Gamification

[glottal]

So I was reading this interesting article and came across this paragraph.

Part of the excitement around GreenGoose is that the company is so good at "gamification," the much-blogged-about notion that game elements like points or levels can be applied to various aspects of our lives. Gamification is exciting because it promises to make the hard stuff in life fun—just sprinkle a little videogame magic and suddenly a burden turns into bliss. But as happens with fads, gamification is both overhyped and misunderstood. It is too often just a shorthand for badges or points, like so many gold stars on a spelling test. But just as no number of gold stars can trick children into thinking that yesterday's quiz was fun, game mechanics, to work, must be an informing principle, not a veneer.

Personally, I don't like the idea of the gamification of daily life.  When I want to play a game, I want to play a *game* (whether an adventure game, board game, etc).  There are times I don't want to play games, and I don't want gamification to touch that part of my life.

Dark-Daventry Edit: I fixed the link for you; the code is url, not link 

[Fierce Deity]

I may be dense, but what would be an example of "gamification"? Like WiiFit or driving simulations? I don't understand how someone can use gaming to simplify the hardships of life. The hardships are hard for a reason. Sure, sprinkle a little video game magic on something and see how long it takes for the word "gimmick" to come up.

[Delling]

It's this craziness: http://www.g4tv.com/videos/44277/dice-2010-design-outside-the-box-presentation/


See they underestimate the vastness of people's apathy.

[glottal]

It makes more sense in the context of the article.  You know how in an adventure game you might, for example, earn points by brushing your teeth.  GreenGoose would do that for your real life (if I understand GreenGoose correctly).

[Enchantermon]

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Still, this sounds a bit too odd to work in real life, imo.

[Fierce Deity]

It makes more sense in the context of the article.  You know how in an adventure game you might, for example, earn points by brushing your teeth.  GreenGoose would do that for your real life (if I understand GreenGoose correctly).

This topic is far too abstract to actually discuss successfully without clashing concepts. Why should there be a reward for something that pertains to an individual's life? I drove to work without going over the speed limit. I can has prize?

I can tell that this technology is easy for people to get hooked on, but I for one am an existentialist, and if this ever became my reality, I think I would have to kill myself. 

[liggy002]

It sounds like they are taking something that is usually not enjoyable and attempting to mask it with something that is enjoyable- "leveling up" for instance if you are a gamer.  This would seem like quite a debate such as the "mind over matter" mentality vs the "you have to enjoy what you are doing" line of thinking.  Does it actually serve to make a line of work or chore in life more enjoyable for most people?  I wouldn't know the answer to that question unless I had a sizeable pool of scientific data to draw from.  I would personally rather work in a field that I enjoy rather than have to use additional creative energies to create an alternate reality.

[LadyTerra]

Here's a better video explaining it:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2985-Gamification

[dark-daventry]

Honestly, if life isn't enjoyable enough, do something else with it. Besides, I'd feel a little weird if I got an achievement for brushing my teeth or something to that effect; if you have to enhance your life with that, then to me, that's just kind of sad. I waited in the rush hour traffic. I got a gold star. Yippee. I can only imagine the conversations that could spawn from this: "Did you get your 'watch terrible movie with girlfriend' badge yet?". It reminds me of when I heard two total jocks (and I do mean jocks; these two kids were on the football team or something) talking about Guitar Hero in the hallway in high school. Now, I admit, I'm not a big guitar hero fan, so I am a bit biased, but I just had to put my head down in shame at that. I mean, I could understand (and would expect) something like Grand Theft Auto, Madden or Fifa or something, but Guitar Hero? If this kind of thing becomes popular, I think I'd have to invent a time machine and go back before it ever started. I don't think I want this to go mainstream.

[liggy002]

lol, dark daventry, I'd have to agree.   

[dark-daventry]

Somethings end up being fine going mainstream, but I can only imagine this ending badly if it goes mainstream. Our lives have already been taken over by technology, but I have to draw the line somewhere. I enjoy video games. Ok, that's a lie. I love video games. But I don't want concepts from video games entering into my every day life. Why? Because I use video games as a way to escape from real life. I play video games to do things I just can't do in real life. I play Grand Theft Auto to vent my frustration with life in general. I mean, I can't exactly run over an old lady and drive away scott free in real life, now can I? I can't run around the middle of Boston wearing a green tunic and brandishing an exact replica of the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield, all the while saying nothing but grunts while the police attempt to arrest me for disrupting the peace. I don't want concepts from video games entering into my every day life, be them achievements for the most mundane tasks or something else. Video games and reality can intersect, but only to a certain degree. I'd say that augmented reality gaming is about as far as I'm willing to go. Once I start getting achievements for restraining my anger against customers, I'm done. I'm all for enhancing graphics and making games more realistic and interactive (I'm looking at you, Holodeck), but I want them to stay separate from my every day life. Next thing we know there will be an app for this.

[liggy002]

I heard that Radiant Historia was based on a true story, but other than that.... yeah this stuff just doesn't happen in real life.

[Fierce Deity]

I heard that Radiant Historia was based on a true story, but other than that.... yeah this stuff just doesn't happen in real life.

Radiant Historia is fiction in every sense of the word but is based on the Butterfly Effect which is a real theory. No way for any one person to prove whether it's real, but it's intriguing nonetheless.

dark-daventry has reiterated everything that I hate about the concept of Gamification. Once again, I can see why people will love it, and why they would dive in head first, but there is nothing to gain from this movement. The consumers will be exploited, and the companies will thrive. In the end, the consumers will have done it all for a few achievement points. That's it. Congratulations, you wasted your life away for nothing. Have 5000 more points on your Gamertag.

[liggy002]

I heard that Radiant Historia was based on a true story, but other than that.... yeah this stuff just doesn't happen in real life.

Radiant Historia is fiction in every sense of the word but is based on the Butterfly Effect which is a real theory. No way for any one person to prove whether it's real, but it's intriguing nonetheless.

dark-daventry has reiterated everything that I hate about the concept of Gamification. Once again, I can see why people will love it, and why they would dive in head first, but there is nothing to gain from this movement. The consumers will be exploited, and the companies will thrive. In the end, the consumers will have done it all for a few achievement points. That's it. Congratulations, you wasted your life away for nothing. Have 5000 more points on your Gamertag.

I know it's fiction.  I was just joking.    

Incidentally, I didn't realize that the Butterfly Effect was based on a real theory.  Now, THAT is interesting.

[Fierce Deity]

Incidentally, I didn't realize that the Butterfly Effect was based on a real theory.  Now, THAT is interesting.

Indeed.