Game design, the secret to reconstructing capitalism.August 27th, 2009 View Comments |
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Seriously, games.
Chris Messina, Losing my religion:
I will say this: I’m an advocate for open source and open standards because I believe that open ecosystems — i.e. those with low barriers to entry (low startup costs; low friction to launch; public infrastructure for sustaining productivity) — are essential for competition at the level of user experience.
It may seem paradoxical, but open systems in which secretive design processes are used can result in better solutions, overall.
Thus when I talk about openness, I really mean openness from an economic/competitive perspective.
And how will we construct “open systems” using “secretive design processes”?
Games.
Seriously. Games:
- A bounded set of social interactions that promote and incent gestures, behaviors and actions,
- To build individual status and social capital,
- Defined by a system of rules (i.e. game mechanics) and implicit and explicit economic incentives,
- Leveraging the power of mystery, positive intermittent variable reinforcement and the serendipity behind “human collisions”,
- Wrapped in a user-friendly design,
- Creating an embedded holistic accounting system that captures unvalued externalities (i.e. broad value, not narrow profit; humanity, not massconomy),
- … the secret to reconstructing capitalism.
Right?
August 27th, 2009 at 13:01
Ya I think so :-)
August 27th, 2009 at 13:16
Haha… I'll admit it's a reach; but stretches in thought are fun :)
August 27th, 2009 at 14:09
Hmm. But that's like including the word you're defining in your definition… How can you achieve good design if it requires a game “wrapped in a user-friendly design”? That's kind of the problem that I want to solve! ;)
August 27th, 2009 at 18:53
I'm in new jersey right now watching “big brother”, you ever seen?
Great “game dynamics”!!!
August 28th, 2009 at 1:09
Ok, not all games; point taken :)
August 28th, 2009 at 1:21
Good catch, it is a bit of a recursive thought.
As you know, the problem you're looking to solve isn't just design, but how to structure, guide and incent the collaboration of the masses, with the recognition that some centralization (“benevolent dictatorship”) is necessary.
It's a tough conflict I've been fighting through in my mind as well, although you've been dealing with it much deeper and longer than me.
I just believe we can learn some lessons in bridging open/closed systems by understanding game mechanics. I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch, but stretches are fun :)
August 28th, 2009 at 13:38
I don't remember what I said yesterday but I was serious about big bro
Also I was playing sim city yesterday and it's got some great
complicated rules
August 28th, 2009 at 20:38
I don’t remember what I said yesterday but I was serious about big brornrnAlso I was playing sim city yesterday and it’s got some great rncomplicated rules
September 6th, 2009 at 5:52
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November 30th, 2009 at 6:27
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