#game communities

[alizzavet]

He's so cute╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

[shashagames]

Some games that haven’t seen the light on Tumblr because I have been busy with some big life changes.

But here they are! Enjoyed playing each of them!

🥰

[shashagames]

Power Grid and Trajan last week!

🔌🔋🇻🇦

[gamersforever68]

The gaming news is something imma try to do is look up stuff for the gaming community. Do y'all want to get updates and stuff from me?

[nyahdigitalcommunities]

Gaming Communities: Formation, Social Gaming, and Live-streaming

This week's discussion is an exploration of gaming communities, particularly how platforms and online spaces have enabled its formation. This discussion centres on the notion that gaming communities interact through multiple platforms and flow between those that best suit their present needs. 

Social Gaming

Multiplayer features have become conventional in online gaming (Allen et al. 2021). Multiplayer features entail collaborative or competitive play with other users, and have shifted gaming into an activity in which users can socialise with others (Allen et al. 2021). Multiplayer games facilitate community formation in various ways, including social support and bonding over shared interests (Kelly, Magor & Wright 2021). 

The Fortnite community exemplifies how gamers bond over multiplayer games and exist on other platforms when not actively playing. Fortnite is a globally popular synchronous online game, attracting over 125 million users within its first 9 months (Marlatt 2020). Despite the game's competitiveness, the Fortnite community bonds over common goals of increasing skill, status, and performance.

Outside of active gameplay, members of the Fortnite community can continue to interact through dedicated spaces on other platforms. There are currently 47.3 million posts on Instagram under '#fortnite' at the time of writing, and the official Fortnite server on Discord has over 1 million members (#fortnite 2023; Discord 2023a). These spaces are formed by users to share highlights of gameplay, memes, fan-art, and communicate with others in the community.

Below is an example of a member of the Fortnite community using Twitter to engage with others.

Platforms and Community Building

The gaming community has access to a range of platforms which fulfil specific needs. Platforms such as Steam and Discord have features ideal for community building and engagement, including discussion boards and chats (Gandolfi 2022). Services like Twitch and YouTube Gaming offer an experience aligned closer to spectatorship (Gandolfi 2022). 

Community building is also facilitated by platforms through opportunities for social learning (Gandolfi 2022). In the context of gaming, users experience social learning when applying behaviours displayed by others in the community (Gandolfi 2022). Through features such as content sharing, streaming, and forums; platforms contribute to community building by creating spaces in which users can collaborate with others to extend their knowledge beyond games' provided instructions (Gandolfi 2022).

Niche Communities: Knowledge Communities

Online communities for sharing knowledge, skill, and expertise are referred to as knowledge communities. Whilst the aforementioned section discusses social learning enabled by platform features, the existence of knowledge communities differs as these are gamer-created spaces dedicated to sharing knowledge. These communities form from collaboration between users who place value on expertise.

Nookipedia is a wiki space for knowledge communities of the Animal Crossing series. It is an unofficial player-created encyclopedia in which the community documents learned knowledge from their gameplay. The Nookipedia community consists of users who share information on collectibles, in-game events, and game updates; and demonstrates how sub-communities form based on niche interests.

Main Page

Nookipedia is a community-driven Animal Crossing wiki with 16,696 articles and counting.

Streaming and Community Building

Streaming as an activity for community building originates from communal game spectatorship which has existed before the internet (Bowman et al. 2019). Streaming has shifted gameplay into a opportunity for connection in a space unlimited by proximity (Taylor 2018). Streaming communities are centred on both communal spectatorship and collaboration, often forming around streamers or genres of content. 

Livestreaming, in particular, has facilitated the creation of communities as real time interactions foster both streamer-to-viewer and viewer-to-viewer relationships (Taylor 2018). The consumption of live content enables viewers to discuss what they're viewing as it happens. This communal watching forms a social activity in which gamers experience a sense of unity with other watchers.

Live-streaming and E-Sports

Professional e-sports players utilise livestreaming to expand their audience and generate revenue from training sessions (Taylor 2018). These communities are also formed upon spectatorship (Taylor 2018). Livestreaming has expanded e-sports spectatorship, enabling fans to communicate with others and watch tournaments globally (Taylor 2018).

Toxicity in Gaming Communities

Toxicity in gaming communities is normalised and commonplace (Griffiths & McLean 2019; Bergstrom 2022). The prevalence of harassment can be partially attributed to the level of anonymity that platforms afford. Sexism is an issue rife in gaming communities (Gandolfi 2022). Strategies for mitigating harassment, such as avoiding communication with others, directly hinders women's ability to gain a sense of belonging in communities (Griffiths & McLean 2019). This sexism, as well as other types of harassment, can be suggested to foster gaming communities that are exclusionary and homogenous. 

In response, women and other marginalised groups have created their own spaces. Discord server Dungeons and Darlings is an example of this (Discord 2023b). A space for tabletop gaming for women and non-binary gamers, this server is an opportunity for minority gamers to freely communicate and collaborate without fear of harassment (Discord 2023b).

Join the Dungeons and Darlings (Girls Only D&D Community) Discord Server!

D&Darlings is a safe haven for all women and nonbinary in the D&D community. Inclusive environment and weekly events. | 4,075 members

Other Gaming Communities: Melbourne Indie Game Scene

The Melbourne indie game scene shares similarities to the online gaming community (Keogh 2020). The Melbourne scene is a collection of sub-communities; bonding over creativity, collaboration, and innovation (Keogh 2020). Video-game creators participate in shared spaces and information sharing, creating a community from a skill rendered non-commodifiable due to saturation (Keogh 2020). However whilst online gaming communities form from leisure, the Melbourne indie game scene exists for the survival and visibility of the community in an unsustainable industry (Keogh 2020).

