Current Issue: Vol. 7-1 (03/09/2009)
 
 

 

 

Subscribe to the mailing list to receive notification of new surveys and articles.


[more info / unsubscribe]
 

DRAVEN: HOSTILE ARSENAL`Crusade GUARDIANS PierceTheVeins Fenris Mastermind Vengeance LEGION ELITE Imperial SUPERIOR Descendants REVENGE AllStars CONQUEROR CONQUEST Renegades Celestial Beings Enrage ... [go]

Ashraf Ahmed : real-world context can be inserted into a virtual world, effectively turning the virtual world into a forum for real-world contexts. ... [go]

Roflmaodoodoodadoodoo: I didn't get it from the generator, but I saw it in Arathi Basin and thought it was the best ... [go]

Keesha: In awe of that aneswr! Really cool! ... [go]

Bobbo: This does look promising. I'll keep cmoing back for more. ... [go]

 

 


L10 Web Stats Reporter 3.15 LevelTen Hit Counter - Free Web Counters
LevelTen Web Design Company - Website, Flash & Graphic Designers
 
 

Our Virtual Bodies, Ourselves?

Let's turn to body types now. I tried to come up with the typical body archetypes used in fantasy MMOs that appear in most of the games out there right now. The following were the broad body types I asked respondents about:

1) Short, aged characters (e.g., Gnomes, Dwarves)
2) Small, cute characters (e.g., Tarutaru)
3) Dark, menacing characters (e.g., Orcs, Trolls)
4) Normal, human characters (e.g., Humans, Half-Elves)
5) Large, hulking characters (e.g., Galkans, Dranei)
6) Lithe, graceful characters (e.g., Elves)

I asked respondents to rate the appeal of each body type as well as pick the type that most appeals to them. The graph below shows the overall breakdown of preferred body type split by gender. When forced to make a choice, female players were about twice as likely as male players to pick graceful and cute characters (such as Elves), while male players were about twice as likely as female players to pick large, aged, and normal human characters.

Part of what we're seeing seems to be a mirroring effect. Players seem to prefer avatars that reflect their own stereotypical gender traits. Female players prefer avatars that display feminine traits (e.g., grace) while male players prefer avatars that display masculine traits (e.g., strength and size). This doesn't quite explain the differences in the Aged, Dark, and Human types, but we'll continue look at other factors below.

If we look at the individual ratings with age, we find that age is most related to the Dark and Aged types. Dark, menacing characters were more likely to be picked by younger players (r = -.15) and this is consistent with earlier data we've seen showing that younger players prefer the "evil" side when there is a good/evil split. On the other hand, short, aged characters were more likely to be preferred by older players (r = .13). Like the finding with height and gender, it's interesting here that there is a mirroring effect as well; older players prefer older avatars.


 
>> [Next Page]

Posted on February 17, 2008 | Comments (28) | TrackBack (0)


To speed up load-times on multi-page articles, comments are now only loaded on the last page of an article.
 

Tribal design by snoopydoo. Crusader graphic by Gravity. All other materials available at The Daedalus Project are copyright 2003-2006 by Nick Yee.