Gamification Mechanic Monday: Time delay
Time delay is often used in free to play games, to encourage players to pay money and move forward in the game. It tends to be at a level gate. Personally I have to admit I really dislike the enforced break. In fact in a learning environment I have experienced this time delay for submitting a new assignment after you didn’t achieve the required pass mark supposedly enforcing revision. After a 3 in a row time delay, it turned me completely off the course and I made a formal complaint. To have the dedication as a an adult learner to invest time and effort beyond the day job, I found the time delay basically pushing me away from the course and demotivating. Ironically it’s also a game design related course. In a game at least I have five lives before a time delay.
Where I can see time as a variable to encourage a higher fee is in airline sales, if under pressure it sometimes pays to a pay a bit more to be at the front of the plane, in the fast track queue and to have your luggage come out first. Equally in sales, some high end stores could open up especially for those who like a bargain on an exclusive pre-sales event to have access to the best deals, before the mass market has access. A lot of airline loyalty schemes allow you to buy your way into a new level, providing you have made a start in collecting points from flying.
Where do you see time delay as a positive?
