MMORPG Survey

MV

Hi everyone!
I'm doing some research about MMORPGs player's habits, personality traits and social activity. The data will be used for my dissertation for the Social Studies course in BCFE.
There are lots of this kind of research done all over the world, but I actually didn't find any done in Ireland. Seems like not many people interested in this topic. Would like to have a look if the situation here is the same as could be seen in other researches.

I'm interested in players who are 18 years old and over. This questionnaire contains 34 items and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. It is completely anonymous and no identifying information is asked.

Would really appreciate your help!
Maria

cherryghost

MV wrote: »

Hi everyone!
I'm doing some research about MMORPGs player's habits, personality traits and social activity. The data will be used for my dissertation for the Social Studies course in BCFE.
There are lots of this kind of research done all over the world, but I actually didn't find any done in Ireland. Seems like not many people interested in this topic. Would like to have a look if the situation here is the same as could be seen in other researches.

I'm interested in players who are 18 years old and over. This questionnaire contains 34 items and will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. It is completely anonymous and no identifying information is asked.

Would really appreciate your help!
Maria

Click here to take part in the survey.

Normally I would help a user, but you're completely new to this forum. I would instantly think that this is spam, but after looking at the first two pages of your questionaire, I highly doubt it.

However, I'm not going to do your homework for you.

Zillah

cherryghost wrote: »

However, I'm not going to do your homework for you.

How exactly do you think a social studies student is supposed to conduct a survey, go home and fill it out a hundred times themselves?

seanybiker

Done

MV

cherryghost wrote: »

However, I'm not going to do your homework for you.

You sound like you have never done dissertations or any type of academic work. They are based on conducted research. My home work is to write literature review, to process the results of this survey, write my conclusion and to submit the entire work to my diss coordinator. Believe me, its a lot of home work.

Thanks everybody for your help! I'm getting there!

Sisko

Really had no issue helping out and answering the survey but the questions started to get pretty bizarre , the more I read the more this stank of an extreme ignorance to gaming as an activity and frankly they started to get a little offensive.

"Cause you know, only sad losers play video games."


Replace all the games references with TV soaps instead in that questionnaire and your average TV soap lover would be just as bemused by it.

I don't mean to be harsh OP its just the industry is constantly plagued by people commenting on it who have no clue and don't even bother to try them out themselves.

If someone who never watched a movie made ignorant remarks and claims about the entire movie industry no one would listen to them, yet somehow this is acceptable to do for the video game industry.

It's incredible really, and people will look back at this period with amazement in 10-30 years in the same way we look back in amazement at how movies were considered cheap novelty entertainment for the lower class by upper class snobs back when films first appeared at sea side carnivals and arcades in the late 1800's.

stuckin

Jesus talk about pushing for answers you want get. This is pretty badly thought out in my view. You seem to have an underlying assumption about gamers and MMO gamers in particular. For example

How often do you feel unhappy doing so many things alone?

You don't ask "Do you feel unhappy doing so many things alone?" You ask "how often", the underlying suggestion by this is that you must feel unhappy doing "so many things alone". The second half of that question you say "doing so many things alone" but if you ask ANY MMO gamer out there, they'll tell you that 95% of the time you are not alone, that you can't play the game alone, that you must do it with friends. The entire premise of the question is that you are alone while gaming in an MMO. No one I know who have ever played any MMO game would agree with that premise.
I mean did you do any research prior to putting together this questionnaire?

I started completing your questionnaire but I quickly stopped when I saw the underlying bias in your research.

RyanK

I've played a few MMORPGs in the past, and I got through the survey. But I didn't like most the questions. It started off alright. However it felt like you thought that anyone who plays MMOs is some guy that as alone, sad, addicted to the game and rejected by society. That is quite an extreme stereotype. Also, a lot of the questions refer to video games in general, not specifically MMORPGs.

KilOit

That's a very nasty biased questinare op, start over in your social studies course, your last 6 or so questions are offensive, I'm actually thinking this is some joke or just a dig at mmo gamers.

Notorious

Agreed with some of the above posters, but I finished the survey regardless. It seems like you've got the opinion that everyone involved in MMOs has no social life outside of computer games and you're possibly hinting at the fact that these people play MMOs in order to have a social life.

Some people play computer games as a hobby, just like others watch tv. My Mom watches Coronation Street whenever it's on - does that make her a lifeless addict?

weiland79

Notorious wrote: »

Agreed with some of the above posters, but I finished the survey regardless. It seems like you've got the opinion that everyone involved in MMOs has no social life outside of computer games and you're possibly hinting at the fact that these people play MMOs in order to have a social life.

