5 ms·

I spend a few minutes watching the /r/thebutton (non presser) every now and then. My SO said WTF are you doing. I replied that watching the timer was just a val

I spend a few minutes watching the /r/thebutton (non presser) every now and then. My SO said WTF are you doing. I replied that watching the timer was just a valid form of entertainment as watching TV or playing the sims. She gaffawed. Boredom plays a big part in lots of interesting online 'games'? Art thingies? Social experiments? April fools? The one I go back to over and over is Cookie Clicker (orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/) any time I feel like getting a watch that counts my steps or a Tesco Club Card or any other gamification device -- I play the master of gamification. Or I watch the button, 13 days in and 55, 54, 53, click! Idiot, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, click! Idiot, 59, 58, 57....

kimcheekumquat 12y ago
Ever since /r/thebutton reached HN we noticed 3 times the number of clicks we normally have around this time.
- jsmeaton 12y ago
  Didn't finish reading the article, opened up the subreddit and then clicked the button. Wondered why I couldn't click it again and seen the side bar. So impatient. Forever purple. "You only get one click" or something right next to the button would have been awesome.
  - pests 12y ago
    That was the point I think. Just a button with no instructions. Do people blindly click a button for no other reason it is in front of them? Without knowing what it does?
    - Loughla 12y ago
      That's it to me. It proves my personal theory of trust. If you create something so large and peaceful(ish) that people instinctively trust it, you can get away with anything. What if the button ran something malicious on your machine? What if it permanently deleted your account and banned that username from ever being used again? What if that button permanently banned you from reddit? These are things no one considered, because reddit is just a big, friendly Lenny. Put that button on 4chan. See what happens there.
      - zedadex 12y ago
        > instinctively trust it, And their own knowledge > What if the button ran something malicious on your machine? presses button 'This site attempted to download something to your computer. Download?' no > What if it permanently deleted your account and banned that username from ever being used again? 'reddit pissing off thousands of users over an april fool's joke' -> I'm guessing not > These are things no one considered, because It's not in flash, we know what HTML's limits are, etc etc
        67726e 12y ago
        You might now that, but do those thousands of other users?
    - ChikkaChiChi 12y ago
      The instructions are right there. Perfect demonstration of what happens when you don't create a linear expectation for the customer. :)
    - monk_e_boy 12y ago
      More that that - do they have any curiosity at all? My first instinct was 'what is this?' and I waited and watched. It's amazing how many people don't have that. Their first instinct is click oh, what have I done?
prawn 12y ago
Agree that Cookie Clicker is absolutely fascinating. Two of us in the office, busy and capable people, became competitive bandits for Cookie Clicker. It makes for an almost perfect study in drip-feeding content/upgrades no matter how pointless and mundane. Hints to me that the Great Filter could well be addictive and selfish behaviour transfixing the instinctive and basic aspects of our minds.
- zkhalique 12y ago
  Cookie Clicker really shows how game mechanics by themselves (and boredom or need to take your mind off something) can motivate people to play. But also, it can be even more addictive if the game would go back to zero after a period of inactivity (like a tamagachi pet "dying" without attention, or a Flappy Bird). Maybe not going back to zero but to some lower "saved" level like Mario. This is the kind of stuff that makes people see how high a score they can get, for no reason other than the score!
  - lfowles 12y ago
    Cookie Clicker has a heavenly chips mechanic, where you essentially reset all progress (except achievements maybe?) in exchange for heavenly chips that give a minor % boost.
    - zkhalique 12y ago
      As a hacker, my goal for some reason was to get enough cookies to make 3 rows of "pointers" :) https://www.dropbox.com/s/z26yrpi2nokp78f/Screenshot%202015-04-13%2022.55.40.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/z26yrpi2nokp78f/Screenshot%202015-... Just to see what it would look like I also looked at the source and sped up the game by running the game loop much faster with an extra setTimeout :)
      - woogle 12y ago
        Try `Game.RuinTheFun()`
- 12y ago
justifier 12y ago
if you like clicker games check out CERN's particle clicker: http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/ http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/ as you click away you accrue data and grant money the data publishes real scientific discoveries as if you were the researcher and the grant money buys you grad students to click for you
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

kimcheekumquat 12y ago

Ever since /r/thebutton reached HN we noticed 3 times the number of clicks we normally have around this time.

jsmeaton 12y ago
Didn't finish reading the article, opened up the subreddit and then clicked the button. Wondered why I couldn't click it again and seen the side bar. So impatient. Forever purple. "You only get one click" or something right next to the button would have been awesome.
- pests 12y ago
  That was the point I think. Just a button with no instructions. Do people blindly click a button for no other reason it is in front of them? Without knowing what it does?
  - Loughla 12y ago
    That's it to me. It proves my personal theory of trust. If you create something so large and peaceful(ish) that people instinctively trust it, you can get away with anything. What if the button ran something malicious on your machine? What if it permanently deleted your account and banned that username from ever being used again? What if that button permanently banned you from reddit? These are things no one considered, because reddit is just a big, friendly Lenny. Put that button on 4chan. See what happens there.
    - zedadex 12y ago
      > instinctively trust it, And their own knowledge > What if the button ran something malicious on your machine? presses button 'This site attempted to download something to your computer. Download?' no > What if it permanently deleted your account and banned that username from ever being used again? 'reddit pissing off thousands of users over an april fool's joke' -> I'm guessing not > These are things no one considered, because It's not in flash, we know what HTML's limits are, etc etc
      - 67726e 12y ago
        You might now that, but do those thousands of other users?
  - ChikkaChiChi 12y ago
    The instructions are right there. Perfect demonstration of what happens when you don't create a linear expectation for the customer. :)
  - monk_e_boy 12y ago
    More that that - do they have any curiosity at all? My first instinct was 'what is this?' and I waited and watched. It's amazing how many people don't have that. Their first instinct is click oh, what have I done?

prawn 12y ago

Agree that Cookie Clicker is absolutely fascinating. Two of us in the office, busy and capable people, became competitive bandits for Cookie Clicker. It makes for an almost perfect study in drip-feeding content/upgrades no matter how pointless and mundane. Hints to me that the Great Filter could well be addictive and selfish behaviour transfixing the instinctive and basic aspects of our minds.

zkhalique 12y ago
Cookie Clicker really shows how game mechanics by themselves (and boredom or need to take your mind off something) can motivate people to play. But also, it can be even more addictive if the game would go back to zero after a period of inactivity (like a tamagachi pet "dying" without attention, or a Flappy Bird). Maybe not going back to zero but to some lower "saved" level like Mario. This is the kind of stuff that makes people see how high a score they can get, for no reason other than the score!
- lfowles 12y ago
  Cookie Clicker has a heavenly chips mechanic, where you essentially reset all progress (except achievements maybe?) in exchange for heavenly chips that give a minor % boost.
  - zkhalique 12y ago
    As a hacker, my goal for some reason was to get enough cookies to make 3 rows of "pointers" :) https://www.dropbox.com/s/z26yrpi2nokp78f/Screenshot%202015-04-13%2022.55.40.png?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/z26yrpi2nokp78f/Screenshot%202015-... Just to see what it would look like I also looked at the source and sped up the game by running the game loop much faster with an extra setTimeout :)
    - woogle 12y ago
      Try `Game.RuinTheFun()`
12y ago

justifier 12y ago

if you like clicker games check out CERN's particle clicker: http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/ http://particle-clicker.web.cern.ch/particle-clicker/ as you click away you accrue data and grant money the data publishes real scientific discoveries as if you were the researcher and the grant money buys you grad students to click for you

deleted 12y ago

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