Engaging the Learner Gamification Strives to Keep the User’s Interest
Outline
This article explores the various flaws in gamification and suggests various means by which such flaws could be fixed (Jensen, 2012). The author explains that when utilizing gamification techniques such as rewards, achievements, status increases, etc., these achievements should be personally relevant to the player to increase their interest in the game (Jensen, 2012).
Jensen (2012) goes on to state that a well-designed game contains elements such as a powerful narrative that supports the growth of the player, an experience of self-betterment through the use of well-placed achievement and status increases and finally there must be relevant player growth and learning which help to develop a far greater interest in the game itself (Jensen, 2012). It stresses that gamification should be informed by contextual inquiry to identify and enhance those games that people are already playing.
Component and/or community-based gamification elements
Jensen (2012) primarily focuses on component-based gamification elements wherein they are utilized in conjunction with an effective narrative to create far more user interest in a game.
Components
Leveling
The system of leveling within the article is connected to the concept of relevant player growth wherein a deeper meaning is derived from gaining a level. This comes in the form of being able to use spells, abilities or actions which enhance the storyline and the experience of the player (seen in the case of the Harry Potter games where increases in levels gave them access to more relevant and popular spells).
Learning mechanics
The learning mechanics within the game are connected to the concept of player self-betterment wherein they enhance the experience of the player by enabling them to have a deeper and more insightful experience in the game (this was seen in the case of the Prince of Persia game series where players were progressively introduced to harder in-game environment puzzles).
Results being sought or discussed
The results being sought in the case of this particular study is a far greater user experience which would result in a higher likelihood of product patronage due to having a better experience while playing.
Further research based on the information in the article
From the standpoint of creating better user experiences, combining an effective narrative with the principles of gamification does merit future studies especially in terms of increasing the loyalty of the player to the gaming company.
Motivating participation in social computing applications: a user modeling perspective
Outline
This paper explores aspects related to the design of online social gaming applications that attract and sustains the active participation of the various users involved within the network (Vassileva, 2012). The hypothesis of Vassileva (2012) is that it is actually possible to incorporate various mechanisms and tools into the design of an online gaming application wherein it actually encourages users to actively participate in the game and actually change their behaviors towards more positive results which benefit the in-game community as a whole (Vassileva, 2012).
As such it advocates the personalization of incentives and rewards inherent in games when they are given to a player, the use of varying and changing models when it comes to community needs as well as changes based on different phases of its existence (Vassileva, 2012). Lastly, the paper advocates the use of proper incentive mechanisms within the game so as to result in contributions that are considered beneficial. Overall, the paper presents various approaches and methods in order to influence both the attitudes and methods of playing the game by individual users or by the entire game community (Vassileva, 2012).
Component and/or community-based gamification elements
Vassileva (2012) primarily focuses on community-based gamification elements which influence the perceptions and behavior of people playing an online game.
Incentives
In the case of this particular study, one of the advocated incentives involves personalization of achievement and rewards in order to create a greater degree of attachment to the game itself (this was seen in the case of SWOTOR online where crafting achievements allowed players to sell increasingly rare items with their name on it).
Community Contributions
This particular aspect of the article involves the creation of in-game elements which encourage active participation by the entire game community (this can be seen in the case of World of Warcraft and the Scarab Lord quest which requires nearly all the major guilds).
Results being sought
The results being sought within this paper is to develop a means of encouraging positive and active participation of all members of a game’s player community.
Further research based on the information in the article
The creation of models of active community participation within a game has been shown to increase the longevity of a game title. As such, this merits further investigation into the various elements that comprise it.
Toy Psychology
Outline
In this article the author questions the effectiveness of the present trend of gamification in altering human behavior (Antin, 2011). He explains the concept of gamification which is based on the assumption that gaming is engaging which lead towards motivation and invoking reinforcement learning and mentions about little research which has been conducted to prove the efficiency of game mechanics in invoking psychological phenomena like reputation or social status (Antin, 2011).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
Social Status
Antin (2011) explains that some gamers actively seek social status and as such, game development should take this into consideration when creating new gaming titles (this attitude can be seen in the obsession some gamers have in reaching the top of the leader board).
Reputation
The author explains that reputation, just as much as the gaming experience, plays an active role in a player’s enjoyment of a game. Taking this into consideration, the author advocate the implementation of in game based methods of reputation enhancement as a means of increasing the interest of players.
Results being sought
The results being sought by this article is an improvement in the way in which social status and reputation are integrated into an online gaming environment.
Further research based on the information in the article
The concepts of social status and reputation have varying psychological underpinnings and as such could help to increase an individual’s propensity to play a game based on their need for the aforementioned aspects.
