I hear people are gaming the system to receive more points, but what are they and how do they help in editing maps? All I got are some spam emails with adverts to buy Google stuff, but even though I gained more levels, I could not do anything else in terms of editing maps. It seems useless to me. Maybe they should be removed to prevent gamification?
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@Dharman The main purpose is to show how dedicated a person is with regards to contributing on Google Maps. In essence, it’s gamification. It definitely has it pros/cons and gives ideas to some Local Guides that the higher level they have, the more they will get rewards, which is not true (rewards are random).
Some people just like to see the numbers go up. It’s the same concept when someone’s playing a video game and getting satisfaction by gaining levels, or getting better equipment/gear, making them stronger (dopamine effect).
As you’re already aware, some Local Guides have been misusing these and basically spamming contributions to gain points/level as fast as possible, which is definitely not a good thing. But of course there are also many Local Guides that are diligent and consistent in submitting high quality contributions on daily basis, which also speeds up their progress.
Whether the pros of this gamification system is worth the cons, I personally still don’t know the answer. But the fact that Google still keeps the system, they probably feels it’s worth it for them.
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