I don't know if anybody remembers but I posted a thread a few days ago about getting interviewed for a game agency studio. Well some how I actually managed to get the job. This fucking great, I havn't even graduated yet and I've managed to snag a salary-based job in the video game industry. I've always wanted to get into this industry but have always been shite with computers and such so I never really thought it would happen. But since I managed to apply my Anthropology thesis proposal to the field I managed to get some attention and turn that into a job. Funny thing is, and nobody but Knowfury knows this I think, is that I wrote my thesis proposal on YOU people. HAHA, I've managed to turn a thesis on online community social theory into a sweet job in the video game industry. Frankly, this job could end up being pure shit but it still feels pretty fucking good to see your education working for you.
Where were you when the West was defeated?
[url=http://profile.mygamercard.net/doncarlos83][img]http://card.mygamercard.net/gbar/doncarlos83.gif[/img][/url]
[color=#DFB257][b]کΛFŦ | netrex[/b][/color] of [url=http://www.saft-clan.net/]S.A.F.T. - The Pride of [color=#FF0000]No[/color]rw[color=#0000FF]ay[/color][/url]
mjrpes wrote:could you go into a little more detail about your thesis? or did you sell the rights to the company you now work for?
By basic thesis was about concepts such as "culture", "community", and "identity" needing to be redefined due to the emmergence of e-communities. In order to gather information I used the anthropological technique of participant observation but applied to the online community. So I became the member of a community (here, and a few others, mmorpg's and such) and observed and wrote. Documenting what I'd seen.
Granted the research hasn't actually been applied just yet. It was merely a thesis proposal for my honors, when I do my masters the real thesis will be written.
mjrpes wrote:could you go into a little more detail about your thesis? or did you sell the rights to the company you now work for?
By basic thesis was about concepts such as "culture", "community", and "identity" needing to be redefined due to the emmergence of e-communities. In order to gather information I used the anthropological technique of participant observation but applied to the online community. So I became the member of a community (here, and a few others, mmorpg's and such) and observed and wrote. Documenting what I'd seen.
Granted the research hasn't actually been applied just yet. It was merely a thesis proposal for my honors, when I do my masters the real thesis will be written.
I did a report like that this spring. I played WoW to find out whether the online community element (among other elements) plays a part is shaping the addictive nature of the genre. I discovered that being in an online 3D setting with friends, and having over 1600 quests to potentially complete in an expansive virtual world, does indeed draw a player in. You begin to feel yourself becoming a part of that community and you eventually grow a network of friends that depend on you; the player soon changes socially to feel comfortable and at ease in such a setting and the desire to continue to develop an online persona is very high.