Quantification of EQ Players 162
Nick Yee writes: "As part of a psychology thesis project, I collected data from about 4000 individual EverQuest players who together filled out about 25,000 surveys that focused on many facets of personal and social dynamics in real-time 3D immersive virtual worlds, such as: gender differences, gender-bending, addiction, friendships, romantic relationships, people who play with romantic partners and so on. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected.
"
Yeah (Score:2, Funny)
As part of a psychology thesis project
Yeah sure we believe you.
Re:Yeah (Score:2, Insightful)
The person collected data from other people. Unless he was posing as those 4000 people and did enough playing to account for all of them then there is nothing wrong with using this as a psychology thesis.
Hey, Psychologists are nerds too! (Score:1)
"Early morning cheerfulness can be extremely obnoxious. " ~ Finley Peter Dunne
Re:Yeah (Score:2)
"Pigman is trying to prove the Caine-Hackman theory. No matter what time it is, 24 hours a day, you can find a Michael Caine or Gene Hackman movie playing on TV!"
Re:Yeah (Score:1)
"Industrial Relations" (Score:4, Insightful)
Knowing this stuff could make Sony a lot of money, in who they market the game, and even how they develop it.
This game is popular because it, apparently, touches is something deep inside a lot of people. And it doesn't let go. If you know what, or why, or if you can reproduce that. You can make yourself a lot of money.
Understanding why Everquest "works" is valuable for its insight into human nature, and it's valuable in the most literal sense of the word.
Re:"Industrial Relations" (Score:3, Interesting)
As for: This game is popular because it, apparently, touches is something deep inside a lot of people. And it doesn't let go. If you know what, or why, or if you can reproduce that. You can make yourself a lot of money.
I know what that something is - escapism. Pure and simple. I've played Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, and many more... and I will continue to try out almost all the new MMORPGs as they come out (Horizon's looks fantastic), but, I know why I play: to escape into a world where things are just a little different - sometimes even better. I admit that I was fully and completely addicted to Ultima Online for two years of my life. I scheduled my time around parts of the day with the least lag (this was back in 1998-2000 when I didn't have a cable modem), and I would choose my sleep schedule accordingly. It affected my grades in 9th and 10th grade, and then, I quit. I knew it was too much for me. I played EverQuest fairly heavily during 10th grade, also, as I was one of the first round beta testers (woo!), but I did something different: I wrote a strategy guide and sold it on eBay. "The EverQuest Platinum Plan." I made something like 20k in a matter of two months. It was astonishing. But, as summer drew to a close, I knew I had to quit all my online gaming, and get serious about 11th grade.
HA! I bought Asheron's Call, and played that during most of 11th grade. I wrote another strategy guide for it, and made a few hundred dollars. I didn't play AC as much as UO or EQ, though, so my grades did not suffer because of it. In fact, I got As all through 11th grade. It was all about moderation.
And now, soon to be a college sophomore, triple (maybe quadruple) major student in some pretty heavy sciences, I'm still waiting on the edge of my seat for the next MMORPG to come sweep me away to Never Never Land. I love the sweet taste of escape on my lips every now and again.
Re:"Industrial Relations" (Score:2)
Just out of curiosity - why?
Hope to hear back from you.
Re:Yeah - Not so, professors are researching too!! (Score:1)
please write "everquest" (Score:1, Insightful)
I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:5, Interesting)
What surprises me so much about EQ (I'm a former EQ'er myself) is how much the game appeals to housewives and stay-at-home moms. My mother, who is in her 50s, has been playing for two years now and has gotten no less than two other housewives into EQ. My mother may not be a fair example, after all, this is a woman who bought a Playstation just for Final Fantasy VII, but the other housewives are prime examples of people who had never played a PC game in their lives (and few console games). Yet, something in EQ's mechanics and social structure hooks them and won't let go. I'd like to see a more in-depth analysis of that demographic, simply because I don't think anyone, including Verant, foresaw them becoming a significant portion of the crowd.
Just as a snide/side note: When I read that a good percentage of the EQers in the survey said they play with a romantic partner, I wondered aloud how many of those EQers are playing with a romantic partner they met through the game and never in real life.
