Gonna resurrect my own post here... been away from this project for far too long as I put out other academic fires, but now it's time to get down to business.
Any modders interested in being interviewed for my PhD research (which is about the culture of Minecraft modding)?
Participation is anonymous, unless you decide you would prefer to be identified. These interviews could be done by voice or in a text chat, whatever you are most comfortable with. I would ask you to talk about your experiences and perspectives in Minecraft modding, including things like how you came to start modding, how you learned (or in some cases, invented) the ropes, what your workflow is like, what sites and tools you use, whether you collaborate, and so on.
Through these interviews, I want to give a voice to those folks who are actually on the ground doing the work of modding. Past academic work on game modding does exist, but most of it deals in the abstract: it focuses on the mods as products (rather than on the modding process), or it devotes its attention to talking about the big-picture relationship between modding communities and commercial developers. That's why I hope to fill in the gaps with the stories of the modders themselves.
(In order to comply with the ethics rules of my institution, I do need formal permission from any potential interviewee before I start asking them questions and writing down what they say.)
If you'd like to participate, please reply here, send me a private message, or email me at n.watson@concordia.ca -- or otherwise let me know the best way to reach you. I am also happy to answer any and all questions.
Thank you!