Everquest 2? Avatars? Attractiveness?

In one of my classes, T317- Children in the Media our teacher decided to give us extra credit if we agreed to participate in our AI’s research study. Desperately needing the extra points I decided to participate along with everyone else in the class. So our AI began his research study by passing out 3 papers that were stapled together. The first couple of questions we could answer on our own which were focused on attractiveness. We were to rate our answers on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the least attractive and 10 being the most attractive. We were first asked to rate ourselves and then rate how attractive we think society is around us. At this point we were still not told anything about the study, just simply told to answer the first few questions.

Then there were 2 more questions with yes or no answers where the questions centered around video games and computer games. They asked if we were knowledgeable on the subject of Second Life and the game Everquest 2.

After we answered those questions our AI told us that we would be shown some images of avatars and we were to do the same rating as before, 1 for how unattractive they were to 10 being very attractive. He didn’t explain to us what avatars were. If I had not taken C151- Intro to Pop Culture I would have been just as clueless as everyone else in the room. Fortunately I do know a little bit about Second Life and avatars therefore I knew what to expect from the images. As the first image popped up the room filled with laughter. The avatar was a large coyote looking person with large red eyes, wings, and armor protecting his body. No one was expecting this image and no one knew anything about it. The next image was just as unusual, an over sized toad with over sized hands holding weapons. There were 24 images of avatars that either had wings, were holding weapons, or had some type of armor protecting their body. After all 24 avatars had been shown and rated our AI had us turn in our papers and didn’t say anything else concerning the study, that was it.

Being familiar with avatars, Second Life, and knowing a little bit about War of the Worlds I understood what the characters were and why they looked so deformed. I could also tell that no one else in the class understood anything that was going on. I think our AI took the wrong approach by not explaining anything about the game Everquest 2 or even what avatars are. He just seemed to throw this study at us and not explain anything about it. After doing a little research I found out that the virtual game Everquest 2 involves combat fighting, hence the avatars armor. This was never explained to us. People didn’t know that there was a reason that these avatars were dressed a certain way, or why their deformities are a part of the game, they were just suppose to either know it or not question it. People also in the class didn’t know anything about avatars making the study, in my opinion, pretty pointless. Why have people rate of all things attractiveness on characters that they know nothing about? What kind of research is that? I think if he would have explained a little bit more either about the game or the design of avatars his study would have been a little more beneficial and people would have been more educated on the subject. I also think after the research answers were collected he could have explained why he chose to rate these avatars on a scale of attractiveness. I left the study full of questions but in actuality I was probably one of the most knowledgeable students concerning the subject topic.
What’s up with that?