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:1)
Not EQ, but a precursor... (Score:5, Interesting)
Just to flag myself as lame: I met my first girlfriend on a MUD. Actually, I met her while hanging out in real life with other people that I met through the MUD... but whatever... once I had a girlfriend, I stopped playing the MUD. I used to spend hours and hours (and hours) on that MUD, but during the time I was dating her, I quitmud, and never went back to any MMORPG (4 years so far), even after we broke up.
I guess my point is that I used MUD as a substitute for real-life interaction. When I finally had the opportunity to be with other people IRL, MUD didn't interest me in any way, and, in general, I was much happier.
On the other hand, it's not like I would be out clubbing at night without MUD... it was at least some sort of social interaction, one I was actually comfortable with, and one I wouldn't have got otherwise.
Anyway, your last comment reminded me of them old days.
-If
Re:Not EQ, but a precursor... (Score:1, Offtopic)
Stealthily trying to coin a new verb, eh?
Re:Not EQ, but a precursor... (Score:1)
Stealthily trying to coin a new verb, eh?
That was actually what we called it when someone tried to quit the MUD. Most people came back in a couple weeks...
There was an entire MUD subculture of speech. Some phrases or words crossed several MUDs, like "bogleg" (originially a mistyping of "boggle"), and some were specific to the MUD I played, like "quitmud." When mudders got together, they spoke what seemed to be another language, leaving any random non-mudders about completely baffled.
-If
Re:Not EQ, but a precursor... (Score:2)
Oh: and we both play regularly on Dragonsfire MOO [thegreenery.net].
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, alot of women (including myself) get into these games because the men they know in real life are playing them. Of the three women in my guild, two have husbands - you know, real ones they sleep with - who play the game.
When I was doing alot of IRC, the stay at home moms were a big proportion of the people in the chat-room I opped. Not surprising, really: the computer provides a lifeline to adult conversation. These games provide a 3D interactive environment in which to chat and meet people - what's not to like?
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:5, Funny)
Married people, sleeping together? Okay, now who's living in a fantasy world?
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:2)
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:2)
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:4, Informative)
There are plenty of interesting tidbits, though. For one, females are likely to be attracted to the game by their SO. Female charactors tend to get unsolicited help a lot more, while male charactors tend to be taken more seriously [note that this refers only to the charactors, not the players--the section on "gender bending" illuminates this quite a lot, from telling us that a lot of the people play a charactor of the opposite gender because they like the looks of them, to telling us about some guys who like to play women for the deferential treatment]
Granted, none of it is exactly earth-shattering, but it's still an interesting read if you have any interest in what motivates people.
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:2)
My wife and I play EQ together. Our play time is quite limited since real life is alway getting in the way.
Milalwi
Interpersonal Drama in EQ are Found in Soaps! (Score:2)
This stuff happens all of the time in EQ. The social interaction is quiet deep. Rivalries, "debts", and sneaking can and do happen. Why wouldn't homemakers eat this kind of drama up?!
Re:I didn't find any of this especially... (Score:2)
EverCrack (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:EverCrack (Score:2)
Heh. When I realized that busting my ass for a PHB in the real world to make the payments on my new Mercedes didn't amount to jack, I decided it was time to stop.
I took up OSS development instead, and I find it much more rewarding. To each his own.
Well. (Score:2)
Re:Well. (Score:2)
gf is a different story - she's well worth the effort.
Re:Well. (Score:2)
Re:EverCrack (Score:1)
This isn't meant to pick on you (or anyone else). It's just that I hear a lot of people who don't play games or who have given up playing games because you can't learn anything.
Evercrack (Score:2, Funny)
Btw, did any one else notice that most female everquest players seem to be married and almost/ greater then 30?
Re:Evercrack (Score:2)
So maybe evercrack is a good thing to have around... some people have addictive personalities, some addictions are better than others..
--Jeff
Re:Evercrack (Score:1)
What the hell, she was ugly anyway.
Re:Evercrack (Score:2)
Re:Evercrack (Score:2)
--Jeff
Shame on who? (Score:2)
Who are you implying should feel shame? When a developer creates an amazing, epic game that gets consumed by people with low incomes (among many others), should the developer feel shame?
I don't think so. Unless the developer targeted that specific income group or a weakness of people with low incomes. eg. false hope of getting out of their situation, like lottery tickets supposedly do. I don't think EQ or any game really claims to offer hope or an improved lifestyle though.
