User blog comment:Sdevine/Thoughts about HabitRPG and gamification/@comment-24459124-20140222014123

You've hit the nail on the head as far as the success of HabitRPG's gamification. As someone who has, in the past, stayed up well past my bedtime to try to get an Xbox achievement, I find the way HabitRPG touches that certain part of my rat-brain to get me to do things I need or should do is harnessing my generally-ill-met obsessions for good.

As a side note, I'm writing up a page for the wiki on the Habit Loop (as described in the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg). It's not yet finished, but it describes how most people get into habits through a cue, a routine, and a reward. I find that HabitRPG does a good job of hitting the right notes for the rewards, but the drop cap can interfere with it.

As someone who has a morning routine of disparate elements, I find all my drops within the first 30 minutes of the day, and the rest of the day lacks the anticipatory hope that I'll find a compelling drop. I think, however, the algorithm behind the drops has been discussed at length, so any suggestion to lower the base percentage chance of getting a drop while removing the drop cap might be disregarded.