What teens and tweens want in avatars
(Visited 5673 times) Game talk
Dec 022006
An interesting post over at YPulse about what people of different ages want in avatars. If I read it correctly, the researcher says that
- Younger children and tweens find avatar customization extremely important because they are more defined by appearance
- Adults find more value in other forms of status: speech, money, stuff, etc.
- Teens are caught in the middle, finding both very important. Limiting them to avatars feels inadequate given that they are discovering the broader set of symbols in adult life.
Interesting; then again, I do know plenty of adults who place huge value on appearance too, so I wouldn’t go so far as to say that we outgrow that. An underlying point in the article seemed to be that truly diverse customization, as opposed to limited swappable sets, is particularly important in order to capture attention, at least until the emphasis shifts to other factors.
2 Responses to “What teens and tweens want in avatars”
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OK, but I’m wondering if these preferences are a result of generational influences or driven more by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
If it were Maslow’s hierarchy of needs then I’d say that teens and 20-somethings would be into status/wealth, while 30+ would tend towards less ego-centric activities.