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Tim Winsky
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Great article. Overjustification has most certainly compromised my own enjoyment of games, and now I feel like I better understand why.
How is it that "gamification" has become the official term for these types of artificial incentives, anyway? Aren't we speaking of something that existed far before modern-day achievement-hunting? Heck, Cub Scouts had badge unlocks far before Playstation.
I guess one reason this classification bothers me is because I believe the achievement structure (or "metagame") shouldn't be confused with actual game design (such as level structure, a game's win/lose conditions, fine-tuning the world's physics and player control, etc) -- which is more directly tied to what you refer to as a game's intrinsic enjoyment. To me, this classification makes as much sense as categorizing, say, the voice acting in a cutscene under "game design" as well.
Does Overjustification Hurt Games?
Concern about gamification has brought about a healthy discussion about its limits – but have we really understood the extent to which games themselves are already subject to a stifling of free play by explicit rewards like Achievements? In psychology, the overjustification effect refers to si...
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Jul 9, 2012
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