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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 23, 2021 15:25:50 GMT
[NOTE: This post was approved by the moderators. Also, we apologize in advance for any cross-postings with other forums!]
Hello everyone,
My name is Rowan Daneels, and I am a games researcher at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. For a study on the upcoming game Mass Effect 5, I’m collaborating with Dr. Daniel Possler from Hanover University (Germany) and Dr. Nick Bowman from Texas Tech University (USA). With the three of us, we’re conducting an online survey on people’s expectations and motivations to play Mass Effect 5.
In order to participate, you must be 18 years or older. We will host a drawing with ten $50/€50 Amazon gift cards to divide randomly amongst all participants who complete the survey. We expect that the survey takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. Furthermore, no personal identifying information will be asked, except for email addresses to contact participants regarding the gift cards (these will be stored separately from your answers, and will only be used to contact you when you have won). Finally, we are not affiliated with any developers of the game: the results will be used for scholarly purposes only.
The online survey, as well as details on the survey, can be found at: uantwerpen.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5uPVNlWaKhX8pg2
Happy to answer any questions about the study, here or via email (rowan.daneels@uantwerp.be). We’ll also share our study results once available (probably around December ’21 or early ‘22).
Thanks in advance for your participation; really excited to read all the survey responses!
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GalentheYounger
N2
The Midnight Ryder
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 183 Likes: 352
inherit
1365
0
352
GalentheYounger
The Midnight Ryder
183
Aug 30, 2016 20:22:58 GMT
August 2016
falloutsheldon
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by GalentheYounger on Sept 23, 2021 17:26:53 GMT
Do you have IRB approval?
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Not a jockey. Has a sofa.
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Post by SofaJockey on Sept 23, 2021 18:24:48 GMT
Fairly painless to complete. I even got to reference playing 'Mass Effect Infiltrator'
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Sharable Horizon
N3
Lvl 31 Rogue God Emperor
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
Posts: 600 Likes: 1,968
inherit
2222
0
1,968
Sharable Horizon
Lvl 31 Rogue God Emperor
600
December 2016
sharablehorizon
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
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Post by Sharable Horizon on Sept 23, 2021 19:02:30 GMT
Done!
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 24, 2021 7:30:05 GMT
Fairly painless to complete. I even got to reference playing 'Mass Effect Infiltrator' Nice, thanks for completing the survey! We were shooting for "fairly painless"
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 24, 2021 7:30:42 GMT
Done! Awesome, thank you very much!
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 24, 2021 7:35:47 GMT
Do you have IRB approval? Hi there, thanks for the question!
Since the survey is hosted by my own university back in Belgium, we don't need IRB approval from any US university (which we would have needed if my colleague from Texas Tech was hosting the survey). The ethics committee from the university of Antwerp also doesn't need to approve our survey, since it doesn't deal with minors or with sensitive topics.
Hope this helps!
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The homeostatic problem-solving structure
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Apr 26, 2022 11:22:31 GMT
8,542
Unicephalon 40-D
An unknown possibly hostile flotilla detected at eight hundred astronomical units from the sun!
4,800
Jun 29, 2017 12:57:11 GMT
June 2017
legendcncd
Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda, Anthem
LegendCNCD / AsariLoverFI
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Post by Unicephalon 40-D on Sept 24, 2021 9:21:34 GMT
Was the mobile game called Infiltrator? The one where you fought Cerberus troops or such? Forgot to add it.
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Post by SofaJockey on Sept 24, 2021 10:10:32 GMT
Was the mobile game called Infiltrator? The one where you fought Cerberus troops or such? Forgot to add it. It was. I think you start in the loading bay where Shepard and Edi end up in ME3. It was pretty rudimentary, but it was 'ok'...
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SirSourpuss
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sirpetrakus
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, SWTOR
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Post by SirSourpuss on Sept 24, 2021 10:54:49 GMT
Some of the questions are really ... vague. If not downright pointless. Like "do you enjoy games that are fun?" What do you expect me to answer? No, I prefer games that make me feel like a political prisoner in Gitmo? I prefer games that give me crippling depression and impact my daily life? Games are escapism. I play them to have fun. But fun doesn't mean cringe, either. Don't make it all about forced jokes, all the time. Use it with measure. Or even the idea that an uncomfortable emotion might not be "fun" to experience.
