gaming and gender
Pen-and-paper roleplayers are familiar with the idea that games (via trial and error and social interaction) help us learn about our personal strengths and weaknesses. Online gaming is poised to take that notion to a new, data-verifiable level. I mentioned yesterday about 3 sources of user data that were mined and shared back with the source population. Today's post discusses the world of online computer gaming.
Although some sociologists examine the history of their own interaction in a virtual world, others arrange to download the entire database of player interactions from the host company. Either way, there's a lot of information to mine. A third method is to solicit the direct involvement of players by asking permission to download their individual gaming histories on a daily basis.
This third method seems most responsive to the "customer" base, even providing frequent notices about the results obtained. In this particular case, it's a much smaller sample set of only 1000+ players, but it's nice to see such direct feedback during a sociological project. So far, the data mining has addressed some of the traditional questions that come to mind during online play.
The gender bending results show that men are more likely to experiment with playing an opposite-sex character, but women are more likely to spend their time playing a female character. So the odds are good that the elf you've been eyeing (you know, the one with the bouncing pixels) really is female.
While virtual characters can perform lots of video motion sequences to display emotions, one of the popular mainstays is the simple hug. Women, it seems, are 2-3x more likely to hug fellow players than are men. Americans of any gender are much more "touchy, feely" than their Asian counterparts (Hong Kong and Taiwan).
The two most necessary combat roles in most online games are the "tank" and the "healer". An analysis of character roles in an adventure party shows that women are more likely to take healer roles (or ranged damage) while men are 3x more likely to play the tank. The analysis also found an age difference, with younger players favoring these two essential roles.
This new data mining projects intends to release new results every week or two. The authors write:
As we slowly but surely churn through the data, we ask ahead of time for your patience in that it may take us a while to answer specific questions, but the accumulation of blog posts here will hopefully provide a multi-faceted lens over time.
- http://blogs.parc.com/playon/2010/07/23/welcome-to-playon-2-0/
I really like the idea that playtime helps us learn about ourselves. I enjoy gaming for other reasons, but this kind of observation adds a whole new dimension of interest in the pastime. I hope they add more players to their database to develop a very large population base for study.
Although some sociologists examine the history of their own interaction in a virtual world, others arrange to download the entire database of player interactions from the host company. Either way, there's a lot of information to mine. A third method is to solicit the direct involvement of players by asking permission to download their individual gaming histories on a daily basis.
This third method seems most responsive to the "customer" base, even providing frequent notices about the results obtained. In this particular case, it's a much smaller sample set of only 1000+ players, but it's nice to see such direct feedback during a sociological project. So far, the data mining has addressed some of the traditional questions that come to mind during online play.
- Is that sexy female elf really a female player?
- Do women emote more than men?
- Are men inclined to follow front-line combat while women follow medicine?
The gender bending results show that men are more likely to experiment with playing an opposite-sex character, but women are more likely to spend their time playing a female character. So the odds are good that the elf you've been eyeing (you know, the one with the bouncing pixels) really is female.
While virtual characters can perform lots of video motion sequences to display emotions, one of the popular mainstays is the simple hug. Women, it seems, are 2-3x more likely to hug fellow players than are men. Americans of any gender are much more "touchy, feely" than their Asian counterparts (Hong Kong and Taiwan).
The two most necessary combat roles in most online games are the "tank" and the "healer". An analysis of character roles in an adventure party shows that women are more likely to take healer roles (or ranged damage) while men are 3x more likely to play the tank. The analysis also found an age difference, with younger players favoring these two essential roles.
This new data mining projects intends to release new results every week or two. The authors write:
As we slowly but surely churn through the data, we ask ahead of time for your patience in that it may take us a while to answer specific questions, but the accumulation of blog posts here will hopefully provide a multi-faceted lens over time.
- http://blogs.parc.com/playon/2010/07/23/welcome-to-playon-2-0/
I really like the idea that playtime helps us learn about ourselves. I enjoy gaming for other reasons, but this kind of observation adds a whole new dimension of interest in the pastime. I hope they add more players to their database to develop a very large population base for study.