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Role Playing (Games)

New MMO Survey Discusses Addiction, Perspective 33

Posted by simoniker from the seventh-person dept.
Thanks to Terra Nova for its post pointing to new results from the 'Daedalus Project' MMO survey, since, "over the past 4 years, the study has surveyed over 30,000 MMORPG players." Some of the findings include MMO player's opinions on addiction ("About 40% of users would consider themselves addicted to the game. This percentage is quite striking given the social desirability bias built into the question"), and preferences for first or third-person MMO gameplay, with male players strikingly more likely to want third-person play (surveyor Nick Yee suggests: "In very broad strokes, female players are more drawn to relationship-oriented activities while male players are more drawn to achievement-oriented activities... goal-oriented users may be more likely to treat avatars as tools/pawns to achieve goals, thereby encouraging a preference for [third-person play] that objectifies and externalizes the avatar.") We've previously covered other Daedalus Project results.
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New MMO Survey Discusses Addiction, Perspective More

New MMO Survey Discusses Addiction, Perspective

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  • Surprising (Score:4, Interesting)

    by AuMatar ( 183847 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @05:16PM (#9754021)
    I wouldn't have expected such a huge difference between male and female preferences for perspective. Of course, most of the people I play MMOs with care about being as good as they can be so they rarely swap to first.

    Also surprising that first person increased with age. I'd expect the opposite- older gamers grew up in 2D land with me, and we'd prefer a nice 3rd person due to familiarity (its closer to the 2D isometric we're used to).

  • Narrow sample? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by scowling ( 215030 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @05:24PM (#9754113) Homepage
    The Psych profile page appears to indicate that there were only four games surveyed. While those games may make up a great percentage of players, I'm not so sure that it is repreentative of a reaonably wide player base. This, to me, makes the study suspect.

    In addition, of course, the survey sample is not random; it's an 'opt-in' survey where people who are interested in participating do so.

    As such, the data doesn't really appear useful.
    • Actually, Nick Yee is very accomplished and is working on a PhD at Stanford last I knew. He's done a lot of analysis of collected data about online games and has been quite complete in his methodolgy from reading his previous works. He knows the pitfalls of bad data and has discussed it quite extensively in previous works.

      I will agree that there's a bias toward certain types of games, particularly larger games. Most larger games favor the third-person perspective.

      It's interesting to note that SWG and D

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @05:35PM (#9754227)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • This is a very interesting part of the research and analysis. Interesting for me is that other studies have found that females tend to struggle when compared to males in a three dimensional environment.

      (Sexist? Sure, but it ain't me claiming this. [newscientist.com])

      Could the relative perception of how the controls function in third-person vs first-person be the issue? Whatever it is, it probably has to do with something you would consider psycho-babble so you should take that minor and sign up. Looks like there are ple
    • Or it could be that males like the third-person view because FP in MMORPGs sucks, and being goal-oriented makes them look for the better method of gameplay (third-person). Not only does it fit the previous explanation, but it sounds less psychobabbly.

      A job in market research? Making good money by coming up with bullshit theories that vaguely fit the data? That must be one of the best jobs on Earth!

      Rob

  • The third view (Score:5, Funny)

    by angryflute ( 206793 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @06:03PM (#9754479) Homepage
    "...male players...to treat avatars as tools/pawns to achieve goals, thereby encouraging a preference for [third-person play] that objectifies and externalizes the avatar."

    Translation: Guys like to check out the ass of the female character they're playing.
    • Sadly, sadly true. I remember asking a lot of people in the FFXI community what was so good about Mithra. The (all too common answer): "Well, they make really good thieves because they have good DEX... and if you're going to be looking at your PC's ass for 30 mins while you walk from a Crag to a town, why not pick the cute catgirl ass?"
  • "...female players are more drawn to relationship-oriented activities..."
    If by that they mean sexualy oriented, I think I should play a MMORPG...

  • Addiction (Score:5, Interesting)

    by growlydog ( 589804 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @07:02PM (#9755013) Homepage
    As far as the addiction aspect of it goes, I would have to agree. About 20 of my real-life (haha I used the term "real-life") friends and I all started playing SWG (Star Wars Galaxies) at about the same time... We played for almost a year. The truth about that game, in our opinion, is that it quickly stopped being fun and turned into an obsession... an addictive obsession.

