A video game survey

[decado]

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.

 

Actually, I have several different "response groups" for this survey, all divided up by how I went about soliciting replies -- I have one group for the students from my school, one for Facebook, one for forum X, one for forum Y, etc.  The survey is the same, but the respondents are grouped differently.

[Bester]

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.

America americaned over america. America americaned america in america. America america america america.

[Azdeus]

Actually, I have several different "response groups" for this survey, all divided up by how I went about soliciting replies -- I have one group for the students from my school, one for Facebook, one for forum X, one for forum Y, etc.  The survey is the same, but the respondents are grouped differently.

 

 

I might've skimmed over it since I took the survey at too:early am, but I missed driving sims as a category.

[Orogun01]

 

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.

 

Did you reach a consensus on what criteria a professional reviewer must have? At its most semantic interpretation it would exclude users and bloggers since its not their profession to critique. Personally I believe journalism in general has taken a hit, probably because "casualization" and i'm using that term to refer to news in general not just video games.

[Zoraptor]

Took survey. As always found it difficult to rate on the agree..disagree curve since I end up thinking something along the lines of "yes, uh no" as I run through whether the user review is from someone like Vault Dweller who does excellent reviews even if I don't always agree with him- or consists of "SOZ = SOZZY!" or "COD AWESUM AP SUXXX!!!" as most do.

[Gorth]

I filled out the survey, but not sure what was meant by this:

 

"If there is a large disagreement between professional critic reviews and user reviews, the game is probably bad"

 

Is that if the self proclaimed pros like and the gamers don't or the other way around?

 

 

Edit: I can't believe I mangled the name Gamebanshee under 'other'

[anubite]

 

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.

 

"Non-paid" reviewers can also be bots or people paid to write positive reviews as users ("viral marketers"). So, both sides of the pool are pretty polluted and trustworthy.

 

When I'm unsure if I should get a game I:

Look and see if there's a demo

Read the professional reviews (1-2)

Read a bunch of user reviews on multiple sites (and do a background check on the users by looking at their history)

If 2/3 don't line up I generally hold off on the game

 

There are some sites I don't trust (like IGN/Gamespot) outright for reviews. There are some sites I follow, like Giantbomb, but their scores are worth a lot less than their quicklooks (which are the kind of lengthy hands-off demos that game companies should be providing to sell their game).

Edited June 24, 2013 by anubite

[BruceVC]

 

 

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.

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

[Orogun01]

Al Gore made the Internet, therefore the Internet is American and everyone in it its an American. Your argument is invalid

[Bester]

 

 

 

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.

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

 

 

Please. Nobody asks what your thesis was. And if he's got rich parents (and his lack of concern shows that he does), he's guaranteed to have a job anyway through their friends etc.

[decado]

 

 

 

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.

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.

Edited June 24, 2013 by decado

[decado]

 

 

 

 

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.

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

 

 

Please. Nobody asks what your thesis was. And if he's got rich parents (and his lack of concern shows that he does), he's guaranteed to have a job anyway through their friends etc.

 

 

Lmao guys come on, how on Earth do you think you can know this about someone based on some posts on the internet?  I don't have "rich parents," and I already have a job.  I'm married and I have a daughter.

[Amentep]

Thing about reviews - to me at least - is that they have to be contextualized as "one person's opinion". A professional reviewer may have just as much bias as a non-professional one.

 

The key - IMO - to the reviewer-reader relationship is understanding where you fall in relation to what the other is writing, not in taking the reviewers opinion as the final word in opinion on the subject of the review.

 

I agreed mostly with Roger Ebert but also had read enough of his reviews to know what kind of things we disagreed on. Roger Moore from the Orlando Sentinel almost never agrees with me on a film and yet I can use that too to know which films I might like too.

[decado]

Yeah, it is a funny business to be in.  The new Superman movie was blasted by most of the well-known critics, but raked in huge amounts of cash and is shaping up to be one of the larger comic/film blockbusters we've ever seen.  So how much is the critic's disagreement actually worth, in the long run?  The dynamic between critic and consumer has been a contentious discussion for many years in film, music and literature.  Now we are really starting to see it in video games, especially in those games where the budgets get so big and the fanfare for release is so loud.  ME3 is great example of a critically lauded game that was eviscerated upon release by the users who loved it as a game but hated the ending.  This throws into sharp relief the ongoing problem that critics and consumers have always had with each other: they seem to value different things.

Edited June 24, 2013 by decado

[alanschu]

It's also important to recognize that, in my experience, the negative user experience is typically the loudest.

[BruceVC]

 

 

 

 

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.

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

[Gfted1]

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

[decado]

It's also important to recognize that, in my experience, the negative user experience is typically the loudest.

This is a well-known phenomenon in self-reported data of all kinds.  For example, the people most likely to comment on a product are people who either 1) Really liked it or 2) Really hated it!  Extreme ends of the spectrum are often more represented in the numbers than the moderates, because moderates don't self-report as much.  This goes for a lot of stuff, from movie reviews to product reviews on Amazon.com, to everything in between.

[Malcador]

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

Not really sure either, I guess the dollar sign ? BruceVC's got to get upset about something, I suppose.

[BruceVC]

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

 

You should read the topic from the beginning to see the issues raised around the survey

 

 

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

Not really sure either, I guess the dollar sign ? BruceVC's got to get upset about something, I suppose.

 

 

I'm not upset at all and its clear you don't read my posts as I have no issue with the question around dollars as I mentioned  ( you naughty boy Malc  )

 

I am giving constructive criticism why I feel the survey is flawed and why without asking where people live you aren't going to get the correct picture. For example the salary question isn't appropriate without understanding where people live

[pmp10]

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

The income levels will vary wildly depending on location and so will purchasing power in gaming.

[Gfted1]

 

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

The income levels will vary wildly depending on location and so will purchasing power in gaming.

 

 

 

So what? Instead of pointless whining, why don't people use Google to convert Rand or Rubles into Dollars and answer the question? Reminds me of when Sawyer started an update video with "Good morning America!" and a dozen people whined that their home country wasn't said aloud.

[Malcador]

I'm not upset at all and its clear you don't read my posts as I have no issue with the question around dollars as I mentioned  ( you naughty boy Malc  )

 

I am giving constructive criticism why I feel the survey is flawed and why without asking where people live you aren't going to get the correct picture. For example the salary question isn't appropriate without understanding where people live

Still not seeing it as something, it is just a survey of some people posting in a game developer's forum. Do find it funny how you judge your own stance though, as always.

[pmp10]

 

 

smh. What does a persons location have to do with any of those questions?

The income levels will vary wildly depending on location and so will purchasing power in gaming.

 

 

 

So what? Instead of pointless whining, why don't people use Google to convert Rand or Rubles into Dollars and answer the question?

 

Because it's not just the income level that are different but also game prices.

100 euros will on average buy you much more games in Ukraine than in UK.

Hence the income question loses validity when taken outside the context of US market.

Edited June 24, 2013 by pmp10

[alanschu]

So what? Instead of pointless whining, why don't people use Google to convert Rand or Rubles into Dollars and answer the question? Reminds me of when Sawyer started an update video with "Good morning America!" and a dozen people whined that their home country wasn't said aloud.

 

 

It's actually not that simple.  If you adjust for currency exchange rates, the costs still won't line up.