From Games to Gamification: A Classification of Rewards in World of Warcraft for the Design of Gamified Systems

Background. Gamification commonly uses a limited set of design elements to enhance applications and services in a variety of contexts, such as learning, health and work. However, gamification techniques are based on well-established design practices and rarely new game elements are added to the catalogue available to gamification designers. Aim. This article enriches such catalogue by taking inspiration from WORLD OF WARCRAFT (WoW). Specifically, it focuses on WoW’s rewards to show how games are capable of creating complex and diversified design elements that may have different impacts on players. Method. Through an ethnographic study, this article defines a classification of WoW’s rewards based on the values that players ascribe to them, as well as on the effects that such incentives produce on players’ experience. Results. Starting from these findings, the article describes a series of design considerations for using rewards in different application fields, such as learning and behavior change. Conclusions. The considerations can be usefully applied to the gamification domain, as well as to the design of games with serious purposes.