White Hat vs Black Hat Gamification
Another factor to note within the Octalysis Framework is that the top Core Drives in the octagon are considered very positive motivations, while the bottom Core Drives are considered to be more negative. I call techniques that heavily use the top Core Drives “White Hat Gamification,” while techniques that utilize the bottom Core Drives are called “Black Hat Gamification.”
If something is engaging because it lets you express your creativity, makes you feel successful through skill mastery, and gives you a higher sense of meaning, it makes you feel very good and powerful. On the other hand, if you are always doing something because you don’t know what will happen next, you are constantly in fear of losing something, or because you’re struggling to attain things you can’t have, the experience will often leave a bad taste in your mouth- even if you...