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  • Writer's pictureChase Taake

Epic Meaning and Calling Make the World FUN


Gamification is a term that derives from the fact that video games are the first to understand and master triggering human motivations. Each human has things that drive them, and things to make them motivated, engaged, and having fun. Video games understand that you can tap into that, and create strategies, in video games case, to make humans motivated, engaged, and having fun with their games! That’s how they make money! Learning from video games, we can take these strategies and implement them to ANYTHING, school could be just as motivating, fun, and engaging as video games if done the right way. You can learn all about this from my podcast "Gamification Station!" But first, you need to understand core drives.


What are Core Drives

What ARE core drives?


Core drives influence human behavior. They’re different motivators, the reasons we take action and do things. Video games mastered understanding, and triggering core drives. They understand the meaning behind EACH core drive, and why you would trigger one over another. Video games base their system, and the gameplay, off of human psychology. The point of the game is to make you happy, make you feel good, keep you engaged.


Work, School, and everything else does not work like this. You are given work, and told to do it. It triggers core drives alright - but not in an experience driven way. It triggers black hat motivators, which we will get into. But black hat motivators are motivators that yes, absolutely drive you to take action, but out of fear. It is NOT long term. Video games creatively motivate you to keep playing, well into a long term way.


You now know video games know how to creatively trigger your core drives to make you behave however they like - play the game addictively, play the game long term, whatever they want out of you, they know how to make you excited to do it. That’s because they understand the core drives. Well, what are they?


There are eight - epic meaning and calling, accomplishment, empowerment, ownership, social influence, scarcity, unpredictability, avoidance. Each has its own techniques, can be used with other techniques, and has a reason you would call this drive. The first of which, and arguably one of the most important for long term engagement, is epic meaning and calling. What the heck is that?


Epic Meaning and Calling

According to You Kai Chow: “Epic Meaning & Calling is the First Core Drive of the Gamification Framework Octalysis. This is the drive where people are motivated because they believe they are engaged in something that is bigger than themselves.


Epic Meaning and Calling is the need or the urge to be a part of something much bigger than just yourself. When this drive is activated, participants choose to be members of your system and will take action not because it necessarily benefits them directly, but because it turns them into the heroes of the company’s story.”


This core drive is activated when your system inspires people and gets them excited about being part of a bigger purpose or plan.


Why Use This Core Drive?

This is the theme. This is the reason WHY. Without the meaning for Mario to save Peach, Mario is just a guy jumping on turtles. The mechanics, and the gameplay itself, it WOULD still be fun due to other techniques - however there’s no mission. There’s no long term reason to play. No conclusion.


Take this to real life - using refillable water cans instead of water bottles. When told “if you fill up a reusable can instead of using water bottles, you save the lives of turtles and dolphins,” you now have a MEANING to do that action. However, without that meaning, there is no reason to do the action. Just like in Mario, you’re completing those levels to save Peach. But without Peach, why are you doing the game? You still CAN, and you can still enjoy it, but there’s no reason.


The reason for this mechanic is to light a fire inside the person. Give them a reason, a passion to do whatever it is you are trying to do. This is the long term hook. Now that you know why, what are some ways to implement this?


Different Techniques for Implementing Epic Meaning and Calling


Narrative

The easiest, and most effective way to instill meaning. Create a story. Mario - the game is jumping on turtles. But the story begins with you understanding that Mario is in love with Peach, and then she is evilly kidnapped. You now have a meaning to go jump on those turtles and save Peach.


In real life, Space X definitely has a meaning, and a story. When you work there, you aren’t working for a job like you do at most places. There is a mission, and you are part of the mission. It’s something bigger than yourself. You are working to make humans an interplanetary species. Now that is motivating, and that could motivate an employee for YEARS. You are part of the story, an IMPORTANT part of the story. Now, an accountant. What’s your meaning again? Write 1,000 peoples taxes? Sure you could love your job, but there’s no meaning. No long term REASON to be in the job. Nothing bigger than yourself. You’re not really part of a story, just, kind of, doing.


Hopefully that makes the importance of Narrative clear. And it doesn’t have to be a fairy tale story like a lot of people think. It just has to be something that people can be passionate about, or excited about.




Humanity Hero

The next technique for epic meaning and calling: Humanity Hero


Basically the reason for them to do whatever you’re trying to get them to do, is to make them feel like a good person: they’re making the world a better place. For example, One company that does an incredible job of installing a sense of Humanity Hero is TOM’s Shoes, which sends one pair of shoes to a child in a third-world country whenever you buy from them. Again, they give you a WHY. A REASON to buy from them, and this reason is to make you feel good. This is a great way to add meaning to an action.


Some ways you could implement this are doing something good for the world when they do your designated action. If someone buys a taco from you, you donate another one to someone in need. It’s a great way for someone to choose your brand, but if used wrong could be annoying. “If you get an A on your test we will feed the homeless” that could make someone feel bad for not getting an A. and could get annoying over time.



Elitism

This is about pride, and this could be implemented to a lot of things.


Directly from Yu Kai Chou: “Allowing your users or customers to form a prideful group based on ethnicity, beliefs, or common interests makes them feel like they are part of a larger cause.

Elitism instills group pride, which means each member tries to secure the pride of the group by taking specific actions. The group also attempts to frustrate its rivals, which can lead both groups upping their actions to beat the competition.”

A great example is school sports. You could care less about the sport, but the passion and trash talking your rival team, wanting them to lose and you to win, is exhilarating. You’ll go to the sport just to win.

And it doesn’t even have to be a rival. Just being part of something that makes you feel higher, or important, is elitism. It’s why people go to Harvard. But, again, be careful using this technique because you could divide the wrong people. Like in school, if you allow A+ students in a special club… You can see where that goes wrong.

Beginners Luck

This technique makes people feel like they’re chosen, or something special about them in whatever the situation.

Directly from Yu Kai Chou: “With Beginner’s Luck, people feel like they’ve been one of the few chosen to take action—which makes them much more likely to take it.

If a gamer, upon the first day of playing a game, randomly earns one of the most powerful swords in the game that even veteran players couldn’t get easily, chances are he isn’t going to quit on day one. He’ll likely be using that powerful sword to kill monsters fanatically until the next hook in the game shows up.”

Or, if someone tells you that you look like Goku from Dragon ball, you feel a connection to him, a calling, and will start working out to look like Goku - sense you have that connection.

Again, it’s okay if some of these don’t fit certain things. That’s part of the art. Figuring out what works, what works best, what you want them to do and feel, and why.

Free Lunch

This is giving a freebie, and also plays along the “I’m special” calling, which makes people keep taking action. If you, and other people aren’t, are given a free lunch at work. You feel like they like you, you like them, and this establishes that bond making you feel important. This isn’t really a long term, end goal technique. But it does leave a lasting impression of importance. Other things could be getting complimented, you feel special.

Overall

Those are SOME of the techniques, and this core drive can be paired with other core drives to make even more techniques, but this was the general run down. You can see that this core drive is the WHY, it provides a constant engine, a meaning to doing something.




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