There are two types of players in the incremental genre: those who like rebirth/prestige mechanics and those who don’t.
Why don't players like it? The obvious answer is: progress loss - this is the actual thing the players don’t like.
When crafting the Four Divine Abidings I pondered on this topic a lot to make Rebirths actually fun. These are game design solutions I implemented:
⬖ Counter surface progress loss with more fundamental progress gain.
⬖ Introduce resources that are consistent throughout the whole game and never lost.
⬖ Add unique skills and systems accessible through Rebirths only.
⬖ Make main game loop evolving and flexible.
⬖ Introduce meaningful choices to customize each Rebirth.
⬖ Add means of progress automation.
⬖ Keep Rebirth system lore-consistent.
On a design level it all might sound too abstract so here are some particulars that make Rebirths really fun in the Four Divine Abidings:
⬖ 16 unique Rebirths skills grouped into 6 categories. Each category has an independent price curve so players can meaningfully choose what to focus on.
⬖ Free respecs always available for each Rebirth: trying new things is encouraged, makes runs different.
⬖ Rebirths preview: players see what stats they will have at the start, what buffs will be applied. Support theory craft and number crunching for those who like it.
⬖ Main Rebirth resource - Karma - is never lost, it accumulates through all runs. Besides, all Karma spent on Rebirths is converted to another resource - Merit - making the start of each run progressively more abundant.
⬖ Permanent buffs (that come from Milestones) are always preserved as well as Milestones themselves.
⬖ An optional, upgradeable tool that automates some progress, especially effective early after Rebirths.
⬖ Rebirths fit the lore perfectly - it’s a central concept of the Buddhist philosophy which the lore itself is based on.
You are welcome to share your Rebirth system experience on Steam forums or Discord.