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Measuring Engagement of Spectators of Social Digital Games
Published on: July 3, 2021
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An empirical study of Q&A websites for game developers
Arthur Kamienski1, Cor-Paul Bezemer1
1Analytics of Software, Games and Repository Data (ASGAARD) Lab, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada.
Empirical Software Engineering
|August 24, 2021
Summary
Game developers increasingly need effective online learning resources. This study reveals declining Q&A communities for game development, with experienced developers often abandoning them, suggesting a need for improvement.
Area of Science:
- Computer Science
- Software Engineering
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- The growing game development industry requires skilled professionals.
- Online Question and Answer (Q&A) websites are vital learning tools for software developers.
- Existing research on Q&A sites for software development is extensive, but game development-specific Q&A communities remain understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the current state and usage of Q&A communities within the game development sector.
- To identify factors contributing to the observed trends in these communities.
- To offer recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness and sustainability of game development Q&A platforms.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of data from four game development Q&A websites.
- Distribution and analysis of a survey to 347 game developers.
- Application of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for topic modeling.
Main Results:
- Observed decline in game development Q&A communities over recent years.
- Identified key topics and topic variations across different communities using LDA.
- Survey results indicate a generally negative perception of these communities among developers, with many ceasing use upon gaining experience.
Conclusions:
- Game development Q&A communities face challenges and declining engagement.
- Developer experience level influences community interaction and perception.
- Strategic recommendations are proposed to revitalize these platforms and improve their utility for game developers.
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