Some people play computer games as a hobby, just like others watch tv. My Mom watches Coronation Street whenever it's on - does that make her a lifeless addict?

Not just MMO's i got the impression he thinks this about all gamers.

stuckin

weiland79 wrote: »

Not just MMO's i got the impression he thinks this about all gamers.

I agree, she seems to have pretty biased view over all towards gamers. She doesn't seem to understand the subject at all

MV

Guys, in this survey I used 2 psychological tests - one is so called "loneliness scale" that is nothing to do with games, but I would like to check is this the reason why people play games or not. And second is the test that started as "Internet addiction", but now it is widely used as "video games addiction test". This is to find out is it really an issue in Ireland.
I don't have any stereotypes about gamers, as my partner is studying Game Development, but I also know some cases personally, when people started to lie their family members and even skipped the job because of some big battle))

I don't think my research can become something serious, but as so far none of this kind done, I hope it could become an interesting topic to develop, here in Ireland.

MV

Anyway, thank you for your feedback.
Do you think it could help, if I mentioned in the survey the names of the tests and reasons I used them?

Sisko

MV wrote: »

Anyway, thank you for your feedback.
Do you think it could help, if I mentioned in the survey the names of the tests and reasons I used them?

I think it would help if you got someone that plays/understands games to write the questions.


Even with the seemingly implied impressions of gamers some of the questions give off put aside, a lot of the questions in general are hard to give a solid answer to due to the way they're put.


Also if this is an area you are interested in, did it not even occur to you to, I dunno.... PLAY one of these games for a week or two to gain some understanding??? Or does that really seem insane to you to even think about it?

MV wrote: »

Guys, in this survey I used 2 psychological tests - one is so called "loneliness scale" that is nothing to do with games, but I would like to check is this the reason why people play games or not.

Would you ever consider this for people that watch soaps or football matches?

MV wrote: »

And second is the test that started as "Internet addiction", but now it is widely used as "video games addiction test". This is to find out is it really an issue in Ireland.

What about television addiction? Or football addiction? Videos games are simply a fun activity that people enjoy. Yes elements of particular games employ addictive gameplay mechanics, but how "addicted" a person gets is down to that persons personality, as with everything else.

MV wrote: »

I don't have any stereotypes about gamers, as my partner is studying Game Development, but I also know some cases personally, when people started to lie their family members and even skipped the job because of some big battle))

Of course theres gonna be cases like that, just like there would be many similar cases for football fans and other activities that people enjoy. Theres irresponsible people out there that do stupid things all the time. It didn't just start with videos games.

stuckin

Well the fact that you're starting out applying the "loneliness scale" to the questionnaire to me seems to be a biased start. I don't think you understand the objection that most people have is the premise of the questionnaire being if you play video games we need to apply the loneliness scale instantly.

I can only speak for myself but I don't play games because I'm lonely, I play them because I enjoy playing games with my friends, I enjoy discussing games with my friends. I never see these kind of questions applied to any other activities that you do with your friends.

MV

I don't personally play computer games, its true, but I have lots of people around. I also did a big research how other researches were done.
If you are interested go to - http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/
This guy, Nick Yee, is the most well known in doing researches about MMORPG. Some of questions I took from him and the "game addiction test" as well, as I said, I would like to compare the results he has.
There are different aspects to look at in MMORPG research, I chose addiction and loneliness. But there are lots more interesting stuff. But I'm not studying game development, but Social studies, that is the reason of my choice.

What about television addiction? Or football addiction? Videos games are simply a fun activity that people enjoy. Yes elements of particular games employ addictive gameplay mechanics, but how "addicted" a person gets is down to that persons personality, as with everything else.

I totally agree, and we can have a big chat about it. But as a student with private life and commitment to family, I have only certain amount of time to spend on my dissertation, and at the end it is not even a degree course.
For now, I just need people, who are interested in MMORPGs, to help me with the survey, so I can continue my writing.

Sorry, I didn't mean to offend anybody.
Here are the figures from the other research, how people answered the question "would you consider yourself addicted to the game?". Daedalus project for somebody who is interested in MMORPG psychology.

Morag

So you admit you created the questionarie with a bias to begin with, right.
I honestly hope you do not get enough respondants and people have more dignity then to fill that in.

Zillah

There's some really defensive knee-jerk reactions in this thread. The very act of investigating loneliness amongst MMO players is not a personal attack on you, chill out.

