Who plays, how much, and why?
The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication has published an article based on survey results from 7,000 gamers who play the game Everquest 2. The intro mentions that 40% of adults are now regular “gamers”, compared to 83% of teenagers. Those numbers are staggering to think about. I thought some of the questions posed in the conclusion were also pretty interesting: “Why, for example, are older female players playing at the highest rates? Why are older players playing more when younger people are thought to have more free time? Why are these gamers physically healthier than nongamers? Why do minorities play at lower rates?” Definitely an enlightening read if you have the time.
Abstract:
Online games have exploded in popularity, but for many researchers access to players has been difficult. The study reported here is the first to collect a combination of survey and behavioral data with the cooperation of a major virtual world operator. In the current study, 7,000 players of the massively multiplayer online game (MMO) EverQuest 2 were surveyed about their offline characteristics, their motivations and their physical and mental health. These self-report data were then combined with data on participants’ actual in-game play behaviors, as collected by the game operator. Most of the results defy common stereotypes in surprising and interesting ways and have implications for communication theory and for future investigations of games.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121394419/HTMLSTART?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0