Research Participants Needed

thesham001 · 25-01-2012 2:39pm #1

Hey guys,

I'm doing a Psychology PhD, and I'm looking for people who play any MMORPG, for roughly 20 hours a week, for a 20- 30 minute interview (which will be held online)

The questions will be centred around how important the game is or isn't to you, so don't worry, there wont be any deep or personal questions. It really is an easy and short interview.

If anyone is remotely interested (and I hope people are), leave a comment or email me at researchmmorpg@gmail.com and I will send you all the details and forms so you can make an informed decision. If you have any questions on the topic I'll be happy to answer them as well.

I play the game myself, and have a lvl 85 Warlock.

MikeyJoyce · 25-01-2012 3:35pm

Hi,

That sounds rather interesting. I would be Interested in helping you out if you need someone.
I currently am not playing an MMO at the minute but used to play World of Warcraft relentlessly averaging 30-40 hours a week.. yeah i know....
Right now i am waiting for Guild Wars 2 which is making me so excited. So maybe my Answers would be relevant to your study.

Im not sure lol but if you need me just let me know

thesham001 · 25-01-2012 3:57pm

MikeyJoyce wrote: »

Hi,

That sounds rather interesting. I would be Interested in helping you out if you need someone.
I currently am not playing an MMO at the minute but used to play World of Warcraft relentlessly averaging 30-40 hours a week.. yeah i know....
Right now i am waiting for Guild Wars 2 which is making me so excited. So maybe my Answers would be relevant to your study.

Im not sure lol but if you need me just let me know

Thats great, thanks for this. PM sent.

oxo_ · 25-01-2012 7:00pm

You can't psychoanalyse Irish people, don't waste your time.

However, it would be considered somewhat fair if you balanced your interview with another that asked the same questions of a person who sits in front of their TV for the same amount of time each week. Just so, you know, it's not seen as another easy cheap shot at people who enjoy spending their spare time playing games rather than sitting watching shít on the telly.

thesham001 · 25-01-2012 7:12pm

oxo_ wrote: »

You can't psychoanalyse Irish people, don't waste your time.

However, it would be considered somewhat fair if you balanced your interview with another that asked the same questions of a person who sits in front of their TV for the same amount of time each week. Just so, you know, it's not seen as another easy cheap shot at people who enjoy spending their spare time playing games rather than sitting watching shít on the telly.

Well I'm of the opinion that there is a lot of positive in these games, so it's not going to be a cheap shot. Would you be interested in taking part? How often do you play an MMORPG?

oxo_ · 25-01-2012 8:05pm

Wouldn't be so sure about positives, other than improved hand eye coordination and the ability to list off a range of weapons like I'd spent time in some elite special forces unit.

I'd rather see/read a study done to show the desensitising of today's kids to killing, war and the weapons used in such by games companies. Comparing it to the direct methods used by certain insane paramilitary groups in the likes of Africa who use more direct psychological methods to do the same for the child soldiers they recruit and use.

Or why for instance the German government ban blood in games while at the same time allowing hardcore porn 24 hours a day on TV. What's the reasoning behind that? Deter kids from seeing the real effects of killing with blood splattering everywhere while on the other hand if they wanted, they could see a bit of fisting O.o

My 9 year old could probably tell you the best gun to kill someone with in the least amount of time in any given situation. Yet he'll break down in tears half the time if I tell him to clean his feckin room.
I've had former child and teenage soldiers break down in tears just because I was "nice" to them.

While the methods used to change the minds of kids in either situation, one being ultimately more horrible than the other, the overall intended end effects could well be the same.

As for anyone who might say well the games of that nature are meant for over 18's only or whatever, come on, we all know games the likes of MW3 are aimed at young teenagers regardless of any laws in place.

Anyway, was more a suggestion to expand your study out rather than do the same old stuff.

Times change, radio was replaced with TV and it with games and the various things you can now do via the Internet. It's not all bad but there's certain themes I'd feel that were put in place by war mongering nations to desensitise kids in particular to war and the consequences of it.
Go ask kids in a primary school who have a ps3 or xbox 360 to list you off as many guns as they can name or if they had a choice when they're older, what countrys special forces they would join - USA, Russian or Irish based ? Methinks most wouldn't even be aware we had our own, let alone also then asking them what exactly world wars 1 and 2 were actually over/about.

Anyway, some thoughts for comfort.

Oh and no sorry, wouldn't be interested in taking part. I don't have as much freetime as I used too to play a lot, unless I skip sleep to do it

Calhoun · 25-01-2012 10:26pm

what are you hoping to show with this research?

thesham001 · 25-01-2012 11:41pm

oxo_ wrote: »

Wouldn't be so sure about positives, other than improved hand eye coordination and the ability to list off a range of weapons like I'd spent time in some elite special forces unit.

I'd rather see/read a study done to show the desensitising of today's kids to killing, war and the weapons used in such by games companies. Comparing it to the direct methods used by certain insane paramilitary groups in the likes of Africa who use more direct psychological methods to do the same for the child soldiers they recruit and use.

Or why for instance the German government ban blood in games while at the same time allowing hardcore porn 24 hours a day on TV. What's the reasoning behind that? Deter kids from seeing the real effects of killing with blood splattering everywhere while on the other hand if they wanted, they could see a bit of fisting O.o

My 9 year old could probably tell you the best gun to kill someone with in the least amount of time in any given situation. Yet he'll break down in tears half the time if I tell him to clean his feckin room.
I've had former child and teenage soldiers break down in tears just because I was "nice" to them.

While the methods used to change the minds of kids in either situation, one being ultimately more horrible than the other, the overall intended end effects could well be the same.

As for anyone who might say well the games of that nature are meant for over 18's only or whatever, come on, we all know games the likes of MW3 are aimed at young teenagers regardless of any laws in place.

Anyway, was more a suggestion to expand your study out rather than do the same old stuff.

Times change, radio was replaced with TV and it with games and the various things you can now do via the Internet. It's not all bad but there's certain themes I'd feel that were put in place by war mongering nations to desensitise kids in particular to war and the consequences of it.
Go ask kids in a primary school who have a ps3 or xbox 360 to list you off as many guns as they can name or if they had a choice when they're older, what countrys special forces they would join - USA, Russian or Irish based ? Methinks most wouldn't even be aware we had our own, let alone also then asking them what exactly world wars 1 and 2 were actually over/about.

Anyway, some thoughts for comfort.

Oh and no sorry, wouldn't be interested in taking part. I don't have as much freetime as I used too to play a lot, unless I skip sleep to do it

Thanks for your very interesting post. Research actually shows that violent and aggressive games don't have as big an impact on people as you would think. In fact the research is very inconclusive, with no strong pattern emerging, regardless of what the media would have you believe.

As far as doing the same old stuff, my research is on something completely new; meaning/purpose in life and MMORPG's. I'm trying to find out what meaning people get from them. Research shows that people get identity from these games, and meaning in life can be obtained through social activity, identity and achievements, all of which are found in MMORPG's. I'm not saying everyone gets meaning from these games, because they don't, but certain players I believe will. My research is to try and find out if they do, how they do and why they do. The first step is to interview people to try extract some possible theories and processes.