Welcome back, gamers and players.

Since I quit updating this blog regularly, I’ve been very busy in developing a couple of important project, either in academic and business field. Because it’s almost 6 month you’re waiting for any news, I have to recollect some of the things I’m working on before I give some anticipation of the future topics.

First of all, I’ve made a contribution to a gamification academic book (that will be published soon). That was quite a challenge: not for the topic (practical application of game theory) but because reaching an appropriate standard of language and expression, something I’ve never excelled at (as you’ve seen in these pages), wasn’t easy. Also, I’ve integrated a self-assessment test very complex to build and test… and this whole operation has been outrageously time-consuming.

The second and more challenging activities is in business field. I’ve developed with a small team of founders a start-up operating in e-commerce. It seems very far away from gamification (well, anyway I’m acting as CMO), but we use behavioural management and social interaction to obtain goals. Unfortunately, right now, I can’t tell you more: but as soon as we release the international website for the company, I’ll link that.

So, what is next? I wish to publish a few articles I’ve already started, that only need some rewriting. They focus respectively on PBL (Point Leaderboard Badges), ARC (Alternate Reality Campaign), a top ten of the best gamification application field, an overview of MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena – DOTA in particular). I’m also translating an essay about narrative storytelling games structure (from an analytic point of view) that will be published here as downloadable PDF, and a SROI (Social Return of Investment) essays that, probably, will not be presented here because unrelated to gamification.

These topic will allow me to reach at least summer having something useful to say. Then, we’ll see. Anyway, there is another recent event that deserves attention.

Play it Again, Gartner!

You probably know I’ve never gone easy with Gartner (checking out my previous post will confirm that). Recently, anyway, Gartner made some gamification expert quite nervous, because of the new gamification definition released recently.

• Here you find the original Gartner’s article by Burke with the new definition
• Here is Kevin Shane reply
• Here is Andrzej Marczewski reply
• Here is Josè Carlos Cortizo reply

Also Roman Rackwtiz on Twitter engage Burke to better explain his definition…

Well, I think this time you shouldn’t waste your time in criticizing Gartner. They are simply doing their dirty, standard job: simplifying difficult topic until any manager (no matter how dumb) can understand and use fancy, trendy and cool words with his subordinates and bosses. That’s what Gartner always do: making the world understandable for those who are not specialist or qualified, but have the money or the leverage to decide business investment trends.

So, I really don’t understand why to complain with Gartner today, because ALL their definition (of gamification, but in general) are meant to be used by someone who doesn’t know what he (or she) is talking about. Let’s keep our complains to something that deserves it… like PBL gamification (as in my next post)!