Gamification Needs to Level Up — Here’s How

I agree with the tenuousity of just tacking shallow game elements on top of existing applications. Using game mechanics and dynamics for optimal user engagement and loyalty is a deep and complex topic that is currently being explored and researched by many.

If you are interested to learn more, we are setting up a new Wiki for gamification discussions and the open/crowd sourcing of various game mechanics @ http://gamification.org

People can't even agree what gamification is. As the article points out, there is a push towards what some people call pointification. (BTW I hate both of these terms.)

I see the main breakdown as being some people see gamification as making things more game like and some (myself included) see it as taking feedback elements from games and moving them into non gaming applications. There is room for intersection there, but those looking to amke everything "fun" are going to have their work cut out for them. I don't believe everything can be made to be fun - more interesting, yes, but not necessarily fun. I mean, even many games have elements that aren't fun. People don't grind in RPGs because it's fun. Achievement hunting is more about collecting than being fun. Fun is overrated. I'll take motivational over fun any day.