Effectiveness Study on the Correct Interpretation of Point Symbols Using the Online Survey Method on the Example of the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The main purpose of the article was to examine the ability to indicate the correct meaning of point symbols in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt without using the map legend by people participating in the study. The authors decided to check the relationship between gamers and non-gamers of video games in “The Witcher” series and due to the weekly time of playing video games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a game produced in 2015 by Polish developer CD Projekt Red. It is an open-world RPG game. The game’s universe is based on the Middle Ages, adding elements of mythology and fantasy. The map included in the game is characterized by a large number of point symbols. By means of internal selection and pre-survey, ten symbols were selected whose meaning could pose the greatest problems in interpretation. The main part of the study was conducted in the form of an online survey using the Google Forms platform. Dissemination of the survey on various social media forums allowed to collect responses from various people around the world. After the collection and selection of responses, statistical tests were conducted to study the effectiveness in interpreting the meaning of the point symbols. It was shown that there was a correlation in indicating the correct meaning of the symbol by dividing the respondents into gamers or non-gamers of The Witcher series and due to the weekly time of playing video games. The authors drew attention to the need to continue research in the field of map symbology in video games.