Is gaming your main hobby? Short poll inside for my statistics class semester assignment!

[StrawberryClock]

[U]Update[/U]: Thanks for all the answers, guys! I'm gonna close the poll for now since I got more than 4 times the number of answers needed. Really appreciated!

Because I need to collect 40 statistical units and since I'm lazy ass who can't be bothered to do this with actual physical people, I thought that I'd ask FP 3 questions, some of them (one) even related to their favorite hobby!

This should literally take less than a minute of your time.

So with Orkel's blessing I present to you the [URL="https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/d/1mxxyd7wle7h3BDnMUbl4HCfq3efvVCbmn1_ruYn-_Qs"]"StrawberryClock Does a Poll for His Rubbish Semester Assignment"[/URL] poll.

I'll probably try to find if there's a correlation between how happy people are with their lives and how much time they spend on their hobbies (in this instance, gaming).

Answers are made public (because why not) but the only thing that distinguishes answers from each-other in the spreadsheet that's automatically made is a timestamp.

Thanks, and have fun.

[CheezMan]

got u covered boi :trumpet:

[Socram]

Done. What if gaming isn't your primary hobby, as is my case and I'm sure many others? This seems hard to draw conclusions from.

[RocketRacer]

[IMG]http://puu.sh/rh8rj/746aee4027.png[/IMG]
:ok:

[Daemon White]

Added my votes

[StrawberryClock]

[QUOTE=CheezMan;51076361]got u covered boi :trumpet:[/QUOTE]

Hey, thanks mate!

[QUOTE=Socram;51076446]Done. What if gaming isn't your primary hobby, as is my case and I'm sure many others? This seems hard to draw conclusions from.[/QUOTE]

In this instance, I wanted to take people who's primary hobby is video gaming because I'm theorizing that people that are more happy spend more time on their hobbies. Either because spending more time on their hobby makes them more happy or because when you're happy you feel like spending more time on your hobby. I mean I'm not really gonna be able to draw a causal link or anything but the point of the exercise is just to go through the motion of forming a theory, gathering data and drawing conclusions from it.

[QUOTE=RocketRacer;51076461][IMG]http://puu.sh/rh8rj/746aee4027.png[/IMG]
:ok:[/QUOTE]

Expected as much haha. Not exactly like I'm conducting a big study or anything, it's just practice for the methodology but it's gonna be funny to show to the teacher.

[QUOTE=Daemon White;51076752]Added my votes[/QUOTE]

Appreciated!

[editline]19th September 2016[/editline]

Holy molly! 72 responses already! I'll leave the poll running overnight and close it tomorrow but it's pretty cool to get that much data.

Thanks a bunch everyone!

[Alice]

[QUOTE=StrawberryClock;51077388]In this instance, I wanted to take people who's primary hobby is video gaming because I'm theorizing that people that are more happy spend more time on their hobbies. Either because spending more time on their hobby makes them more happy or because when you're happy you feel like spending more time on your hobby.[/QUOTE]
While this would be true for a lot of hobbies I think games would be an exception to a degree. A lot of people I know who game as a hobby tend to do it far more when they're unhappy or stressed out than when they're not as a form of escapism. I believe this is probably true for most hobbies in general but things such as books and games in particular tend to be a form of escapism for people in general.

[gk99]

[QUOTE=Alice3173;51077438]While this would be true for a lot of hobbies I think games would be an exception to a degree. A lot of people I know who game as a hobby tend to do it far more when they're unhappy or stressed out than when they're not as a form of escapism. I believe this is probably true for most hobbies in general but things such as books and games in particular tend to be a form of escapism for people in general.[/QUOTE]

I disagree. When I'm unhappy or stressed I don't go "I'll play Skyrim, that'll cheer me up!" If anything, I'll watch a YouTube video or two and go "fuck it, I'm going to sleep."

I play games whenever I'm like "You know what, Skyrim sounds fun right now" and if that's the case, I'm probably already A+ as far as mood goes.

[_charon]

It depends on the game for me. Skyrim/Fallout are escapism or just plain entertainment, very casual and calm games like Slime Rancher and No Man's Sky are what I tend to play when I'm not feeling well, and I only really ever play multiplayer games if I'm feeling alright.

[StrawberryClock]

I came up with the idea since I've noticed in the last few years that when I'm in a bad mood I tend to play video games less because I don't feel like it.

