Who plays Second Life? An audience analysis of online game players in a specific genre

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1 Cynthia Putnam EDPSYCH 588 Klockars Final Paper Who plays Second Life? An audience analysis of online game players in a specific genre Introduction At a time when profits are decreasing for many entertainment industries, the video game industry, recently estimated at $11 billion, continues to produce year-over year increases in unit sales (Moyer, 2005). This growing popularity has led to an interest in evaluating the psychology of video game playing. While this is a fairly new area of research, most efforts in this field have been largely focused on the effect video games have on children and adolescents (e.g. Anderson & Dill, 2000). Meanwhile, there have been very few studies to evaluate the much larger population of adult game players. Current demographics show that not only are video games increasing in popularity in North America, Europe and Asia, but that the adult population is the most rapidly growing sector, and in fact, the average age for gamers is currently estimated 29 years old (Moyer, 2005). Additionally, massively multi-player online games (MMOG) are one of the fastest growing sectors of the game market. MMOGs introduce a social aspect to gaming providing inspiration to new questions about what comprises these online communities. The massively multi-player online role playing game genre (MMORPG) is the largest segment of online games. These games include World of Warcraft, Everquest, and Dungeons and Dragons. Some research has been dedicated to this genre population, including The Daedalus Project and Project Massive. The Daedalus Project, begun in 2000, is an online data collection site created by Stanford PhD student Nick Yee dedicated to research through surveys collected from the MMORPG population, (Yee, 2006). Project Massive is a similar effort created to research the social experience of MMOG players both inside and outside the game environment, (Seay et.al, 2004). While role-playing games typically involve a fantastic world where reality is quite a bit different then the real world, Second Life is a fairly new game where the environment and social interaction is analogous to the real world. Second Life Second Life is a new online game paradigm where the online environment and game play is an analog to real life. Additionally, unlike typical MMORPGs, it does not encourage violence as part of game play. The game environment includes many social areas, including dance clubs, casinos, and even the ability to play games such as RPGs. In addition to the social aspects of the game, there is a strong economic model in the game. Users are encouraged to create virtual items with the option to sell their wares in the game. There are many in-game businesses where players exchange money in Lindexs, the official currency of Second Life. Several sites outside the game allow users to convert Linden dollars to real US Dollars and vice-versa. It is also possible to own land in the virtual space of Second Life. Members can spend as little as $5 a month for 512 square meter plot up to $780 a month and $5000 down for a large island. Nonprofits or educational organizations can buy small islands at a discount rate.

2 There are two primary membership plans, basic and premium. At the basic membership a user cannot own land and does not get an in-game stipend. At the premium level, users receive Linden dollar incentives which include a $400 a month stipend and a $1000 sign-up bonus. Additionally, at the premium level users can own land. Research questions The goal of this research project is to describe the Second Life community. Research questions include understanding if Second Life is simply and extension of offline community, i.e. do people just play with those they already know in real-life, or are they meeting new people and forming new communities? Are there expressed societal norms and accepted ways to behave? Do players report a similarity both physically and behaviorally to their characters in the game? In addition the results of this research will create profiles of member types and examine data for a correlation to the type of membership and (1) the emotional investment in the game, and (2) the hours played. We will examine if those players who create objects for sale or who otherwise make money in the game spend less time in the social areas. We am interested in where the players spend most of their game time and if that will have any correlation to membership level or overall time spent in the game. These areas will be important for the game developers to continue to support and enhance. This research also intends to explore how the current players learned about the game, if they have played on-line games before and what improvements they might make in the game. Demographics of community, specifically age and gender of the current Second Life population will also be tabulated. The results of the study will add to the ongoing discussion involving the social aspects of gaming. Online gaming is increasing in popularity, and understanding these discourse communities contributes to our understanding about our societies in general. Concurrently, the sponsor (Second Life) will learn about the structural aspects of the game that contribute to more involvement and enjoyment of the game itself. Understanding who their current audience is will be a key factor in future planning and encouraging new members. As the game industry gets larger, game designers and publishers will want to take advantage of research that explores the elements that contributes to a game s success. Methods Population (This is a hypothetical job created for this project Second Life did not hire me) The creators of Second Life have hired us to conduct this survey to know more about their audience and to discover what structural characteristics in the game contribute to more enjoyable game time. They have asked for suggestions on how the game could be improved to encourage more playing time, more players, and a greater fiscal commitment either through a membership upgrade or land ownership. While we have their sponsorship, for privacy reasons, they cannot give us the list of names for the population. However, they are very willing to distribute our survey materials to a sample of users we will randomly choose (see section on stratification). The population of Second Life is finite (but growing), 1,916, 100 as of 1:00 PM on December 10, At a 95% confidence level with a sampling error of 3% at a worse

