Guild Wars Questionnaire

Hey Everyone.

I'm a University student, and I'm writing a report on Online Worlds, and I've chosen Guild Wars for my case study.

It would really help me if any of you have a spare few minutes to fill out a questionniare for me and email it back to me - it will only take 5 minutes.

You can download the questionnaire from:

HERE

Could you please email the completed questionnaire to: [email protected]

Thanks in advance!



Just incase you're in 2 minds here are the questions that are on the questionnaire:

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?

Have you built friendships in the game?

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?



Please email your answers to: [email protected]

Thanks again,

Andy

Well, there ain't no way I'm downloading something off a random site, but I will answer your questions here. Though it is embarassing....

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
--Probably 50 hrs a week, but I rarely play on Thursday b/c of Son's hockey

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
2,368 hrs and 57 minutes in the past 12 months

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world? No, but I don't like Chinese farmers..

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars? Wife mentions it from time to time, but I got her pretty well trained. Married 7 yrs. However, I'm sure she hates it.

Have you built friendships in the game?
Strangely, no. Unless you include Koss and Dunkoro

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it? Like that stupid game Second Life? No, I don't play that game... If Guild Wars was like that, I would be gone in pre-searing.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?I'm a male but 2/3rd's of my Characters are females. I get hit on by dudes. but nothing other than that.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
Sometimes, I like to relax after work.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Yes, no doubt about it.

I have only been playing for about a week, but i'll answer the questions.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
About 25 hours

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
25 hours

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
In most MMORPG's, yes, but Guild Wars seperates the different races so it really isn't a problem in this game.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
They don't mind it.

Have you built friendships in the game?
Yeah, i met a few people, but mainly i play with friends i met outside of the game.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
No way, that sounds very boring.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
They get bothered alot by guys hitting on them. Why they hit on them? No idea...

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
Yes, i'm a really laid back guy and just like to sit back and chill.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
No

I copied your questions and just pasted them into an email for you.

"If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?"
Ummm, ever hear of that best selling PC game The Sims? LOL Just had to mention that.

Hope you don’t mind me answering in the thread as well.


How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
About 40, more or less.

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
I think around 3500 hours over 2 years.

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
Around half of my characters are dark-skinned, and I often roll PvP chars who look very “ethnic” or have unusual names (named for real people usually). I have only had a couple of issues. Most, like others have noted, seem to revolve around hatred/misunderstanding of Asian cultures/people. (Not even going to the bot question.) Also the worst incidents happen in PvP environments, but I don’t think there are more racists in PvP than PvE, just that it’s an “acceptable” (meaning anonymous) place to be as nasty as you can possibly be. It’s another form of trash talking that some seem to relish.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
My husband plays WoW as much as I play GW. To the rest of the known world, I’m a closet gamer. :P

Have you built friendships in the game?
Yes, I believe I have. People I’ve met in-game, halfway across the country and across the world. People I have done real-life things for and who have done real-life things for me.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Nope. I’d buy Sims or something if I wanted that.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
No, I don’t think so. It appears that most players believe all other players are male anyway. If I’ve encountered verbal abuse, it’s been so minor that I don’t really remember.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
Playing sure beats working… :P Seriously, I still love my husband and my cats and reading more than the game, but it is a great (and cheap) way to spend one’s time.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Yes, I think so.

I'm also going to post here rather than download some Word Document from someone I don't know.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
I average about 5-6 hours a day (weekends are usually longer if I dont have anything going on). You can do the math.

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
Last time I checked I think I was logged at somewhere around 1400 hours over 9 months.

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
Guild Wars is a global MMO that has a wide variety of people that have different languages, opinions, creed, and of course racial background. The good thing about Guild Wars is that it does not divide users of these differences onto different servers (especially language like many MMOs), but instead allows players from around the world to play together. With that said, I don't think there has been many issues that are racially related. I have been around since the days of Prophecies and have never come across a situation like that. People will always have their own personal opinions regarding certain matters, but I don't think it has ever sparked much controversy among other players.



What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
People choose to play Guild Wars because they want to. Most people accept it because it is the other person's choice. No one is forcing someone to play Guild Wars. What people like to do as a form of entertainment is the business of that person only. Some people like to go out and party or play sports or play online games or all three. A great deal of people (not all though) that play Guild Wars are responsible enough to judge what they deem as reasonable and safe entertainment. And that is really all Guild Wars or any other game is. With the world "getting smaller and smaller" and the Video Game industry, and especially the online game industry booming, you are going to see a lot more people venture into these as an alternative to broaden the amount of people you can play with. This doesn't mean you should become a hermit and never get out of the house though. There are plenty of people that have friends as well as family that have their own guild and play games together, including Guild Wars. Back in the day, some families used to sit around and play cards or games like Pictionary or Monopoly or Charades, but now things are going more online because more options are available to them.