I doubt we'll be able to draw any solid conclusions from the data but at least it seems like I'm set for making my semester assignment.

And hey, it's always fun to see how people of FP answers polls and such, like that guy that organizes the FP census once in a while.

[greasyjamici]

I don't think it's fair to assume that gaming is everybody's hobby on this forum. It's only a pastime for me. Also there was a poll on the forum a couple of weeks ago that asked about people's gaming habits, and a startling number of users admitted they hardly play anything anymore.

I think you should've asked a final question like "Does gaming contribute positively to your state in life?". It's hard to link hours of gaming to contentness with life when there are so many other factors in one's life. I know I would have answered that I was more content if I hadn't just received some tragic news.

But regardless good luck OP I like your idea.

[Mud]

[QUOTE=Alice3173;51077438]While this would be true for a lot of hobbies I think games would be an exception to a degree. A lot of people I know who game as a hobby tend to do it far more when they're unhappy or stressed out than when they're not as a form of escapism. I believe this is probably true for most hobbies in general but things such as books and games in particular tend to be a form of escapism for people in general.[/QUOTE]

I tend to go back to older games I use to play whenever I don't feel particularly happy. Maybe that's just me.

[Linkuya]

[QUOTE=RocketRacer;51076461][IMG]http://puu.sh/rh8rj/746aee4027.png[/IMG]
:ok:[/QUOTE]

Just doing my civil duty, your honor.

Good luck to you though, StrawberryClock.

[Novangel]

[QUOTE=Alice3173;51077438]While this would be true for a lot of hobbies I think games would be an exception to a degree. A lot of people I know who game as a hobby tend to do it far more when they're unhappy or stressed out than when they're not as a form of escapism. I believe this is probably true for most hobbies in general but things such as books and games in particular tend to be a form of escapism for people in general.[/QUOTE]

I generally don't like to play something when I'm feeling down.

[Noob©]

I guess it depends on what kind of games you are into. Relaxation and control type games (high player skill vs low challenge) are great for stress relief and temporary escapism.
Many games aim for flow which require players to focus and do their best, constantly tackling problems just within player boundary; these aren't exactly great tasks for someone not feeling perky, sometimes even if the game is fun.
If the frustration:reward isn't hitting the right note, it can do more harm than good to mood.

[Totenkreuz]

I wanted to put 30~ and got called a smart ass. I'm not keeping track dude.

[ironman17]

Bam, gotcha.

Personally I haven't been spending as much time gaming as I used to. Nowadays, there are a lot of videos, I've got work in the mid-week, and currently there haven't been many games that hold my colour for too long. It takes something special and engaging to warrant me completing it, though on the flipside I did dip back into Civ 5 (got dunked on by Zulu and his aggressive starting push) and I'm progressing through Grim Dawn on Elite difficulty with my Pyromancer build.

[RaptorRed]

I'm not even sure how many hours I spend gaming in average anymore. Work messed it up too much.

[Maniac]

Seeing that I'm currently unemployed I did a simple math. So it's gotta be around 48 hours per week.

[Noob©]

Hold on a sec, if my work involves crap load of playtesting, should that count too?
at the moment I'm pretty much forced to play games 9-6 but I'm counting that as work.

[Avager]

[QUOTE=Noob4life;51079385]Hold on a sec, if my work involves crap load of playtesting, should that count too?
at the moment I'm pretty much forced to play games 9-6 but I'm counting that as work.[/QUOTE]

Are you enjoying doing this and feel like you are playing rather than working? Then yes, count it in.
If you feel like you are working and want to make it stop, don't.

But honestly, nah.
Count only hours you play in your free time, that's what OP probably wants.

[Patrick]

i realised i probably play games more than i study a week and definitely more hours than i ever worked in a week in a job.

while still having the time to do other things, like study and work.

[StrawberryClock]

Thanks for all the answers, guys! I think 216 is a good amount. I'll definitely update the thread if I get somewhere with my semester assignment.

[RocketRacer]

I was feeling down year and a half ago, I decided to give GW2 another go, and it cheered me up so much, I got invested into the game and its world so much that my whole mood just got much much better. Usually if I'm in a 'meh' mood I go for games as well, but usually single player or coop(which dont involve dealing with players' attitude from opposing teams and them cheesing it out in some way).