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 24, 2021 14:00:24 GMT
Some of the questions are really ... vague. If not downright pointless. Like "do you enjoy games that are fun?" What do you expect me to answer? No, I prefer games that make me feel like a political prisoner in Gitmo? I prefer games that give me crippling depression and impact my daily life? Games are escapism. I play them to have fun. But fun doesn't mean cringe, either. Don't make it all about forced jokes, all the time. Use it with measure. Or even the idea that an uncomfortable emotion might not be "fun" to experience. Thanks for the feedback! It is perfectly okay that you want to play games to have fun as well as to escape into a virtual world or escape from real life. But there are plenty of people that want to play games that have emotional story lines or narratives that revolve around topics that are personally meaningful to them. That's, imo, the cool part of 'modern' gaming: we can experience all kinds of things when playing games.
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SirSourpuss
7,694
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October 2017
sirpetrakus
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, SWTOR
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Post by SirSourpuss on Sept 24, 2021 14:19:30 GMT
Thanks for the feedback! It is perfectly okay that you want to play games to have fun as well as to escape into a virtual world or escape from real life. But there are plenty of people that want to play games that have emotional story lines or narratives that revolve around topics that are personally meaningful to them. That's, imo, the cool part of 'modern' gaming: we can experience all kinds of things when playing games. But that's also fun. The wide gamut of things that you can experience from a video game, that isn't as safe to experience in real life. But you also should not strive to instill unhealthy stuff, through your video game. Like a gambling addiction, for example. Or PTSD. Or epileptic seizures. Those are not fun. Sadness can be fun, in context. Not crippling depression. Like the ever more depressing endings of the Nier games. At some point, it becomes predictable and, frankly, annoying.
I guess, what I'm trying to say is that everyone wants the experience to be enjoyable and fun, as opposed to being pain and suffering. We like to play games, we're not masochists.
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GalentheYounger
N2
The Midnight Ryder
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 183 Likes: 352
inherit
1365
0
352
GalentheYounger
The Midnight Ryder
183
Aug 30, 2016 20:22:58 GMT
August 2016
falloutsheldon
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by GalentheYounger on Sept 25, 2021 1:05:16 GMT
Some of the questions are really ... vague. If not downright pointless. Like "do you enjoy games that are fun?" What do you expect me to answer? No, I prefer games that make me feel like a political prisoner in Gitmo? I prefer games that give me crippling depression and impact my daily life? Games are escapism. I play them to have fun. But fun doesn't mean cringe, either. Don't make it all about forced jokes, all the time. Use it with measure. Or even the idea that an uncomfortable emotion might not be "fun" to experience. Dude, every question in a research study is meticulously picked and thought about. They don't put pointless questions in. Some questions are used as controls/baselines to eliminate outliers and stack responses against each other. While it may seem like a dumb question to you, oftentimes for research you need to have that control there to ensure that the data you are gathering is valid. If you don't like the study, don't partake. I have a strong respect for these folks for putting their work out there - they will get plenty of feedback from peers and colleagues when this gets edited and published. As someone who has conducted research myself, explaining the project tends to be tough and people often judge when they don't have the facts or the full context - when you conduct qualitative studies like this, oftentimes you cannot disclose why you put things in due to potentially biasing those surveyed. Sheezus. Just take the quiz or leave it.
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0
Nov 24, 2021 20:18:46 GMT
5,622
SirSourpuss
7,694
Oct 16, 2017 16:19:07 GMT
October 2017
sirpetrakus
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, SWTOR
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Post by SirSourpuss on Sept 25, 2021 7:09:42 GMT
Some of the questions are really ... vague. If not downright pointless. Like "do you enjoy games that are fun?" What do you expect me to answer? No, I prefer games that make me feel like a political prisoner in Gitmo? I prefer games that give me crippling depression and impact my daily life? Games are escapism. I play them to have fun. But fun doesn't mean cringe, either. Don't make it all about forced jokes, all the time. Use it with measure. Or even the idea that an uncomfortable emotion might not be "fun" to experience. Dude, every question in a research study is meticulously picked and thought about. They don't put pointless questions in. Some questions are used as controls/baselines to eliminate outliers and stack responses against each other. While it may seem like a dumb question to you, oftentimes for research you need to have that control there to ensure that the data you are gathering is valid. If you don't like the study, don't partake. I have a strong respect for these folks for putting their work out there - they will get plenty of feedback from peers and colleagues when this gets edited and published. As someone who has conducted research myself, explaining the project tends to be tough and people often judge when they don't have the facts or the full context - when you conduct qualitative studies like this, oftentimes you cannot disclose why you put things in due to potentially biasing those surveyed. Sheezus. Just take the quiz or leave it. I am saying that some questions require more context. Being "fun" doesn't mean I want a Marvel quipfest, for example. I don't know what you consider fun, nor do you understand what I consider fun.
