IRIS home page

By this research we want to pay attention to a very specific, although publicly less visible subculture: the subculture of the role-playing games (RPG) players. These are people who dedicate a sustainable amount of time and energy to a game, which is among general public rather marginal, thus transforming it to a rather important aspect of their lives. In the process, they create complex social networks which go beyond the game itself, and often satisfy some social and emotional needs of actors.

We are primarily interested in gaining a certain insight into this community which has been totally ignored by researchers in Croatia (the lack of data is present outside the Croatian borders also: except for the psychologists, market researchers and one twenty years old American sociological research, there has been virtually no other scientific interest). We are, above all, interested whether the social networks, interactions and communication channels between the gamers are indeed such to justify the label "subculture actors" for them and "subculture" for their community.

We are, among other things, also interested in typical gamers, patterns of recruitment, the reasons for starting and continuing to play, the everyday consequences of gamers' dedication to the game, group dynamics, acceptance of new players, communication channels...

If our findings concur with the hypothesis that this indeed is a subculture, we believe that these data will contribute to a better understanding of different and multiple ways of forming contemporary identities, particularly as they are increasingly based on the sphere of leisure.

We believe that this research is needed not only because it studies a rather neglected population, but also because it will provide us with better understanding of alternative (possibly subcultural) identities in everyday life and of functioning of a subculture which is many ways different from those so far examined in subcultural theory.

***********

The research will be conducted in two stages.

In the first stage, we will conduct a questionnaire on the sample of 300 gamers. Due to the specific character of the studied population, a representative sample is not possible, but we believe that, as there is no research on the RPG subculture in Croatia, these data will be relevant. This data will be supplemented in the second stage of research, which will consist of in-depth interviews with smaller group of players (N=40).

We expect to find out more about the main socio-economical characteristics of gamers, the beginnings of the role-playing in Croatia, the current scene, and main reasons for starting and continuing to play. We are also interested in the communication channels between players, social dynamics and the interaction of gamers.

The first stage of the research will be conducted exclusively through the online questionnaires, and the interviews will be held at the SF/fantasy conventions "Sferakon" in Zagreb and "Istrakon" in Pula, at the RPG meeting places in Zagreb, and with the people whose contacts will be obtained through snowball method.