    I played the part of a resource miner. I was managing a business wherein I purchased/upgraded/maintained somewhere around 50-60 mineral extractors. I had to visit them almost every day and because of the sheer amount of them, it took quite some time (sometimes these things would be spread out quite some distance over the game world) to maintain and collect the resources from each harvester. Then I would have to auction the resources I'd collected. Then I would have to scour the universe for the best price on power... Then once the current set of resources had been tapped out, I would have to "survey" for another high concentration of a resource that I predicted would sell for a good price. Next up, unrooting the harvesters and moving them to a new location. This could involve having to log in multiple times with different accounts, sine only 10 harvesters can be operated from one account, or nagging my friends to move them to the new location...

    I was doing this, before SWG came out with vehicles... Now, in SWG walking around consumes approximately the same amount of time as it does in real life to go the same distance, maybe a little less. Sometimes I would have to walk round-trip 10km to maintain my harvesters, and thats if they were all in the same location!!! Just the travel time could take up to 30-40 minutes of your time, and if you got attacked and killed on your way out there... you would have to start all over!!!

    I would estimate that my time invested in this (albeit highly profitable) business was around 2-3 hours a day. That left not very much time for any thing else in the game. I didn't fight much. I didn't quest (as if there are quests in SWG!). I didn't level my character... I just did my business.

    Was it fun?

    Short answer: No.

    Long answer: It took me 10 months to realize that I was not enjoying myself. I used to sit down in my computer chair each night and sigh as I booted up SWG. I would wait through countless down-times (BRIA: Better Reboot It Again). I suffered numerous roll-backs, where I was forced to repeat my actions a second time because whatever progress I had made was lost by the server. Many glitches would kill my harvesters, cause me to lose items or resources that I intended to sell... It was quite ridiculous. And yet, I still played. To be honest, with all the money I made, I hardly ever bought ANYTHING! I was spending so much time making the money I didn't have time to spend it, literally! Why did I play? Because I was addicted.

    I once made a drive to the Bay Area from Fresno, and on the way saw a bunch of Wind Generators. They reminded me of my "in-game" harvesters so I insisted on a photograph.

    I would occassionally see "waypoints", giant columns of light, out of the corner of my eye as I was driving around town.

    A waving field of brownish grass would recall to me "fond" memories of the fields of Corellia, my home-planet.

    I actually maintained my harvesters in my sleep, while I was dreaming.

    I would sometimes quote SWG NPCs to my friends... and they all got the joke... "Hello, my friend."

    I thoroughly researched real-life vending machines because they are the closest and most practical real-life counterpart of SWG's harvesters...

    As you can see... The game virtually took over my life. Did I mention that I would stay up very late at night almost every night at the expense of my performance at work and my social life? Haha my social life... I used to make up excuses to all of my real-life friends who DIDN'T play whenever they invited me out, because I just "HAD TO PLAY SWG". I used

    • Re:Addiction (Score:2, Interesting)

      by genrader ( 563784 )
      Dude, I ran a guild and quite frankly I know EXACTLY where you are coming from. I probably spent as much time doing guild issues w ith a 110+ member guild as you did with harvesters, I never had time for fun. The beginning of the game was fun and after that it was all work and no play. Somehow I was addicted...maybe be because I was a Star Wars fanatic but I was addicted and I hated it. If only the devs had made my addiction fun.
      • I hear ya, man! I'm addicted to this "love" thing. I was lucky enough to find one of the rare women that absolutely enjoy gaming. I was completely smitten by her, and I made the decision to spend part of my life with her. It seemed like a good idea at the time....

        But, that's when the problems started! I'll often think about her when she's not around. Then I start wanting to talk to her instead of do fun things like watch TV! And, don't even get me started on this whole "sex" thing that I can never s

  • The timesink of MMO's are ridiculous (Score:4, Interesting)

    by blahplusplus ( 757119 ) on Tuesday July 20, 2004 @08:29PM (#9755631)
    MMO's take too much time to play and they have to realize that most MMO's are really f'n boring. Too much time is wasted doing things that are not fun (travelling, etc) and many of the things that are supposed to be fun like combat, etc. Are half-baked and basically the computer plays for you. I think this is a real issue is the rise of 'automatic gaming' what is there to interact with if the computer does everything for you?