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mgsmsc
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 54 Likes: 69
inherit
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0
69
mgsmsc
54
March 2019
mgsmsc
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by mgsmsc on Sept 25, 2021 10:03:09 GMT
I think the term fun was maybe used as a catch all term relative to the person answering. Maybe you can clarify a bit what you find entertaining through some of the number graded questions or the free written section on your expectations for ME5. Failing that the final bit gives you the opportunity to highlight any perceived shortcomings.
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LadyofNemesis
N5
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
Posts: 4,824 Likes: 11,923
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0
Apr 25, 2024 10:01:52 GMT
11,923
LadyofNemesis
4,824
July 2018
ladyofnemesis
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Mass Effect Andromeda, SWTOR, Mass Effect Legendary Edition
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Post by LadyofNemesis on Sept 25, 2021 10:59:24 GMT
Just finished up the survey
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0
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SirSourpuss
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Oct 16, 2017 16:19:07 GMT
October 2017
sirpetrakus
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, SWTOR
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Post by SirSourpuss on Sept 25, 2021 12:22:32 GMT
I think the term fun was maybe used as a catch all term relative to the person answering. Maybe you can clarify a bit what you find entertaining through some of the number graded questions or the free written section on your expectations for ME5. Failing that the final bit gives you the opportunity to highlight any perceived shortcomings. I agree, but I also don't think ... this isn't the way. You can't even take these conclusions under consideration.
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Not a jockey. Has a sofa.
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August 2016
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Post by SofaJockey on Sept 25, 2021 13:04:34 GMT
Have you read some of the posts on BSN?
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mgsmsc
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 54 Likes: 69
inherit
11045
0
69
mgsmsc
54
March 2019
mgsmsc
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by mgsmsc on Sept 25, 2021 13:12:40 GMT
I think the term fun was maybe used as a catch all term relative to the person answering. Maybe you can clarify a bit what you find entertaining through some of the number graded questions or the free written section on your expectations for ME5. Failing that the final bit gives you the opportunity to highlight any perceived shortcomings. I agree, but I also don't think ... this isn't the way. You can't even take these conclusions under consideration.
Well personally I agree up to a point. I'm never really sure how much analyses of these type of q&as gives you a clear signal out the other end. I think in this case motivation of the surveyor maybe helps maintain a degree of objectivity but in general I hold the view that clever design and appropriately asked questions are, for better or worse, at the mercy of the public. That doesn't always go well. In my case I have a tendency to rush (or skip) the questions and try to do it far too quickly. Thats going to give unreliable answers. From what I remember of the survey some questions were sort of repeats (albeit from a different angle) - I suppose you can use that to filter unreliable respondents - assuming you get a decent return. Even then you have the issue of self perception and interpretation of results. Its interesting - I'm sure the surveyor will employ a number of things to try to contextualise this and other data collected.
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Oct 16, 2017 16:19:07 GMT
October 2017
sirpetrakus
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, SWTOR
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Post by SirSourpuss on Sept 25, 2021 15:58:20 GMT
I agree, but I also don't think ... this isn't the way. You can't even take these conclusions under consideration.
