Blizzcon tickets: Going postal from a frustrating experience

Ok so it happened again this year. Within minutes of being available, tickets for Blizzcon were sold out. Tickets were limited to 5 per person and anyone with a brain will see that there are hundreds of tickets being sold on Ebay. It's sad that people who really want to go and not scalp are getting frustrated and sad.

One suggestion for the next day of sales (May 30) would be to limit ticket purchase to those who have not purchased tickets today. For blizzard, a sale is a sale though :/

posting from an amtrak train in baltimore.

well i am on my way to the ATVB conference, not that i remember what that stands for, but im suposed to present a poster regarding a paper im authoring. It's got nothing to do with gaming but I dont have a vascular surgery blog :P Anyway, Stanford IRB sent me comments about having minors do research online so Ill need to figure a way to scren them

Field experiments in online gaming: Univeristy of Warcraft

I've recently been browsing around some research databases looking for experiments done online within games themselves. Field experiments are defined as experiments that are outside the laboratory in the real world. Obviously, for something like World of Warcraft this would mean getting data from within the game. There are many tempting possibilities that become available if field research is explored: Direct observation, experiments, objective data, interviews, and unlimited access.

However, there are just as many caveats: Are people really anonymous within the game? For example, I've recently had to go through Stanford's IRB to get approval for survey research because subjects were being asked their opinions. Even if I choose not to record I.P. addresses for the surveys, there is a remote possibility of harm to a subject. Another problem with doing research in games themselves is conflict with the EULA (user agreements) and research activity. In Warcraft, one cannot harass another player and spam chat channels. Would research be deemed 'spam'? Interestingly, I posted a link to this very blog on the official world of warcraft general forums and within an hour, it was removed (I am still awaiting an answer).

Additionally, would field experiments undermine the idea of game immersion? I am still fuzzy on the legalities of doing observational data gathering within a game like world of warcraft, but that seems like one route around the problems of privacy and rights protection for now. Ultimately, I think it would be cool to have like a University of Warcraft within the game for researchers to recruit subjects or even do experiments within the game itself. Possibility.

Self=Cyberself?

Just thinking about identity and MMO gaming. I came across Wertheim (1999: 250) who critiques the postmodern view of the
cyberself:

Role playing at being a squirriloid or a Klingon, whatever its genuine value, is simply not an identity-changing experience. I can play any number of online characters without suffering fragmentation of my ‘archived’ self. ‘I’ – that is, my ‘self ’ – can play any number of different personae online and off, but that does not mean I become fragmented. In every one of these situations, I am still me, unless I become a true split personality like Sybil.

It makes me wonder if gaming can really change or fragment our 'true' selves.

Narcolepsy and Gaming?

I came across a study which discusses the effects of narcolepsy on neurospsychological testing and driving simulation. The authors state:

There was no correlation between driving performance and neuropsychological test results or ESS Score. Neuropsychological test results did not significantly change in the follow-up. The difficulties encountered by the narcolepsy patient in remaining alert may account for sleep-related motor vehicle accidents. Driving simulator investigations are closely related to real
traffic situations than isolated neuropsychological tests. At the present time the driving simulator seems to be a useful instrument judging driving ability especially in cases with ambiguous neuropsychological results.

this made me wonder how sleep disorders effect gaming; if those with narcolepsy really don't have any measurable cognitive differences than controls, perhaps other factors (present in the driving simulator model) can account for negative effects of narcolepsy. If a gaming model is used, more data like reaction time and attention could be used to correlate with effects of narcolepsy.

Pilot survey 1

basically a test but can be useful:

here

MMO Mobile? (MMobile)

Given the opportunity and market share of phones that can play games well (iphone), it seems only a matter of time before our typical MMO games like World of Warcraft move into the mobile domain. I'd like to coin the term MMobile for the use of mobile technology specifically to play massively multiplayer online games.

While there are several problems with the technology at the moment, it seems likely there will be some interface to access MMOs from one's phone.

There are problems with mobile gaming at the moment:

• Mobile application usage tends to be short term and spontaneous rather than planned;
• Extremely variable capabilities of individual users’ phones (e.g. screen resolution and key layout) and software platform.
• Extremely short lifespan of a mobile game visibility on operators game portals which means game have often insufficient time to grow a critical mass of players.
• In many markets where mobile is the principal access of players to the internet, the lack of availability of support networks (such as fan sites and discussion boards) inhibit community growth.

Other's (Coulton et.al, 2008) have pointed out that the typical hardcore MMO gamer differ from mobile gamers as well:

• Enjoy longer play sessions and regularly play games for long periods;
• Are excited by the challenge presented in the game;
• Will tolerate high levels of functionality in the user interface and often enjoy mastering the complexity;
• Often play games as a lifestyle preference or priority.

Whereas mobile gamers are considered generally considered to display the characteristics considered as ‘casual’ such as:

• Enjoy shorter play sessions – play in short bursts;
• Prefer having fun, or immersing themselves in an atmospheric experience;
• Generally require a low dimensionality of control (e.g. puzzle games);
• Consider game playing another time-passing entertainment like TV or films.

Coulton et. al. (2008) report a nokia game that is MMO but it is basically connect-4. Here is a screencap.

Inventories inventories inventories....!

I swear, if I see one more inventory or checklist that is being studied I'm going to write an inventory to measure my reaction to those inventories. The name of the game in psychology sometimes seems to be getting a checklist or inventory statistically validated and then get it copyrighted (ideally) to make some money. I personally know a older psychologist who approached me to work on his bullying inventory to make it into an online version.

Here are some examples of real, yet ridiculous, inventories:

-Anxiety Towards Death Inventory (yes let's take this on our deathbed! 'here is this questionnaire Mr. Smith').

-Music Performance Anxiety Inventory for Adolescents

-The Frequency and Acceptability of Partner Behavior Inventory

-Intragroup Marginalization Inventory (wut)

-Dream Intensity Inventory

-...and the winner: Fear of Unintentional Rape Inventory (FOURI) (for men, not kidding)
here is a quote:

....a measure of men’s concerns that
one could rape a woman without realizing that she did not want to have sex. Although the authors do not propose that one could actually rape a woman unintentionally, it is possible that this unrealistic fear may impede change in rape-supportive attitudes and behavior. and link to article for those interested.

WHAT?!

Cultural Differences in Avatars between US and Taiwan

I ran across this study looking at how avatars are presented in different media cultures. The US, it seems, likes its women more revealing and aggressive; while Taiwan has more androgynous male avatars in gaming. Interesting report here.

"This analysis revealed a sex bias that male avatars outnumber female avatars, whether in U.S. or Taiwan MMORPGs. In addition, body revelation seemed to be a female “privilege” without cultural difference. Notably, female avatars in U.S. MMORPGs incline to have the shape, cleavage breasts and abdomen barer than female avatars in Taiwan MMORPGs do. Furthermore, female avatars in U.S. MMORPGs are more aggressive than in Taiwan’s. With regard to male androgyny, male avatars in Taiwan MMORPGs look far more androgynous than U.S. male avatars do. 65% of male avatars are apparently androgynous (i.e., more than 60% degree androgyny according to our definition) in Taiwan MMORPGs, whereas almost none of the male avatars are androgynous in U.S. MMORPGs."

Problem Video Game Playing (PVP) survey

Hehe, funny name for a video game addiction scale eh? I found this Problem Video Game Playing (PVP) survey. It is a 9x3 item scale that looks at addiction and video game playing.

"Our results confirm that the excessive use of video games is associated
with a number of problems which resemble a dependence syndrome..."

here is a link for you.