Introduction

The article "THE DIFFERENCE IN MOTIVATIONS OF ONLINE AND OFFLINE GAME

PLAYERS : A COMBINED ANALYSIS WITH THREE STUDIES AT HIGHER
EDUCATION LEVELS" was taken from the Science Direct, a leading full-text scientific
database offering journal articles and book chapters from more than 2,500 journals and
almost 20,000 books. The article was published by ELSEVIER in December 2011 and it was
written by Tom Hainey, lecturer of Games Technology in University of The West of
Scotland.

















Summary
The research is set to find out the differences of motivations in relation to single
player/multiplayer preference and online/offline game participation. Survey was carried out
across all students at the University of the West of Scotland with questionnaire that was made
available through the online questionnaire packages Perception and Survey Monkey for a
two-week period during March 2005, March 2007 and March 2009. Analysis were made and
the results are then calculated and compared by using various statistical method. After the
research, it was proven that Challenge is the top ranking motivation and Recognition is the
lowest ranking motivation for playing games in general, while in Higher Education (HE),
Challenge is again the top ranking motivation for playing games while Fantasy and
Recognition are the lowest ranking.












Discussion
Strength
The author had put in great effort for carrying this research, due to the research was
conducted in systematically way. The sample size was determine by equations, results were
analyze and tabulated using vertical/horizontal bar graph and the hypothesis was proven by
using the standard deviation which is a mathematical method. The systematically method
provides a brief idea to the readers that how the research is conducted, thus leading the
outcome of the research undeniable due to the process are carried out scientifically.
On the discussion section of the article, the author stated that males considered all
motivations to be considerably more important than females for playing games, which is
consistent with the findings that males play games for significantly longer per week and have
been playing for a significantly greater amount of years. Which we agree with his statement,
as most male in this world, males are tend to be addictive when it comes to computer games
due to the difficulty and challenges on the games they play. One big reason why boys are
more attracted to video games than girls is because so many of the available games involved
content that is usually considered masculine, games are filled with masculine
stereotypes that emphasize power, strength, competition, action, and sometimes violence
(Kathy Sanford, 2006). Chun-Yi Lee (2011) stated that male students feel more strongly than
females that games are useful learning tools. One possible explanation could be that females
are always more skeptical than males about the instructional potential of games, considering
the availability of other resources to provide what can be learned from games.
On one of the research findings, the results shown that challenge was the most important
reason for playing games regardless of gender whether participants prefer single or
multiplayer games. We're strongly agree on this statement, as challenges are indeed dominant
motivators as the difficulty increased so does the player learning process. It works because
success in overcoming challenges increase one's sense of achievement and self-esteem or
self-belief, players thrive on managing challenges in such a way that playing becomes
compulsive. This is often through measured success and reward patterns that keep one
playing (Donald Clark, 2007). However, the author did not elaborate about the balance of
challenge, as too much and too less challenge aspect can bring negative impact to players
emotion. Balancing of game challenge was critical to the success of games, if the challenges
underwhelmed players, they would lead to boredom, while if they overwhelmed the players,
they would generate frustration (Richard M. Ryan, 2011).
On another research findings, the author stated that the in the terms of the respondents
attitudes to playing games in relation to gender, males seen playing games as significantly
more of a social activity, less of a waste of time, more time consuming. In my opinion,
playing games is not really a social activity if the games that the players spent too much time
on computer games or playing on a offline/single player platform, due to less interaction of
the outside world, thus leading to social isolation. On the other hand, computer games are too
can proved to be more of a social activity, as some games required communications with
other players for tactical team work. For instances, Multi-player, first-person shooter games
like Battlefield 3, HALO, Call Of Duty, allow players to compete online by themselves
against other players around the world by team up with other players in co-op scenarios.
Thus, these types of games help establish and maintain friendships. Gaming has become a
social activity shared with other players that can lead to better communication skills and the
development of sophisticated technical skills (Sarah Auffret, 2013). Aside from that, we
agree that computer games are not a waste of time, due to computer games can boost
creativity, decision making, and reaction time, as it may also enhance the players inspiration
of programming and designing. Preeta M. Banerjee (2008), stated that the skills needed to
succeed in gaming can often help young people to be more sociable, develop strategic
thinking, and become better leaders in life. However, as always, there's a limit because, as
long hour gaming may cause health problems or postural issues, we all know playing
computer games may be a good thing but too much good thing can cause problems down the
road.
Weakness
On the downside of the article, the methodology of this research is using a considerably small
sample size. Sample size of 2226 were collected over the 4 year period from 2005 to 2009,
975 were male and 1248 were female. Although the survey are subjected to all students in
University of the West of Scotland, but only 8% to 10% of students responded to the survey
during the two-week period, thus leading the results inaccurate. It was stated that the goal is
to find out the differences of motivations in relation to single player/multiplayer preference
and online/offline game participation, but subject of study is limited in the University Of The
West Of Scotland. The results cannot be taken as accurate because some students that haven't
taken the survey does participate in online/offline games as well. To further increase the
accuracy of the research results, it is recommended to increase the duration of questionnaire
availability.
Aside from that, the method used to analyze the results of the research are not stated and was
complicated, formulas were used without detail explanation on what are the symbols in the
formulas represents. On top of that, some statements such as (

(1) =43.072, p< 0.000). 29%

can usually be understood with high knowledge of the field. Despite of the unstated
calculation method, complicated formulas, the author made some obvious mistakes, Table
(1,2) and Figure 1 was implemented but without any further explanation and there are a
number of tables and graphs implemented in an incomplete paragraph forcing the rest of the
paragraph to be continued on the next page, which may cause some readers to be confused. In
our group opinion, the author should not implement such complex calculations unless the
author made a detail explanations about the formula or symbols used.
Conclusion
The article is very detail but with complex analysis method, the author made a very thorough
efforts in analyzing the data and he made good statements based on the research results he
found. However, the sample size used on this research are too low to be proved accurate.
Furthermore, the analysis method used for analysis are complicated and only suitable for
readers who have extensive knowledge in mathematical field. As recommendation for future
research, we suggest that author should implement an additional research about which type of
computer games that the students have the most interest on, as different games genres provide
different benefits. Aside from that, the author should simplified or implement different types
of mathematical method (e.g. Percentage calculation) in analyzing future results to prevent
confusion from readers that are not mathematical savvy.












Reference
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