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Comment by SparTom007 - Tom on January 29, 2012 at 1:11pm

Hey Charlie,

awesome first post!

+1

I agree with almost everything you said, the only thing I can say about why people do it is because they don't enjoy it as much because there is no clear way to see a reward. Even a fake reward is better than no reward because us humans are greedy and selfish (not trying to pass judgement, it's in our nature and we have to become self-aware to evolve from this). Lots of people have tried to make "games" that incoroporate EXP and grade systems which are earned through real achievements, one of the main problems is that they are too disappointing when you fail and not rewarding enough when you win. They don't really help with busy people (like myself for example). I am thinking about writing some sort of online game which will incoroporate a browser based game, youtube videos and maybe even audio files, maybe someday an app that ties everything together neatly. Anyway, nice post man, hope to read more soon!

Comment by Els van der Stok on January 25, 2012 at 8:05pm

i love the 3rd perspective advice Bernhard, i'll try that for sure.

Comment by Bernhard on January 25, 2012 at 4:11pm

I totally get why people get stuck into gaming, the system is nice and clear.

And so is the real life, if you let it! We all tend to think things through too much, so they get complicated. If you just do things, they stay simple, really. "Just do it."

I sometimes imagine myself as the player of a virtual avatar, which is my body. (I just take that example because I love gaming and it fits the topic, every other "3rd Perspective" will do the trick...)
Might sound stupid, but I find it pretty usefull! It helps to see some things out of a different perspective. Many choices we make in Games are very easy, because they don't affect us directly, they only affect the fictional guy in the game. Still, all we do with this virtual guy is achieving, achieving, and winning. Should be the same in reallife! :D So why not dare to see things from further away to lose the fear of consequences? (lol, only apply that to non lethal activities :D)

Every time I go to the gym I get my personal EXP. It does not matter if it was a great workout, or just an okay one, I was there, I worked, was "grinding for my RL EXP", and came back home with a feeling of success. Pretty much the same as in gaming. Only more useful.

Instead of playing the hero - be the hero. It's SIMPLE. Get out of the chair, stand up, and DO something towards your goals and dreams.

There are once fat people that are now models, there are handicapped guys now being bodybuilders, there are "Forever alone" type of guys who now are happily married, and all of them have one thing in common:

They stopped thinking and worrying how they could fail, and stood up to change their life.
One step at a time.

Sorry, got carried away a little... :D But, anyways, I hope I made my point of view understandable.

Comment by Charlie on January 23, 2012 at 1:55pm

Thank-you a whole bunch for your feedback Els van der Stok!

You are absolutely right in your conclusion: people spend just as much time doing even less productive things, and the same incentives aren't there when people just sit back a the TV all day or spend all their time sleeping.

The ribbon idea sounds faily interesting. For me, that kind of system works. For instance, at school I really wish we had grades for our effort every lesson, instead of just every two months. Knowing at the back of my head I was being marked would really get me striving to achieve. As it is, I just need to 're-wire' my thinking to allow my brain to see the current system in the same way.

I could go on, but I'll save it for another blog post ;) Again, thank-you so much for your reply, it means a lot.

Comment by Els van der Stok on January 23, 2012 at 12:57pm

We did do something equal when building this festival. Using the red/white plastic ribbon as points, you got like 5 when you helped putting up a tent and 2 for every 5 iron fences you put in place.
It was a lot of fun, but it just won't work irl.

Irl you have to do stuff because you wish to help other people, because you hope they might do the same, even though you can not expect them to. It is not well i did thing A for 8 karma points, now you should do thing B to get 5 back.
I totally get why people get stuck into gaming, the system is nice and clear. But it's quite useless.

 

But it is not only a game thing, there are people watching tv that same amounth of time, or just staying in bed way longer than necessary. This hasn't got the nice reward system to refer to, but it causes the same problem.

keep posting, i love to hear your opinion on more subjects.