Why can volunteer game strategy site editors stay motivated without pay?
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According to Allen Tiner, Product Manager of GameFAQs, as of 2016, GameFAQs had more than 64,000 information posted by about 20,000 contributors, but 20,000 enthusiastic contributors. It is said that it is a small part of it. Since GameFAQs publishes the ranking of the number of information posted by each contributor, Mr. Hughes interviewed 6 people who are ranked high in the ranking and who continue to post regularly without interruption.
The interview participants were 4 men and 2 women. Each has been posting game information to GameFAQs for 7 to 17 years, on average 12.3 years, and some participants have posted more than 300 game information. Some of the posts by the 6 participants were short and some were written in long, and when converted to the amount of information, the average was about 15MB, the minimum amount was about 4.8MB, and the maximum amount was about 25MB. .. Participants are anonymous and are given pseudonyms P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6, respectively.
When Hughes asked, 'Why post game information in Game FAQs?', All answered 'to help other players.' 'I've thought it's more important to help as many people as possible than to get a lot of money and name recognition,' P4 said. P3 also said, 'I think I'm giving back to my hobby of games in my own way. I hope that the information I posted will continue to appear in Game FAQs even after I die. It's like a living proof, 'he said.
In addition, P1 said, 'I thought I couldn't gain fame in the world, but GameFAQs accepted my existence. GameFAQs is the' next player 'who is interested in games. It's a place where you can give information to us. ' Hughes commented on P1's comment, 'The act of trying to guide the player who follows him creates a kind of joy like helping someone,' and analyzes that the joy of helping someone is motivating. doing.
GameFAQs is looking for a wide range of information about all games, regardless of platform or popularity. Some participants stay motivated by finding the fun of finding 'undiscovered information' from a large amount of information, and P2 said, 'When I started posting information, I was trying to find undiscovered information. I was proud to find something that no one had found. '
In addition, some of the official strategy guides on the market are incomplete, so a lot of information that complements the contents of the strategy guide and tactics and strategies that make the game interesting are posted in Game FAQs. P5 says, 'The official strategy guide is approved by publishers and developers. Approved also means that the strategy guide does not contain information that the developer does not want to include. Money There are no tricks to get infinitely, and you can't talk about bugs or bugs that gamers might be interested in, so the official strategy guide doesn't always have good information. It is. '
Since P5 has been posting more information than what is in the strategy guide, multiple GameFAQs users repeatedly said, 'I bought a strategy guide but it was a waste of money, so I would rather give you money via PayPal. I received the message 'I want to pay'. These positive messages also motivate posters.
However, the messages sent to the posters were not only favorable, but also aggressive messages were sometimes sent. P5 said, 'Some of the emails I received were pretty aggressive. When I posted about a game,'This way, abilities, skills, and classes aren't good,' they say what they say. I have argued and opposed it, and have been fiercely discussing the benefits of classes, races, items, etc. that I denied. '
Sometimes friendships are built from posting to Game FAQs, and there are cases where multiple users collaborate to create reviews and strategy information. P1 said, 'I had a lot of users who helped me with reviews, guides, etc., enjoyed working with them, and encouraged me. For me, they can't do it all by themselves, ask for help. It reminds me that it's okay. ' On the other hand, P2 said, 'I have teamed up with younger generations, but I may not have liked them very much,' and it seems that it is not always possible to find a suitable companion. ..
In some cases, I made friends instead of friends who both created reviews and strategy information, and P3 said, 'Over the years, I have made some friends. The reason for my post was' Thank you for your hard work. ' There were people who sent me an email. The friendship that started with a simple thank-you email is wonderful. '
In addition, GameFAQs counts the number of page views for each post. Only the poster can check the number of page views, which is a visible and objective result. Pageviews are also one of the motivations of posters, and P1 says, 'I like to see pageviews, which is a big reason I keep posting. How many pageviews in a month It's a lot of fun to see how many pageviews you get and how much pageviews you get when you update your post. ' GameFAQs also has the ability to review posts, so user ratings are also a motivation for posters.
When Mr. Hughes asked the participants, 'If there is a reward in GameFAQs, will you be motivated?', It seems that there were many opinions that 'no reward is good'. P6 says, 'I wouldn't post just for rewards. I don't think they're asking for any rewards, as most GameFAQs contributors just want to help other gamers.' Claim.
P4 isn't like 'I'll write the information to get attention' or 'I'll post the information to get the money in the Game FAQ'. Even if I get hundreds of dollars, it's totally rewarding. At least I'm in an'honest and good position', even if I don't get it. The rewards never change my view or the reason for providing information. ' 'If you work professionally, get paid, or get a workload, it's no longer just a hobby,' P5 said, saying that posting to GameFAQs is just a hobby. It was.
Also, according to Hughes' research, people who post a lot on GameFAQs are playing the game as if they were dissecting. People who post game information on a regular basis may not be able to 'just enjoy the game' and may have to pause the game every few tens of seconds to take notes.
The motivation to continue to review games and create strategy information, which is never easy, was various, such as evaluation and appreciation from others, colleagues who work together and fans who support me, but even though there is no reward, 'they' The line between work and hobbies is blurring, 'Hughes said. 'I may not be able to fully understand their passion,' Hughes commented.
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