Why don't stores, with online shopping, use more gamification?

Games online use it, but they don't have the merchandise to take it farther. I think an online shopping retail outlet, like Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, Etsy, etc. should combine with an existing game site. Or go on their own with a game developer of their choosing. But, it would be simpler, cost effective, to work with an existing game and merge together.

Set up an account and create a character (your personal avatar won't start with much, features can be earned) - you get a permanent 5% discount on anything you buy, as long as you keep that account. This could be limited to early adopters, which of course, could last an entire year. After that they would have to spend X amount of money to get the permanent 5% discount.

Use your character to battle the mighty monster and get 10% off your purchase. This carries on with different discounts as they level up. If they want to buy books have them fight a library related monster - get a discount and a badge (level one). If they buy electronics they battle something related, with levelling up, discounts for successfully defeating the monster. When they get to level ten in defeating that particular monster they get another reward, a feature.

Features can be unlocked. People can spend X amount, level up, post to social media, to earn a garden, a farm, a house, different outfits for their character, more and better weapons, seasonal and holiday stuff to decorate their house and character. It can go on forever. Once someone has everything there are better everything, deluxe this and premium that, for them to work towards.

People won't want to shop somewhere else and miss out on points and rewards for their character.

Of course, characters can be posted to social media, with branding for the store. A mobile application which they can take with them anywhere and show off to friends. Bragging rights for who has the most, gets the best, etc.

Rewards can include branded merchandise too. Send them a 'store name' Christmas t-shirt as a reward they can wear outside of the game. Also merchandise which proclaims their status as a big winner, a home owner, etc. at the 'store name' online shop.

Bring in guilds so people can meet at the online shop and get together to buy more. Let them pool their resources to make big purchases together. Sell them credit cards to build up more online shopping points with the store.

People who level up and have lots of rewards can be featured on the site. A reward for being such a loyal shopper and an example/ showcase of what others can achieve with store loyalty and frequent shopping.

Finally... A NEW Carmageddon is in the Works!

Carmageddon: Reincarnation will be out in 2012. This time it's more than just a rumour. Die Anna - Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Addendum: The Carmageddon Reincarnation is out as an alpha game only to those who joined up and contributed to the KickStarter campaign. If you did, you can now be playing the game on Steam while it is in development. You get to see it evolve.

I know it's not a nice, pleasant game with fluffy bunnies and kitties. You don't grow things and harvest farm animals. You don't bake and run a fantasy shop of some kind. You just run things over, a lot.

If you want to do something differently you can choose to be the last one still driving in a demolition derby.

You can test your skills and see how well you keep control of your car in a race over hills, up paths and over and around various obstacles like boats, nuclear reactors, that kind of stuff.

Or, you can take out your frustrations of the day and get every last pedestrian on the map. You can win the game that way too.

• Stainless Games

There are women gamers who play DnD too.

(People sometimes shorten the name, Dungeons and Dragons, to DnD).

There is so much to a game I can't begin to describe and explain all of it. But, I do think this is a great game for women and families especially. It may have a reputation as a geeky game for a bunch of college boys. That is so limiting.

I played Dungeons & Dragons with my family in the 1980s. My nephew played with young men and a few young women in high school too. I know there are women players out there. I would love to be part of a regular group of all women DnD players.

You might pick up the Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set from Amazon. This is my affiliate link. The Starter Set is worth including and does give you the dice, rulebook, and etc. so you don't need to buy anything else to get playing. I'd suggest not buying fancier dice, roleplaying figures, and anything else until you know you like the game and will continue to play. It can become a very expensive hobby if you start buying extras.

Essentially a role playing board game.

To play the game you need a group of people, at least three. One is the Dungeon Master and the other two are players.

The players create a character by choosing some elements and rolling a dice for others. This way no character is ever just like another character. The random chance of rolling the dice brings some unpredictability to the game. Not everything is in your control and levelling up becomes more important as your characters advances in the game. You will find yourself learning new skills as well. Map making and orientation are two great things I learned more about as I played DnD.

Then there is the Dungeon Master. It may sound sinister or creepy but the Dungeon Master (shortened to the DM at times) is the one who plans the route of the game, literally. The Dungeon Master creates a world, a campaign or a map (depending on how much time is available for the game) and the players venture into it.

