4 ms·

He harps on the people who get gamification wrong and totally neglects those who get it right. People -do- care about pointless things like 'achievements' and

He harps on the people who get gamification wrong and totally neglects those who get it right. People -do- care about pointless things like 'achievements' and such. I'm actually kind of ashamed that I care, but I -do- care. I am more likely to fully explore a site or product if there are external goals in play.

jameskilton 15y ago
Perhaps "gamification" is the wrong word. What people are trying to do with these kind of systems is to create incentives for using the product. So maybe, instead of gamification, it's incentivization? Definitely a harder word to say and type out, but it's more indicative of what's going on and has less negative connotation.
- vyrotek 15y ago
  The word is definitely not well received by everyone. Even the gamification platform companies (ours included) don't really like the word. It leaves too much to the imagination and carries a lot of baggage. Another issue is that people think gamification is the new SEO. Gamification will not magically bring new users to your site. It's as you said, about incentivizing or engaging with your current users.
  - Lewisham 15y ago
    Yes, gamification has been poisoned by "the new SEO" crowd. What was once a useful tool (Nike+) has been abused and bent into all sorts of shapes by people who are, generally, completely oblivious to the decades of game design the techniques build on. His perceived ineptitude of the practitioners involved is a large part of why Bogost is calling out gamification as a marketing term here. Game designers don't call it gamification. Game designers make games.
- gapanalysis 15y ago
  I don't mean to be simple but the best incentives for using a product are (a) it does what it promises to do and well, (b) the cost and benefits are commensurate, (c) it is more elegant or efficient or <name your quality metric> than its competition? I don't need games or rewards or incentives to buy products that meet these criteria.
  - njharman 15y ago
    You != In fact majority of people base purchase decisions on unrelated psychological factors such as making them feel good about themselves or validating their "success" or completion/reward mechanics. It is what advertising/marketing industries are ALL about, few massmarket products are sold or bought on their merits.
ethnomusicolog 15y ago
agree with you, you can't discard something useful ont the pretense that bad people use it. This post has some holier than thou undertone.
fluidcruft 15y ago
Maybe you're hung up on the word "bullshit"? I don't think he says it has anything to do with caring. I mean a bullshitter cares, too. If you yourself describe it as "pointless things", I don't see how you're disagreeing.

jameskilton 15y ago

Perhaps "gamification" is the wrong word. What people are trying to do with these kind of systems is to create incentives for using the product. So maybe, instead of gamification, it's incentivization? Definitely a harder word to say and type out, but it's more indicative of what's going on and has less negative connotation.

vyrotek 15y ago
The word is definitely not well received by everyone. Even the gamification platform companies (ours included) don't really like the word. It leaves too much to the imagination and carries a lot of baggage. Another issue is that people think gamification is the new SEO. Gamification will not magically bring new users to your site. It's as you said, about incentivizing or engaging with your current users.
- Lewisham 15y ago
  Yes, gamification has been poisoned by "the new SEO" crowd. What was once a useful tool (Nike+) has been abused and bent into all sorts of shapes by people who are, generally, completely oblivious to the decades of game design the techniques build on. His perceived ineptitude of the practitioners involved is a large part of why Bogost is calling out gamification as a marketing term here. Game designers don't call it gamification. Game designers make games.
gapanalysis 15y ago
I don't mean to be simple but the best incentives for using a product are (a) it does what it promises to do and well, (b) the cost and benefits are commensurate, (c) it is more elegant or efficient or <name your quality metric> than its competition? I don't need games or rewards or incentives to buy products that meet these criteria.
- njharman 15y ago
  You != In fact majority of people base purchase decisions on unrelated psychological factors such as making them feel good about themselves or validating their "success" or completion/reward mechanics. It is what advertising/marketing industries are ALL about, few massmarket products are sold or bought on their merits.

ethnomusicolog 15y ago

agree with you, you can't discard something useful ont the pretense that bad people use it. This post has some holier than thou undertone.

fluidcruft 15y ago

Maybe you're hung up on the word "bullshit"? I don't think he says it has anything to do with caring. I mean a bullshitter cares, too. If you yourself describe it as "pointless things", I don't see how you're disagreeing.