Have you built friendships in the game?
I am in a great guild and have establish many friendships with people in my guild. We are on a first name basis type of thing and many of us do a lot of things typical friends do: joke around, make fun of each other, talk to each other outside of Guild Wars (MySpace, MSN, etc.), goof off on vent with a common interest of playing Guild Wars and having FUN. There are a lot of people that play Guild Wars with every type of person you can imagine. When you are in a good guild, you begin to establish a close relationship and niche. That is why 99% of people say that when playing Guild Wars, that they much rather prefer doing quests/missions with a guildmate rather than some random Pick Up Group. They know their guildie's personality, their gaming style, and can have fun and mess up without criticism.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Guild Wars is a "fantasy" type of game. I personally have always been into games like that. It goes back to the days when I used to play games like Bard's Tale, Wizardry, and D&D games on the Commodore 64 and 128. People have always been fascinated in stuff that is "make believe", because there are endless possibilities of renditions of some element in the game....like a dragon....or some demon..or whatever. If it didn't have this depiction, I probably wouldn't be playing it today.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
There are plenty of females that play Guild Wars. My guild has a few. If anything, I would think that males are verbally abused more than females. The abuse usually comes from other males because males usually have that born instinct of competiveness and being a little egotistical at times (I know I've had it at times, even though I play for fun). The good thing about Guild Wars is that people can create female characters and male characters. So just because there is a female character running around....doesn't mean they are female. There is sort of that mystery. Because of this, the game is judged on a player's skill, which men and women both have the same audactiy and equality to become the best.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
My real life comes first and foremost. I don't think anybody would disagree otherwise. When it comes down to it, it is just a game...and as I said before...is just a form of entertainment. Once piece of entertainment doesn't dictate someone's life. I have a great life, a great job, a wonderful fiancee (who also plays Guild Wars), several hobbies (that isn't Guild Wars related) that I pursue, and great friends (both in GW and in real life).

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
There are times that I find myself playing Guild Wars a little longer than I've wanted or intended to, but I don't think of myself as a "heavy" addict. I love to play Guild Wars....there is no doubt about it. I like to stay up to date with the Guild Wars news and what is going on in the community so I am usually on here each day or browsing for the latest information. But, I think this is casual because like in a real world situation, you should be informed on what is going on around you because things are always changing. If that constitutes as being an addict........well.......then, I guess I'll have to sign up for a few GWA (Guild Wars Anonymous) sessions



Whew............that was a lot of typing!!

- Aldoros of Faydark

The file is safe, it's a standard .doc MSWord file, no hidden file type, no scripts or anything and passes a NOD32 scan no problem.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
About 25 - 30, but I have no life.

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
Around 2,600 hours over the past 23 months

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
Many things from the real world carry over into GW. And racial crap does crop up in GW. Just what's going to happen when you've got real people behind the controls of the pixels. But it's not directed at the character, it's directed at the people behind the character.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
It doesn't bother them.

Have you built friendships in the game?
Yes, I've met some very interesting people from all over.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Nope. Who wants to play a character that's asleep?

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
With regards to verbal abuse, absolutely. You don't see "Hey, baby" type comments directed at male characters. But female characters get it all the time.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
I don't consider myself as having an "on-line life." Goofing around on the internet is a real life activity, whether it be playing GW, participating in forums and chat rooms, or just surfing.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Nope.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
20-25

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
2100 over the last 17 months.

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
I have a variety of skin colours on my characters and have never had any comments about that whatsoever.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
My wife plays as well, though not nearly as much as me. There's lots of times she would rather have me just snuggling up beside her to watch a movie. The rest of my friends and family know I like to play video games, but nobody really cares what games or for how long.

Have you built friendships in the game?
I have met many people in the game that I get along with really well. I occaisonally exchange information via Email, and have used voice chat as well. I have never met anyone in real life that I have met on the internet, and highly doubt I ever would.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
GW and it's fantasy setting are my escape from the challenges presented by real life. I would not play a game based on real life.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
Several of my characters are females. I have had ingame friends joke about them being "hot" and such, but I myself make the same comments about them. While running around towns, I often stop to admire other peoples armour/dye combinations. If I really like what I see (male or female)I will whisper to the person that I like what they have done with their character. We sometimes discuss armour or dye combos for a few minutes, but there is nothing abusive or even sexual about it.


Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
A good question. I enjoy GW very much, and find myself thinking about it alot when I'm not playing. I hate my job, and I hate most real life chores and responsabilities. But I adore my wife and daughter. Nothing ingame can compare do the laughs, smiles, and love of a real life family.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Hopelessly.

Downloaded it, answered it and sent it.

Your link isn't working, so I will answer the questions listed here and email em

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
around 17 hours, I summed that up from my total playtime and from the time i own the game

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
1533 over the last 21 months

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
No, never saw that happen cause of ingame Skin Color..

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
Even though I'm 24 my parents dont really like that I'm playing it (lol). My boyfriend plays it too so he doesnt mind me, since we both dont play it thaat much.


Have you built friendships in the game?
No, not one unfortunately, I never really got into guilds cause I make long breaks with the game too, RL needs sometimes all attention

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Urgh NO, that would bore me to death


Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
Hmm since Im a girl I just have female Characters. I often see idiots bothering girls in outposts, making comments some funny, some rude. Though I think that most girl character are played by guys anyway, so Im not sure if theyre really bothered. Anyway, they might be more vulnerable..

