Ben (of Questing Beast) and Brendan (Necropraxis) have created a survey exploring the meaning people attach to OSR.

Link: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00bW2hFXEFA9hFX

It's a long survey, but interesting. Do Ben or Brendan post here?

And they already posted it here.

Looks like a trap to me, people eager to prove their pet theory about the OSR (and probably not good, since the survey seemed biased).

I must have missed it. I didn't think it was biased, but perhaps I'm out of the loop. Do you have a link to the prior thread?

After a half hour, I quit.

Myself and Vince Florio (we've teamed up now, apparently) had some exchanges with the makers of the survey, over on Twitter. We noted critically the questions about demographics (race, gender, sexual orientation) and political affiliation. It did give us the impression that the point of the survey was to do with that data, rather than the data about "what's your favorite OSR game".

Particularly with this survey showing up right in the wake of RaggiPetersonGate and LogoGate and the formation of the Hosr group (where one of the two survey-authors has membership, having passed their political purity tests, and where the locals have embraced the survey).

Quote from: RPGPundit;1067799Myself and Vince Florio (we've teamed up now, apparently) had some exchanges with the makers of the survey, over on Twitter. We noted critically the questions about demographics (race, gender, sexual orientation) and political affiliation. It did give us the impression that the point of the survey was to do with that data, rather than the data about "what's your favorite OSR game".

Particularly with this survey showing up right in the wake of RaggiPetersonGate and LogoGate and the formation of the Hosr group (where one of the two survey-authors has membership, having passed their political purity tests, and where the locals have embraced the survey).

That's the takeaway I got as welI-- at least in part. I expect one of the results of the survey will be "Looks like the OSR isn't filled with Nazis after all. In fact, 99.9% of them welcome minorities, women, and LGBT folks."

Looked at the survey again. Here are the non-gaming questions that may be of relevance:

• The OSR welcomes diverse voices. (Choices range from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree")
• What is your gender identity? Please select all that apply.
• What is your sexual orientation?
• How would you describe your political outlook with regard to economic issues?
• How would you describe your political outlook with regard to social issues?

The survey authors did say this, at the beginning of the survey,

QuoteThere are two items about political orientation near the end that we have decided not to analyze due to the differing meanings of some labels outside the USA, and to avoid drawing broad conclusions which are secondary to the main goal of this survey.

Quote from: Aglondir;1067686Do Ben or Brendan post here?

I'm more of a lurker than poster on most forums, but yeah I'm around. (Too many inboxes to check.) Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. We have no ulterior political motives. Thanks for sharing the link, and for participating in the survey if you did.

Quote from: Aglondir;1067800That's the takeaway I got as welI-- at least in part. I expect one of the results of the survey will be "Looks like the OSR isn't filled with Nazis after all. In fact, 99.9% of them welcome minorities, women, and LGBT folks."

Except I doubt how that will be interpreted.

What it'll likely do is that, if it turns out that there's evidence that an inordinate number of responders are not straight white males, it'll be "proof" that "the OSR must be changed to accommodate them!"
Whereas if it turns out that the majority of responders are straight white males, it'll be "proof" that "the OSR is toxic and must be changed to bring more non-swm groups in"!

It's a kafkatrap.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1068959if it turns out that there's evidence that an inordinate number of responders are not straight white males, it'll be "proof" that "the OSR must be changed to accommodate them!"
Whereas if it turns out that the majority of responders are straight white males, it'll be "proof" that "the OSR is toxic and must be changed to bring more non-swm groups in"!

Unreasonable people will be unreasonable no matter what you, I, or anyone else says. I don't plan on making it easy for anyone to recruit these result into the service of any particular crusades. I can't promise to make no mistakes in the process, but the alternative of letting hypothetical worries of misuse get in the way of talking about this sort of thing at all would be to unduly prioritize risk aversion over discovery.

Quote from: Razor 007;1067698After a half hour, I quit.

You've got more patience than I

Quote from: necropraxis;1069012Unreasonable people will be unreasonable no matter what you, I, or anyone else says. I don't plan on making it easy for anyone to recruit these result into the service of any particular crusades. I can't promise to make no mistakes in the process, but the alternative of letting hypothetical worries of misuse get in the way of talking about this sort of thing at all would be to unduly prioritize risk aversion over discovery.

OK, so are you going to just release the raw data at some point, instead of this trickle of carefully-curated interpretations of individual points?

Quote from: RPGPundit;1069544are you going to just release the raw data at some point

I already responded to you about this same point recently in another conversation here. For ease of reference, here is a copy of what I wrote in the other conversation:

   We did not ask respondents for permission to share their full responses, or say that we would release their responses, so we have no plans to release the raw data.

That said, chances are, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, so just let me know if you have any questions that you think the results could speak to, and I will see what I can do. (Link to earlier comment.)

And:

   If you have specific concerns let me know and we can discuss them.

Most of what I have posted so far is descriptive. Omission can be a form of interpretation as well, so if you think I am unfairly slanting the results in any way due to what I choose to focus on, I would be glad to consider whatever questions you have.

Actually, I would appreciate any suggestions that you might have in this area. The more perspectives I get, the more likely I will be able to avoid the limitations of my own preconceptions. (Link to earlier comment.)