Well personally I agree up to a point. I'm never really sure how much analyses of these type of q&as gives you a clear signal out the other end. I think in this case motivation of the surveyor maybe helps maintain a degree of objectivity but in general I hold the view that clever design and appropriately asked questions are, for better or worse, at the mercy of the public. That doesn't always go well. In my case I have a tendency to rush (or skip) the questions and try to do it far too quickly. Thats going to give unreliable answers. From what I remember of the survey some questions were sort of repeats (albeit from a different angle) - I suppose you can use that to filter unreliable respondents - assuming you get a decent return. Even then you have the issue of self perception and interpretation of results. Its interesting - I'm sure the surveyor will employ a number of things to try to contextualise this and other data collected. That's the other thing. Samey questions will just be further pushed toward a certain direction that the audience doesn't realize what it means, or how it is different and then you have the options that are wildly different. Like the question about how you like to get lost in a world and how you want to get immersed in a world. To me, getting immersed in a world is more about being personal, while getting lost in a world is all about the big open world. But others want to get immersed in a world by getting lost in a world, Skyrim style. There's no way around it, Bioware has a huge problem with open world. They can make it look beautiful. And completely aimless. As shown in Inquisition. As shown in Andromeda. As shown in Anthem. What's the point? It looks good, yeah, in a trailer. It's terrible in every aspect, in game. And even then, when traversal was fun in Andromeda, it was made by Ghost Games, now EA Amsterdam, which are not guaranteed to return and help Bioware in any capacity in the next game, and even then, traversal was the only good part of the open maps in Andromeda. Encounter design was of the worst in the franchise, in those open spaces. They were simply not made with that in mind, because Ghost Games made the Need For Speed games, not Battlefield.. It's fun to drive the Nomad and that's it.
Players will fill in with a 6 at features and throw in the kitchen sink, as well, because they don't consider what are Bioware's strengths, what are the areas they have a problem with, what can they do well, what can they not do well, what has a chance of being improved, compared to previous games etc. And I know the argument "oh, they are Bioware, they have EA's backing and all those studios helping them". Yeah. So did those other games that got so much shit for those same things that you are asking more of. "But those games are actually good, don't you know? You're just a hater". No. There's a reason why those games were criticized for those thing, they were done really, really bad and chances of Bioware, current Bioware, doing better this time around is minuscule. Astronomically low. Next to non-existent. They still have a ton of internal problems and you're just asking them to pile up more work on a title that is already under thin ice and operating on the most wonky of premises. This is a recipe for disaster.
If I was Mike Gamble, I'd cut it all. I'd do chest high walls, as far as the eye can see, lots of "good" dialogue, not cringe and stuff that feel like written by an AI, or worse, a Joss Whedon model AI, small, tight plot and try not to anger people. If we can deliver on that, that's great. Then, we can work on adding stuff from there.
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mgsmsc
N2
Games: Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
Posts: 54 Likes: 69
inherit
11045
0
69
mgsmsc
54
March 2019
mgsmsc
Mass Effect Trilogy, Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age Inquisition, Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect Andromeda
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Post by mgsmsc on Sept 25, 2021 16:38:20 GMT
Well personally I agree up to a point. I'm never really sure how much analyses of these type of q&as gives you a clear signal out the other end. I think in this case motivation of the surveyor maybe helps maintain a degree of objectivity but in general I hold the view that clever design and appropriately asked questions are, for better or worse, at the mercy of the public. That doesn't always go well. In my case I have a tendency to rush (or skip) the questions and try to do it far too quickly. Thats going to give unreliable answers. From what I remember of the survey some questions were sort of repeats (albeit from a different angle) - I suppose you can use that to filter unreliable respondents - assuming you get a decent return. Even then you have the issue of self perception and interpretation of results. Its interesting - I'm sure the surveyor will employ a number of things to try to contextualise this and other data collected. That's the other thing. Samey questions will just be further pushed toward a certain direction that the audience doesn't realize what it means, or how it is different and then you have the options that are wildly different. Like the question about how you like to get lost in a world and how you want to get immersed in a world. To me, getting immersed in a world is more about being personal, while getting lost in a world is all about the big open world. But others want to get immersed in a world by getting lost in a world, Skyrim style. There's no way around it, Bioware has a huge problem with open world. They can make it look beautiful. And completely aimless. As shown in Inquisition. As shown in Andromeda. As shown in Anthem. What's the point? It looks good, yeah, in a trailer. It's terrible in every aspect, in game. And even then, when traversal was fun in Andromeda, it was made by Ghost Games, now EA Amsterdam, which are not guaranteed to return and help Bioware in any capacity in the next game, and even then, traversal was the only good part of the open maps in Andromeda. Encounter design was of the worst in the franchise, in those open spaces. They were simply not made with that in mind, because Ghost Games made the Need For Speed games, not Battlefield.. It's fun to drive the Nomad and that's it.
