Curse

Fried Tech · Nov 27, 2007, 08:14 PM // 20:14

I would take the topic you liked "is gw for the young male generation"; and expand that to be more broad. Something more like "are MMORG for the young male generation" a broader scope would give you more accurate results in a questionare. As many people wouldnt know about gw but would know wow, or ffXI.

just my thoughts

deadman_uk · Nov 27, 2007, 08:31 PM // 20:31

Although GW would be a fun thing to talk about, I think I am making it hard for myself. I don't think this is as hard as some of you think though, first of all we don't have professors here, we have simple teachers who teach mutiple business and IT subjects. I don't think this is suppose to be in much depth... something like 3000 words. We get 4 assignments every few months from different IT subjects, and the other 3 are extremely easy compared to this one.

I know computer games are a valid topic, the teacher was the one who suggested it to me but finding sources would be hard... especially primary ones and yes I could change "GW" to "MMORG's" which I may do however after searching on the internet, it seems a better topic would be something to do with violence in computer games. I see hundreds of pages to do with video game violence, I think I can make it easier on myself if I select that. What do you all think?

I am undecided yet but I really do appreciate everyones replies! What a great community GW has!

Red Sonya · Nov 27, 2007, 08:33 PM // 20:33

Psychology and the ever growing numbers of dweebs who play online games like it's their life.

Xue Fang · Nov 27, 2007, 08:37 PM // 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadman_uk

Like I said, if many of you think GW is a poor topic to talk about suggest alternatives.... good alternatives with lots of information about on the Internet that's not boring...

Coming up with a topic/thesis is probably the hardest part of writing a paper,.. and probably the part you need to spend most time learning..

Res Ipsi · Nov 27, 2007, 09:32 PM // 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadman_uk

I know computer games are a valid topic, the teacher was the one who suggested it to me but finding sources would be hard... especially primary ones and yes I could change "GW" to "MMORG's" which I may do however after searching on the internet, it seems a better topic would be something to do with violence in computer games. I see hundreds of pages to do with video game violence, I think I can make it easier on myself if I select that. What do you all think?

If online games are a valid choice for your topic, you could review some of the research that indicates people who play online games tend to have better perceptual-motor skills than people who don't. You could look into how computer games has changed how people think (i.e., how they organize and process information). Think of how easily you find it to multi-task, then imagine your grandmother doing the same thing. You could even introduce some research on neuroplasticity. Very interesting stuff, that.

Arlan · Nov 27, 2007, 10:02 PM // 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by deadman_uk

This is probably the best suggestion I've heard so far! Could you expand on this? What sort of questions would I ask in a questionnaire to 50 odd people or a dozen people in an interview?

I could title the report "What sort of people play Guild Wars?" or "Is Guild Wars just for the young male generation?"

I would have to gather research so I could talk about this in depth, this would be hard. Any suggestions? I do like the idea very much..

I think your line of thought here is a good subject - 'the age and sex of GW gamers'. General view of on line gamers are young, male, anti social, nerdy types.
I think you'd be surprised - and maybe the gaming community at large would at least like to see the end result. I bet GW would at least publish it.

PM me if you want any info -

So says a 40+ family man who has played since beta.

pamelf · Nov 27, 2007, 11:20 PM // 23:20

It's not that hard finding sources. Google Scholar is always a good starting point to find out what's out there... http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=...a&start=0&sa=N

That's the link to articles that specifically reference Guild Wars. The best thing about research projects though is that it doesn't have to be specifically about Guild Wars. What you can do is research information on online gaming in general, then state how the general trend does, or does not apply to Guild Wars, and how this then supports your hypothesis.

The Guild Wars website would be primary. Interviews with players would be primary. Any article from a reputable source (not wikipedia) can be primary OR secondary. That said however, wikipedia can function as a source if talking about the growing of an online community, as can fansites.

englitdaudelin · Nov 28, 2007, 12:58 AM // 00:58

For IT...how about evolving MMO design, persistence, instances, server questions, lag, and the like?
And the relationships between MMO design and game experience in some way?
I could envision you going in a couple of ways: a sort of tech-psych paper, in which you examine game design, competition, rewards and incentives, mission and quest design and dfficulty,even the event weekends, as a game theorist might: how well does the game offer incentives to continue playing (and continue buying campaigns and expansions)? Consider comparing to WoW, which, in my opinion, has a more complex interface and "spellbook" and whatnot, and gets people to pay a monthly fee: What in the technology and design gets people paying and playing?
The other possible thread to the paper (or other possible paper) might be more tech-side: What's the hardware and software design? What does it take on ANet's end to create and maintain this game on the schedule that it does? Why instances over persistence? What is the effect of instancing on game performance? On game design? On play? What creates lag? How does ANet (or any multi-user "real time" program) manage lag? How does ANet balance the power of the computers it uses to design game with the likely systems we have here at our end? How did they decide on the interfaces we see in game? How do people customize those interfaces? etc....

I think the FIRST up there is easier and more accessible in your 3000 words or so (which is what, 12 pages or so?), in terms of research. Plenty of game theory out there, then you just analyze Guild Wars through that "lens..."
The SECOND is much more technical, and just as intriguing if you're into the hardware, or if your teacher is.

I dunno, I could be talking out my butt. But this could be cool.

Shyft the Pyro · Nov 28, 2007, 02:52 AM // 02:52

I've used GW in a course about the globalization of the English language, by examining the chat logs of several PUGs and comparing them to what other members of my group could find in IM and email conversations. The conclusion I made was that the time-sensitive nature of in-game communication forces it to be brief, much as it does with IMs, and the way I related it to the course was to claim that such an environment is immensely more linguistically mutable than the spoken language.

Of course, this might not help you if your project has to focus on IT topics rather than on topics in the IT environment, but I thought I'd toss it in anyway.

deadman_uk · Nov 29, 2007, 04:13 AM // 04:13

Well I see my teacher Friday so I am going to have a good chat to him about this!