My (Rhian Twist Darkstar's) PhD on Entropia - Request for interviewees

Entropia Universe Discussion General Discussion
1

Hi :slight_smile:
I’m German/Australian/Entropian anthropologist (anthropology = the study of human cultures & social relations). I’m doing my PhD dissertation on social life in MMOs focusing on Entropia (of course!!!) and I’m looking for folks to take part in short interviews and share their stories and experiences of life in EU.

The research is focused on Planet Calypso, but participants from other planets are also welcome to take part. I’m particularly interested in the way the real-cash economy affects in-game social relationships and the EU community.

The interviews will last 1hr (at most). Details of participants will remain confidential (you don’t need to reveal anything about your RL if you don’t want to) and I won’t publish any identifying information about participants or their avatars. The findings of the study will be shared with MA, but I won’t reveal participants/avatars identities (this information will remain strictly confidential!!). MA and FPC have approved the study, but I’m not affiliated with them in any way (although I can’t help thinking my loot might be better if I was, lol :wink:

I’m looking for a representative sample of players, approx 10 high-end players, 10 mid-range & 10 beginners. It would be very interesting for me to hear stories from people that provide services, shop owners, or land-area owners + folks from all professions.

I’d prefer to conduct interviews in game (it’s nice to meet people “face to face”) but if you’re not up for that, and still want to make your voice heard I can email/pm you a set of interview questions. The interviews will be held via private chat. Interviews can be conducted in either English or German - but that’s about the extent of my language skills .
The results of the study will be used in research publications, my PhD dissertation and a book on life in Entropia Universe.

Examples of what I’m interested in hearing about:
I’m wanting to collect the life stories of people’s avatars, hear about significant events in people’s lives on Calypso. I’m looking at how people form friendships/ business relationships, how people develop trust, join socs, decide on careers, etc …

I’m not interested in/ won’t ask about:
Finances, profits/losses, your private life. I’m not interested in hearing people bitch about other players/the game/ MA… I’m guessing if you play the game you like it :slight_smile:

Although I am interested in hearing peoples suggestions for improvements (anything except “fixing the annoying bugs” lol) & will pass these suggestions on to MA (names will remain anon), but what happens after that is out of my hands.

Message me here, or via private chat or for further info, or to arrange times for interviews. You can also email me on rhian.morgan@my.jcu.edu.au .
I’m located at James Cook University - Townsville, Australia.

TY & GL 2 all :slight_smile:

Twist

3 Likes
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This looks interesting!

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haha thx .. combining work & pleasure lol :slight_smile:

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Thanks for all the responses so far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the level of interest.

One thing I forgot to say … unfortunately, you have to over 18 to participate & this is the one & only personal question I have to ask (it’s a uni ethics policy thing) - I don’t need to know people’s exact ages though (could confirm them anyway) - just legal rubbish, I’m not allowed to interview under 18’s without parent’s permission.

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Sounds interesting, gogo ubers that´s a nice chance! :slight_smile:

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Had a few request for ethics documents … An information sheet and consent form available here

Information sheet
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9XpRufIjQWWT2JfS1k5cDJTQzZqZlRWdDJBd0VZUQ

Informed consent form
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9XpRufIjQWWbjZtbWJieVVSM0dXX3NxalZ4b2UtUQ

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are you the same one who is doing there phd on wow and interviewed athene a couple days ago

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nope. I’m just focusing on EU :slight_smile:

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Free bump:)

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…

I’m not interested in/ won’t ask about:
Finances, profits/losses, your private life. I’m not interested in hearing people bitch about other players/the game/ MA… I’m guessing if you play the game you like it.

Examples of what I’m interested in hearing about:
I’m wanting to collect the life stories of people’s avatars, hear about significant events in people’s lives on Calypso. I’m looking at how people form friendships/ business relationships, how people develop trust, join socs, decide on careers, etc …

I think these are equally important parts, when you try to tell the story of the people behind avatar’s and their “lives”

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True, and I’m open to hearing about whatever people want to talk about (i’m not gonna tell anyone to shut-up if they want to talk about RL stuff) :slight_smile: , but I also have to respect people’s right to keep their private lives private.

If people want to talk about RL, etc then that’s great. What I mean is that I won’t be directly asking people for this info. That way they’re not put on the spot & don’t have to feel like they have to answer things they rather wouldn’t, or give a “no comment” (I’ll leave that stuff to the tabloid journalists & paparazzi) :wink:

The story behind people’s avatars is interesting - definitely, but that’s not really what this study is about. I’m interested in the formation of community within EU & RL life info isn’t really necessary in order for me to answer the questions I want to answer.

In regard to my comment about bitching .. i’m open to hearing people’s critisms, for sure (I know how frustraing EU can be sometimes) & interested in what people think could be improved (just not the nasty unconstructive stuff that you hear around the place sometimes, or people’s personal vendettas).