Players will fill in with a 6 at features and throw in the kitchen sink, as well, because they don't consider what are Bioware's strengths, what are the areas they have a problem with, what can they do well, what can they not do well, what has a chance of being improved, compared to previous games etc. And I know the argument "oh, they are Bioware, they have EA's backing and all those studios helping them". Yeah. So did those other games that got so much shit for those same things that you are asking more of. "But those games are actually good, don't you know? You're just a hater". No. There's a reason why those games were criticized for those thing, they were done really, really bad and chances of Bioware, current Bioware, doing better this time around is minuscule. Astronomically low. Next to non-existent. They still have a ton of internal problems and you're just asking them to pile up more work on a title that is already under thin ice and operating on the most wonky of premises. This is a recipe for disaster.
If I was Mike Gamble, I'd cut it all. I'd do chest high walls, as far as the eye can see, lots of "good" dialogue, not cringe and stuff that feel like written by an AI, or worse, a Joss Whedon model AI, small, tight plot and try not to anger people. If we can deliver on that, that's great. Then, we can work on adding stuff from there.
Yeah - focus group syndrome. I get the impression whoever writes the survey may very well see immersion/losing yourself differently from me. I certainly didn't pick up on a link between that and an open world but your point makes sense to me. Its just another way when your not on someones wavelength that things get lost in translation. Not just that but little details so often add the sparkle on anything - boiling a game down to just a general signal misses those out and not everyone will remember the little things that gave them a smile or hooked you in over the course of however many hours. One of the other threads mentions a banter between Wynne and Alistair - I barely remembered it but wee snippets like that, when done well, add so much. I agree with you on some of the open world stuff especially MEA and the enemy encounters. Very repetive to say the least. I liked DAI mind you but those areas were a tad smaller and I find myself tackling them in a much more linear fashion. I think my one and only 6 was something to do with story or plot etc. That and character writing is probably a priority for me. Several years ago I would have thought we were in a safe pair of hands but yeah - not so much now. Your likely right on some of the auto 6 giving behaviour! Far too much unwarranted enthusiasm! Seriously though it ties in with some of the little things I referred to earlier being overlooked. Maybe I am an outlier (actually put a hold on the maybe) but things looking nice is sort of a luxury to me. I'd much rather have substance and engagement than 'oh thats a pretty view.' Better still - 'ooohhh great textures,' when your being shot up the rear end. Are people really convinced by how it looks over how it feels? Maybe everyone just expects great graphics now. The relationship with EA, despite a renewed emphasis on SP play still concerns me RE technical support. No matter how good or bad a job is done of design and writing, the old problems with culture and backlogs will torpedo them should they still be there.
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The Smiling Knight
538
0
21,880
smilesja
13,721
August 2016
smilesja
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Post by smilesja on Sept 25, 2021 17:37:08 GMT
Completed the survey!
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0
Apr 27, 2022 14:47:03 GMT
31
rowandaneels
16
Sept 21, 2021 14:47:16 GMT
September 2021
rowandaneels
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 25, 2021 18:02:07 GMT
That's the other thing. Samey questions will just be further pushed toward a certain direction that the audience doesn't realize what it means, or how it is different and then you have the options that are wildly different. Like the question about how you like to get lost in a world and how you want to get immersed in a world. To me, getting immersed in a world is more about being personal, while getting lost in a world is all about the big open world. But others want to get immersed in a world by getting lost in a world, Skyrim style. There's no way around it, Bioware has a huge problem with open world. They can make it look beautiful. And completely aimless. As shown in Inquisition. As shown in Andromeda. As shown in Anthem. What's the point? It looks good, yeah, in a trailer. It's terrible in every aspect, in game. And even then, when traversal was fun in Andromeda, it was made by Ghost Games, now EA Amsterdam, which are not guaranteed to return and help Bioware in any capacity in the next game, and even then, traversal was the only good part of the open maps in Andromeda. Encounter design was of the worst in the franchise, in those open spaces. They were simply not made with that in mind, because Ghost Games made the Need For Speed games, not Battlefield.. It's fun to drive the Nomad and that's it.
