[andrei_says_]

Gamification has shown to reduce the enthusiasm for the activity being gamified.

Rewarding any activity diminishes intrinsic motivation. Focus shifts on the reward, our brains deem the activity as worth-less in the absence of a reward. The activity is now a chore.

See the work of Alfie Kohn and Stanford’s online course on gamification.

[ilt]

Ha! I just read a comment yesterday on a Reddit Duolingo forum about how Duolingo doesn't reward a person when they finish a certain language completely, I guess this is what happened there. "Activity seems to be worthless in the absence of a reward."

[avshelestov]

Totally agree. Rewards are super important and just feel good.