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bump :))))

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Update

So, I promised I’d keep everyone updated and I’ve been really slack about doing it, … so sorry about that :frowning:
and here’s a brief update on the study …

First of all I want to thank everyone that’s done interviews so far :slight_smile: I’ve met some really interesting people, that have definitely broadened my understanding of EU and help me see things from different perspectives. I’m not going to discuss anything specific that anyone’s told me and I still need to do some more interviews and sift through all the data edited out confidential and identifying information. But so far …

I’ve done about 18hrs worth of formal(ish) interviews, with 13 different people (about half of what I’m aiming for in total) in all sorts of locations across Calypso. I’ve also participated in a lot more events & stuff than I usually would have, which has been fun and produced some cool observations, but left me no time for hunting :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: And, I’m no longer a space virgin, but I haven’t visited any other planets yet, so I’m planning a grand tour of the universe atm :yay:

I don’t think I’m going to be revealing anything very ground breaking for anyone in EU through this study, but that’s kinda the point - I’m trying to communicate something about life in EU to an outside audience and if it sounds familiar to you guys, that’s a good thing because it probably means I’m on the right track - fingers crossed !!!

The data I’ve got is definitely affected by the demographic of people I’ve spoken to and it has been primarily people that are based on Calypso (about half are mobile between planets) and its influenced by the stuff I’ve done (again mostly on Caly) and this means the stories in the thesis/book are only of small snapshot of what’s going on; a few of the many different stories you could tell. I don’t know if it would even be possible for one person or one book to tell the whole story of everything that goes on in EU! But I’m looking forward to being able to tell a bit of the story and I’m really grateful to everyone that’s helped me do this (through both formal interviews and informal support).

Demographic info so far: The average age bracket of responses to initial interview requests and people that participated in interviews, was primarily mid-late 30s, upwards. This age range parallels with findings from other studies on MMO demographics (Talyor, Yee, etc …).

The gender breakdown was a slight majority RL male I think (but that’s a guess and not something I’m hugely bothered about) & approx 50/50 male/female avatars.

The majority of participants are located in Europe, the US/Canada and Australia (this is also heavily influenced by my own language abilities ).

Qualitative stuff: People are much more open than I’d expected :slight_smile:
I would collectively describe the people I’ve spoken to far as - interesting, insightful, friendly, dedicated to the game & their various businesses (this is possibly a result of the demographic I’ve looked at so far .. mid-high to high-end, long term players). They’re people who like gaming a lot (surprise, surprise, lol), people who like loot (omg!!! now that’s a revelation :D) and nice gear (wow!!).

A lot of the people I’ve spoken to are really dedicated to the community (in different ways and for different reasons) and do a lot to make EU what it is. I heard a lot of stories of good memories and good friends, and different perspectives on how things have changed (ranging across - approval, excitement, anticipation, pragmatism, indifference, hurt, anger and resentfulness). I’ve heard tales of uber loots (being both a curse and a blessing) and different perspectives on work and play. There are definite parallels in peoples’ initial “noob experience” - although some of this has changed since vehicles, etc and parallels in peoples suggestions for the future of EU, likes, and dislikes. And the real cash economy (together with the game’s structure) definitely effects how people engage with the game and influences the nature if the community (in both good and bad ways - too many to list here).

Like I said no real revelations .. and sorry it’s all a bit vague atm, like I said I’ve still got to sift through all the data properly.

Thanks again to everyone that’s helped out so far & if you’re interested in an interview, or want any more info just PM me here or contact me in-game :slight_smile:

Twist

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Don’t think I am a good candidate for your efforts (I am not one who spends every waking minute online), but I am interested to see what the results will be. How long does a PhD take?

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Usually a minimum of 3 years (in my case 1 yr prep, 1yr fieldwork & 1 yr writing) so I’m hoping to be finished end of 2013.

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If you want to interview an insane gamer, just ask me.

I also like to murder puns.

:smiley:

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Good to see your still working on this project.. It will be an excellent read in the end and I look forward to the finished product!! :yay:

Keep up the great work!! :slight_smile:

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While this is an interesting and novel idea (combining work and pleasure), but what will a PhD in “an observation of a MMO and its populace” grant you in real life (besides a badge & a piece of paper)?

Will companies really hire you because you have the degree in “people’s experiences”? How technical is this paper? Do you delve in economies or ROI’s or formulaes for success? Do you touch upon game design theory and documents, and/or gaming psychology? Will your future “clients” be game companies considering investment in MMOs/Online communities? Or will you end up a “teaching” PhD at some uni instead?

3 years learning UDK would actually land you a solid lifetime job though! (You could even make MMOs!)

Regardless… I wish you all the best, and an A++ in your degree & life.

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will have to do some searching, but there’s a paper someone else did on MA a while back… might make for some interesting reading and/or for some compare/contrast type of stuff?

found it…
http://studenttheses.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10417/1110/susanne_sperling.pdf?sequence=1

but, there was another one a while back someone else was doing too?.. (also I think Legion was doing a thesis paper at one point in time when he had all his theories, which is part of the reason he came up with those crazy theories?)

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So you think you can finish it before the egg hatches?