Players will fill in with a 6 at features and throw in the kitchen sink, as well, because they don't consider what are Bioware's strengths, what are the areas they have a problem with, what can they do well, what can they not do well, what has a chance of being improved, compared to previous games etc. And I know the argument "oh, they are Bioware, they have EA's backing and all those studios helping them". Yeah. So did those other games that got so much shit for those same things that you are asking more of. "But those games are actually good, don't you know? You're just a hater". No. There's a reason why those games were criticized for those thing, they were done really, really bad and chances of Bioware, current Bioware, doing better this time around is minuscule. Astronomically low. Next to non-existent. They still have a ton of internal problems and you're just asking them to pile up more work on a title that is already under thin ice and operating on the most wonky of premises. This is a recipe for disaster.
If I was Mike Gamble, I'd cut it all. I'd do chest high walls, as far as the eye can see, lots of "good" dialogue, not cringe and stuff that feel like written by an AI, or worse, a Joss Whedon model AI, small, tight plot and try not to anger people. If we can deliver on that, that's great. Then, we can work on adding stuff from there.
Yeah - focus group syndrome. I get the impression whoever writes the survey may very well see immersion/losing yourself differently from me. I certainly didn't pick up on a link between that and an open world but your point makes sense to me. Its just another way when your not on someones wavelength that things get lost in translation. Not just that but little details so often add the sparkle on anything - boiling a game down to just a general signal misses those out and not everyone will remember the little things that gave them a smile or hooked you in over the course of however many hours. One of the other threads mentions a banter between Wynne and Alistair - I barely remembered it but wee snippets like that, when done well, add so much. I agree with you on some of the open world stuff especially MEA and the enemy encounters. Very repetive to say the least. I liked DAI mind you but those areas were a tad smaller and I find myself tackling them in a much more linear fashion. I think my one and only 6 was something to do with story or plot etc. That and character writing is probably a priority for me. Several years ago I would have thought we were in a safe pair of hands but yeah - not so much now. Your likely right on some of the auto 6 giving behaviour! Far too much unwarranted enthusiasm! Seriously though it ties in with some of the little things I referred to earlier being overlooked. Maybe I am an outlier (actually put a hold on the maybe) but things looking nice is sort of a luxury to me. I'd much rather have substance and engagement than 'oh thats a pretty view.' Better still - 'ooohhh great textures,' when your being shot up the rear end. Are people really convinced by how it looks over how it feels? Maybe everyone just expects great graphics now. The relationship with EA, despite a renewed emphasis on SP play still concerns me RE technical support. No matter how good or bad a job is done of design and writing, the old problems with culture and backlogs will torpedo them should they still be there. I might have missed some of the conversation here and apologies if I've missed anything or misunderstood anything, but let me just chip in to (hopefully) clear up some confusion.
For starters, the question of what fun is or what entertaining is in games is foundational to our study. Without spoiling too much, seeing what players find entertaining in a game (and definitely, things like sadness can be "fun" as well) and examining how broad their definition of entertainment (or fun) is, is sort of the point of our questions.
Regarding the point that some of the questions need more context, I can say that I follow the comments there. However, in a research set-up like ours using a survey with mostly closed-off multiple choice questions, that is something that is almost impossible to do. That being said, we do understand 'fun' in our survey similar to the general understanding of the word: what is pleasurable to you. And as was mentioned here in the discussion as well, the other items - whether they be about ME5 specifically, about general game preferences or about orientations to daily activities - give more context to us as researchers in what players think is "enjoyable" or entertaining, or at least let us in on why people would play/buy ME5 or games in general.
Furthermore, the questions we use in the survey are not just statements that we ourselves came up with during a night of beers (although that sounds really good!). Most questions come from validated scales, that were build by previous researchers who talked to gamers about their motivations regarding playing games, for instance.
Back to the lack of context to some of the statements: I agree that such a study on more detailed notions of what feeling immersed in game worlds (like ME) or what fun really means for different players is equally - if not even more - interesting than our current survey. However, that's another approach to players' expectations and motivations to play ME5, which we haven't chosen to do and of which there already exists some work that goes more into detail regarding entertainment values, immersion, or fun and not so fun game experiences.
Hope this gives some more context! But happy to keep this discussion going, I always love critical answers (and minds).
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 25, 2021 18:02:41 GMT
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Post by rowandaneels on Sept 25, 2021 18:04:00 GMT
Just finished up the survey Thanks for filling in the survey!
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