Personally, I am of the opinion that Heart Container Pieces are useless. How much good does one FOURTH of a heart do you, especially when you don't even get it right away? And if the player is good at Zelda, extra life isn't what they need most, anyway. In fact, I think ZC has less use of HCPs than the Zelda series, because most modern Zelda games have dozens and dozens of side quests, and each one needs a reward. Most ZC quests, however, are much smaller than Wind Waker or Twilight Princess, so they don't require as many rewards to hand out.
But on the other hand, look at ZQuest's item list: in most versions of ZC, there are MORE available items to choose from than even the most complex official Zelda game. If that's the case, why should any of us resort to Heart Container Pieces?... We won't run out of rewards if we reserve a few of the optional ones for side quests. Doesn't it make sense to give a few big bonuses to people who actually bother to do the side quests?
Resist the urge to use useless HCPs! ZC has plenty of better items to reward your player with. Give a Magic Container, or a Candle, or a FULL Heart Container, or one of the many ammo upgrades. You do NOT need HCPs! I guarantee you will NOT run out of items, unless you give them to the player for "free" (meaning, without requiring them to complete a side quest for it). Heck, let's just go through all the optional items you can give players:
Arrow upgrade
Bomb Bag
Boomerang upgrade
Bracelet or Bracelet upgrade
Candle or Candle upgrade
Charge Ring 1 or 2
Din's Fire
Heart Container
Hookshot upgrade
Hover Boots
Letter / Potion
Magic Book (I know, this one kinda sucks)
Magic Container
Nayru's Love
Quiver upgrade
Ring or Ring upgrade
Scroll: Spin Attack
Scroll: Cross Beams
Scroll: Hurrican Spin
Scroll: Quake Hammer
Scroll: Super Quake
Scroll: Peril Beam
Peril Ring
Shield upgrade
Sword upgrade (Yeah, this one's a bit powerful)
Wallet upgrade
Wealth Medal upgrade
Whimsical Ring
...Most of the above items are optional (or could be optional) in any quest you make.
Now, look at all those goodies!
![icon_eek.gif](http://www.purezc.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/icon_eek.gif)
Giving your player a measly Heart Piece is boring and rude, in my opinion. Give them something fun instead.
And if you prefer, put those upgrades in shops. Then give large rupee rewards for doing side quests. That way, money will serve a purpose, too, and the player will get a choice between upgrades.