The WoW Factor, page 2
1.The average age of WoW players is:
Correct answer: c - 30
Surveys of MMO players have consistently put the average age of MMO players right around 30. This includes our survey, as well as a survey of EQ2 players and an earlier survey of WoW players.
2. Which of these groups of players is most likely to be gender-bending?
Correct answer: d – older men
Men are 4 times as likely as women to gender-bend in WoW. The older a male player is, the more likely they are to gender-bend.
3. When you meet a female character in WoW, what's the likelihood that it is being played by a man?
Correct answer: b – about 50%
By extrapolating on the gender base rates in WoW and the different likelihoods of gender-bending between men and women, we found that about 55% of female characters are played by men, and only 5% of male characters are played by women.
4. What's the most popular race in terms of character creation?
Correct answer: a – human
The elves are popular, but the humans are most popular. The Warcraft Realms Census also confirms this.
5. When comparing achievement scores, which category do older players tend to focus on the most?
Correct answer: d – professions
Younger players have higher PvP and dungeon achievement scores. Older players have a slight preference for world events, but they have a strong preference for professions. This may be linked to more solo, casual forms of playing due to less flexible playing schedules.
6. Do female players give out more hugs (i.e., the /hug emote) in game than male players?
Correct answer: c – female players give out more hugs
Women hug twice as much as men do in WoW.
7. You can fall to your death in WoW, and the armory keeps track of these. Which of the following factors is most highly correlated with a player's number of falls to death?
Correct answer: a – Arathi Basin BG participation
While both personality measures are correlated with falling to death, Arathi Basin BG participation is a much stronger indicator.
8. You can calculate someone's "neediness" by dividing their number of need rolls by their total number of rolls. Do you think younger players are more likely to roll need?
Correct answer: b – no difference
No age or gender differences were found in terms of need rolls. Interestingly, we did find a cultural difference. Players in Hong Kong and Taiwan were twice as likely to roll need as players in the United States. It's not clear what's driving this difference, though.
9. Which two classes below are most favored by men?
Correct answer: d – death knights and rogues
Men heavily prefer warriors, death knights, and rogues. Women heavily prefer warlocks and hunters.
10. People often assume that women prefer to play healers. Do you think there's any truth behind this claim?
Correct answer: b – no difference
We categorized character roles by their class and spec. Men are more likely to be tanks and melee DPS. Women are more likely to be ranged DPS. But there is no difference when it came to playing a healer in the United States.
Read more about MMORPG researcher Nick Yee in this week's 15 Minutes of Fame.