Playing with a romantic partner (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Playing with a romantic partner (Score:1)
Re:Playing with a romantic partner (Score:1)
It allowed us to do something fun together; for me to play a game without ignoring her (she's not much of a Quake III player); and for her to better understand why I like computer gaming as a stress relief tool.
We have since quit EQ - I hit 33, she was 35, and we were becoming bored and frustrated with the time requirements at those levels. We also bought a house and the Real World has taken over.
My point here? Gaming with your SO _can_ be very fun. You have another thing in common, and it can be a nice diversion from the realities of paying bills, etc. I mean hey, you can't spend the whole week in bed.
Re:Playing with a romantic partner (Score:2)
What is interesting, though, is how the "DM's Girlfriend" dynamic changes when she becomes the DM's wife. He never really fell into that trap, though not for lack of trying on her part. He used to say "Crap, I'm in the dog house again. Oh well.", but now he just laughs. It's funny how your perspective changes when breaking up involves lawyers.
My wife is a bit more typical. Wearing the Chicks Dig Unix [thinkgeek.com] shirt I got her is about as close as she gets to any of my geekly habits. She is OS agnostic, though, which is handy since we only have one computer. As long as she can check her email, she's happy.
I think she would really like Counter-Strike, but she refuses to try it.
Interesting (Score:1)
hmm (Score:2)
Re:hmm (Score:2, Insightful)
I'm speaking from experience, a few years ago I dated and then moved in with a girl I met online. Of course we both had the same social problems that led us to need that avenue to meet in the first place, and it didn't work out in the long run.
Put simply, people who go looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend online need to address their need for distance and safety from rejection and face it, not use it to pick up someone only to realize later that you don't love Fred from Alabama, you love Thangor the lvl 62 Paladin with his shiny plate mail
you know what I mean.
Why exactly? (Score:3, Insightful)
If you're really a psych major, you should know better then to draw inferences from single data points. There could be a lot of factors that caused you to break up, aside from the fact that you were both nerds. Hell, most relationships don't last in the long run; you're likely to go through a couple of SOs/relationships in your life before you find the "right one" (if you ever do). And of course distance can be a problem, but some people, I guess, desperate or romantic enough to move for someone they haven't spent much time with. And it can work out. Personally, I've met a pretty cute, and definitely cool chick over the net. We seem to have great chemistry and are interested in each other (and she's Asian!). But unfortunately she lives in Canada... And again, I'm not one who would uproot my life for a chick, and nether is she. Unless something catastrophic happens we probably won't be anything other then friends (keeping my fingers crossed for benefits
But say you can meet someone from nearby. What, exactly, is wrong with that? Maybe it would be better if a person wasn't as shy (or in my case lazy), but if they can hookup despite, why is it really such a huge issue? Who knows, maybe they go to an engineering school without a lot of chicks.
As far meeting people in online games like EQ, well, if you are doing that you probably have a problem, not the least of which is a distorted sense of reality (looking for chicks in a game where 70% of the populous is male and 80% of the chicks are in relationships?). But if you incidentally meet a girl who shares your interest in the game, and reflects your interest in her, well, how is that unhealthy? I mean, maybe they shouldn't be spending so much time staring at a computer monitor... but they are, they both are. And what could be better then finding someone who shares your passions? And how would it be different then meeting a chick in a collage class or a gym or something?
Maybe you had a bad experience, but any reall social scientist (or any scientist for that matter) would tell you that one data point does not give you the write to castigate a huge set of people as being 'unhealthy'.
I mean, what really is so bad about using the internet to find love or get laid [adultfriendfinder.com]
Re:Why exactly? (Score:2)
Well, I met my fiancee in EQ, and we're getting married in just over a month.
For the record, however, neither of us was "looking" for someone else in the game (we were both doing the dating thing outside the game of course). And we've both said that we never thought we'd be those dweebs that meet someone else in game and fall in love and whatever. But hey, here we are. She lived 800 miles away from me at the time, so we started off just talking to each other in game. Then we used Gamevoice to talk to each other at night while playing, roughly 6-8 hours a night, every night (yes, we were serious EQ addicts and are in the uber guild on our server). Things progressed over a few months, and we met each other in real life, and eventually things worked out well enough that she was able to relocate to the same city I live in.