Players explore the map one virtual step at a time. The DM has set up traps, treasure and monster for them to find along the way. Each step of the game can be a surprise, a puzzle to solve or players could muck up their map making and become very lost and confused. This is why you can't just step into a game of DnD without setting things up ahead and learning at least something about map making.

Wizards of the Coast -D&D Beyond Dragon Con

November 25th this year (2012) will be the 100th year anniversary of the Grey Cup and the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Congratulations Canada across the land, football fan or not. The 100th Grey Cup Championship will take place at Rogers Centre at 6:00 P.M. on Sunday, November 25, 2012.

If you can't be there you can still watch on TV, listen on the radio or live vicariously through Twitter.

100th Grey Cup Sites to See

• 100th Grey Cup
  The Official Tumblr of the 100th Grey Cup.

• CFL on Twitter
  On Twitter, type the hashtag #100GC

• Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum

• CBC Digital Archives - Grey Cup: The Fans and the Fanfare

• Grey Cup - Wikipedia

The first Grey Cup game with the early Grey Cup to the side.

If it all began in 1909 how is 2012 the 100th Grey Cup game?

Yes, 1909 wasn't 100 years ago but, for the Grey Cup, it was 100 games ago.

In 1916, 1917 and 1918 there were no Grey Cup games due to World War I. Also, due to a rules dispute there were no play off games or Grey Cup in 1919.

So the CFL is calling the game this year (2012) the 100th Grey Cup game.

How did the Grey Cup Festival itself begin?

In 1948, fans of the western champion Calgary Stampeders partied in the streets of Toronto dressed in western gear, square dancing, flipping flapjacks, and even riding a horse through the lobby of the posh Royal York Hotel.

The 100th Grey Cup Coin from the Canadian Mint Lord Earl Grey's trophy will be presented for the 100th time

In 1909, Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey, (the Governor-General of Canada at the time) was an ardent sports fan. He commissioned a trophy and planned to donate it to Canada's senior amateur hockey championship. However, the Allan Cup had already been donated there. So, Grey gave his trophy to the Rugby Football Championship of Canada. The trophy became known as the Grey Cup. The first Grey Cup was played in 1909 on Rosedale Field in Toronto and won by the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.

Originally, winning the trophy was only for teams registered with the Canada Rugby Union. Eventually, the Rugby Union evolved into the Canadian Football League and the Grey Cup became the property of the DFL. Since the 1920's, the Grey Cup is given to the winning football team in a final contest between the east and west. Since 1954, only the teams of the CFL have played for the Grey Cup.

The trophy has a silver chalice attached to a large base on which the names of all winning teams, players and executives are engraved.

The Grey Cup has been broken (and repaired) several times, stolen twice and held for ransom. The Grey Cup survived a fire in 1947. Other artefacts in the same building were destroyed.

In 1950, a player came close to drowning in a mud puddle at the "Mud Bowl".

In 1962 the game was halted during the final 9 minutes due to fog. The "Fog Bowl" was finished the next day.

In 1977 they played the "Ice Bowl" on the frozen turf at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

The CFL (officially founded on January 19, 1958) is the second oldest, continuously-operating Gridiron football league in North America.

Why does a 40 year old woman play at Neopets? Well, you see... it's a shopping fetish. I can spend neopoints (dollar value of zero) on as much junk as I can stand. How can you pass that up? In reality I am squeezing pennies so hard the poor things squeak. But, on the Neopian side of things I am a shopping diva, a window shopper without the pesky windows in my way.

It is my secret little side trip when I should be writing. I've actually been late for work (once) cause I was shopping on NeoPets instead of scraping snow off the car.

Want to visit? Sure you do. I'm not the only old woman there. I may not even be the oldest, though I suspect it's close. lol

http://www.neopets.com/randomfriend.phtml?user=dragongrrl

Don't let me stop you from joining, get a pet of your own, a neohome become addicted and join a Guild. Become a neoshopoholic. It's fun.

http://www.neopets.com/guilds/guild.phtml?oid=jambhala