Also, stereotypes exist for a reason.

stuckin

MV wrote: »

But as a student with private life and commitment to family, I have only certain amount of time to spend on my dissertation, and at the end it is not even a degree course

By the same token...

How often do you feel unhappy about having to do things on your own?
How often do you feel you cannot tolerate being so alone?
How often do you find yourself waiting for people to call or write?

These questions bare no relation with the subject of the premise. You could apply them across the board. I do find them insulting to be honest. Do I find myself waiting for people to call or write? Come on? Can you not see how that could be seen as offensive?

MV

Sharrow wrote: »

So you admit you created the questionarie with a bias to begin with, right.
I honestly hope you do not get enough respondants and people have more dignity then to fill that in.

OMG, where I admitted?
I said that there are cases when people addicted to playing games. Don't you agree? Like addiction to any other thing.
I just want to find out is there such tendency in Ireland or not. I'm not getting the good mark for any particular conclusion. Positive or negative results will work for me.
If game addiction in Ireland is not the issue, that only means, that figures are different from some other countries.
Just to let you know, American Medical Association wants to add "Internet/game addiction" as another form of mental disorder to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Just another fact. Google it.

MV

stuckin wrote: »

These questions bare no relation with the subject of the premise.

Did you read my previous post? Where I told about those questions.

Sisko

Zillah its the way the survey was written , not just simply the act of investigation itself.

Yes stereotypes exist , for example, football hooliganism.

If I made a survey about football asking people "why they could like such a thing" and "how much time they spend watching it and attending matches and if they would rather spend time watching football then with their family". Then filled it up with sub-questions about violence and violent tendencies, football fans would find the survey just as ridiculous.

Theres far too much ignorance out there regarding gaming and the industry and this is largely due to people who wont even try a game out, talking about them.

If I'm gonna write a piece on violent movies I better damn well have watched the ****ing movies I'm talking about in my piece. Otherwise how could I expect my piece to be taken seriously?

Same goes for gaming.

MV wrote: »

I don't personally play computer games, its true,

Why not? & also, to be clear I'm not saying you have to be a gamer, I'm saying you can try one out as part of your research and to educate yourself.

If someone came on boards making a thread about the physiological effects of horror movies and then later on posts "I don't watch movies, its true" how do you expect people to see that?


I am fully willing to help you with the survey btw, I'm just trying to get you to understand how this comes across.

Zillah

Sisko wrote: »

If I'm gonna write a piece on violent movies I better damn well have watched the ****ing movies I'm talking about in my piece. Otherwise how could I expect my piece to be taken seriously?

If you're going to conduct a survey about people's movie watching habits then no, you absolutely do not need to have seen any of the movies.

All of the questions have the "I never feel this way" option or something equivalent. A person could choose all the options in that survey that would paint a picture of a healthy, socially well adjusted individual who never feels lonely. Your objections are irrational and defensive. This is science, not a job interview. A survey like this is for compiling statistic, not getting to the heart of the real 'you'.

Sisko

Zillah wrote: »

If you're going to conduct a survey about people's movie watching habits then no, you absolutely do not need to have seen any of the movies.

Bollocks, someone who's never watched a movie in their life and lacks a basic understanding of how a movie works and why people watch them has no place writing a survey on movies.

Zillah wrote: »

All of the questions have the "I never feel this way" option or something equivalent. A person could choose all the options in that survey that would paint a picture of a healthy, socially well adjusted individual who never feels lonely. Your objections are irrational and defensive. This is science, not a job interview. A survey like this is for compiling statistic, not getting to the heart of the real 'you'.

I know what a survey is and peoples reaction to how this one was made was not irrational.

I'm not merely talking about the loneliness aspect, the survey could easily be re-written by someone who has an understanding of gaming, and thus asks the right questions correctly and be presented as a survey about loneliness and massivly multiplayer online video games and not have received such a negitive reactions and have gotten better results.

Damn straight this is science. It should be done right.

Notorious

MV wrote: »

Just to let you know, American Medical Association wants to add "Internet/game addiction" as another form of mental disorder to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Just another fact. Google it.

In all fairness, the AMA are a group of money grabbing whores, so I can only imagine that adding "internet addiction" to their list of mental disorders is an attempt to get mothers all across the US to send their kids to AMA accredited counselling classes.

