denoting advancement towards the next level in whatever skill they might be filling at the time. While the activity may seem boring and even detrimental to the overall play experience according to some, there is very little denying that there is an addictive quality to nabbing another orb easily relatable to Pavlov’s psychology of classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian doctor and psychologist was the first to expound on the idea of classical condition through his theoretical research, which eventually found grounding in the scientific community. The essential basis of the training involves the utilization of neutral stimulus in conjunction with outside stimulation of significance. This gave way to both conditioned and unconditioned responses as a result of different forms of conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, which would be enacted on the neutral stimulus that could be anything, the creature in question does normally. The most lauded example of this research is Pavlov’s work with dogs, resulting in a greater psychological understanding of not just mammalian creatures but roughly any higher-level organism on the planet.
Pavlov noted when he attempted to cause a dog to salivate simply by using meat powder to simulate food; it wouldn’t work, falling into the category of unconditioned stimuli. However, he noticed that when the lab technician who fed the dogs regularly appeared, the dogs salivated profusely in anticipation of a meal. Eventually, Pavlov became able to predict a scenario where meat powder was used in association with particular stimuli that the animals had been conditioned to; they would begin to drool uncontrollably. From the sheer amount of open-forum feedback, tweets and various other communications prevalent prior to the release of Crackdown 2, the same could be said about the in-game orbs. When scaling a building or chasing a renegade orb through the streets of Pacific City, as you close in on an orb, it could be argued that there is an aural response on the part of the player who has continued the chase in anticipation of the notable sound. In my experience with the current iteration of Crackdown as well as the predecessor, I’ve personally witnessed gamers attempt every avenue of approach multiple times to get their hands on an orb before finally giving up. Nevertheless, upon doing so, they immediately move towards lower, more accessible orbs with a tenacious determination.
While the same could be said for any of the various skills in the game - be it strength, driving, firearms, explosives or agility – there is little denying that getting the next visual and audible affirmation of personal ability has it’s addictive quality. For players driven to fill their explosives skills and garner powerful levels of ordinance, there is an almost pyromaniacal drive to get the next item to create a newer, bigger boom. But with each orb, no matter what type it is, there is a sound that goes hand-in-hand with gaining a little bit more power towards each level. And when it seems like players will never get to the next evolution of their Agent’s abilities, they are rewarded by visual and audio cues, but a small burst of energy that forces back everything surrounding them. Regardless of the overall quality of the product, there is no denying that Ruffian did their homework regarding what incentives drives not just players forward, but the underlying inducements that keep people sitting with a controller locked in hands and staring at a screen hours after they should have gone to bed. Five more minutes turns into one more hours, which eventually becomes a day off from work because you spent all night hunting for that next orb. Behold the magic of classical conditioning which ultimately makes people no better than dogs. Blame the psychological limitations of the human mind that haven’t been bred out by evolution yet. Doubtlessly, there are varying degrees to the potential addictiveness anything has on a person.
Where one person might hopelessly be hooked on getting their next achievement, they might not be able to care less about hitting Prestige Mode in Modern Warfare 2. The differences, as prevalent as they are however can’t be overlooked. This is why game developers have entire career paths devoted to coming up with incentive to keep the players engrossed in an experience long after the title has been released along with slews of DLC. This is exactly why games like Modern Warfare 2 and to a different degree World of Warcraft – for the sheer amount of incentive they provide the player to continue pushing on with overt and sometimes subversive game mechanics that will keep you playing even when you wanted to quit hours ago. No matter how it gets spun, the amount of people who have been more than happy to let me know that they’ve snagged all five hundred agility orbs, all three hundred hidden orbs as well as all the renegade orbs possible tell me one thing – that Crackdown 2, despite it’s flaws – did something undeniably correct. By carrying over the orb mechanics and expanding on them slightly, Ruffian has released a game that will have staying power, even if gamers are not entirely sure why. Pavlov would be proud.
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