JasonRockwood
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Joystiq interviews gay gamer survey's creator Jason Rockwood
Six months after the data for the "Gaymer Survey" was expected, we catch up with Jason Rockwood to find out what took so long, what he hopes the data is used for and what can various groups take away from the survey? What's the most surprising thing to you about the survey? The biggest surprise about the survey was the interest from the audience. I had over 10,000 people from over 35 countries take this survey -- in like a week! It was so much of an overwhelming response. That was the biggest surprise.What took so long for the results to be released? This was expected to be finished last fall, correct?It took a long time because I decided that my applications to graduate school would be strengthened by having brought the project to some level of completion, because of that, I was working on the project mostly independently, outside the context of the academic setting, even though I was under the supervision and association of UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign). So, it took a long time because I was working on this alone. Most researchers doing this kind of work are in a PhD. program and have funding of some kind. I had neither.So, what do you hope happens with the data?I hope it sparks continued conversation between and among gamers and developers on the topic of gay and bi people in gaming. I hope that it forms a foundation for exploration in the academic community on the topics of gaming motivation and sexuality, and I hope more games end up being produced for a gay audience.
