Reddit reviews Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas

Simply put, I hate it - I'd rather go back to the world of a few years ago where everything was a micro-transaction, at least I knew what I was getting.

It's an insidious practice that preys on minors with "gambling-light" and also to those prone to problem gambling.

I've read this book on how video poker/slot machines are designed to foster addiction - all/most lootbox systems in games use similar tactics - especially the "near miss" tactic where it shows you almost got an epic/legendary item (but didn't)

To add insult to injury, game publishers are forcing designers to build their games around micro-transaction economies, normal "free" progression in many games is screwed now - it end's up being a "reach deeper into your pocket for a chance at the full experience" situation.

There are books written about the bells and whistles casinos employ in slot machines to get people addicted. It’s quite interesting

https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880

Because they're specifically designed to get you to spend more money?

There's an entire industry and science behind the idea of making casino slots more addictive, and the same principles have been used in gaming.

for starters:

Designing casinos to dominate the competition: The Friedman international standards of casino design

> Friedman looks at what facets of design have produced phenomenal results and which layouts actually turn customers away. The Winning and Losing Principles section includes open appearance, vacant entrances, raised landings, visible depth, privacy, spaciousness, focal points, open or closed restaurant, height of ceilings, depth of decor and decorative lighting, interior themes, private playing areas, open or closed race and sports books and sound levels, among others. Various casinos are evaluated via these principles with recommendations for improvement

Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas

> Schüll describes the strategic calculations behind game algorithms and machine ergonomics, casino architecture and "ambience management," player tracking and cash access systems--all designed to meet the market's desire for maximum "time on device." Her account moves from casino floors into gamblers' everyday lives, from gambling industry conventions and Gamblers Anonymous meetings to regulatory debates over whether addiction to gambling machines stems from the consumer, the product, or the interplay between the two.

that seems very niche, and theres not many jobs associated with it (hence not a bunch of established focused resources for learning it)

i would just dive in directly with kinect development / browse the SDK forums. and also learn some stuff about fitness + game rules theory (what makes games fun and engaging). or read the book on why slot machines are so addictive to make your game fun

That's true re: apps and laziness, but you have to understand something. I know people who were hired away from a slot machine video gaming company to work at major apps seeking VC funding in SF. Literally, these people were hired for their knowhow in making slot machines addictive in making a phone app addictive. It's one thing to say that we have a natural bend for curiosity, and it's something completely different to say people are actually intentionally targeting us where we're weakest and designing applications that directly exploit that weakness. There was an app put out by a Russian company a few months back that would take your face and age it. They got your names from when you downloaded it from the app store, and now they have your faces. That app was designed to collect pictures of people's faces and their corresponding names. The app also allowed you to share with friends and encouraged your friends to get involved. Therefore, they also got social circles. This is just one such "addiction by design" example, and people don't even realize they did it until it's pointed out directly to them.

This book: https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880 is required reading at many companies for app designer roles. There's probably 5,000 - 10,000 people being paid at least $150k a year right now to get 10% more of your time on their devices every year.

Ug, so I can't find the article that I was thinking of...I read it a few years back when I had just started playing World of Warcraft and it made me quit immediately. The gist was that gaming companies took all these learnings from casinos about what made them successful, how to get people to stay, etc. and applied them to their games. The basic tenet IIRC was to give a small reward, quickly at first and then with a longer space of time in between and diminishing rewards over time (so the player works harder and longer for each successive reward, but are initially hooked by the quick rewards). Casinos have used both the physical space itself (mazes, no time, etc.) as well as perfecting the art of addiction/reward on video slot machines.

This article talks about applying those concepts to mobile games, but the article I read mentioned WoW and similar games by name so it was slightly different.

This article talks a lot about the devices that they use to get gamers coming back repeatedly over a span of time. (Again, ug. wish I could find my old article. It was directly linking these behaviors to games and addiction and was less dry). The guy that wrote this a Ph.D. in Behavioral and Brain Sciences from Duke University and is currently the chairman of the IGDA Games User Research SIG. He was formerly a game designer for Microsoft.

Here are some other random links that came up when I was looking.
http://www.psychguides.com/guides/video-game-addiction-symptoms-causes-and-effects/

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=world+of+warcraft+addiction

http://www.cnet.com/news/when-games-stop-being-fun/

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~tdebeauv/files/2011-WoWretention.pdf

http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5-creepy-ways-video-games-are-trying-to-get-you-addicted.html

Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0691160880/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-.geAbXEXSS46

Not exactly the same thing but if recommend people to check out this book. It's so scary the lengths to which people will go.

Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691160880/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_b6E6BbJGSAQV9

Relevant read to the article

https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880

Here's a good primer. The game industry has taken the "lessons" on how to create addictive behavior from casinos and slot machines and implemented it into these kinds of reward systems. It's not neutral. It's manipulative and abusive.

There actually is a book on this: https://www.amazon.com/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880; the author interviews gambling machine and casino designers, as well as frequent gamblers, to show how gambling addition happens. The book gets a bit dry in some places, but it's also really interesting to see how much thought goes into making it addictive.