The reason we've kept our description on HN very matter-of-fact is: we feel most readers on HN will likely want to know the concept for what it is rather than have it sugar coated. I'm not sure I want to turn that into a sales pitch. Should I?
Yes, we do plan to tie up the APIs and build a game on top them. We look at it as a universal game that you can play irrespective of the check-in service you use (Your Yelp check-ins will fetch you points that will let you lock horns with Gowalla and Foursquare users). I guess being more loud about 'universal' might help. And we hope to see some very interesting conversations around purchases that should help users discover new stuff (think hollrr.com meets location). If it does get traction, we'll be able to offer users some pretty sweet deals from the locations they check-in to / shop at.
That being said, I recognize that we haven't answered the "what's in it for me if I sign up now?" question convincingly. Since this value will become apparent in the future, do you think its alright to beat a drum about how cool it will be and make promises we might (possibly) not be able to keep?