I like leaderboards to a certain degree. I never work too hard to move up them, usually because the people on top have hacked to get there, but there's a certain satisfaction knowing where your efforts have placed you compared to other players. However, I always figured people placed limits on themselves when it came to what they'd do to beat other people in something meaningless. However, based on a new Android app that has gotten some attention, it seems like leaderboards are becoming the new Klondike Bars.
Send Me to Heaven sounds a bit racy, but it's premise is completely innocent and idiotic. Here's the basic idea of the game:
- Fling your phone as high in the air as you can
- Catch your plummeting piece of overpriced hardware (optional)
Of course no sane person would actually do this for no reason. As I read about this app, I just shook my head and said there was no way this could be real. Then I read that it has leaderboards, and I realized that kids around the world would soon be grounded for the rest of the year.
As the linked article says, this is actually a genius idea. Someone sadistically decided to make people gamble with their only link to the world, all for the chance at ranking on a leaderboard with no purpose other than to say "Look how I almost broke my $200 phone!" It's insane, but people will do it.
As the linked article says, this is actually a genius idea. Someone sadistically decided to make people gamble with their only link to the world, all for the chance at ranking on a leaderboard with no purpose other than to say "Look how I almost broke my $200 phone!" It's insane, but people will do it.
That's the thing about leaderboards and achievements in games. They're a superficial measurement of how "good" you are at something. Getting 100% of the achievements in a game means nothing. It's impressive that someone would show that kind of dedication to anything, but in the end all it amounts to is bragging rights. Likewise, spending hours upon hours trying to climb up a global leaderboard doesn't mean much. The struggle may be enjoyable, but once you're on top what are you left with? This is made even worse if you aren't enjoying every minute of that grind to the top.
Send Me to Heaven (because your parents will kill you for using the app) really puts a spotlight on this madness. The existence of leaderboards is great, but what we will do for them can toe the line of insanity. People on Warcraft have stayed awake for 24+ hours after an expansion's release just to be the first person on their realm to reach maximum level. I had a friend who spent several hours every day trying to get to the top of a leaderboard in Trials HD. Note that he wasn't trying to be the top in the entire game - he would spend these hours playing the exact same level (which takes 2 minutes to beat), trying to shave off milliseconds from his run so he could be ranked #1 on a single level, with dozens more levels being dominated by other players.
I like to think I'm impervious to the allure of leaderboards. In the back of my mind, however, I really started thinking about how to game this app. I mean there's no way I'd do this over a solid surface, but there are safe ways to make it happen. What if it were launched out of a cannon and in to a safety net? Or slings-hotted (sling-shat?) straight up and had it land on a huge exhaust vent that would cushion the fall with air? Or more realistically, throw the phone just before you lose momentum on a trampoline jump and have it land on several blankets on and around the trampoline.
That's how leaderboards take the thoughts of rational people and turn them asinine. Would I pay $100 to attach a phone to one of those bungiecord bridge jumps? Would I spend hours layering pillows around a half-mile radius and shooting my phone in to the air with a potato gun? Maybe, just maybe, I would.
And here I thought the people who would risk breaking their phones on concrete are insane.
Send Me to Heaven (because your parents will kill you for using the app) really puts a spotlight on this madness. The existence of leaderboards is great, but what we will do for them can toe the line of insanity. People on Warcraft have stayed awake for 24+ hours after an expansion's release just to be the first person on their realm to reach maximum level. I had a friend who spent several hours every day trying to get to the top of a leaderboard in Trials HD. Note that he wasn't trying to be the top in the entire game - he would spend these hours playing the exact same level (which takes 2 minutes to beat), trying to shave off milliseconds from his run so he could be ranked #1 on a single level, with dozens more levels being dominated by other players.
I like to think I'm impervious to the allure of leaderboards. In the back of my mind, however, I really started thinking about how to game this app. I mean there's no way I'd do this over a solid surface, but there are safe ways to make it happen. What if it were launched out of a cannon and in to a safety net? Or slings-hotted (sling-shat?) straight up and had it land on a huge exhaust vent that would cushion the fall with air? Or more realistically, throw the phone just before you lose momentum on a trampoline jump and have it land on several blankets on and around the trampoline.
That's how leaderboards take the thoughts of rational people and turn them asinine. Would I pay $100 to attach a phone to one of those bungiecord bridge jumps? Would I spend hours layering pillows around a half-mile radius and shooting my phone in to the air with a potato gun? Maybe, just maybe, I would.
And here I thought the people who would risk breaking their phones on concrete are insane.
See you tomorrow!
Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways! This month's giveawayis for a hand-made dice bag from Greyed Out Productions!
Remember to follow me on Facebook. I'm doing a blog post every single day for 2013, and Facebook is a great way to stay up-to-date as well as take part in my monthly giveaways! This month's giveawayis for a hand-made dice bag from Greyed Out Productions!
$200 is pretty cheap for a smart phone, these people are really gambling more like $600. As I was reading your post all I could think about was this: Come to Xbox One exclusively this fall "Send Me to Heaven" for Kinect. Compete world wide for achievements and glory while you throw your new Xbox One into the air and record it on your Kinect. Comes bundled with a 100 ft. cable for your Kinect!
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