This is two people in their late-20s too, both college graduates in the technical field. We're not a couple of stupid school kids, and we took things slowly and carefully. And thus far it's working out. A couple of our best friends met each other on a MUD many years ago and got married. About a month ago they celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary. And yes, these are friends in real life who I knew from work.
We don't play that much now - on rare occasions we spend 2 or 3 nights a week playing now - but we do still play and enjoy playing together.
The internet is just another place to meet people, no different from bars, nightclubs, sport and social clubs, or anything else. Generally to meet someone it means you have to be yourself, you have to be careful, and you have to not be desperately seeking someone. Ignoring the first means you'll never find someone you fit with. Ignoring the second means you'll just hurt yourself. Ignoring the third means you'll never actually meet someone as they avoid the "needy" aura eminating from you.
NeverSleep ... (Score:4, Interesting)
The one consistent theme in all of them was being red-eyed and having no free time.
On the other hand, one met her husband through the game, so I guess it can't be all bad.
Re:NeverSleep ... (Score:1)
Oh, I assume you mean the game (it) can't be all that bad. For a moment there I thought you were talking about the husband
Let's see the same... (Score:2, Interesting)
Something tells me the "roleplayed a romance with characters of both genders" stat would be quite a bit higher.
Argh! (Score:4, Funny)
Probably actualy a chick, but. (Score:2)
On the other hand, she probably wouldn't be hot. And certanly not an elf
Re:Argh! (Score:1)
After all who wouldn't want to be a cat-girl android?
Or at least have one.
Re:Argh! (Score:1)
What was amusing is that, even though I play female chars, it took a while to convince a few people I met in the game that I *was* female IRL. So, in essence, even if they suspect that I held a Y chromosome somewhere under my pixelated skirt, they still wanted to offer my character free stuff. I know of a few males who report playing female because they can get cooler items from other people.
I did not get a chance to check out every facet of this study, but I think it would be interesting to do some empirical research into whether the role-playing extends to being a "provider" for some of those female avatars - either men get the boost of being the one with the resources, or else, akin to some very fascinating studies by Dr. David Buss at the University of Texas at Austin Evolution of Desire [barnesandnoble.com], males feel like they are not spending much on a female avatar (besides imaginary money and time) in order to get something in return. Buss' research suggests there is empirical evidence of an inverse correlation between how much a man has to give to a women versus the degree to which he wants to sleep with her (basically, the less a guy has to do to get sex, the more he wants it - some of his studies are pretty amusing and faceted).
But hey, the more you adventure with someone, I am sure the more likely their gender will become apparent - that is, unless you have no experience with women and you have called your mother your Valentine for the last 25 years. ;-)
Re:Argh! (Score:2)
Addictiveness of videogames (Score:5, Interesting)
Now, I'm sure ever quest was designed the way it was to be fun, not purely addictive, but suppose a game truly were? It might be an interesting thing to do, design a game purely for its addictive qualities, maybe a little immoral though
I also wonder if perhaps as interactive entertainment becomes more pervasive if we aren't going to see something truly addictive... so much so that it could ruin someone's life (not that EQ hasn't. There are a couple instances of marriages being ruined by the game/ jobs lost, etc). Would the government step in and regulate the games industry? Should it?
Personally, I'm against the 'war on drugs', but I don't think a totally unregulated drug market would be a good thing either. Are non-chemical psychological 'drugs' really that different?
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:1)
That's the whole idea
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:2)
Personally, I'm against the 'war on drugs', but I don't think a totally unregulated drug market would be a good thing either. Are non-chemical psychological 'drugs' really that different?
A better analogy would be gambling. EverQuest is a game like Poker. People love it for the adrenalin high that they get. I doubt it would ever be regulated. Remember the furor about Dungeons and Dragons? That was never regulated. Gambling is regulated because it is really easy to gamble away your life savings. Gaming away your time is considered your own problem, not the governments! They are probably happy to have you wasting your time in front of the computer instead of participating in democracy.
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:1)
Two prime examples are chips (basically a thin carrier with lots of natrium-glutamate) and (ultra)light cigarette (a nicotine-addict needs a given value of nicotine - if smoking one cigeratte does not result in enough nicotine, the user will light another)
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:5, Interesting)
Different from some chemical drugs, but not the ones you might think.
