Dev Log 1- Conducting Research for game design :^)

DEAR Devlog :^)

This is the first devlog (yippie) about our research report. During the first 2 weeks, we were tasked to research one of the many social topics that were provided. This gives us the simple but important fundamentals of our design process carrying forward. With a specified topic, we are able to use further research and possibly guide our topic through design. For the moment, I am going for Social Media as my social topic and the psychological effects of both addiction and social comparison.

My approach to researching is by utilizing access to academic sources through Google Scholar and also our school library database, which provides good intensive research on the topic I decided on. Being able to understand the topic and why it's also being researched is a good beginning to learning about a topic. With the knowledge that I gained from the research I came across, it's a matter of me utilizing what I have gathered and how can I use it in designing a game

Social Media is a widely talked about topic, most, or if not, all of us partake in Social Media, and can just use it to connect with others, or just update on the news. for my topic, I plan on creating a game utilizing the information that I gathered from my research. From what I know so far, my current Idea that incorporates the topic I discussed, I will be creating a game more action-oriented where you the player can compare yourself to others (both players and NPCs) you connect with, and possibly take a certain power from them, and use as your own, but you can't always keep on comparing with others as taking certain power from people doesn't always work out as you may think. I want to design around the fact that social comparison within social media is much easier access due to the interests ease of access, but also how it can both have a good and a negative effect on the person depending on how they compare themselves to others.

Anyways, overall, conducting research first is a helpful headstart into understanding the topic, but also as you continue to research, you may be able to use your knowledge from the topic to design a more accurate representation of what you may want to do. It also provides you with an understanding to talk about when designing around such a topic.

Even if it doesn't work out, no knowledge is useless knowledge :^)