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However, even basic numerical progression with no meaningful deviation or specialization has some value in two contexts. The first is purely as a power fantasy and "showing how far you've come". One example of this I love is in the shovelware game "Scorpion King: Rise of the Akadian", which is one of my favorite shit games from when I was a kid. Basically it's a very simple arena-style beat em up where you move from room to room. Each room you enter has a certain number of enemies you have to defeat with a number next to a skull to show you how many you have left. As you go through the game, you get more life gems, weapons to upgrade damage, and bonus Strength + Endurance orbs which increase your base stats and are hidden in cracks on the wall or floor. The entire game has enemies that get stronger and stronger, meaning you don't really feel much stronger beyond the small spikes when finding a new weapon halfway through a level- except when you reach a point right near the end of the game where you enter a room and see the skull has a number like 70 or higher next to it- which is crazy since every other room has been like 20 max. But then it sends in waves of the weakest shitty desert guards from the first area of the game and you can now 1 or 2 shot them, which is a fun moment and almost worth the entire progression system just for that moment to show how far you've come. In other words; pure cultivation and lit/rpg/ slop, but fun.
In game mechanic terms; this is allowing players to see their progression. Even if having an enemy with 10 HP vs your attack of d10 and an enemy having 11 HP vs your attack of d10+1 HP, the player will feel as though they are stronger if they have the d10+1, because it's a notable improvement over their regular, unaltered damage. One could argue this form of manipulation is pure stageplay, pure theater, but I think it sells a fantasy equally as well as having characters agree with or follow your character after choosing the charisma path; the end result of the quest may be the same, or similar, but the dressing on how the players get there is meaningful and important to provide that feedback.
The second value to basic linear progression is if the world DOESN'T "scale" to your character. While this can cause problems as outlined above, the concept I think works well for fixed or small-scope quest and game concepts, where your character may not become an uber demigod over a huge fantasy world but may be the best fighter in the whole prison in your epic Prison-Shonen Quest.
What's your opinion on progression systems in quests, and what's your favorite type to implement; if any? How about horror or survival themed anti-progression systems, where instead the focus is on picking what not to lose, or what character to save? I think this is fundamentally more interesting- though obviously going to be much less popular.