Alcohol, nicotene and caffiene are all highly toxic and physiologically addicting. When you come off them, you suffer physical (not just psychological) effects. That's what makes them so hard to kick.
Cocaine on the other hand, is not physiologically addicting. You'll miss and crave the hit it gives you, but you have to go through the sweats and shakes. You might start using it again, you might even take to crime to do it, but you'll do it through conscious choice.
In that respect, EverQuest's nickname of EverCrack is quite appropriate. You'll miss playing it. You'll miss the good feelings and memories that you associate with playing it. But you should be able to come off it quickly, and with no harmful effects in the short or long term, if you want to.
Incidentally, if this sounds like I'm advocating cocaine over alcohol, nicotene or caffiene, I am. Ask a casualty doctor about alcohol, or a ward doctor about nicotene. Caffiene in the same quantities as cocaine will kill you stone dead. We only tend to think of it as harmless because we take it in small and well controlled amounts, and it's cheap and uncut with random crap.
In fact, it's binge abuse of any drug that damages you (physically and socially) and over use of an expensive drug (note: the illegality causes the cost) that damages society through crime. There's a similar argument to be made for game playing. Small and regular never hurt anybody. It's when you play for hours or days, igoring friends and family (and perhaps work) and your health, that it becomes a problem. Unfortunately, immersive and flat fee games like EverQuest are exactly the sort of games that can facilitate this damage.
Note: facilitate. I'd no more try to ban something like EverQuest than I would cocaine. The problem is the people with addictive personalities, not in the addicting substance. However, I would (given World Dictator powers) try and encourage light use. Bells and reminders, a need for characters to sleep in real time, perhaps (maybe, possible) even an enforced daily, weekly or monthly time limit, although that would be a last resort and probably counterproductive.
Caffeine lethality (Score:2)
I'll have to stop smoking those caffeine rocks.
Seriously, it's silly to say that "Caffiene in the same quantities as cocaine will kill you stone dead" because even the most addicted people self regulate their intake far below lethal levels of toxicity. Caffeine, even in refined over the counter preparations, simply is not very dangerous, except in the possible cases like accidental poisioning of a child. As far as the typical "caffeine addict" is concerned, it is just as unlikely that you can kill yourself with natural, unrefined sources of caffeine as you could, say, chewing coca leaves, a common and benign Andean practice.
Honore de Balzac, the French novelist, reportedly drank over a hundred cups of coffee a day. His habit was so severe he suffered withdrawal symptoms during the time he waited for his coffee to brew: "even though you make it of the finest ingredients and take it perfectly fresh, you will fall into horrible sweats, suffer feebleness of the nerves, and undergo episodes of severe drowsiness." Eventually he took to eating coffee grounds directly. If anyone should die of acute caffeine poisoning, it should have been him, but he continued on this way for years.
Eventually, Balzac did die of heart disease at the age of 51, not acute caffeine poisioning. Some have suggested caffeine was implicated in his early demise, but his physician maintained his heart disease was cogenital. In any case dying of a coronary at 51 is not unheard of even today, and not an unusually short lifespan for 1850.
There is an impressive roster of caffeine addicts: William Harvey (the discoverer of blood circulation), the composers J.S. Bach, Beethoven, and Rossini, and of course Balzac. This would be an impressive testament to caffeines powers, except that caffeine addiction is so common that virtually any large group, accomplished or not, is bound to have people notable for their caffeine excesses. And while there must be billions of caffeine addicts in the world, acute caffeine poisioning is virtually unheard of, though theoretically possible. This would make caffeine among the safer group, not of drugs but food additives. Certainly more safe than Asprartame (nutrasweet) which can kill people with phenylketonuria (PKU), and cause epileptic-like siezures in normal people.
Making an addictive game (Score:2, Interesting)
Theoretically you could make a video game as mentally addictive as any drug (and maybe Verant already has?), all you need to do is research the psychology.
Remember, Louis Woo was the only man to ever quit the wire...
