BruceVC

America americaned over america. America americaned america in america. America america america america. I am not trying to sound too judgmental but what concerns me the most about his thesis is how inaccurate its going to be or rather how myopic the foundation of his thesis is. To write anything around the Internet and its general trends and to not consider the fact that these types of statistics would obviously contain international information shows a profound lack of understanding on what constitutes Internet data. So imagine if he goes for a job interview and when asked about his thesis, "Yes I graduated and got a very good grade on my thesis which was about gaming reviews on the Internet. I know it was accurate and provides insight because it only included feedback from Americans living in America because they represent the gaming industry". Its fine to be America-centric but not around discussions about obviously international topics that require accurate feedback and content I don't want to get into a flame war but 1) I haven't said what my thesis is 2) There is no such thing, from an scholastic point of view, as "internet data." There is data, and the place you get it from -- whether from a phone survey, internet survey, personal survey, you name it -- has limitations. That is something you simply have to deal with when it comes to the social sciences. 3) The limitations of this particular set of data will be (actually, have already been) noted in the literature of the study. Since this is a convenience sample and not a representative sample, the errors introduced by the gathering method(s) are lot easier to deal with. 4) Most students do not have the money or the resources to craft a survey methodology that can reach across such a broad group of respondents as you are suggesting. At least, they cannot do it with any accuracy. Huge marketing firms like NPD literally spend millions and millions of dollars on that kind of research, and they have teams of people working on these projects for months at a time. I am simply a graduate student with an operating budget of zero. Nobody -- not me, not my school, not any employer and not any industry professional -- will be under any illusions as to what this data is saying about a larger trend. The absolute best I will be able to say about whatever my work produces is that we should (or should not, depending) investigate this area further. I also don't want to get into a flame war and I apologize if I was too harsh. I am actually trying to give you constructive criticism and my intention is to help you and not to run you down and all the work you have done and are going to do. Allow me to explain in more detail. My understanding of a thesis is that it should be accurate and the content relevant to the topic you are writing about. You are correct that I have no idea what your thesis is about but the crux of your survey seems to ask how gamers view reviews from gaming journalists and users. I can only focus on that and where I think your survey is flawed. I would think you would want to make corrections to something you are writing if there is indeed room for improvement. Firstly I am a software consultant and I work for an global American company. One of the issues we see is that certain people come for interviews with degrees and all this education but lack common sense and don't have the right work ethos. I am not suggesting this applies to you, I am just giving you some background to a real issue companies face in hiring competent staff. Your survey asks some pertinent questions but as has been pointed out you completely ignore the fact that there are people living outside the USA who frequent those gaming websites you mention and who can give you accurate information around the survey. I don't think you need to make major changes at all. You can keep the salary in dollars as you can't be expected to put in every currency but at least ask people where they live as then you have context to the responses. This is something I would think you would want to do to get an understanding of how the responses may vary from around the world. So I am not asking you to do a comprehensive analysis of all possible gamers, just make some minor changes. Good luck with the rest of the thesis

Woldan you have really let me and others down, I can't believe you actually broke your diet so comprehensively. How are you going to live with yourself, and to make things worse you drank Chocolate Milk. Whats next...a Marshmallow and Chocolate Eisbein? I'm very disappointed in you, very disappointed

Labadal you are a teacher right, what don't you enjoy about that job?

http://www.onlysp.com/exclusive-interview-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-will-have-36-different-endings-no-load-times-and-more/ Some more information about this much anticipated game

There are many very good looking and athletically built Rugby players in the international circuit. They have ladies swooning all over them and its understandable I think the days of assuming Ruby players need to look like Ogres are over

I have always wanted to play this series of games. I read that only the one set in our modern era against the Mexican cartels wasn't worth playing

LadyC you should spend some time learning the Foundry, then you create a complex and multi-levelled dungeon where the players have to be really nice and assist groups of cats. If they are not polite to the cats then giant sabre-tooth cats materialize out of the air and attack them !!! What do you think?

There have been some good suggestions in this thread. I would also like to add we need similar Romance\Sex themes added to PE that were in NWN2. I want to know the personal stories of my party members as I attempt to court the people I have an emotional connection with.

Okay I see what you mean. Your point is around the console simply being the choice of gaming platform

No, but they would have sold a lot less. Why do you say that? As a PC gamer myself, I'd still expect the consoles to make up a larger part of the pie even if all games made are made for PC as well. Alan I'm a little confused by your point, are you saying you don't believe that the quality and number of console games available are a reason that people would invest in one?

I'm sure some people will, I bought an x360 because of Mass Effect back in the day. Let's say I have no regrets, but I seriously doubt there's going to be another game in the foreseeable future that would make me buy into a specific platform I wouldn't buy otherwise. Probably just old age, though. Hi Nep I hear you but one should never make predictions around what we are prepared to spend on our gaming experience as you never know the impact the next type of technology or the next "must have" game will have on you. Imagine if the new Torment or PE turns out to be greatest game you ever played and offers you hundreds of hours of fulfilling entertainment. Suddenly the money you spent becomes irrelevant. I always like to say " you cannot equate a monetary value to a good time or experience" Is this the point where I admit that I've never actually played Torment. Well, for longer than one evening. The last two times I've installed it, no amount of windows acrobatics has made it work... You'll notice I was careful enough to not say never, but I really can't see myself buying Microsoft's contraption at any cost or for any reason- Part of it is of course that I'm looking at a lifestyle change which will involve a lot less couch gaming than until now. Lifestyle changes are always a good thing, well only if they are positive If you don't mind me asking what are you going to be changing about your lifestyle?

