A video game survey

[decado]

Hi all!

 

So before I get blitzed, I just want to say I asked permission before posting this.  So nobody is allowed to yell at me.

 

Anyways, I'm a graduate student and long time gamer.  Currently, I'm studying how video gamers interact with professional game critics, game reviews, user reviews, and other aspects of game review culture.  To do this, I developed a survey that will be used to collect data for my thesis.  It can be found here:

 

https://clipboard.rit.edu/take.cfm?sid=621FC6E7

 

I've hunted around for some good places to post this, and the Obsidian forums are a great spot because so many of us are long-time gamers who closely follow the industry.  So please, take the survey! It will only take 5 minutes of your time, and you get to help a huge nerd finish his thesis.  I appreciate every response I can get.

 

Anyways, if you guys have any questions or concerns, please let me know!

Edited June 21, 2013 by decado

[entrerix]

ehhh i dont want to click a link from a poster with 4 posts

[greylord]

Yep, answered the survey as well, sounds as if my answers may mirror what some others indicate they may have answered also.

[alanschu]

Is this for your thesis?  (I filled out the survey regardless)

[BruceVC]

I also completed the survey, I must say it open's the proverbial can of worms around the various conspiracy theories on the role of gaming journalists and how objective they are. I imagine some people on this forums will have a field day answering these questions

[Leferd]

Here's the thing...I like to read Quarter to Three. It's not really a video game review site, but it's populated by some of the best freelance reviewers in the industry. They give their opinions on games, yet aren't technically paid or "professional" reviews.

 

Or AICN for movies and tv. They aren't professional critics in the classical sense but I'd value their acumen on superhero movies more than EW or even the NY Times.

 

And this is from someone who has a an elitist view mirroring Aaron Sorkin when it comes to the news media vs blogs.

[Bester]

I also completed the survey, I must say it open's the proverbial can of worms around the various conspiracy theories on the role of gaming journalists and how objective they are. I imagine some people on this forums will have a field day answering these questions

Nowadays, anyone who believes in some conspiracy theories is like an atheist in the middle ages. Conspiracy theories are the only source of real information.

 

Anyway. Seeing how Nolan managed to get hundreds of thousands of imdb accounts and rate 90%+ his every film (even if critics only gave it 70%), I don't see why it's impossible to keep a few gaming journalists on pay. It's so easy really.

 

And yeah, why would I read some guy's opinion? He's not me. I'll just get the game and see how it goes or watch a gameplay video on youtube. Critics, pfah, what a joke.

[Bester]

Author, if you're going to ask for my income, at least ask where I live, jesus. This america-centrism is exhausting. I filled out the form only to find out you don't give a **** about my opinion.

[BruceVC]

 

I also completed the survey, I must say it open's the proverbial can of worms around the various conspiracy theories on the role of gaming journalists and how objective they are. I imagine some people on this forums will have a field day answering these questions

Nowadays, anyone who believes in some conspiracy theories is like an atheist in the middle ages. Conspiracy theories are the only source of real information.

 

Anyway. Seeing how Nolan managed to get hundreds of thousands of imdb accounts and rate 90%+ his every film (even if critics only gave it 70%), I don't see why it's impossible to keep a few gaming journalists on pay. It's so easy really.

 

And yeah, why would I read some guy's opinion? He's not me. I'll just get the game and see how it goes or watch a gameplay video on youtube. Critics, pfah, what a joke.

 

 

I don't generally believe in conspiracy theories, I prefer the facts and what can be proven.

 

But I do get my gaming review information from user reviews and  what certain websites gaming journalists say. And to be honest I'm seldom disappointed

[Bos_hybrid]

 I prefer the facts and what can be proven.

 

Facts can be manipulated to suit a persons point of view.

 

The fact is alien life can't be proven, does that mean you don't believe in extraterrestrial life? Also since religion can't be proven you must be atheist.

 

While I don't believe all game journalist are paid by publishers(did Sony pay off everyone for Last of Us), I do believe that they can be influenced like anyone else. In the end the best person to decide if you would like a game or not is yourself, not a journalist and certainly not some random person on the internet.

[BruceVC]

 

 I prefer the facts and what can be proven.

 

Facts can be manipulated to suit a persons point of view.

 

The fact is alien life can't be proven, does that mean you don't believe in extraterrestrial life? Also since religion can't be proven you must be atheist.

 

While I don't believe all game journalist are paid by publishers(did Sony pay off everyone for Last of Us), I do believe that they can be influenced like anyone else. In the end the best person to decide if you would like a game or not is yourself, not a journalist and certainly not some random person on the internet.

 

 

Yes I'm not religious and I have never seen any alien so I can't say with certain that they are real. I would say the chance of extraterrestrial life is possible due to the  size of the universe and the fact we know so little about it

Edited June 22, 2013 by BruceVC

[pmp10]

 

I prefer the facts and what can be proven.

Facts can be manipulated to suit a persons point of view.

 

No.

Facts by definition stay the same no matter what your point of view is.

