I'm very torn when it comes to this. I love games of all types. When I first started hearing about the "gamification" of everything it was touted as Web 3.0. It clearly has a lot of people excited. Maybe it's just because I trend towards indie games these days; games made by people who view them as systemic communication, trying to make meaningful experiences. But I guess I'm just elitist and view all of this as kitch. I started to type a long rant about Farmville, but it's not worth it. My point is that I don't think this is going to last with its current trajectory. Gamification is a creative solution to many problems, but it often isn't being implemented by creative people. They usually just copy what happens to be working at the moment. I think eventually things like achievements are just going to become noise to most people. For this to extend to the long term we need more people who really understand the various ways play creates productivity whom can start experimenting with the next big thing.
- Gamification is a creative solution to many problems, but it often isn't being implemented by creative people. They usually just copy what happens to be working at the moment.
But you're right about it being a "buzz word", and a sort of flavor of the month. I've started to see it creep in to my professional life via online training modules and I'd be glad to see it creep out again. -I'm not 10 years old, I don't need a "gold star". -Money however, is always accepted.
Reddit has plenty of ludic aspects as well. In fact, Reddit is probably one of the better examples of how gamification should work. Many users are quick to point out that the voting system, coupled with a user base rabid to use it, creates a Skinner box. Skinner box's are most effective when the payout is set to 50%. Subjects naturally get giant spikes of dopamine when they honestly don't know whether they'll win or lose, and when posting to Reddit most people seem to have no idea if their post will be met with adulation or derision. That's only one mechanic though, and that's where I feel most people would stop and think, "Well, we just need some kind of operant conditioning mechanism to hook users." That is probably a good place to start, but the truth is the community of Reddit happens to create something more worthwhile. It creates spontaneous cooperation and competition. For instance, "Let's all band together and try to set up this rally," or "Let's all take different sides to this controversial issue and discuss it." This is a more pure aspect to play that strikes closer to the things that motivate real people and not laboratory subjects. The fact that Reddit does have achievements but no one pays attention to them anymore is exemplary of this. I think there's also a very negative aspect of this that doesn't get talked about. Which is these games can also create very motivated destruction. Instead it becomes, "Let's all band together and send death threats to this person we suddenly hate," and "Let's split into Feminists and MRAs and spend 6 years just shouting at each other." When we finally get a better grip on how to use these ideas to tap more energy from people, we also need to be able to focus that energy towards meaningful endeavors.
On Hubski we wanted to allow people to earn badges based on their input to the site but we wanted the badges to be something that our users didn't keep. They aren't trophies to collect dust on the shelf but rather trophies that you can give to content that you appreciate. It's less about gaming and self rewarding than it is appreciation and giving. For example, I remember giving this badge because I really enjoyed the comment. I think this is a pretty cool system. I know that when I have received a badge from another Hubskier, it has made my day. If I just received a badge from Hubski, it wouldn't be nearly as cool. Hubskiers trump Hubski any day!