Here is the methodology for my project:
1) Site
There are two “sites” for my research in this project. The first site is the game itself (Deus Ex: Human Revolution); specifically, I am looking at the character of David Sarif and his role as both a mentor for the player and the game’s voice for the benefits of cybernetic augmentation of humans. The second site is the official Steam forum for the game. I chose this site because it contains a wide variety of discussions about the game and the game’s characters; some of these discussions deal with human augmentation in the real world, and it is interesting to examine the interaction between the game and the player’s opinions on this real-world issue.
2) Participants
The participants in the Steam forum for the game are (mostly) people who have played the game and enjoyed it. Some of the participants are also fans of the first Deus Ex game (which was released about ten years ago). Many of these posters also post in other Steam forums for other games. The spelling and grammatical skill of the posters varies widely; some posts are grammatically correct throughout, and others are almost indecipherable due to poor spelling and grammar. This variance is likely evidence of widely varying education levels. Also, not everyone takes the forums seriously; people will often post joking or humorous responses to serious questions. Finally, as a rule, posters do not share much personal information about themselves; discussion is largely confined to the game and the issues raised by it (whether they are gameplay or story-related).
3) Self
I play no role on the Steam forums. As for the game itself, I am a participant, having played it and enjoyed it. I am also a fan of the first Deus Ex game, and have been interested in this prequel for a long time before its release. I am of the opinion that the game’s story, while flawed, does a decent job of bringing greater awareness to an issue (human augmentation) that will continue to have greater significance in the years ahead.
4) Data
The data collected comes from both the game itself and the Steam forums. The data from the game consists of an overview of David Sarif’s character, as well as transcripts of two key conversations between Sarif and Adam Jensen, the game’s main character. As dialogue is the main way that the game’s story is presented, these conversations offer insight into both the type of character that Sarif is, as well as his position in the story. This provides a useful baseline for analyzing players’ reactions to the character.
The data from the Steam forums consists of three different discussions. One of these is a discussion of Sarif’s character and the other two are discussions of real-life human augmentation. In the discussion of Sarif’s character, people offer opinions about whether they believe he is trustworthy, as well as whether they believe he has humanity’s best interests at heart. Looking at this conversation allows us to examine whether Sarif is an effective execution of the mentor archetype, as well as whether he is an effective advocate for the pro-augmentation side of the debate.
In the discussions of real-life human augmentation, people debate whether they believe that cybernetic augmentation is a good thing for humanity, as well as whether they personally would be augmented if they had the choice. The game factors into these discussions in a major way; some of the posts directly reference the game and its characters (Sarif in particular).
5) Analysis
The game and the discussions surrounding it are analyzed together to determine the extent to which the game has influenced the players’ thinking on an issue of real-world significance. In the discussions, I look for the players’ reactions to David Sarif’s character, as well as their opinions about human augmentation. Several players mention Sarif specifically when talking about real-world augmentation, and others reference other aspects of the game. Some players directly echo pro-augmentation sentiments expressed by Sarif in the game; this also reinforces the idea that the game has influenced their thinking.
In the course of my analysis, I look at only the most relevant posts on the topics. Joke posts are ignored, as are those that do not give enough information to be useful. Analysis is confined only to Sarif’s character and/or discussions of real-world augmentation; issues of gameplay or story elements that do not relate to this are not examined.