References

@neverthinking 2023, not yana, 6 May, viewed 6 May 2023, <https://twitter.com/neverthinkng/status/1654660580630753283?s=20>.

#fortnite 2023, viewed 5 May 2023, <https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/fortnite/>.

Allen, A, Bignill, J, De Regt, T, Kannis-Dymand, L, Mason, J, Millear, P, Raith, L, Stallman, H M, Stavropoulous, V & Wood, A 2021, 'Massively Multiplayer Online Games and Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review', Frontiers in psychology, vol. 12, p. 698799.

Bergstrom, K 2021, 'Anti-social social gaming: community conflict in a Facebook game', Critical studies in media communication, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 61-74.

Bowman, N, Chen, Y-S, Lin, J-H & Lin, S-F 2019, 'Setting the digital stage: Defining game streaming as an entertainment experience', Entertainment computing, vol. 31, p. 100309.

Discord 2023a, Official Fortnite, Discord, viewed 5 May 2023, <https://discord.com/invite/fortnite>.

Discord 2023b, Two fantastic women-owned Discord communities, Discord, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://discord.com/blog/iwd-2023-two-women-owned-servers>.

Gandolfi, E 2022, 'Playing is just the beginning: Social learning dynamics in game communities of inquiry', Journal of computer assisted learning, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 1062-1076.

Griffiths, M D & McLean, L 2019, 'Female Gamers’ Experience of Online Harassment and Social Support in Online Gaming: A Qualitative Study', International journal of mental health and addiction, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 970-994.

Kelly, S, Magor, T & Wright, A 2021, 'The Pros and Cons of Online Competitive Gaming: An Evidence-Based Approach to Assessing Young Players' Well-Being', Frontiers in psychology, vol. 12, p. 651530.

Keogh, B 2020, 'The Melbourne indie game scenes Value regimes in localized game development', in P Ruffino (ed), Independent Videogames: Cultures, Networks, Techniques and Politics, Taylor & Francis Group, eBook Central (ProQuest), pp. 209-222.

Nookipedia 2023, Main Page, Nookipedia, viewed 4 May 2023, <https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Main_Page>.

Marlatt, R 2020, 'Capitalizing on the Craze of Fortnite: Toward a Conceptual Framework for Understanding How Gamers Construct Communities of Practice', Journal of education (Boston, Mass.), vol. 200, no. 1, pp. 3-11.

Taylor, T L 2018, Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming, Princeton University Press, eBook Central (ProQuest), pp. 1-23.

[pavel-nosok]

Building a game that keeps players engaged for years — and deserves to be subscribed to

Building a game that keeps players engaged for years — and deserves to be subscribed to

“Making a game that will hold somebody for years is very hard, and a completely different proposition from making consumable content games.”Read More

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[shadaxthewizard]

Game Communities and the Surge of Indie Popularity

It’s no doubt that we are in the golden age of independently developed video games, and we have been for the last decade. But what caused this rise in popularity, specifically with titles that grew to absolute cult status such as Five Nights at Freddy’s or Undertale?

The internet age has drastically changed the video game industry. The rise of indie games to a cult status is one such change that has undoubtedly had a massively positive effect. The most drastic rise to fame in recent years is without a doubt Five Nights at Freddy’s. This point and click horror title became so insanely popular within as little as a few weeks almost solely due to the exposure given to it by popular internet figure, in this particular case, let’s players. This created a feedback loop that led to musical parodies, memes and most importantly, theories.

It’s hard to describe the nature of the internet when it comes to solving a mystery, it seems to imbue this thirst for curiosity that seemingly can never be quenched. Shortly after the release of the first FNAF game, the internet flocked toward different YouTube personalities searching for more answers about the game, many users being directed to Game Theory.

Game Theory was one of the biggest pushes for the success of FNAF and the rise of similar titles. This was also known by the developer of the game, Scott Cawthon. What came in the months following the release of the first FNAF title was a rapid surge of theories from multiple different YouTube personalities, each gaining hundreds of thousands, even millions of views in some cases. The internet ate it up. Now any other game would’ve ridden the hype train to it’s death, overstimulating the community and eventually dying off to become a decently successful but ultimately lost indie game, similar to the original Slender. But the Scott Cawthon was no ordinary developer. The second game in the series, promptly names Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, was released in November of the same year, a mere 3 months after the release of the first title. This immediately reignited the community the first game had received and led to even more let’s plays, memes, music videos and theories. Scott Cawthon did this 2 more times with FNAF 3 releasing in March of 2015 and FNAF 4 in July 2015, making 4 releases within the span of a single year.

Very clearly Scott Cawthon had a keen eye for what the community his game had created craved and delivered on this consistently. This mass of attention for such a long period of time got the attention of the wider spread games community and eventually other hit games were released that took advantage of many of the same tactics as FNAF, the most prominent being hidden details and lore sprinkled throughout parts of the game, enticing players to come together as a community and facilitated online discussion and theory crafting. Two titles that achieved this cult classic status following in the footsteps of FNAF were Undertale and Doki-Doki Literature Club, though there are countless examples.

Five Nights at Freddy’s is an example of how the community behind a game can sometimes be more interesting than the game itself. What started out as a little horror game in a last ditch effort to save a developers dying career after years of monetary failure, turned into one of the biggest cultural phenomenons in recent memory. It spanned multiple titles, spin offs, copy cats and inspired countless other indie developers to delve further into leveraging the community behind their games.