Elizabeth Harson:  Responding to Seth Priebatsch – The game layer on top of the world.

Seth attempts to create a game layer on top of the world to influence people’s actions.  He states that the last decade was the decade of social media and the next decade will be the game decade.  Whereby everything we do is motivated by levels and rewards.  The game frame work is built to influence our behavior.  He calls it “Game Dynamics”.  He thinks this game theory will be built for the good of business and/or economy.

This definitely will affect our lives more deeply than facebook.  People will become obsessed or addicted with moving up in terms of levels and/or receiving the rewards.

He shared four dynamics:

  

      1.  Appointment Dynamic

A dynamic in which to succeed, one must return at a predefined time to take a predetermined action.  (ex. happy hour)

     
     2.  Influence and Status

The ability of one player to modify the behavior of another’s actions through social pressure.               

      3.  Progression Dynamics

A dynamic in which success is granularly displayed and measured through the process of completing itemized tasks.  (ex. People will work hard to level up, it hooks people)

      4.  Communal Discovery

A dynamic wherein an entire community is rallied to work together to solve a challenge.  (ex. Solving problems together and share the reward)

I believe at some level we are already there as a society.  Time is consumed by games that people are totally addicted to and have no value in the “real” world.  At the same time, I can see the benefits, but I have to ask, “What value of life is this creating for us all?”  Do we want to live a life of game?  How will this truly affect our world?