You may interpret them however you wish in the larger context but they are something unchangeable.

[Sensuki]

No.

Facts by definition stay the same no matter what your point of view is.

You may interpret them however you wish in the larger context but they are something unchangeable.

I'm sure you understood what he meant though.

[melkathi]

 

No.

Facts by definition stay the same no matter what your point of view is.

You may interpret them however you wish in the larger context but they are something unchangeable.

I'm sure you understood what he meant though.

 

 

It's the internet. Understanding is like facts: manipulated to suit the poster's view

Edited June 22, 2013 by melkathi

[Tigranes]

Done, would like to hear more about your research design and goals once the survey period is over.

[BruceVC]

 

 

No.

Facts by definition stay the same no matter what your point of view is.

You may interpret them however you wish in the larger context but they are something unchangeable.

I'm sure you understood what he meant though.

 

 

It's the internet. Understanding is like facts: manipulated to suit the poster's view

 

 

  Good one

[anubite]

I do agree that if you're going to ask for more personal information, you should ask for the country of residence. It kind of skews your poll if a bunch of South Africans take your poll, who on average make less in a given year, but relatively, they might fall under a higher income bracket compared to what they would make in the US.

[melkathi]

I do agree that if you're going to ask for more personal information, you should ask for the country of residence. It kind of skews your poll if a bunch of South Africans take your poll, who on average make less in a given year, but relatively, they might fall under a higher income bracket compared to what they would make in the US.

 

I think you just called BruceVC fat. I mean, refering to him as "a bunch" ? Uncalled for. Really uncalled for

[decado]

Is this for your thesis?  (I filled out the survey regardless)

 

Yep!  It is basically a convenience sample, since I don't have the money or the resources to do real random sampling when it comes to human subjects.

Edited June 23, 2013 by decado

[decado]

Regarding income,

 

I understand what you guys are saying. Unfortunately, I never thought this survey would be distributed outside the United States so I did not include a location-centric question in the materials.  By the time I realized I needed to hit the forums get responses, it was too late, since the survey had already been distributed by other venues.  

 

My research is American-centric in general, since I am an American, using American resources, attending an American school and surrounded (mostly) American students.  You'll notice that most of the game review sites I mentioned are headed by American or UK companies, written in American or British English.  Those are just the limitations of my study. 

 

Anyways, thanks to everyone who has taken it so far.  I appreciate every response I can get.

Edited June 23, 2013 by decado

[decado]

Here's the thing...I like to read Quarter to Three. It's not really a video game review site, but it's populated by some of the best freelance reviewers in the industry. They give their opinions on games, yet aren't technically paid or "professional" reviews.

 

Or AICN for movies and tv. They aren't professional critics in the classical sense but I'd value their acumen on superhero movies more than EW or even the NY Times.

 

And this is from someone who has a an elitist view mirroring Aaron Sorkin when it comes to the news media vs blogs.

 

This is actually something I touch on in my research -- what makes a critic a "professional" or even a "paid" reviewer?  If some guy writes game reviews on his blog, and uses the ad revenue to pay his bills, I'd say he's probably a "professional" or least popular enough to where he is considered to knowledgeable.  Is he a "professional" critic or a just user-reviewer who got lucky? 

 

These are sticky questions with no easy answers, and the lines get blurrier every day.

[BruceVC]

Regarding income,

 

I understand what you guys are saying. Unfortunately, I never thought this survey would be distributed outside the United States so I did not include a location-centric question in the materials.  By the time I realized I needed to hit the forums get responses, it was too late, since the survey had already been distributed by other venues.  

 

My research is American-centric in general, since I am an American, using American resources, attending an American school and surrounded (mostly) American students.  You'll notice that most of the game review sites I mentioned are headed by American or UK companies, written in American or British English.  Those are just the limitations of my study. 

 

Anyways, thanks to everyone who has taken it so far.  I appreciate every response I can get.

 

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?

[decado]

 

Regarding income,

 

I understand what you guys are saying. Unfortunately, I never thought this survey would be distributed outside the United States so I did not include a location-centric question in the materials.  By the time I realized I needed to hit the forums get responses, it was too late, since the survey had already been distributed by other venues.  

 

My research is American-centric in general, since I am an American, using American resources, attending an American school and surrounded (mostly) American students.  You'll notice that most of the game review sites I mentioned are headed by American or UK companies, written in American or British English.  Those are just the limitations of my study. 

 

Anyways, thanks to everyone who has taken it so far.  I appreciate every response I can get.

 

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?

 

Sure!  But like I said, I never intended to be distributing this via forum.  It sort of evolved that way, late in the process.

[melkathi]

At uni we had students quite often show up during lectures to ask if they could hand out their survey in the last 5 minutes. Can't remember how many I filled in

[Lord of Lost Socks]

What will also skew your poll is the fact that you're posting on a primarily RPG-centric forum about what types of games we play. But I assume you've posted this poll in all kinds of forums to get answers, so it shouldn't skew too much in that case.