An article form Ars Technica about a study made by Allianz insurance company. Popular racing games were used for the test, but a note is made about the results could be different with other racing games.

Interesting anyways.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ar ... sky-driving-behavior.html

You can prove anything with facts, copyright Homer J Simpson

Breaking news: People who like driving, driving quickly, and generally hooning around a bit in motor vehicles are MORE likely to enjoy racing games on a computer than people who drive like grannies!!!

This just shows how real life effects our gaming experiences, and as such Real Life should be banned along with Dreaming, Aspiration, and lots of other basic human emotions and complexities...

I'm not saying I endorse it in any way, neither does the article You can't make absolute assertions with a study made to 100 or 200 people, it's just that, a study.

In fact, if you read it till the end, the talk about the racing games they used for the study, and what would have happened if they used other.

It is like saying that large portion of people who eat ham like ham.

About a year ago I had a short time when I had no internets connection and so I couldn't really play LFS online. I didn't like hotlappiong either so didn't play or drive racing sims at during that period. The interesting thing was that my speeds in real car got higher and I took sometimes a bit more racy approach on corners and roundabouts than usually. Nothing stupidly dangerous but there was some kind of noticable effect. When I got back into LFS my speeds went back to normal. I guess it is just the feeling of getting closer to the limit that I need sometimes.

Well, games can have an effect on persons, but then it's not the game's fault, but the persons. I hate it if people blame everything on games, as if they were no other reasons.
For example: When somebody went amok in a school here in Germany, everybody blamed it on Counter Strike. They didn't even question how the pupil could get a shotgun or what his motive was, as soon as they found out he played CS, it was all CS' fault.
Maybe I should run amok too, let's see what they say about me, because I don't play CS

Quote from herki :

Well, games can have an effect on persons, but then it's not the game's fault, but the persons. I hate it if people blame everything on games, as if they were no other reasons.

Yeah, here in Spain we had a case about some moron killing someone with a katana and some others saying it was for playing Final Fantasy LOL

I think games don't make a significative change on behaviour. But as a way of expression, they can act as a way of amplifying your personality. I don't know if I expressed myself well

Short story: If you are crazy, you'll find a way of showing it to the world, it can be games, football, or whatever.

Bring in the law that makes proper damage model mandatory and they will slow down when they learn that hitting anything at 40kph is really not a thing you can get away without a scratch.

I hate these kind of studies as sheeps are thinking now racing games are bad, LFS is racing game it is bad.

But surely those school shootings are stupid thing, games surely are not making them to do that, at most they will get some ideas, but they can get it from tv or movies or then they just make up ideas themselves, but anyway reason why some person does such thing is not because of game, bad parents, society valuing too much of productivity and general consuming madness come to mind first, then there are real deceases that can make people do weird things, drugs, etc.

I can't get it why we don't already have 3 day work week as we have so much technology that we can do quite many times of work compared to 60's for example, yet still we are pushed to work even harder, really don't understand where all that gain from work really goes?

its a racing game..so it might hav an affect on my behaviour in a real racing car on a real race track .. but i dont see any closeness to moving a car on public roads.

Quote from Eldanor :

Popular racing games were used for the test

ehem... yea meaning.. NFS, GT4.. etc

i dont drive my car like its a race car.. i just try to keep my momentum going

This just in:

Quote from scientist paid by the insurance industry :

We are also examining the toilet habits of bears and have a year long survey in progress to establish just which religion the Pope adheres to.

Yes I suppose racing games can make a younger person possible speed, then again games also teach you how to handle a car! For example, if your in the wet and the tail slides out abit, someone that has no idea would most likely not drive into the slide! Where as a racing gamer quiet possibly automatically would counter steer and save it (all being well). There is a lot of good in racing sims

Quote from jamesrowe :

Yes I suppose racing games can make a younger person possible speed, then again games also teach you how to handle a car! For example, if your in the wet and the tail slides out abit, someone that has no idea would most likely not drive into the slide! Where as a racing gamer quiet possibly automatically would counter steer and save it (all being well). There is a lot of good in racing sims

Problem is, they had some not sims in that study, moment there was no single sim So we can guess what F&F fans will do, speed at wrong places, no control and lot of havoc

Quote from sidi :

When you do a survey and only ask complete morons then the outcome is pretty predictable

Yeah, its a manipulative and selective use of facts. Note that the study does not even ask whether a game can improve driving. Possible benefits might be: increased reaction times; improved hazard awareness; not to mention whether a simulation might enhance the understanding of general driving concepts.

Such results might indicate lower insurance premiums for gamers.... The study was an investment and asked not "How do people drive?", but "How can we make more money?"

Quote from nihil :

Yeah, its a manipulative and selective use of facts. Note that the study does not even ask whether a game can improve driving. Possible benefits might be: increased reaction times; improved hazard awareness; not to mention whether a simulation might enhance the understanding of general driving concepts.

Such results might indicate lower insurance premiums for gamers.... The study was an investment and asked not "How do people drive?", but "How can we make more money?"

Also come to mind, how certain people could make kids play less games and study more, being more productive in future, like robots...

Hmm, where is my tin foil hat.. ah here it is, they will spy my ideas! Good that I have this hat (no I'm not being paranoid here, honestly, ok just a little)

Vienna Risk-Taking Test

So, they got a bunch of gamers, and made them play games to assess the degree of risk they were willing to take... I am killing myself laughing at that one!!!

Quote :

In the next subtest, the Blue ball, the respondent has to steer a ball that moves from one side of the screen to the other. The ball must not touch either side. By determining the ball's change of direction, the respondents can either minimize the risk to lose points or, if they delay the change of direction, maximize their score, provided the ball does not touch the sides.

