Game+mechanics

Understanding player motivation is the key to implementing gamification principles successfully.

Game mechanic elements
The primary game mechanic elements are listed below. Click on the link to jump to a page that discusses specific considerations, examples, and ideas for implementing each in LearningU's new website and LMS (Joomla).
 * Points
 * Levels
 * Leaderboards
 * Badges
 * Challenges or quests
 * Onboarding
 * Engagement loops
 * Virtual goods and spaces
 * Gifts and charity

Human desires fulfilled by game elements
These elements fulfill some of the most basic human motivations or desires and this is what makes them so powerful. Because not every person is motivated in the same way, it's important to implement some form of each element. Notice the different primary desires fulfilled by the game mechanic elements:
 * Reward
 * Points
 * Surprise and unexpected delight //(slot machines, Easter eggs, geocaching, unique and funny badges)//
 * Recognition for achievement //(badges, trophies, contests, game shows, award shows, kudos system)//
 * Virtual goods
 * Status
 * Levels
 * Leading others //(team-based or cooperative challenges, levels associated with leadership, long-term "great" challenges requiring multiple players)//
 * Fame or attention //(leaderboards based on player feedback, scores, and promotion; award shows, game shows, contests; large or out-of-scale promotional opportunities (images on Flicker's home page))//
 * Being the hero //("rescue the maiden" challenges, responding to friends asking for help, MacGruber: things are going to blow up in 10...9...8...)//
 * Gaining status //(public badges and trophies, limited-edition public items, public scores and leaderboards)//
 * Achievement
 * Badges
 * Challenges
 * Pattern recognition //(memory games, object matching, earn and burn: optimize a virtual economy)//
 * Collecting //(stamps and badges, scarcity and return: limited-availability items, time-based items, trading with others)//
 * Organizing and creating order //(time/job/throughput challenges, combining like items, creating symmetry, organizing teams)//
 * Self-expression
 * Virtual spaces
 * Flirtation and romance //(poking, smiling, flirting, express interest in a specific person, shout-outs)//
 * Competition
 * Leaderboards
 * Altruism
 * Gifting //(transferable virtual items, gift reminders and recommendations, Karma points)//
 * Nurturing, growing //(Tamagotchi-style feed or die, points that expire without activity or growth, pyramid scoring with cumulative scores for teams and leaders)//

Implementing game mechanics

 * No such thing as a set-it-and-forget-it gamified system
 * Requires repeated testing and iterations
 * Experience points (XP) that assigns a point value to everything the user does is the absolute minimum for launch
 * The XP system must be able to report back so processes can be watched and modified
 * Most important early players are those with the highest and most recent scores (points)
 * Examples of resolving the "empty bar" problem:
 * Foursquare's early implementation: Odds of success were maximized by making players compete with themselves until enough users exist to compete with others
 * Some companies hire people to sit in game rooms so there's always someone to play
 * Groupon: Challenged people to get 24 other people motivated to buy (gave prizes to those who did it)
 * Need a dashboard to understand what users are doing

Other gamification pages
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