MV

Will not get a sleep if not say this)))))
Look, if somebody doesn't spend hours and hours playing games, if he/she doesn't skip meals and work, if has interesting social life, that only means that somebody is healthy person and don't have any problems. But you can't deny that there are people who have problems, and they even don't know about this.
Not many alcoholics consider themselves alcoholics, they just like drinking. The same is with any other addiction.
I'm not here to point who is addicted or not. Just want to see, are there any?
How can you check addiction without using any relevant instruments? In this case it is valid and well used test.

Another question: do you really have to become heroin abuser to understand others addicted to heroin? Do I really have to play games to make a survey? Hm..
Of course I played games, I personally like strategies, but they take too much time, I can't afford it to myself. That is why I'm here, asking people who spend their time on gaming, to get closer to understanding why people do it and who are those people (from general information in the beginning of my survey).

Now it is 12.20 pm, and I really think it is time to go to sleep, to get those 8 hours needed for good rest. And my partner is sitting and playing "Ghost Busters" and will go to sleep in 2 or 3 hours and will be tired tomorrow. And he even can't give me an answer why he prefers "fun game" to healthy life style)))) He was the same when I met him))) He has great interest in games, but he is addicted, he doesn't deny it. But it is his choice. I can only support and take care of him.

So wish everybody sweet dreams and to find somebody who really cares!

SeantheMan

Download the Free Trial of WoW, play for a week, and restructure your questions.

Even join/attempt to join a clan/guild so you can participate with others and see what the MMO scene is actually like.

On the addiction side, the survey is geared towards MMOs' as I believe the image has been portrayed that they are the only kind who get "addicted" to gaming, due to Koreans dying, or South Park episode etc , I don't play any MMO's personally anymore.

With regards to addiction, what constitutes being an addict ?
I regularly can hit 30-40 hours a week gaming, yet I don't consider myself addicted, when I go away for a week I have no interest in gaming or crave it.
It is a social thing to do, as opposed to watching telly or knitting.

I would put to you that the average person, or housewife would watch the same/more television than a so called "addicted" gamer

I don't believe in video game addiction

eddhorse

I dont play MMORPG's but i filled out the survey anyways !

Didnt really agree with this question :

Due to video game playing, I have reduced homework or work, or I have skipped meals, or I have gone to bed later than I wished, or I have spent less time with friends and family than I intended to. * AGREE/DISAGREE

Basically if i go to bed later than i wish then im in the same group as the others? Pffffftttt

Sisko

SeantheMan wrote: »

I don't believe in video game addiction

I agree with everything you said in your post except that last part there.

Gaming addiction , like in many other activities, does exist. This is down to the person though.


I'd really love to get into detail on this topic and talk about it properly but MV keeps insisting on making insultingly ignorant comments and refuses to listen to anyone and actually try and learn something.

MV wrote: »

Another question: do you really have to become heroin abuser to understand others addicted to heroin? Do I really have to play games to make a survey? Hm..

****ing ridiculous, we're comparing gaming with the movie industry or sports, forms of entertainment and yet your comparison is HEROIN?

Unbelievable.

Really proves a lot of peoples points on here regarding your attitude and pre-determined opinions too.

MV wrote: »

And my partner is sitting and playing "Ghost Busters" and will go to sleep in 2 or 3 hours and will be tired tomorrow. And he even can't give me an answer why he prefers "fun game" to healthy life style)))) He was the same when I met him))) He has great interest in games, but he is addicted, he doesn't deny it. But it is his choice. I can only support and take care of him.

****ing hell you sound like you think your BF is suffering from a mental condition because he's playing a video game.

Ghost busters? I highly doubt your BF is addicted, just not arsed arguing with you. He shouldn't HAVE to give you an answer as to why he prefers fun over a healthy life style, you should be smart enough to see it. Its the same reason MOST people do anything fun. Because they enjoy it. Few people live the perfect healthy life style I drink far too much caffinee, but **** it I love my cup of tea, I love bacon too, I hear its bad for you but it tastes nice so I eat it a lot. etc etc.

You can put your disaster of a point to any aspect that goes against the 'healthy lifestyle' that you envision us all having if we didn't play video games.

Morag

MV wrote: »

. And my partner is sitting and playing "Ghost Busters" and will go to sleep in 2 or 3 hours and will be tired tomorrow. And he even can't give me an answer why he prefers "fun game" to healthy life style)))) He was the same when I met him))) He has great interest in games, but he is addicted, he doesn't deny it. But it is his choice. I can only support and take care of him.

So wish everybody sweet dreams and to find somebody who really cares!

I suggest you reconsider taking on a topic which is less of an emotional and personal issue for you to research.