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:2)
That being said, you have to suspect something about a game that focuses on time and investment to raise stat/skill gains over time, and the requirement that you must have high skills to accomplish "great" things in the game. What we have to realize, is that our time given to them is not free. These companies make money per month. The longer they can keep you hooked, the longer that you will pay their subscription fee. I find that people with addictive personalities are particularly vulnerable to this type of game, as it requires a large time investment to make your character "good", whereas games like Half-life and Quake, your base skill is what makes you "good", as everyone else's character is created equal according to the code.
Like everything else in this world, the MMORPG market is a racket, whose primary goal is to keep the subscription base up. The way to do that is to manipulate the game engine to where no on can really be too successful without a lot of time spent doing repetitive tasks, and "playing". I enjoy MMORPG's but most of the time I'm not playing, I'm working for that company, and they're getting paid.
Re:Addictiveness of videogames (Score:1)
Was that the movie with the mind controlling VCRs?
Awww c'mon, incomplete survey! (Score:4, Funny)
I'll buy you a nice big Japanese beer if you go back and redo the survey, this time including the questions you somehow left out:
oh geez.... (Score:5, Funny)
evercrack (Score:3, Funny)
I actually never tried playing as a female character for some reason. I think I would have if the female character models were done better. I played the Rogue character in Diablo 1 just because of the "zoom" key!
New engine (Score:1)
favorite versus chosen (Score:3, Insightful)
Wood Elf, Human, Dark Elf, High Elf
and the races that most people would rather be:
Wood Elf, High Elf, Human, Dark Elf
A similar distinction results from looking at the class data: Warrior is listed as the second-favorite class, but ranks a distant sixth in the list of classes people would like to be, were Norath real.
This implies that people would rather be a class or race that isn't their favorite.
In fact, this may raise questions about the validity of these questions as measures of underlying preferences, although I don't know to what standard they should be compared.
Re:favorite versus chosen (Score:1, Insightful)
Note: I've never played EQ so the above example is probably a bad one. But I've played lots of other (computer and tabletop) roleplaying games and I've definately observed how people gravitate towards the more powerful classes and away from the weaker ones despite their roleplaying preferences.
Any EQr's want to confirm/refute that?
Re:favorite versus chosen (Score:2)
Being a warrior is a good class to be in the game as it allows you to be tough and fight things without dying as much (hopefully) - but given the choice almost anyone would opt to havethe ability to cast spells - and have inherent racial advantages over what we are used to in the human form.
it doesnt mean that they questions or answers are any less valid - it simply means that based on the change of factors of "being there" people have a virtual preference, and a "physical/mental/desire" preference.
.
Game Addiction (Score:3, Interesting)
This game has since evolved into Elastomania [elastomania.com]the site of all sites is here [moposite.com]. For some reason it is dominated by Scandinavians; I think they invented rally racing so it makes sense I guess.
It looks stupid I know, just download one of the track replays for the demo version and see if you can come even close to the top times. Some people have been playing since 1998
OH MY GOD! (Score:2)
It would be nice if it had more fine graned controll, though.
Fun use of Psychology! (Score:3, Insightful)
in particular I appreciate their using a modern personality test (the NEO-PI) rather than the ubiquitous but outdated (in my opinion at least) MBTI or 16PF.
I would like to take this opportunity to comment on one statement:
You will find this repeated in any one given introductory pscyhology text, but this is wrong all the same. Skinner would never have said this. The point is that Skinner defines his procedures functionally. That is to say that he would state that if a behavior's strength or frequency increases after the presentation of a stimulus, then that stimulus can be said to be a reinforcer for that behavior. In common language, a reward is anything that is considered pleasant, but many behaviors can be "rewarded" in thiss sense until you are blue in the face with no apparent effect on the behavior. Within Skinners parlance, a stimulus is a reinforcer only if it works.
In practice, behaviors tend to get repeated also in this cases where they are punished (this is one of the reasons why prison doesn't make people law-abiding). Behavior analysts, when doing behavior modification, tend to reward behaviors that they wish to strengthen, and ignore (in technical terms, extinguish) behaviors that they want to go away. In preparation for a behavior modification, the client needs to be examined to find suitable reinforcers, precicely because people differ and one person's reward can be another person's punishment.
Mod this ++, Insightful (Score:2, Offtopic)
It's a frequently overlooked aspect of human psychology. We're not lab rats. Many of us rebel just for the pleasure of doing so - it's not as simple as dangling a carrot to make us behave.
slashdot representing (Score:2, Funny)
"Slashdotting geeks, and lots of old women are well represented in the cross-section of EQ players sampled. We were constantly amazed at how often spontaneous
There. Now go back to work.