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
Well RL has to come first and its good as it is, strenuous right now though. Because of my RL duties I never really got deep into the game anyway as in making friends, I just play it whenever I want and its entertaining. Since I dont have a lot of ingame duties, like a guild, I dont feel like Im having an online 'life' anyway.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Overall No, though whenever a new campaign came out I was for a short period of time.

Completed and submitted.

Good luck with the report.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
Hmmm...when I was REALLY into GW, it was around...4 hrs on weekdays and 6 hrs on weekends...that was per day. Nowadays...1hr total/week?

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
648 hrs, 44 mins and counting.

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
Characters? No.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
Parents hate me for playing...then again they hate me for using the internet so often. Friends also hate me, but that's because they're all WoW fanatics.

Have you built friendships in the game?
Pretty good ones. I got lucky enough to land in a social guild. Everything from new mothers to people dealing with morbid obesity >_>

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Nah. I'd play Second Life otherwise.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
Hmmm...if I think you're saying what I think you're saying, then yes.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
Playing online vs. Yelling Parents...I'll go with online "life".

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Once upon a time. Now...not so much.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?

~10 hours during school
~20 hours during holidays

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?

262 hours over 12 months (there was a period where I didn't play)

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?

Not at all. Occasionally there'll be somebody, but nobody in my party/guild has ever done it.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?

Friends that also play are fine with it...friends that don't play think I need to get out more.
Family hate me for spending so much time on the PC

Have you built friendships in the game?

Not really. Just me and my RL friends

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?

Dear God!! NO!!

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?

Same answer as racial abuse.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?

No.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?

Yes.

Wow! Some really interesting replies!

Thanks to everyone that has posted in the thread and that emailed me, all of your answers are really going to help with my report!

Thanks again,

Andy

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?

i spend approximately 15hrs - 20hrs a day 5 days a week on gw

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?

only just started to get back into gw but around 1500hrs + over 20 months

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?

not really

Have you built friendships in the game?

yes ive made many friends in gw

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?

there ok with it

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?

maybe... female chars tend to get hit on more....

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?

i like them both

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars ?

yes very much so

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?

32 hours or so per week.

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?

260. Haven't been playing for very long

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?

Nope. It's way too international for racism to be present.

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?

My friends are either playing it themselves or computer nerds. My family doens't really care, since I'd be at the computer anyway. They do get bouts of worry every now and then, but I'm old enough to take care of myself.

Have you built friendships in the game?

Yep.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?

Nope. It's the fantasy that gives it all the attraction.

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?

Erm... no, not really. I'm male, but always play female characters, since seeing a delicate female wipe out huge enemies is fun ^_^. I haven't been playing for very long, but I haven't seen any sort of abuse towards females in GW. I don't frequent Elona, though, and it's a lot more crowded than Tyria, where I spend most of my time.

EDIT: I have been hit on by a guy who lives in the same city as me, it was funny as hell. He was amused when he found out I'm a guy ^_^

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?

Considering that I don't actually have a life, yes. But if it comes to choosing between going out with some friends and playing, I'll go out Rarely happens, tho

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?

Well, I passed the stage of addiction to video games when I finished Morrowind for the dozenth time. I can stop playing if I wanted to. So far, I do not want to.

How many hours per week do you spend playing Guild Wars?
4hrs weekdays, 5-7 weekends approx

How many hours have you spent playing Guild Wars in total?
2258 hours 36 mins over 19 months

Do you believe race to be an issue in this online world as it is in the real world (e.g. do characters receive insults because of their colour)?
Never seen this happen and think it would be more small minded and stupid than real racism if an ingame character was targeted for there "race".

What do your friends and family think about the amount of time that you spend playing Guild Wars?
My family thinks I play too much, my friends either don't know I play so much or play as around as much as me so it's normal for them.

Have you built friendships in the game?
Yes, I find it easier to talk about real life problems to someone I know well ingame than someone I know, sounds sad but hey thats how it is.

If Guild Wars didn’t surround fantasy role play, and it was a game based on the rules of real life (e.g. death means death, no magic powers, needing sleep etc) would you still play it?
Nope, if death meant character restart would anyone play?

Do you consider female characters to be more vulnerable than male characters (e.g. to verbal abuse in outposts)?
No, as most of the time you talk in chat you can't see the player only their statements in chat, character gender is of very little importance.

Do you prefer your online “life” to your real life?
No, good and bad things happen in both but i'd much rather try to excel and make good things happen in real life than ingame.

Would you consider yourself to be addicted to Guild Wars?
Had trouble with definate meaning of "Addicted"

Dictionary.com says:
ad·dict·ed –adjective
devoted or given up to a practice or habit or to something psychologically or physically habit-forming (usually fol. by to): to be addicted to drugs.

So, in a way yes, it is a habit, I come home have something to eat and relax playing GW. But I could stop if I really had to. (Thats what they all say .)