The ADD gamer.

Funseiki

I recently started a thread about how implementing emotion into gameplay could benefit all games but especially MMORPGs. I used Fable II as my main example since it is a game whose release is only a few months away. This is the link http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/192393/page/1

I noticed though, that many people did not seem to understand what I was trying to say and decided to reply to a topic that they found more convenient to reply to. Granted my original post was a little long (though I did apologize for this at the end), I was wondering just how many people made it to the bottom of the post.

Here is where this thread comes in. Do you reply to a topic based solely off the topic's title or the first few lines of it, if it is more than paragraph long? (let's say a paragraph is 6-7 sentences max)

Though this poll is completely non-scientific, I am curious to see what the results will be and what it says about the MMO gamer. If people can't read through posts to a forum that they signed up for; are they asking for meaningless quests with skippable storylines?

 

Wolfenpride

Usually if a threads title and/or first few sentences don't catch my interest I stop reading, however I usually don't post either if thats the case.

Funseiki

Yeah that's what I do too, but I guess it isnt true for everyone

Loke666

I do allways read the OP but sometimes I skipp the 14 pages of comments, particular when the posts get off topic or trolled. I do find the trhreads with the title but anything I dont bother to read isnt worth to answer anyways. It is just common respect.

But it is a bit annoying when the thread has nothing to do with the title or is just a troll thread with an intresting title. And the mods here could kill of more troll threads and edit away the worst posts, this forum have more trolls than the Hobbit.

FreddyNoNose

Originally posted by Wolfenpride


Usually if a threads title and/or first few sentences don't catch my interest I stop reading, however I usually don't post either if thats the case.

 

This!

Theocritus

    It depends on both teh thread title and how well written the OPs first few lines are.......If its dood speak or jibberish I pretty much wont read very long....If its a good topic and the OP looks like he/she has put some thought into the post then Ill usually read all of it unless it is more than half a page or so......

Obee

I'm sorry, I lost interest after "Th" in the title.  If you could resummerize your post in one letter or less, I'd really appreciate it.

 

Amalaric

If a poster seems to have the Dostojevskij syndrome then I will just skim through the text.

nomadian

Didn't want to say but I think mmos already include aspects of what you said.

MarL

If you write a book I will skim it, and maybe reply.

Tecknic

I'm a writer, thus, liking to read is somewhat of a granted.  I'll reply to anything I feel inclined to reply to, although I usually tend to read the topic through beforehand.  At least the first post.

Urrelles

I understand the frustration of the OP.  On another note in this same topic are the people who can't bother to read more than 2 sentences per a paragraph.  so you have to cut a 1 paragraph article into 10 frigging single sentence paragraphs just so people won't whine about "the wall of text".

I sometimes wonder what happens when people see some of the paragraphs in novels and text books.

 

Funseiki

Originally posted by Urrelles


I understand the frustration of the OP.  On another note in this same topic are the people who can't bother to read more than 2 sentences per a paragraph.  so you have to cut a 1 paragraph article into 10 frigging single sentence paragraphs just so people won't whine about "the wall of text".
I sometimes wonder what happens when people see some of the paragraphs in novels and text books.
 

 

Exactly. And considering that this is a forum - where everything is either reading or typing - it really surprises me that people get annoyed by long posts, especially ones by the op.

MarL

Originally posted by Urrelles


  so you have to cut a 1 paragraph article into 10 frigging single sentence paragraphs just so people won't whine about "the wall of text".
That is what i do
I sometimes wonder what happens when people see some of the paragraphs in novels and text books.
 Yes because posts on the internet are as important as books?


( i guess that depends on what books you read )

 

gillvane1

I read the first couple of sentences, then maybe the first sentence of each paragraph if the post is a small novel.

Flyte27

I have this issue at times, but I don't have ADD.  ADD requires you to be a hyperactive person.  I do have dyslexia though and that might have something to do with my losing patience with reading large chunks of text at times.  On the otherhand maybe it's partly a product of playing games like WoW where it's not important to read the quest text most of the time.

matthewf978

I think you might have chosen better options for your poll. I think a good example of mmo gamers attention span and willingness to read through can be found by asking whether they do quests in game or whether they do google searches for the information to completing quests. I know that I often use google searches because I don't have the time/patience to look everywhere for a quest when everyone else around me is taking the path of least resistance. I don't want to be the one person in the group who doesn't have a clue where to go because I didn't do research out-of-game.

That said, the topic title can have a large impact on my reading through a post within a forum that is out-of-game. If I am interested by what I am reading then I will continue reading. However, I will rarely find a topic that is so interesting that I will read more than 4-5 paragraphs.

mklinic

Originally posted by Flyte27


 ADD requires you to be a hyperactive person. 

 

A slight correction,. but ADHD requires the hyperactivity. Often, children will be diagnosed with ADHD in their younger years and end up with ADD as they get older. This is not to say people always "grow out" of ADHD, just the norm seems to be people lose the 'H' as they get older..

Now, to the topic at hand, I had to reply "Occasionally". As it was stated previously, if the OP is a decent writer it makes it all the more likely I will read the whole post. If the OP was interesting, I will likely skim the replies to see what others thought and to make sure any reply I make would not be terribly redundant (not that I am successful, but I try).

Ultimately, I think this goes back to a combination of pet peeves people might have which range from grammar, to content, to reputation and so on. It is a forum and as such, is geared toward either a quick back-and-forth conversation or a more verbose approach. As such, you get a very mixed crowd as to what people look for in a post and what actions they take as a result.