Game of Life
Outline
The article discusses gamification, examining an experiment conducted by the author in which he used mobile device applications which award points for daily activities including EpicWin, Chore Wars, and Foursquare (Shaer, 2012). Game developers Nick Fortugno and Margaret Wallace designed a program to test whether gamification can improve the relationships, health habits, and sleep habits of users. The author examines the psychological aspects of gaming (Shaer, 2012).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
The author in this particular case focuses on a component oriented approach.
Components
Award system
In this article an award system is utilized wherein a series of points are given to users for daily use of mobile device applications such as Epic Win, Chore Wars, and Foursquare. This results in access to more features, bonuses and even prizes for daily users.
Results being sought
The results being sought in this particular case is whether gamification can improve the relationships, health habits, and sleep habits of users
Further research based on the information in the article
Point systems have been around for years as see in case of the point cards used by Starbucks however their use in digital applications in order to encourage usage is an entirely new concept and warrants further examination into other potential applications.
‘Elven Elder LVL59 LFP/RB. Please PM me’: immersion, collaborative tasks and problem-solving in massively multiplayer online games
Outline
Voulgari and Komis (2010) elaborate in their article that while online games have environments which encourage social interaction and learning, present day developers actually lack the tools in effectively investigating which methods of gamification actually lead to greater player social interaction and greater interest in the game (Voulgari & Komis,2010).
Through their study it was shown that a balanced convergence of factors related to the design of the tasks within the game, the mechanics, the method of collaboration in reaching community goals and a sense of competition created through the content of the game (i.e. factions) resulted in greater interest and social interaction (Voulgari & Komis,2010).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
Community goals
The researchers in this particular case outlined the necessity of game based competition as a means of creating increased interest in the game through a sense of “belonging” which fosters an inherent desire to immerse oneself in the community.
Competition
By utilizing competition, players feel a drive to contribute more to the community which in the end results in longer playing time on the game.
Results being sought
The result that was sought at the onset of this study was to determine what precise factors directly contributed towards greater social interaction and interest in the game.
Video Game Genre as a Predictor of Problem Use
Outline
In this study the researchers investigated what gamification techniques and the video game genres that they are a part of actually led to addiction among players (Elliott et al., 2012). Their investigations revealed that problem use (or in this case addiction) was seen in subsets of games that involved first person shooters, role-playing or adventure type games where there was a large emphasis placed on PVP (player versus player combat) (Elliott et al., 2012).
It was revealed by the study that gamification related to intense competition among the players involved led to a higher predilection for obsessive gaming behaviors (Elliott et al., 2012).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
The focus of the article was in community based gamification strategies wherein PVP competitive combat among players resulted in addiction.
Competition
Through the use of PVP combat as a catalyst for increasing player interest, it was shown in this study that players enjoyed fighting against one another, especially in the case of factions, due to the sense of belonging to a community and having a shared goal.
Results being sought
The study sought to examine what gamification techniques and game genres lead to the development of gaming addiction.
Further research based on the information in the article
The research shown in this article can be utilized as a sufficient basis in game development wherein gamification strategies involving intense competition can be utilized in order to increase the popularity of a particular type of game.
Play Space
Outline
The article discusses the business trend of gamification, where principles of gaming are used in marketing, customer relations, and employee motivation (Jay, 2011). Gaming elements adopted by companies involve those found in online social games, such as rewards, badges, and challenges (Jay, 2011). Examples are given of companies at the forefront of this movement, including customer loyalty analytics specialist Badgeville, workplace performance platform Rypple, and fitness application developer Nexercise (Jay, 2011).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
This article focuses on a combination of component bases and community based gamification elements in order to enhance employee performance and behavior within the workplace.
Rewards
The rewards aspect of the gamification strategy shown in this article involves giving a set reward if a particular employee reaches a particular metric. This could consist of reaching a target sales revenue, having perfect attendance, being punctual etc.
Badges
Badges in this particular aspect work as a means of identifying exemplary employees within the company and act as a means of encouraging positive behaviors through the recognition of work done for the company.
Results being sought
This article attempted to determine what gamification elements have companies been utilizing as a means of enhancing employee performance and behavior.
Further research based on the information in the article
Considering the fact that employee performance has always been an important facet of a company’s internal operations strategy is it can be assumed that methods of increasing employee performance would definitely pique the interest of most companies and as such necessitates the need for further research.
GAME ON!
Outline
This article examines the implementation of gamification in business processes in order to increase employee performance and motivate them towards behaviors deemed “positive and productive” by the company (Liyakasa, 2012). It emphasizes the need to create definitive goals, observe the various nuances of their behaviors and apply a method of reward in order to encourage positive performance and progressive employee development (Liyakasa, 2012a).
