Gamification’s all the rage in the game-o-blog-o-place-o-sphere right now, and why shouldn’t it be? Turning the world into a giant videogame? Where do I sign? And do I get experience points for doing so? But therein lies the problem: priorities. There’s a not-so-old saying that goes “don’t hate the player, hate the game.” Here, though, the game exists because the player refuses to stop playing. Ever. Please tell me that raises some red flags for you too. At the very least, Slate’s Heather Chaplin agrees, and questions the entire foundation of the Gamification movement in the process.

“Gamification advocates do not preach the beauty and power of play. Perhaps without knowing it, they’re selling a pernicious worldview that doesn’t give weight to literal truth. Instead, they are trafficking in fantasies that ignore the realities of day-to-day life. This isn’t fun and games—it’s a tactic most commonly employed by repressive, authoritarian regimes,” she cautioned.

What she said next, however, is key. In a nutshell: is Gamification really a solution for anything? Or is it merely a band-aid that hides a grievous societal wound that’ll continue to fester and rot while we’re none-the-wiser?

“What [McGonigal] misses is that there are legitimate reasons why people feel they’re achieving less. These include the boring literal truths of jobs shipped overseas, stagnant wages, and a taxation system that benefits the rich and hurts the middle class and poor. You want to transform peoples’ lives into games so they feel as if they’re doing something worthwhile? Why not just shoot them up with drugs so they don’t notice how miserable they are? You could argue that peasants in the Middle Ages were happy imagining that the more their lives sucked here on earth the faster they’d make it into heaven. I think they’d have been better off with enough to eat and some health care.”

She also added that Gamification essentially creates a corporate paradise – where corporations can sidestep quality service and lower prices by rewarding us with “points, peer recognition, and their names on leader boards.”

And really, what does all of this say about us as people? Have we become so complacent and entitled that we can’t derive satisfaction from, you know, actual existence? And if we can’t, well, maybe it’s time to make some changes – find a new job, meet new people, live life on our own terms. It’s weird: when someone’s life is in the gutter and they escape into an MMO for 100 hours each week, it’s a clear sign that they’re in a bad place. But Gamification – which advocates a similar mentality applied more practically – pops up and no one bats an eyelash? Is our denial about the state of modern society that deeply entrenched? If so, that’s truly frightening – perhaps one of the scariest things I’ve ever heard.

Life is something that should be experienced to its fullest. Emotions, hardships, happiness, sadness, good, bad – each should be cherished, because they form the core of the human experience. If you try to treat life’s low points like a disease that can be cured, you’re just fooling yourself. “Hardship builds character” is a cliche, sure, but there’s a reason for that. There’s a time and place for fun, certainly (I work in the gaming industry, for crying out loud), but even I know that taking care of real issues comes first. Gamification, meanwhile, blurs the line between those two activities and threatens to completely undermine both in the process.

I enjoyed writing this post, and it needed to be said. So keep your experience points. I don’t want them.

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