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Hi everyone!

I’m Emily. I’m an archaeology Master’s student researching the way that people view the past in The Elder Scrolls games – Skyrim in particular.

When I first played Skryim, one of the things that struck me was how real-world and fantasy-based history and archaeology fit into the Elder Scrolls games. There are so many aspects of the game that I can see as being ruled by archaeological or historical ways of thinking.

So, I’ve dedicated the research for my dissertation to finding out what other people, particularly online communities who play Skyrim, think of these themes of the game.

It would help me so much if you could spare 5 minutes of your time to tell me a bit about why you play Skryim and what you think of the historical aspects of the game, and maybe even share the link with friends or people who you think might also be interested in talking about why they play Skyrim. Please take a minute to read the introductory paragraphs on the survey.

If you don’t want to fill out the survey but have comments or observations about the role that the past has to play in Elder Scrolls games then your opinions would be of equal value added as comments to this post!

The survey can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1d8KBuS ... 4/viewform

Thanks again!

Update!

The survey is closed now, but I just want to thank everyone who took part. I also wanted to thank you all for your encouragement - it's wonderful to see that players other than myself see the merit in my ideas! I'm currently going through the data (which is AMAZING) and frantically writing up my thesis. I'll be sure to make another post with a link when the resulting thesis is available online. In the mean time, happy gaming, and perhaps once all this is over I'll have the time to come back and say hi more often!

I'll definitely fill out the survey! Very interesting topic.

Good luck, by the way!

Done! And I must say, I'm jealous that you get such an opportunity to combine two of your interests like this, just think, all that time you're just going to have to spend playing the game...y'know, for research

Witchery wrote:I'll definitely fill out the survey! Very interesting topic.

Good luck, by the way!

Yay, thank you so much! You're awesome

MadAndyD wrote:Done! And I must say, I'm jealous that you get such an opportunity to combine two of your interests like this, just think, all that time you're just going to have to spend playing the game...y'know, for research

Yeah, I did pretty good. So many of my fellow researchers and dissertation writers are bitter about my subject choice! Let's just hope that I don't kill my love of TES by letting it collide with my (rather traumatic) academic life.

Also, huge thanks for filling out the survey! You're a star!

I finished my survey! I hope it was alright.

Done. I hope your research goes well and I'd be very interested to read your paper when you're finished.

Filled it out. It is refreshing to see people are doing things like this. I hope you find much information in your research and would like to see the paper when it is finished.

Done and done! I hope my info helps and much like my commrads in gaming -- I look forward to reading it when it's done!

Filled out the survey. Best of luck with the dissertation!

This looks interesting. I've never thought about combining work with video games, seems like a good fit. Good luck with it all, looking forward to seeing the results.

This is such a neat study! I love it when people get to look into their hobbies and fandoms from an academic view. I filled out the survey too.

I'm totally about to take your survey. Awesome idea and good luck with your project!

laternosrsly wrote:

MadAndyD wrote:Done! And I must say, I'm jealous that you get such an opportunity to combine two of your interests like this, just think, all that time you're just going to have to spend playing the game...y'know, for research

Yeah, I did pretty good. So many of my fellow researchers and dissertation writers are bitter about my subject choice! Let's just hope that I don't kill my love of TES by letting it collide with my (rather traumatic) academic life.

Also, huge thanks for filling out the survey! You're a star!

I sent my submission.

I'll tell you this - my interest in anthropology, archaeology and human history actually skyrocketed because of games like Skyrim and its predecessors. I can understand why you'd use it as a template for discussion.

I do quite a bit of archaeology myself and think this is a great idea

Cool survey, just finished it.

Anyone that ever said there's no such thing as a helpful gaming community needs to see this thread

Done. Good survey - I hope you get the data you need for your thesis.

laternosrsly wrote:Hi everyone!

I’m Emily. I’m an archaeology Master’s student researching the way that people view the past in The Elder Scrolls games – Skyrim in particular.

When I first played Skryim, one of the things that struck me was how real-world and fantasy-based history and archaeology fit into the Elder Scrolls games. There are so many aspects of the game that I can see as being ruled by archaeological or historical ways of thinking.

So, I’ve dedicated the research for my dissertation to finding out what other people, particularly online communities who play Skyrim, think of these themes of the game.

It would help me so much if you could spare 5 minutes of your time to tell me a bit about why you play Skryim and what you think of the historical aspects of the game, and maybe even share the link with friends or people who you think might also be interested in talking about why they play Skyrim. Please take a minute to read the introductory paragraphs on the survey.

If you don’t want to fill out the survey but have comments or observations about the role that the past has to play in Elder Scrolls games then your opinions would be of equal value added as comments to this post!

The survey can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1d8KBuS ... 4/viewform

Thanks again!

I just tried to fill out your survey but it said it was no longer accepting responses, which is a drag because I am also a land surveyor,with a minor in archeology ( which dove tailed nicely with my love of history). I would've liked to fill it out, but anyway good luck with your survey

Torapa wrote:

laternosrsly wrote:Hi everyone!

I’m Emily. I’m an archaeology Master’s student researching the way that people view the past in The Elder Scrolls games – Skyrim in particular.

When I first played Skryim, one of the things that struck me was how real-world and fantasy-based history and archaeology fit into the Elder Scrolls games. There are so many aspects of the game that I can see as being ruled by archaeological or historical ways of thinking.

So, I’ve dedicated the research for my dissertation to finding out what other people, particularly online communities who play Skyrim, think of these themes of the game.

It would help me so much if you could spare 5 minutes of your time to tell me a bit about why you play Skryim and what you think of the historical aspects of the game, and maybe even share the link with friends or people who you think might also be interested in talking about why they play Skyrim. Please take a minute to read the introductory paragraphs on the survey.

If you don’t want to fill out the survey but have comments or observations about the role that the past has to play in Elder Scrolls games then your opinions would be of equal value added as comments to this post!

The survey can be found here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1d8KBuS ... 4/viewform

Thanks again!

I just tried to fill out your survey but it said it was no longer accepting responses, which is a drag because I am also a land surveyor,with a minor in archeology ( which dove tailed nicely with my love of history). I would've liked to fill it out, but anyway good luck with your survey

Oh, I'm so sorry! I had to close the survey because of the time constraints that I am under (only two weeks to complete the dissertation now! EEK!) - BUT if you have any observations or comments you'd like to make in general about the archaeology/history of Skryim, please do reply here and your words will be taken into account!

MadAndyD wrote:Anyone that ever said there's no such thing as a helpful gaming community needs to see this thread

Oh, man, tell me about it! You guys have been great! The internet is a good place.

Hello Emily I am also an Archaeology student. Wish you the best in your studies.