Looking to interview some Smash players

[tlharper]

Hey there. My name's Todd Harper and I'm a PhD student at Ohio University in Media Arts/Studies. I primarily study video games and I'm currently doing my doctoral dissertation on fighting game players and fighting game communities, among other things. You may have seen me at EVO 2009 (big dorky guy taking a lot of notes).

As I posted last September, part of my work is looking at how gamers feel about how the rules of games and how games can/should be played. The idea is to see how people express themselves by playing games and to better understand how that fits into players' lives. As part of that study I've been interviewing fighting game fans about the kinds of games they like, the characters they play, and how they got involved in the community.

If you're interested in being interviewed, I'd love to talk to you about those topics! The interviews are mostly done by VoIP like Skype or Ventrilo, as well as by everyday normal phone or cell phone (I call you so no worries about long distance charges, etc.) and should take about an hour. Your feedback and your name will stay confidential (unless you specify otherwise, which is fine too).

I'm particularly interested in Smash-series fans and I have a lot of questions about tournament structures and how certain rules are built in the community, so if you're interested, please please don't be shy about replying!

The only requirements are that you be a regular fan/player of fighting games, and that you be 18 or over.

Recruiting people has been a bit of a challenge, so the University has approved a bonus for people who help out: a 2000 Wii point card, a 1600-point XBox Live Marketplace card, or a $20 Playstation Network card (all of these are $20 in value) will be sent to you once the study is done to an address you specify (which won't be kept).

If you'd like to be interviewed, or have any questions about the topics that I would be covering or the study in general, please email me at th298206@ohio.edu. Thanks muchly for your time!

(This research has been approved by the Ohio University Institutional Review Board)

 

[unknownPresence]

ill email ya ltr giving u some more info, but i would recommend putting this in social rooms like the pacific pac west social, and other areas like that

and i remember u at evo, probly not helpful but i was that random azn kid in the bruce lee shirt

 

[zapdose]

Recruiting people has been a bit of a challenge, so the University has approved a bonus for people who help out: a 2000 Wii point card, a 1600-point XBox Live Marketplace card, or a $20 Playstation Network card (all of these are $20 in value) will be sent to you once the study is done to an address you specify (which won't be kept).

how about just $20?

 

[tlharper]

how about just $20?

Unfortunately, the way getting incentives approved pans out, I can't do it that way.

 

[CodeBlack]

Sounds interesting. Make sure you get a wide berth of viewpoints.

 

[PND]

I sent an email. If you're still looking for people to interview I'm more than willing to contribute what I can.

 

[Fly_Amanita]

Out of curiosity, are you looking for players of any one smash game in particular or all of them? The communities for Melee and Brawl are pretty different in many respects, at least in Socal, while the Smash 64 community is quite different from both, probably since it largely consists of online players.

I might be interested in doing an interview. I've been active in the Melee scene since late 2007 and have been intermittently involved in the Brawl scene since it started in 2008, if that's of any importance.

 

[tlharper]

Out of curiosity, are you looking for players of any one smash game in particular or all of them? The communities for Melee and Brawl are pretty different in many respects, at least in Socal, while the Smash 64 community is quite different from both, probably since it largely consists of online players.

I might be interested in doing an interview. I've been active in the Melee scene since late 2007 and have been intermittently involved in the Brawl scene since it started in 2008, if that's of any importance.

I'd be interested in hearing from Melee or Brawl players (actually, someone who plays both and could talk about the difference between the two would be amazingly helpful!)