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8/3/2019 Shore Ditch

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Gamification: toO muchof a gOod thing?

Digital shoreditch

4th may, 2011

Prof. Richard A. Bartle

University of essex


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introduction

This talk undertakes a simple thoughtexperiment

Suppose gamification takes ofF and twoyears from now its ubiquitous

Will it be ubiquitous five years later?

We know itcan work for individualcases

Scientology successfully gamified religion

But Can it workacroSs the boardin a sustainable fashion?


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introduction

Gamification is a term several decadesold

Usedto mean turning something not agame into a game

Nowseems to mean turning a game into

Formally, its puttinggame designpatternsto non-game use

Implies You can gamify in difFerent ways it Doesnthaveto be just pointsification

Typically itis, though, because its not undertakenby game designers...


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Serious games

Gamification differs from serious games:

Serious games want a game at the end of it

Gamification doesnt

most gamification cant lead to a game

Gamified activities arenot play and you

cant lose at them

Interestingly, serious games started out

using simplified gamification techniques but

Abandonedthem because they didnt deliver


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rewards

a key gamification aspect is rewards

Intrinsic rewards areinherentto

an activity itself Eg. formulating a cunNing plan in chess

Extrinsic rewards areacquired

for doing an activity

Eg. phat lewt

Gamification exclusively uses

extrinsic rewards


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[optional]

In games, extrinsic rewards can be used for a

number of things:

To makeimplicit progress explicit

xps make your character improve as you improve

To breadcrumb players through directionless content

es ou su osed to ll t ose u s

To open upnewcontent or shortcutplayed-

through content

With this stone you can teleportto the city of gold

To indicate the end of a narRative cycle That guy you killed was theboss of this dungeon wing

To heightenthe response from an intrinsic reward

Not only was thatfun, you getthis!


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difference

games tend to offer extrinsic rewards for

activities the playeralready finds fun

In Gamification, receipt of the reward isitselfthe fun

worth receiving!

They can beintrinsicaLly valuable

A fun, jaunty victory tune Or extrinsicaLly valuable

points


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problem

Gamification is basicallybribery

You reward someone for doing something that you

wantthem to do

If the reward isntvaluable, its not a

reward

:goods or services arenot valuable!

This will graduallydawn on people in

receipt of those points Once people recognise thepaTtern from their

pastexperiences, yourestuFfed


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Next up

If receipt ofextrinsic rewards is

taken for granted, it can undermine

intrinsic rewards Google overjustification effect

content

Wows torture quest

Yet Rewards donthaveto beregular Irregularity canaDd more

gameplaywithout implying a game


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A dark path

Regularity: pull this handle20times and

wellgive you1

employment, VaniLlagamification

Irregularity: pull this handle and theres a

gambling,advanced gamification

This is starting to look like a variable

ratio reinforcement schedule Operant conditioning

Very interesting if you have stuff to sell!


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eschewed

Game designers studiouslyavoid operant

conditioning (for extrinsic rewards)

Its not fun Fun is intrinsic, not extrinsic

Its an admission offailure

It means the gameplay is too weak on its own

Its only usable on naive players

Once theyvelearnedthe pattern, theyavoid it

Its iMmoral

It can lead to psychological problems for

some people


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gamifiers

What does this mean for gamifiers?

They dontexpect it to be funanyway

They readilyacknowledgethat theircontent isnt compelling

Its preciselywhytheyre gamifying it!

They need to realisethat this is a bubblethat will eventuallyburst

They should expect to besued if they

deliberatelytry toaDdict people

Theyre notgame designers...


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Player types

Myplayer typestheory is invoked a

lot for gamification

People play [virtual worlds] for differentreasons

, , ,

Createcontent foraLl fourtypes

Gamification problem: rewards have to

beapPropriate for the player types Points, levels, badges, leaderboards etc.

only appeal toachievers!


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furthermore

Socialisers dont wantachievement

rewards, they want rewards that let them

socialise better Which you should give themintrinsicaLly

from thestart anyway

Also, players change type over time

The8-type model explains how this happens

Players dontstay as achievers orwhatever forever theymove on


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result

IftOo much gamification goes on:

People will realise thatworthleSs

extrinsic rewardsare worthless yay. Another badge. Whoopee.

People will eventuallyrecognise and

avoid extrinsic operant conditioning tropes im not playingthis, its just likethat

People willmove on from gamification if

they were ever into it in the first place Do i reallycare if I lose the mayorship of my

local starbucks?


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conclusion

Gamification willnot be ubiquitous after

five years

The more ithapPens, the less efFective itbecomes

e s fo m :

Non-gamers will have been trained and

may want to play some actualgames

Alsook news for

gamifiers

Beforethis happens, theres pots of money

to be made!

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