A few days ago, I wrote a post sharing the Questing Beast Survey on RPG Playstyles. While I shared it as an interesting attempt to gather data about the TTRPG community, the survey has sparked a lot of discussion and dissection. Some of my close friends had reservations, and there has been valid criticism regarding the questions and the biases inherent in the process.
Developing tests and surveys is challenging, and an ambitious endeavor like this will naturally invite scrutiny.
Because of this, I was glad to see that Runeslinger, along with ivanmike1968 and ThirdFloorWars, recently put out a thorough video analyzing the survey question by question. It is a solid watch and a well-constructed analysis. I encourage you to check it out:
I’ve had the pleasure of meeting ivanmike1968 in person (I wrote about it here), and I’ve interacted with Runeslinger for years through a shared love of games and the annual #RPGaDay challenge. I don’t know ThirdFloorWars as well, but I appreciate their contribution to this discussion and encourage you to follow their work.
They mentioned my post about the survey in their video. Besides appreciating the shout-out, I am glad to contribute to the discussions in our community, and I remain impressed by the quality of the discourse we share.
What did you think about the survey? Did you complete it? What are your thoughts about this analysis? I’d love to read your comments and reactions.
Thanks for sharing. As you note, it’s good for us to talk about what we do, and I hope the critical responses coming in about the wording and limitations of the survey don’t discourage other people from trying to contribute to a broader understanding of what RPG play can be, and so help us refine what we then choose to do in play to get the right effects for our goals for play~
Agreed! Perhaps because I’ve worked in education and academia, I always support research and data gathering about our hobby. Thanks for dropping by.