Lastly, the article gives an insightful explanation of the various processes involved in gamification and how they can be integrated into a company’s performance architecture (Liyakasa, 2012a).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
Point System
One of the aspects emphasized by this article was the use of a point system in order to encourage positive employee behavior. By giving employee points which could be accumulated for prizes, this in turn encouraged them to perform better at their jobs and create a means by which the company could incentivize positive performance.
Reward system
In relation to the point system is the reward system emphasized by the article, this rewards in this system are determined by the number of points collected. The better an employee is at their job, the more points they collect and as a result the better their prize. This creates an incentive to keep on improving which in turn improves the company as a whole.
Results being sought
This study attempted to elaborate on and devise methods of increasing employee performance in the work place through the implementation of a point and reward system in order to incentivize performance. It was the assumption of the article that by doing so this would create a means by which companies could measure and determine their ability to increase performance based on the rewards offered.
Further research based on the information in the article
While utilizing techniques to incentivize performance has been present within the business world for quite some time, it must be noted that most of the techniques utilize usually focus on salary based incentives. The use of a point system where employees can track their performance and receive a reward based on the points they accumulated is a new concept that has yet to catch on, however, based on the results shown by the author it appears to have considerable merit.
Gamification: A new way to shape behavior
Outline
The article focuses on the application of gamification, the process of adding game mechanics in an environment that usually does not use such a concept, to create incentives and a more engaging experience for consumers (Swan, 2012). It says that gamification would play a role in engaging the Millennials or Generation Y in businesses (Swan, 2012). Two examples of gamification are GetGlue, a social network for sharing entertainment interests and actions, and Bunchball’s Nitro platform, used for employee motivation (Swan, 2012).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
Incentives
In this particular case, incentives are used in order to encourage customers to either to continue using a service, use it on a more prolific basis or even derive some form of enjoyment due to the rewards attained after a certain period of time.
Results being sought
The results that were being sought in this study were the various means in which gamification based incentives could be utilized in order to increase a customer’s interest in a particular product or service. This was done through an introduction of the various platforms that have been created to provide such incentives.
Further research based on the information in the article
Creating customer incentives in order to increase sales or product patronage has been around for many years, however, gamification techniques that utilize point systems and rewards as a result of usage have rarely been seen within the market and as such shows possible avenues of approach that businesses could use to attract customers.
Turning Business into Pleasure
Outline
This article provides information on the various ways in which companies have been implementing gamification techniques and practices into their various social business initiatives (Liyakasa, 2012b). By doing so this enables companies to better serve customers by making an otherwise rudimentary and boring task actually interesting (Liyakasa, 2012b).
Component and/or community based gamification elements
Creating engaging constructs
The creation of engaging constructs in the case of this article involves the implementation of systems that are dynamic and interesting. This results in better usability and far more interest creating a better company-customer relationship.
Results being sought
The results that were being sought in this article were the various gamification techniques that companies have been utilizing in their social business initiatives. By doing so, the article was able to reveal the necessity of creating effective gamification platform that engage customers and help them to better utilize particular services.
Further research based on the information in the article
Developing effective systems to make things more interesting and effective for customers should be the goal of every company. By apply techniques related to gamification a company will be able to effectively implement such aspects and as a result create better products and services.
Reference list
Antin, J.2011.Toy Psychology. Technology Review.114 (5): 11.
Elliott, L., Golub, A., Ream, G., & Dunlap, E. 2012. Video Game Genre as a Predictor of Problem Use. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 15(3): 155-161.
Jay., W. W. 2011. Play space. Entrepreneur, 39(12), 67-68.
Jensen, M. 2012. Engaging the Learner Gamification Strives to Keep the User’s Interest. T and D, 66(1), 40.
Liyakasa, K. 2012a. Game on. CRM Magazine, 16(5), 28-32.
Liyakasa, K. 2012b. Turning Business Into Pleasure. CRM Magazine, 16(3): 14.
Shaer, M. 2012. Game of Life. Popular Science, 280(2): 54.
Swan, C. 2012. Gamification: A new way to shape behavior. Communication World, 29(3): 13-14.
Vassileva, J.2012.Motivating participation in social computing applications: a user modeling perspective. Social Computing, (1): 177-201.
Voulgari, I., & Komis, V. 2010. ‘Elven Elder LVL59 LFP/RB. Please PM me’: immersion, collaborative tasks and problem-solving in massively multiplayer online games. Learning, Media & Technology, 35(2): 171-202.