    This is partly why I had a love/hate relationship with NWN and all pay to play MMO's. The speed at which the game goes and the interactivity is almost completely absent you watch your character more then play or control your character. This is why twitch based game mechanics are superior IMHO and they should start using them for MMO's. FFXI and all current MMO's leave the person not doing much other them moving their character and turning on auto attack, compare this with fun games like Soul calibur 2, Mario Kart, Quake or Unreal tournament. There is just no fun in playing a videogame that is essentially passive and non-interactive. This is why I quit Final fantasy XI I couldn't stand the passive nature of 'playing', when really all you're doing is finding monsters turning on auto attack, while you could be surfing the web or actually doing something else waiting for your automatically controlled character to finish (don't laugh many people do).
    • his is why twitch based game mechanics are superior IMHO and they should start using them for MMO's. FFXI and all current MMO's leave the person not doing much other them moving their character and turning on auto attack, compare this with fun games like Soul calibur 2, Mario Kart, Quake or Unreal tournament. There is just no fun in playing a videogame that is essentially passive and non-interactive.

      Neocron tried this, but it didn't catch on much, IMO, Star Wars Galaxies should have played like a FPS
      • I wasn't thinking the game had to be twitch it should just be more interactive. i.e. you don't do a lot of fun tasks, management or manipulations that are fun and goal oriented. Think civilization or alpha centauri, these games are fun because they you you are making decisions that effect game outcomes (do I built this beneficial building or a unit?). MMO's do not have interesting 'management' activities for to go along with their passive style of gameplay. Perhaps it's a limitation of internet and/or g
    • MMO have evolved toward boring, repetitive actions, PvP for the fun of it and little cooperation. This is a wolf eat wolf world and it is not fun.

      The only MMO that keeps me interested is City of Heroes. It is geared toward fun, cooperation, teamwork and missions. You never feel bored, as you never really have to spend a lot of time traveling and even if you do, you have travel powers to shorten those times considerably (plus teleportation of allies if needed). You always feel useful, as you travel streets
    • Online games can't do proper "twitch" because of latency. The split-second reflexes which make a great twitch gamer would be absolutely ruined when subjected to typical internet lag. Do you really want your character to die just because one of AT&T's routers decided to not play nice and delay your packet by 500 ms, meaning that you missed your block and took a leathal blow? Most people don't.

      But, perhaps you should try some different games if you're tired of timesinks. You might expecially want to
      • I know about the technical issues I play Quake and you learn all you need to know about ping and latencny playing first person shooters. What person who doesn't play UT, Q3 or any other online FPS not know that latency is a factor? Also games not being fun because of 'technically challenging' latency is an excuse. Obviously it can be done as Sony proved with Planetside.

        This isn't a shot at you FYI. So maybe you're not skilled enough or have enough schooling to design game mechanics/network engine around
        • I know about the technical issues I play Quake and you learn all you need to know about ping and latencny playing first person shooters.
          [...]
          This isn't a shot at you FYI. So maybe you're not skilled enough or have enough schooling to design game mechanics/network engine around the 'challenge' of latency but other games have done just that.

          I'll pretend for a moment that you're not a troll, even though you've tried very hard to not insult me by insulting me.

          For what it's worth, I've been working on onlin

          • Just so you know I didn't mean to insult you purposefully I apologize if I offended. I'm not that great at expressing myself in a polite manner. Also I know you're experienced here but I'm talking about a game being FUN and APPEALING to more action oriented gamers like myself and by 'action oriented' I dont mean FPS type gameplay, just give me more control over my character instead of me being a passive observer and chatter while the battle takes place. Note that, financial success does not a great game m

            • A tangent before we continue the discussion.

              I'm not that great at expressing myself in a polite manner.

              Learn to do so. You will get taken more seriously if you can express yourself intelligently and politely.

              Anyway....

              I'm talking about a game being FUN and APPEALING to more action oriented gamers like myself...

              And I explained why it wasn't being done. Games that focus on action tend to be less popular and much harder to do. Your example of PlanetSide wasn't adequate, because the game has not bee
  • Not to hawk my own wares, but some of you might find my article [ludonauts.com] on Ludonauts interesting, where I talk about two fundamentally different approaches to game design, one of them being precisely the sort that characterizes most MMORPG design, leading players towards game addiction rather than game enjoyment.
  • Is there really a social desirability bias built into the question of being 'addicted' to a game? Not imo, when a large portion of your social interaction is with other so called addicts.

    Sure we admit to being addicted, but we think of our addiction as similar to that of someone who plays golf often or that watches television.

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