Jumble Thoughts: Prediction: 2010 will be the year of game mechanics
aaronwhite
· 2 months ago
Wrote this almost exactly a year ago, would love to hear your thoughts!
"Prepare yourself to see game-like elements appear like wild-fire across the web in the coming year (if you haven’t already). Examples include goal based systems: guided profile completion, guided and staged interactive tutorials. Achievements: social rewards, system rewards, points & merits. Competitive rankings: global leader-boards, social leader-boards, etc."
Game mechanics aren't anything new, and generally they can be great, but there is definitely a need to "only use when appropriate". There are lots of cases where game mechanics encouraged destructive behavior (Digg leaderboards come to mind).
The whole concept of badges and mayorships that reset periodically is an interesting one, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.
All Comments
"Prepare yourself to see game-like elements appear like wild-fire across the web in the coming year (if you haven’t already). Examples include goal based systems: guided profile completion, guided and staged interactive tutorials. Achievements: social rewards, system rewards, points & merits. Competitive rankings: global leader-boards, social leader-boards, etc."
http://aaronwhite.tumblr.com/post/57278732/web-...
but there is definitely a need to "only use when appropriate". There
are lots of cases where game mechanics encouraged destructive behavior
(Digg leaderboards come to mind).
The whole concept of badges and mayorships that reset periodically is
an interesting one, and I'm excited to see how it plays out.