Gamified sites are nothing new. Read an article, watch a video, comment, and earn XP for it. Earning points towards a completely pointless goal, but one that gives meaning to all those clicks you do online.
Steam is about to do something very similar, and yet, it feels natural. Steam Trading Cards are essentially achievements, that you acquire during gameplay on select titles. Once you collect a set of cards for a game, you can then craft a game badge. Each of these badges then have a certain XP attached to them, which will level you up every time you craft a new badge, and increase your overall Steam level.
I'm essentially going to game my ass off, to collect virtual trading cards, that turn into badges full of XP to level up my non-descript Steam persona. Dammit, that's freaking genius!
You can opt into the beta by joining the Steam Trading Cards Group, and start collecting in these supported titles:
- CS:GO
- Team Fortress 2
- Dota 2
- Portal 2
- Half-Life 2
- Don't Starve