3 case dichotomous answer situation (50%), I will need approximately 1066 returned surveys. Assuming a 50% return rate, we will send the survey to 2200 users, or about 0.2% of the current population. Survey Type We plan on using an online survey which research has shown to be effective for this population since it uses the same modality as the game itself, (Wood et.al, 2004). Print outs from the survey are attached in Appendix A. A sample of the survey is also available online at: 1G Stratification and sampling The population will be stratified among the two different member types, basic and premium. Our assumption is that each group is invested in the success of the game at different levels and probably contributes socially at levels that correspond to their membership type. Since the sponsor is not providing a list of names, we will create two dummy lists of the population, each including the population of the membership type, and then use a simple random sampling technique to create my actual sample frame. Communication The respondents will be contacted 4 different times through . Multiple contacts has been found to be an effective method of increasing response rate. (Dillman, 2007). First, the sample frame population will receive an from Second Life that will notify the users they have been selected to participate in the survey, and that the actual survey link will follow in an additional in 3 days. (See Appendix B). The with a link to the questionnaire will include a redeemable game token for Linden dollars as the token incentive (See Appendix C). Thirdly, I will have the sponsor send a thank-you a few days later, which will both encourage the user to take the survey and to make sure to redeem the Linden dollars in the game (See Appendix D). The last contact will be sent only to those who have not redeemed the incentive and again encourage them to do so and provide a new link to the survey. Each of the s will include the Second Life logo to assure that they are considered legitimate and include a mail to address if the respondent has any questions about the legitimacy. Validity checks There will be a few important validity checks to make listed below: a) A member cannot own property (question 20) unless they have a premium membership (question 19). b) I would question if they went to each social event type (question 11) often every time they played. c) Respondents cannot answer yes to question 24 (do you make real-life money from your second life business) without answering yes to question 23 (do you have a business in Second Life?). d) It is questionable if someone can agree to question 22 (I consider my Second Life business my full time job) but say no to question 23 (Do you have a business in Second Life?).

4 e) I would strongly doubt the validity of a respondents data if they reported playing more than 40 hours a week (question 30) and also claim to have a full-time job (question 32). If a respondent s data shows any of the inconsistencies listed above we will throw the data out. The only exception is item d, because it is possible for someone to consider Second Life their full-time job without having a business if they do not consider making money a necessity of a full-time job. Analysis The research will be analyzed across 3 general areas: (1) the player profile, (2) the Second Life community and (3) general information for game designers and marketing. This is of course an initial plan that may change if the data strongly indicates a correlation or relationship I did not anticipate. Player Profile We will create a general player profile on 6 different dimensions: (1) game investment; (2) goal/business investment; (3) player to character similarity; (4) player/character relationships; (5) previous gaming experience; and (6) level of escapism. For each of these dimensions we will create an overall score for each respondent in each dimension determined by the strength of the correlations found among the data. So, a strong correlation (1, -1) would get a score of 10, while a weak correlation (.1,-.1) would get a score of 1. Second Life Community We will create a general community profile based on 3 dimensions: (1) new or old community; (2) favorite places in the game; and (3) societal norms which will be further subdivided among 3 sub dimensions. Each of these will be correlated to the player profile dimension to determine if a particular type of player addresses the Second Life community in a specific and predictable way. Information for game designers and marketing General marketing and demographic information is intended to help the game designers to determine (1) who their audience is; (2) how they learned about the game; (3) what areas the respondents claim as their favorite things; and (4) what needs to be improved. References Dillman, D.A. (2007). Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method, 2 nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Moyer, T. What are video games turning us into?. Retrieved 16 October 2006 from Boston Globe Magazine online,20 February s_turning_us_into/ Saey, F.A., Jerome, W.J., Lee, K.S., and Kraut, R.E. (2004). Project Massive: A Study of Online Gaming Communities. Paper presented at the CHI, Vienna, Australia. Wood, R.T.A., Griffiths, M.D. and Eatough, V. (2004). Online Data Collection from Video Game Players: Methodological Issues. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 7 (2004): Yee, N. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved 22 October 2006 from

5 Appendix A: Survey Printouts from online

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20 Appendix B Contact 1: Pre-notification Hello ( nickname from database), Calling all Second Lifers! A few days from now you will receive an with a link to participate in an anonymous online survey. We are conducting a survey to help us make our game and your world better.and YOU have been selected to participate in this upcoming online survey. I am sending this first because we know that many people like to know ahead of time when they will be contacted. This survey will really help us make Second Life a better experience for all members. Also. look for a token of our appreciation in upcoming the . (We are including a special gift from all of us at Linden Labs.) Thanks for your time and I hope to be seeing you in Second Life, Philip Rosedale CEO Linden Labs P.S. If you have any concerns or questions about this or our survey please us back at survey@lindenlabs.com.

21 Appendix C Contact 2: cover letter Hello ( nickname from database), We are always trying to make our game better - and who better to ask than YOU, a Second Life community member? We want to get to know you are, why you play, and what you enjoy most about the game. Your answers are completely anonymous. Please take 5 minutes or so and give us some feedback about your Second Life experience by following this link: We very much appreciate your participation so much so we are giving you free Linden Dollars whether you fill out the survey or not. Just use the code below and follow the link to redeem your free Second Life cash. Free Linden Dollars: Redemption Code: Redemption Link: Free Linden Dollars Thanks again, And we will be seeing you in Second Life. Philip Rosedale CEO Linden Labs P.S. If you have any concerns or questions about this or our survey please us back at survey@lindenlabs.com.

22 Appendix D Contact 3: Thank-you letter Hello ( nickname from database), Thank-you! If you have conducted our survey study we want to say thanks for your participation. If you still have not gotten around to it yet, we would really appreciate a few moments of your time to complete the survey. And remember to redeem the free Linden dollars sent in the last . Hope to see you in Second Life. Philip Rosedale CEO Linden Labs P.S. If you have any concerns or questions about this or our survey please us back at survey@lindenlabs.com.

23 Appendix E Contact 4: Last contact - reminder to those who have not yet redeemed the dollars Hello ( nickname from database), Have you filled out our survey yet? Help us make our game better! Remember your answers are completely anonymous. If you have not yet filled out the survey, Please take 5 minutes or so and give us some feedback about your Second Life experience by following this link: In case you have lost the original here is a reminder to redeem your free Linden Dollars. Free Linden Dollars: Redemption Code: Redemption Link: Free Linden Dollars Thanks again, And we will be seeing you in Second Life. Philip Rosedale CEO Linden Labs P.S. If you have any concerns or questions about this or our survey please us back at survey@lindenlabs.com.