A more interesting study.... (Score:3, Interesting)
The social benefits seemed to always be praised with computer games like this, but I for one would like to know how many are truly negatively impacted by this and other MMORPG games.
greg
Re:A more interesting study.... (Score:1)
Gosh. I'll miss you, honeybunch!
Reminds me of a Psych test.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Everquest is a totally mindless game. Like the game of LIFE, it has zero strategy or tactics. If you think it does, remember the psych test.
Re:Reminds me of a Psych test.. (Score:1)
How about running this study on non-pay games? (Score:3, Interesting)
There are a large number of online, multiplayer roleplaying games, similar in theme if not in style to EverQuest, that are free (as in beer) to their players. My personal favorite, Ancient Anguish [anguish.org], is one of the largest and has been running continuously for ten years.
The most compelling aspect of these games is not the gameplay, for most players, but the social interactions. I know of several married couples who met on the MUD. Quite possibly the social aspects are enhanced by the lack of fees. It would be interesting to see a similar study done on some of the free MUDs.
Looking at the numbers (Score:5, Funny)
1) There's only a 16% chance that HotBabe13 is female.
2) There's only a 13.5% chance that if she is a she, she is single and not dating..
So, for anybody I meet, I have about a 2% chance that they a single female. Leaving out other variables, I like those odds!
Re:Looking at the numbers (Score:1)
Re:Looking at the numbers (Score:3, Funny)
EQ and RL... (Score:1)
MMORPG's should be more FUN!!! (Score:1)
http://www.rit.edu/~jlc6534/rezyndance_hi.wmz [rit.edu]
Click the link and watch this video. Someone has too much time on his hands, but this video is GREAT! This is what MMORPG's should _really_ be like!
Journal of Virtual Environments (Score:2, Informative)
Star Wars Galaxies (Score:2)
I played with my girlfriend (Score:4, Funny)
However, the point where I knew things were going downhill was when we were sitting next to each other playing the game, and after winning the lotto on a new sword I see on my screen amongst a slew of other tells:
"Yiliae tells you, 'Gratz on getting that sword!'
I turn slowly to my girlfriend sitting next to me and say, 'Why did you just type that to me?'
++Om
Findings Summary: (Score:2, Funny)
45% - Dorks.
~jeff
Suggested reading materials (Score:3, Informative)
Great book. Provides excellent insight into the psychology of RPG gamers.
Analysis Bias (Score:3, Insightful)
12.5 % - Made Worse
55.5 % - No Change
31.4 % - Made Better
So a significant majority (86.9%) thought that the Play-Nice rules made things as good or better than before. I wonder what the opinion of the analyzer was
=Shreak
Another EQ study (Score:2)
The funniest thing about this (Score:2)
The report is basically useless and doesn't tell us anything new. But this guy is going to go on to his thesis review, where they'll tell him that it is interesting but he needs to redo it. And they'll say that for about eight reviews till they decide to let it go.
favorite quote... (Score:2, Funny)
No, I know most males think with their gonads, and act accordingly. They live up to my low expectations. [m, 25]
Magius_AR
Re:Everquest (Score:2, Funny)
If I understand correctly, there's far more to it than that. You can also take off all your clothes and run screaming through town in the dead of night with nothing but a lantern. Instead of being frowned upon, this kind of thing is a well accepted tradition in Britannia. Truly, it's a different world.
--
You're Reading Managed Agreement [slashdot.org]
Britannia. (Score:2)
Not that I don't feel, somehow "dirty" knowing that...
Re:Britannia. (Score:2)
Re:Everquest (Score:1, Funny)
UO once had one (Score:2)
UO does run under Wine, but kind of crappily, and it emphatically does NOT do UOAssist, which is half the fun.
More like 16% female (Score:1)
99% male, 1% female.
Did you read the article? The article states that the gender ratio is closer to 84% male, 16% female, and more than half of the females playing EQ are engaged, married, or separated. Check the "RL demographics" [nickyee.com].
Re:Survey says! (Score:2)
As for your sig...thank GOD sex isn't licensed to M$ or Gates would get to DO you anytime, anywhere.