
The Strangely Compelling Game Mechanic Powering Google+ - JamesLowell
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/07/the-strangely-compelling-game-mechanic-powering-google/241595/
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bendotc
While "juicy" interface elements are certainly found in games, the "+1" pop-up
circle is no more a game mechanic than a text input box is.

(I realize I'm being pedantic. As a game developer, this sort of playing fast-
and-loose with words annoys me in the same way people talking about
"programming in HTML" may annoy you.)

Regardless, while I think it overstates the case a bit, I do think that that
pop-up is actually a good driver of user behavior, at least on a moment-to-
moment level.

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talkingquickly
I'd be interested to know what people consider a true game mechanic to be.
Examples such as the op of including game like behaviour or incentives in
interactions we wouldn't normally think of as games is increasingly popular
and effective so at what point does it move from "gamification" to a true game
mechanic?

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pak
I would say there are three main elements of game mechanics: 1) rewards or
penalties; 2) unpredictability, either through interaction with other players
or pure chance; 3) utilizing player skills that can be improved with repeated
play experience.

None of those are involved here, except maybe a little bit of 1) if you
consider +1 a "visual reward". I'd really expect all three to be involved
before saying something has game mechanics--you can easily find each of them
in Foursquare, for instance.

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omaranto
A little off-topic: but does anyone who has tried Google Circles know if
they're as easy (I've read many times that they are more fun :)) to make as
Facebook friend lists? To make a list in Facebook I add two or three people to
it and Facebook guesses pretty damn well who else I want on that list
(presumably by doing something like approximate clique cover on my component
of the social graph). Maybe other people's social circles bleed into each
other more and that might confuse Facebook algorithm, but for me it worked
like a charm.

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hasenj
This would only be true if Google wanted you to invite as many people as you
can! But this is not the case; at least for now.

