Thursday, November 09, 2006

What Motivates You in Gaming- Pain or Pleasure?

So yesterday I sent in my application for a PhD position at the University of Amsterdam within the School of Communications Research. In the Netherlands PhD students occupy a sort of space between student and researcher that commands a salary, an office, and benefits but also can, as with this position, require the student to complete up to 5 years of research on the lead professor's project of study. I was in the process of devising one of these positions, called an A.I.O., with Professor Joyce Goggin (another Canadiana in Holland) on boys and virtual spaces, when this job ad came up.

Pain and Pleasure in Gaming is a pretty engaging topic I think... especially statements like "self-determined forms of regulating gaming activity contribute to stronger positive affect and lessened impact of negative affect on persistence". Over at Terra Nova there was a post today on grinding, which is when a player is required to kill simply to level, an activity that is pretty much a fact of life in my WoW play, as I have no urge to be slaughtered by a Level 15 boar at Level 10, though a quest may require me to wander where these superior beasts tread. What makes the player get through the grind and still revel in this as play? I think, after all the bantering about ludology vs narrative, these are refreshing and more vital questions for the field. So I hope to work with Dr. Tan on this project, or at the very least communicate with him when I am at UvA working on my own research (if of course that is where I do go). Sorry to sound so cagey.

In case you're wondering, the picture is of a gynormous LAN party, looks like its somewhere hot.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

... there is so many things "wrong" with that photo you used. LOL!!!

Ok, this may be a moment of me being shallow, superficial, and stereotypical...

but thats a lot of fine looking shirtless guys in what looks like an awesome photo of LAN event!!!

Its an impossiblity I tell you! LAN events are supposed to be filled with sweaty fat nerd by majority.

And that girl in the spagetti strap tube is too hot to be a gamer girl!

The MYTH demands it!!! LMAO!

Anyway...

I hope you get the position, though I'm gonna miss not having you and Ryan in Toronto.

And here I was planning on setting dinner events with my coupled friends for the coming year. :)

Anonymous said...

lol, somefools brought crt monitors to the LAN. They'd have to be buff to do that, thus, the hot gaming dudes.The girl's standing up because she already destroyed the guys in the room, and is taking a smackdown break.

Anonymous said...

Good luck. Send postcards if you get the position. Amsterdam should be fun.