More EQ2 research results

 Posted by (Visited 6292 times)  Game talk  Tagged with:
Dec 112008
 

– Contrary to expectations, women are more intense players than men, on average and among the most hard-core

– When men and women play together in a relationship, the men tend to be less happy and the women more happy

– All players under-report how much they play, but the women more so

– Men play slightly (not overwhelmingly) more to beat the game, whereas women play slightly (not overwhelmingly) more for social reasons.

– Although the men think they are healthier, it is the women who actually are

Terra Nova: Gender differences: New findings, new paper.

  6 Responses to “More EQ2 research results”

  1. I don’t find any of those findings surprising. They match my personal observations perfectly, particularly when it comes to under-reporting the amount people play. 😉

  2. From the link:

    I cannot say whether they are representative of other fantasy MMOs, but I also cannot think of a reason why they wouldn’t be.

    I can think of several reasons why Everquest II would not be representative of the demographics of all fantasy MMO’s, and most of them have to to with deliberate, well-considered decisions made by the designers to appeal to a broader market. I’d love to see these numbers side-by-side with a similar study from Age of Conan or Warhammer Online (once the playerbase for those titles stabilizes).

  3. One more tidbit Dmitri mentioned in the comments:

    We found that the female players were homosexual at a rate three times the national average.

  4. We found that the female players were homosexual at a rate three times the national average.

    I have a hypothesis that I can only back up with anecdotal evidence, and only in relation to Second Life: in an environment that is generally safe, supportive and anonymous, women with repressed gay or bisexual orientations are more likely to experiment, explore, and ultimately self-identify as gay or bi than are their counterparts who don’t participate in virtual worlds. This isn’t true to the same extent with men, who tend to encounter higher levels of hostility and stigma both online and offline.

  5. What in the world could “healthier” mean in this context, and how would researchers determine it?

  6. – When men and women play together in a relationship, the men tend to be less happy and the women more happy

    …nothing like getting nagged in your virtual life too…

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