I had attempted to comment on a posting from the geeksdreamgirl.com website, related to depression and the holidays. This seemed perfectly relevant to the RPG Research Project's goals. Alas, she/they deleted the posting immediately, apparently considering it spam. That is a real shame, since it is so relevant to the goals of the project. Here is what was attempted to be posted in reply...
There are very few social table-top recreation activities available that are cooperative rather than competitive in nature.
With less than 3% of the mainstream media and press reports providing even remotely positive coverage, it is not surprising that the general public has so many misconceptions about this cooperative recreational activity ...
An essay providing examples of existing efforts, and potential possibilities for using role-playing games with children, youth, and adults for education and therapy.
This week a Facebook user asked us to create an account on Google Plus, and this has created a cascade of issues. Your feedback is needed on this topic, how social network sites might impact your participation in the RPG Research Project. I have also posted a video regarding this topic.
For three years in a row now, the sales of hobby games including tabletop role-playing games, have been experiencing a significant boom in sales growth, while the video game industry has been down year after year since 2010. Apparently equal to the Pokemon CCG boom of early 2000's, but spread across a broader range rather than a single product, the entire hobby and role-playing gaming industry is benefiting...
A BYU study claiming that MMORPGs have a damaging impact on marital satisfaction. "Online role playing games negatively affect real-life marital satisfaction, according to a new Brigham Young University study published Feb. 15 in the Journal of Leisure Research."
This topic has come up so many times in so many locations, I wanted to try to (eventually) get enough insights, to begin having some direction for some targeted research to attempt some kind of genuine answer. Until then, just some thoughts and suggestions about the possible reasons why, and also suggestions as to what might help bring more balance?
12-year-old uses Dungeons and Dragons to help scientist dad with his research . The paper describing the results—delightfully entitled “Monsters are people too”...
Most of the existing research on role-playing gamers is dated from the 1980's and early 1990's. As an initial significant first step for the RPG Research Project, bring the correlative and meta-analysis data up to date.
The paper describing the results—delightfully entitled “Monsters are people too”...
Determine ideal environmental settings for role-playing game sessions, and if various settings have different effects on the therapeutic or educational impact of role-playing gaming.
You are here: Home / Blog / Determine if Different RPG Campaign Settings Have Different Therapeutic and Educational Effects on Participants Add, edit or remove a portlet above the content Views View Edit Sharing Aliases State: Published ▼ Actions ▼ Determine if Different RPG Campaign Settings Have Different Therapeutic and Educational Effects on Participants by Hawke Robinson — published Oct 29, 2012 03:55 AM, last modified Aug 14, 2015 07:46 PM — History Add, edit or remove a portlet below the content title Within a specific genre, determine if different campaign settings have any measurable differences in specific therapeutic or educational influences on participants.
By Darren Waters - BBC News Online - Monday, 26 April, 2004, 12:40 GMT 13:40 UK. In the 1980s millions of teenagers world-wide would battle dragons armed with just dice, paper and pens. D&D became part of youth sub-culture but as the game celebrates its 30th birthday, is anyone still playing?
Determine differences between various populations and cultures in response to participating in role-playing game sessions.
Determine if any differences are indicated from participation in shorter single sessions versus longer "campaigns" over different durations.
Test different durations of game sessions from 45 minutes up to 8 hours, in 1 hour, and later 30 minute increments, to determine the optimal duration for maximal therapeutic benefit per session.
Determine if different game systems such as Dungeons & Dragons versus Lord of the Rings role-playing gaming, have any measurable differences in effect on the participants.
Determine if different role-playing game genres have any measurable differences
Looking not just for real-time neurological activity during game sessions, but also if any significant long term changes are indicated in brain activity patterns, or even any physiological differences compared to control groups (such as those who have never participated in role-playing gaming).
By Hanan Greenberg - Published: 02.28.05, 14:17 / Israel News - IDF says “They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” regarding role-playing gamers and so D&D players are automatically given a low security clearance... PLEASE NOTE THERE MAY BE SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS WITH THE VALIDITY OF THIS ARTICLE.
If the early research data actually indicates causality, attempt to narrow and clarify the variables, looking for any differentiations in results...
Perform bio-feedback and neuro-feedback analysis on role-playing gamers before, during, and after gaming sessions to determine if any measurable effects are observable by these media.
By Hanan Greenberg - Published: 02.28.05, 14:17 / Israel News - IDF says “They're detached from reality and suscepitble to influence,” regarding role-playing gamers and so D&D players are automatically given a low security clearance...
I was recently performing some general searching for any other research related to role-playing games that I might have previously missed, and found a few odds and ends. I'm posting links to what I found here. I will later go over them in more depth, analyze, and comment accordingly. Of course, the much larger list is here: http://rpgr.org/documents/list-of-other-rpg-research-projects
Tabletop role-playing games are generally speaking a cooperative play situation (of course there are exceptions). LARP and video-game-based "RPG" are generally competitive. Does changing tabletop RPGs to more competitive approaches impact any of the potential therapeutic value compared to "normal" cooperative role-playing gaming?
If there are indicators that role-playing games have a causal impact on participants, attempt to determine if there are any differentiations in impact on test subjects between "heroic" and "evil" game campaign settings.
Do different role-playing game mediums have either different correlative data or causal results?
Another variable to consider when researching different RPG medium participants (LARP, Computer-based, Tabletop) is the physical health and conditioning of role-playing gamers...
Determine through controlled experiments if there are any repeatable causal influences on those who participate regularly in role playing gaming recreational activities.