That's an easy one, the PC is obviously the choice as the advanced gaming platform

I'm sure some people will, I bought an x360 because of Mass Effect back in the day. Let's say I have no regrets, but I seriously doubt there's going to be another game in the foreseeable future that would make me buy into a specific platform I wouldn't buy otherwise. Probably just old age, though. Hi Nep I hear you but one should never make predictions around what we are prepared to spend on our gaming experience as you never know the impact the next type of technology or the next "must have" game will have on you. Imagine if the new Torment or PE turns out to be greatest game you ever played and offers you hundreds of hours of fulfilling entertainment. Suddenly the money you spent becomes irrelevant. I always like to say " you cannot equate a monetary value to a good time or experience"

America americaned over america. America americaned america in america. America america america america. I am not trying to sound too judgmental but what concerns me the most about his thesis is how inaccurate its going to be or rather how myopic the foundation of his thesis is. To write anything around the Internet and its general trends and to not consider the fact that these types of statistics would obviously contain international information shows a profound lack of understanding on what constitutes Internet data. So imagine if he goes for a job interview and when asked about his thesis, "Yes I graduated and got a very good grade on my thesis which was about gaming reviews on the Internet. I know it was accurate and provides insight because it only included feedback from Americans living in America because they represent the gaming industry". Its fine to be America-centric but not around discussions about obviously international topics that require accurate feedback and content

That's because he knew how to play the game. If you want to create stability in a poor country, you need 2 things. You need to be seen cracking down on corruption (whether you actually do it or not) and you need to offer people hope of upward mobility (whether real or not). As long as you can do that, people seem to be generally docile and go along with whatever other excentricies you may have. Looks like they failed on one or both points in Brazil. Edit to add: Slightly tangential, but I think (imho) that corruption is the single most contributing factor holding back emerging and third world countries. Well said Gorthfucius, the corruption point is paramount and also I would say the upward mobility is part of education. That's how you uplift people, you let them uplift themselves through education. That's the biggest issue in South African at the moment. Uneducated people and people who finished grade 12 but are unemployable. Sometimes they can't even speak English PS : You don't often comment on our political discussions, you sagacious and oracle-like insight is good to hear

"3am in the morning - it's bright and birds are singing"... 3am and the sun is shining, I still can't quite get use to that concept Its 5:30 am in South Africa now and its pitch black outside

But surly you are aware these forums are visited and frequented by people outside the USA like every other forum? You do know the Internet doesn't just exist inside the USA?

That graphics card will have over 3.5 times the compute power of the entire Xbox1-80 on its own, very few people buy cards that expensive, and very few people would spend more than $450 on a console. If you look at previous generations, and the current competition, $500 is expensive, and in a territory that's only been successful with the PS3 which can be explained by the Blu-Ray player since you'd be paying more than a PS3 for a Blu-Ray player. For a lot of people, especially with the charge per month to play online (that's going to be $45-60 a year). $500 is above the range they're willing to pay, and there are two competitors that will be better priced, despite what Nintendo say, they will be dropping the price of the WiiU. I'm convinced we in South Africa are over charged for PC hardware, how much does a Geforce GTX680 SOC cost in your country. We pay $780

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/23/us-usa-security-russia-flights-idUSBRE95M06320130623 Wow, now he may be going to Venezuela,. That is really going to piss the Americans off especially since they have such a strained and tenuous relationship with Venezuela already

Don't you guys think people will buy the Xbox1 because only certain and newer console games will run on it, especially as time go's on? $500 is what PC fans can spend just on a Video Card and we buy it for the enhanced visual experience. So I don't think $500 is unreasonable for a persons improved gaming experience

@ LadyC and Keyrock ( and any others playing this MMO) Have you guys been on any of the Foundry user created quests? In this review they mention this and it sounds more challenging than normal quests http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/10443-Neverwinter-Review-Welcome-to-D-D-Infinite

Don't worry these evening's of hedonism have a tendency to present themselves fairly regularly Oh and Happy B-day

http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1267261/snowden-leaves-hong-kong-commercial-flight-Moscow Interesting but Snowden is now on a plane to Russia. It appears this makes sense and he can now fly to Iceland. He probably did this as it means he wouldn't have to land in any country that does support extradition back to the USA. Apparently this suits Hong Kong perfectly as this was becoming a real political bugbear for them with all the understandable pressure from the USA. I wonder if Iceland will be his final destination

I'm watching the TV series The Following, it stars Kevin Bacon who has to stop a cult of people who have aspirations to become serial killers. This cult all idolize a real hardcore serial killer who directs and influences them surreptitiously from his jail cell in a maximum security prison. Its been entertaining so far I also like the fact we are seeing more and more Hollywood actors now starring in TV series. Its testimony to the hard economic times I suppose. Some examples of this include Kevin Bacon in this series and Kevin Spacey in House of Cards (now that's a good series )

What !!! Never Keyrock, not you. You are a veteran of gaming, a bit like the survivors of the horrific battle of High Wood during the Somme in the First World War http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Wood You just need a 30 minute break and you'll be back to your normal positive and interesting updates around gaming