American researchers have now discovered how players of different ages behave in World of Warcraft and in Second Life. Older players place more value on politeness and appearance, while younger players like to jump or walk backward, but also put more effort into chatting.
How do online players recognize the age of their peers?
American researchers – don’t you also love news that starts like this? According to a study by researchers at universities located in the USA (namely in Syracuse, the University at Albany, CSU, and Concordia University), the chat in online games is by no means the decline of civilization that many believe it to be. 201 players of the online game Second Life and – in a follow-up study – 375 players of World of Warcraft were examined for their behavior.
The study shows that players value expressing themselves. They use all the opportunities that the game offers them, both verbally and nonverbally. So it is by no means just the chat.
Players develop a good sense of how old their peers are, even though they never meet outside of the game. Indicators of this are the other person’s politeness, the level of language they use, and other ways of expression. It’s not just about what someone says, but also about what language they use and how they move in the virtual space.
Older players are vain, younger ones hyperactive?
In Second Life and World of Warcraft, older players, those over 30, express themselves more politely and are less emotional. In Second Life, they also prefer avatars that conform to typical beauty standards. Furthermore, they use only half as many emoticons as younger players.
In contrast, younger players tend to express themselves not only in words but also by utilizing the movement options of their avatar. They jump twice as much as older players, move 15% more in space, and go backward 30% more often.
This has also been noted in a gender study. Those who jump and walk backward a lot are highly likely to be male and under 30.
Surprise: Younger players put more effort into chatting
The interesting part of the study, which is set to be published in July, is that players under 30 use 47% more punctuation marks, correct their own spelling mistakes 20% more often, and have a vocabulary that is 20% larger.
