A thrilling epic on the production of the data

 

The Beginning

In conducting this study, we chose to focus on a more qualitative data gathering process. By analyzing the games that we chose, and reading up on articles that talk on the matter. Our initial plan included interviews; however, after receiving a minimal numbers of responses, it was decided that the interviews would be cut from the data collection methods. Recognizing that by omitting the possibility of outside perception we introduced a bias into our data collection methods.

The Bias

As we have had previous experience with the games we chose to study, it is evident that we, no matter how little or how much we had played before, we would still retain a more complex grasp on the situational lore better than a gamer who had never experienced either game before.

The Games

In the case of Halo Combat Evolved, the game begins by dropping the player into a universe of which they know nothing. Exceptional attention to detail in key dialogue and cutscenes was required to gather the information necessary to figure out the situation. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a stark contrast to Halo. The player is given immediate instruction on how to navigate the world and is then rewarded with a full expository cutscene and accompanying flashback to explain the basics of the situation. From there, the player can do anything they please.

The Gathering

We gathered data by playing through the games, and taking notes on lore related events or dialogue. This process was repeated until we were satisfied with the amount of qualitative data we had gathered.