ZOMG!!! HIGHEST SCORE WID DA BLUE BALL!!!

Quote from jamesrowe :

Yes I suppose racing games can make a younger person possible speed, then again games also teach you how to handle a car! For example, if your in the wet and the tail slides out abit, someone that has no idea would most likely not drive into the slide! Where as a racing gamer quiet possibly automatically would counter steer and save it (all being well). There is a lot of good in racing sims

Sorry, but countersteering is a natural reaction built into the human mind. You're natural tendency is to steer where you want to be going, which just so happens to be 'into the skid' during oversteer.

Put pretty much anyone in an oversteery kart and they'll cope just fine most of the time...

Quote from tristancliffe :

Sorry, but countersteering is a natural reaction built into the human mind. You're natural tendency is to steer where you want to be going, which just so happens to be 'into the skid' during oversteer.

Put pretty much anyone in an oversteery kart and they'll cope just fine most of the time...

No, I don't know why, but there are really lot of people that turn against countersteering, damn even car itself is trying to countersteer, but still they turn against that or take hands of wheel or keep wheel in one position squeezing it so hard that you can see position of hands afterwars, some just slam on brakes and scream

There is these 0 technical ability persons and there is lot more of these than those with technical ability thanks to modern society.
If you try to learn such person how to countersteer properly it will be almost impossible mission as you need really long fuse, simplest thing in world and they won't get it.
You have seen hilarious parking videos at internet, those are not uncommon situations at all.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Sorry, but countersteering is a natural reaction built into the human mind. You're natural tendency is to steer where you want to be going, which just so happens to be 'into the skid' during oversteer.

Put pretty much anyone in an oversteery kart and they'll cope just fine most of the time...

I disagree. Too many crashes are caused by people with no idea what do when they overstep the mark in a car IRL. How many videos have been on this forum recently proving the lack of feel a regular person has with car control in general...

Last year I watched a program on the telly where this female presenter was being tought how to drift in a MX5 I think. Well, to be honest she was useless (no sexism here btw), she either countersteer to early or too late. In other words, nothing happened, or she would simply spin. No control or instinct. Lack of experience is obviously to blame.

As for karting, most new people spin in an oversteery kart, and having to countersteer is totally alien and new to them. I think a lot can be learned in LFS with car control, and countersteering. If anything, I would be more likely to countersteer more quickly IRL, as not only have I the experience of a similar situation in LFS, but IRL there is more warning and feedback.

dunno if it's the age or LFS, but since i have LFS (1 year) my average fuel consumption has gone down from ~8,6 to 7,5 l/100km. I drive more foresighted and i think safer. Sometimes i still like driving "rally like" on nice empty winding roads, but i'm no longer driving 200 k/mh on the autobahn or have to overtake everyone who's not driving "my" speed, it's just a waste of fuel.

I think most people will profit form driving lfs, but i have to say, that there could be some morons that learnd drifting or sth. in LFS and try to show it off on public roads. I hope this never happens, but you never know.

Quote from XCNuse :

ehem... yea meaning.. NFS, GT4.. etc

Yeah, the game choice wasn't very good, after all, the title talks about racing "games"

But the author takes that into account:

Quote from The article :

The study only looked at those games that involve driving at high speed on public roads and didn't touch on circuit racers like Gran Turismo or Forza, so it's difficult to say whether these games that don't involve bumping other road users out of the way or running red lights would have the same effect. Whether or not frequent use of racing games leads to higher real-life accident rates isn't known, and would require a much more expansive and expensive study

Ok, ok, he says GT and Forza, maybe those are the only ones he knows or he is not into racing at all, but the intention of making a difference between games and sims is there.

my wheel is fixed to ~240° max most of the time. i once tried use full 900° and hadnt even slightest chance for proper countersteerin ... guess its same in real life.
additionally it has some effects on ur body if u know its gonna hurt and i aint got the fantasy to imagine it in lfs .. its just a 'bonk' that comes through headphones after failing 'deadly'. so i'd say i wont learn fundamental things for real life driving in a game with this stage of abstraction.

How i see it. Games dont effect real life driving. I play LFS alot, when i hit the road, im fine.. i play daytona where all your doing is shifting from 4th straight to 1st back to 4th instantly and drifting.. like some poofter is really going to do that in real life ay..

mabye for people before driving.. possibly.. cause they are used to nfs nd crap like that where when your about to hit traffic, all you gotta do is sit, and move your thumb 1cm to the left or right and dodge it.. and if u get used to that.. real life.. car comming at you.. your gonnah move your thumb LMAO.

Quote from chrinkler :

my wheel is fixed to ~240° max most of the time. i once tried use full 900° and hadnt even slightest chance for proper countersteerin ... guess its same in real life.
additionally it has some effects on ur body if u know its gonna hurt and i aint got the fantasy to imagine it in lfs .. its just a 'bonk' that comes through headphones after failing 'deadly'. so i'd say i wont learn fundamental things for real life driving in a game with this stage of abstraction.

You need to give it time, first try something like 450-500 degrees, after you are used to it increase to 600, 700 and so on, problem is that as you are used to low steering angle you need to kind of rebuild hand eye coordination.

I had really lot of trouble with 900 degrees first times too, but now I'm using 900 degrees even at rally cross, sure I sweat more but I prefer realism, I sweat on track IRL too and not because of steering but trying to fight with not even so great g-forces

Would be great to have proper damage, if you crash deadly all your stats would go to 0 and you have to do new profile, that would be something I like, of course together with well working collision detection and damage

i prefer speed and i just cant turn the wheel in time to catch my break-away-xrr