Ripping off clients definitely sucks as a "game" - I'm more interested in the achievement / reward structure associated with learning, and the sense of completi

Ripping off clients definitely sucks as a "game" - I'm more interested in the achievement / reward structure associated with learning, and the sense of completing a finite task, which like finishing a level in a game. Turning things that have moral components (like doing good work versus meeting a target) into a game has been shown to cause problems...specifically, I recall reading about a study about a day care center charging people if they were late to pick up their kids. Charging for lateness actually increased the average late of lateness by de-moralizing the obligation to arrive on time to the day care center (sorry for the lack of reference). It's not that I think gamification makes everything better, it's that creating a well-controlled enviroment with some rewarding goals makes learning specifically more focused and fun.