60TB of Everquest 2 Logs Donated to Science

Scientists have spent a lot of time talking about video games, but up until now, they have primarily had to rely on "self-reported" data (i.e. obtained from surveys that players fill out themselves). Now a "collaborative group of academic researchers at a number of institutions" has obtained a data set of mind boggling size: the full set of server logs from Everquest 2.

The researchers have so far managed to pull out some interesting tidbits, with many more surely on the way. They have found that female players are less likely to interact with other players (either male or female) than male players. Female players are more likely to under-report the amount of time they spend in the game, compared to male players. While men under-reported their playing time by about one hour per week, older women under-reported their time by as much as three hours per week.

Players were also found to be 1.5 times more likely to interact with someone in their own time zone. And five times more likely to interact with players who live within 10 kilometers of their location. From this, the researchers have concluded many players are "continuing their real-world social interactions in a virtual setting."

The most mind-blowing thing about this effort is that Sony hopes to use some of the conclusions to make the game even more sticky. One of the researchers is focused on digging out information about customer churn rates, which Sony hopes to reduce in the future. Apparently, although Everquest is notoriously life-sucking, Sony still sees churn as a problem for the game.

I have not the words.