Curse

gareth118 · Mar 05, 2011, 05:19 PM // 17:19

Hello there everyone

I am a 2nd year Undergraduate University student studying in the UK and am currently preparing my dissertation proposal. I am studying English Language/Linguistics and wish to look into the use of language, shift in meaning and the development of a new lexicon in Massively Multiplayer Gaming Environments such as this one. What I need to confirm for this proposal before I submit it however is if there are players of these games who are willing to pass on their chat logs to me to be included in the study. Before you make a decision know this:

There would be complete anonymity; even your handles would be changed

I will be easily available for contact should you no longer wish to be included in the study

I would need the consent of every individual involved in your instance of play (this means that if you were to become involved it would be a great deal easier to use guild sessions or instances with only a select few players involved)

I am also looking into how voice chat plays a part in the experience. I understand that this is a great deal more difficult to capture than the text side of things but any contribution would be greatly appreciated.

If you are interested in helping me out or have any questions please let me know as soon as possible.

Many Thanks

Aycee · Mar 05, 2011, 05:45 PM // 17:45

I'd be happy to volunteer for this. Hopefully more people do the same so you can get this done.

Qyark · Mar 05, 2011, 06:20 PM // 18:20

I would like to help, how do you want us to get the chat logs to you?

Spiritz · Mar 05, 2011, 08:39 PM // 20:39

Ok i must be totally dumb ( due to too many large words ) but we dont have chatlogs nor access to them.If your after learning how chat libgo is used - play the bloody game as its all there in outposts/towns

MisterB · Mar 05, 2011, 08:57 PM // 20:57

How to log chat: Menu > Interface, expand chat window vertically, print screen button. Open in image editor, crop to chat window, blot out player names, submit image. For extra credit, crop out server messages like drops, halls, titles, and whatnot. Scroll up or down in chat window as needed to capture complete chat log. Do a search for logging Gaile's visits for more complete instructions.

I have nothing to contribute to your dissertation, but best of luck.

Star_Jewel · Mar 05, 2011, 09:53 PM // 21:53

And if the researcher wants a complete view of his participants' activities (I'm assuming he does, since incomplete data would skew the study), the participants will have to be responsible for doing that screenshot work -- in full. Bear that in mind when signing up for this.

Etaoin Shrdlu · Mar 05, 2011, 10:48 PM // 22:48

gareth118 - As a professional student with a large investment in philosophy of language, I just want to say that I appreciate your undertaking this kind of project. Projects like this one help me to do my kind of work. Let me know how and when I can help out.

gareth118 · Mar 06, 2011, 02:54 PM // 14:54

Thanks very much for the support guys

At the moment it's only a draft I need to submit I just need to determine whether people like you would be happy giving your consent and be willing to put the time in to help me out. I would need the consent of every individual in the chat log and of course it would all be completely anonymous.

Mercury Angel · Mar 10, 2011, 11:45 PM // 23:45

This looks a bit ambitious for an undergraduate dissertation. Are you sure you're ready to establish and implement training protocol for the recruitment of data collectors? Bear in mind that this means not just ensuring that you get the data you need - but that each and every person you recruit to collect data understands and follows every ethical requirement that applies to you.

Working to achieve these standards with people in-person can be challenging. Meeting them in an online-only environment seems daunting even for post-doctoral research.