I’m going to stop posting every single one of my tweets to this blog. Only the last few will now show up in the right hand side of the blog.
Other blogging resolution:
- Try to blog at least once every few months ( focus = quality, not quantity )
- Keep blog posts to under 1 page (max). Short & sweet.
Check back in December to see how I made out 
Game theory is something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Especially considering an upcoming app we are about to launch.
Here is a great video about the topic and some take aways:
- Good game design keep the users in the “Flow’, hovering between boredom and anxiety.
- The most powerful reenforcement schedule is to reward users without them knowing 100% how they got the reward ( think “slot machine” ).
- 5 foundational elements to game mechanics:
#1 - Collecting ( Collecting badges, points, trading cards, twitter followers, etc )
- “The power of completing a set. Think: “Your profile is 40% complete”
#2 - Points
3 types:
1) Game points, points you achieve by playing
2) social points, points others give you ( comments, ratings, etc )
3) Redeemable points: Loyalty programs, redeemable within the system, give community a sense that they are accomplishing something.
Leaderboards:
- Express what’s valued in your system ( # of comments? # of uploads? most active members? )
Levels:
- Drives behavoir and gives sense of accomplishment
#3 Feedback:
- Stats & data about progress
- Gives sense of progress, is fun,
Social feedback:
- Getting “friended”, retweeted
#4 Exchanges:
- Think: Turned based games ( Chess )
- Swapping goods ( World of Warcraft )
- Gifting ( reciprocity )
#5 Customizations
- Customizing: Characters, profiles, templates
- Adds stickiness to the system. More customization = harder to leave.
