Gamification — How Much of It Is Really New?

An anonymous reader writes "It's nigh impossible to avoid all the chatter and buzz around the concept of gamification — using game mechanics to create engagement outside the world of videogames. Silicon.com has an interview with author Aaron Dignan, whose book Game Frame delves into the topic to try and pull out a few rules of engagement for businesses seeking to tap into the power of gaming to better motivate their staff. Dignan is fairly convincing, yet I can't help feeling there's a lot of hype and not necessarily a great deal of substance to all this gamification chatter. Perhaps the term itself is the problem — maybe 'playfulness' would be a better name for the concept. What do Slashdot readers make of the gamification movement and its evangelists?"

Comments

Minesweeper

[MrEricSir]

I'll have to remember the term "gamification" next time my boss catches me playing Minesweeper.

"It's gamification! This is motivating me!"

Sure there is.

[MrEricSir]

You just have to start enjoying games!

Re:Sure there is.

[dltaylor]

OK:

I need it run well natively on Linux, since the MS "we can access your hard drive at will" license, plus the "contact MS to get permission to change much of your system", is unacceptable to me, and while Mac OSX is a kind-of nice update to AmigaDOS, I don't have any desire to support the Mac culture.

If there's a multiplayer mode, like Star Craft/Brood War, Civilization/Alpha Centauri/..., then I need pure LAN play, not "connect to our server", like the new Star Craft 2.

I prefer RTS. How 'bout a decent AI, instead of cheats.

Perhaps a good single- or multi-player flight sim. Used to be an awesome one on SunOS. Beautifully rendered aircraft and Defense Logistics Agency terrain maps. Full LAN play (had to wonder if the guy you just smoked was your boss). Something like that, with joystick control would be a pleasure to play. Even something like the Amiga "Strike Aces" (Accolade) would be nice, too, 'specially with LAN play for "full package" missions.

Again from the Amiga days, "688 Attack Sub". Now that computers can match, and surpass, the Amiga's graphics and sound, that one would be much more immersive.

A modern graphics version of "Arctic Fox" (another Amiga classic; anyone know where the Forth source code went?), which had an outstanding balance of tactical and strategic objectives, plus some really well thought-out effects (lose a track and you can go in circles, with your tank tilted down on the missing-track side, changing track sounds depending on terrain, ...).

Games used to be fun. Now they (at least the MUSHs) are way to much like work; should probably be a term like the "workification" of games.

Re:Sure there is.

[lxs]

You're the one on the right aren't you?

Tech Support == Farmville

[syousef]

At least I always feel like I'm playing Farmville when I talk to tech support. It's expensive and frustrating. I get nothing but empty promises for my efforts which make no difference in the real world, it's a real slog, and I wish people could speak English.

Old Concept

[im_thatoneguy]

The olympics used to demonstrate the martial skills of a soldier. Shot put, Javelin, relay races... these were all military skills.

Play is practice. Even in the animal kingdom you see 'games' and play while juveniles practice their skills. There's even some theories that song and dance originally was an outreach of coordinating work.

By historical standards what we view as work is unnatural. If you look at a tribal culture in which we existed for hundreds of thousands of years you'll see people working hard but they are talking to one another and being social. The idea of locking someone away to slave over paper is a pretty recent development.

I would say that what we're really doing is re-discovering the innate mechanisms by which we best learn and it's not through mechanical determination it's through a more interactive and engaging process that works with--not against our nature.

Re:Old Concept

[c0lo]

I would say that what we're really doing is further perverting the innate mechanisms by which we best learn and it's not through mechanical determination it's through a more interactive and engaging process that works with-- [...] against our nature.

FTFY. RTFA if you don't believe me. Below some relevant quotes:

But gamification advocates do not preach the beauty and power of play. Perhaps without knowing it, they're selling a pernicious worldview that doesn't give weight to literal truth. Instead, they are trafficking in fantasies that ignore the realities of day-to-day life. This isn't fun and games—it's a tactic most commonly employed by repressive, authoritarian regimes.

At a Google Tech Talk last year, Zichermann gushed about the low-cost opportunities this creates for business. He was particularly excited by Zynga's collaboration with 7-Eleven, a deal in which people could buy FarmVille credits along with a Slurpee. FarmVille credits didn't get you the Slurpee, Zichermann explained excitedly. Rather, customers paid real dollars for the virtual currency. "It's all money in and no money out!" he cried.

'Gamification'

[Keill]

The problem with 'gamification' is that it's not about games!

'Gamification' is about the application of (the lessons from) game theory, which has to do with psychology - the study of HOW and WHY we behave in such a manner - but not WHAT.

'Game' theory is a misnomer - it's NOT about games in themselves at all - it's about the study of COMPETITION, and COMPETITIVE behaviour in general.

Games are, of course, competitive activities, but so are puzzles, competitions, and life in general.

'Game' theory is not about the specific application of the specific behaviour the word game itself represents, even if it forms PART of its application, and so considering games in such a manner is INCONSISTENT with how the word game is used, and what it represents, elsewhere in the language, and is therefore causing problems!

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DarrenTomlyn/20110311/6174/Contents_NEW.php

Maybe this is overly critical...

[SomePgmr]

This seems like just one more way to extract more work out of people that are increasingly disappointed with their station and ambitions (or lack thereof). It seems like both companies and individuals would do better to address the root issues. I don't want to have to put a game layer on top of my work to feel like I'm doing something important, and for good reasons.

Or maybe I'm just too cynical.

Re:Is there no escape...

[vivian]

I used to be obsessed with gaming - then one day I woke up and decided I should be spending a few hours a day leveling myself up instead of hours a day leveling up some virtual toon.

Now I spend about 1 to 2 hours a day doing the following: Getting physically fit by hitting the gym, cycling and sailing, and acquiring a real world skill like playing an instrument (Piano,guitar).
it's much more reqardign than spending hours and hours leveling up a virtual toon in a virtual world so I could get the uber sword of whatever from the in WoW - for one thing I know it's not all going to be for nothing as soon as the next expansion pack comes out.

Now I get out on the weekends and meet real people too, which sure beats reading trade chat.

I don't miss online gaming at all.

EOD

[Databass]

As a sailor in the Navy, this made me think of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal rating.

For them, their boss wants to see them "sweeping mines" on the job!

Re:Is there no escape...

[Raumkraut]

Well there's your mistake; you were never obsessed with gaming, you were obsessed with World of Warcraft.
WoW is not the be-all and end-all of gaming, it's barely even the beginning. It is apparently little more than a thin veneer of video game wrapped around a Skinner Box.

Re:Is there no escape...

[somersault]

I agree with your overall message, but you can still play games as well as doing all that. I do, and have all my life. Even when I was at my most addicted to games I'd still do other things. Even these days when I'm physically training 10 hours a week (on top of a 37.5 hours a week job), I still spend some evenings gaming or watching movies etc.

I don't play that much online anymore, but it is definitely enjoyable with the right group of people.

Fucking dumb.

[rAiNsT0rm]

I live in the real world, I may choose to work in IT but I am not a stereotypical nerd/geek and I also have ZERO interest in bullshit like this. I don't want fucking achievements and "points" or other inane things, I want to be treated as a professional and I want to do my job. That is already almost impossible in IT as it is never given respect and seen as purely a cost/drain as it is. If any company I would work for would implement something like this, I would resign instantly.