[Osmf-talk] Idea for improved mapping system

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

On 10/18/20 01:49, TheAdventurer64 wrote:
> A user and I were talking about implementing a system for better
> mapping, as described here: 
> https://osmus.slack.com/archives/C029HV951/p1602968516431900

Please, in the future be so kind and summarize the idea in your e-mail
rather than pointing to a proprietary web page that requires registration.

I have not read it but I can guess from the responses here what your
idea entails, and I would like to offer a word of caution:

Gamification is a powerful tool, and with wielding it comes great
responsibility. Most attempts at gamification in the OSM sphere have
either had lasting negative effects or at the very least massive
teething issues. People *will* game the system. If you count how many
changesets they make, then they will split their edits in smaller
chunks. If you count how many objects they change, they will be more
likely to move a complete road with all its nodes by 10 centimetres or
write a script to drop the "created_by" tag on thousands of objects. If
you count how long their changeset comments are, they will write and
repeat novels when uploading changesets. If you count how many new
objects someone creates, then they will be more likely to delete and
recreate something than to just improve its geometry.

The direction that gamification drives people in will never be exactly
what we want and need in OSM, it will always be off by something. You
will not be recruiting new mappers, but new players.

It can still be beneficial to OSM, but the above needs to be kept in
mind if you want to build something that succeeds.

On another ("diversity") note, you should be careful not to focus too
much on competitive elements and players who want to climb some ladder;
you might end up motivating people from some regions and genders much
more than others.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"