My chosen game is a MOBA game called League of Legends. MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena or also known as action real-time strategy or ARTS for short. This is a genre of strategy video games which originated as a subgenre of real-time strategy. Analyse the genre’s characteristics - the codes and conventions of the genre, the audience and purpose of the genre and how the genre has changed over a period of time.
Analyse the narrative structures – how does this allow the player to engage with the codes and conventions of the genre.
Analyse the representation of characters - consider issues such as how gender is constructed and represented, who is present or absent, and who is positively and who negatively represented within the genre’s narrative.
Lists of games in the MOBA genre
Smite
Dota 2
Vainglory
Gigantic
Talk about the differences in art, gameplay and camera angles.
talk about how communicating through a headset could make teamplay much better.
The atmosphere becomes more intense at some point.
The game that I have chosen is called League of Legends
The Uses & Gratifications Theory
The uses and gratifications theory is supposed to help researchers understand why and how people seek out specific types of media to help with their specific needs. Using this theory allows you to find out what type of media text that individuals use and if it's either for the purpose of finding out information about specific subjects, for personal identification, for integration and social interaction
or for entertainment. Everyone is different in terms of League of Legends people might play it because they want to learn the type of community that it has because every game has different people playing them and they people usually go to the things that they find the most relate to. Another purpose why someone might play it is for personal identification, meaning they could be doing it to escape problems and stress from the real world so they go into this fictional world as a sort of release to make themselves feel better.
The researchers Bulmer and Katz expanded on this theory which they then published their own in the year 1974. The theory suggested that individuals used a media text for the following purposes:
Information
This is when individuals use media text as a way to satisfy their needs to be informed about something. This can be anything that's informative like press, broadcast and other online news. It can also be something like seeking advice on how to fix a certain type of item. Another example can also be when someone uses the media text as a source to satisfy their curiosity. These are all good examples of reasons as to how people use the media text to satisfy their informative needs. Personal Identity
This is when individuals use the media text as a way of satisfying personal needs like to build up their self-esteem or/and confidence. Many social media sites allow for many people to satisfy their personal needs especially Facebook and Instagram as there are such options where other people are able to like your content like your images which then builds up your confidence and feeds your ego which is one of the main reasons why people use the media text to satisfy their personal needs. I think this also one way that media draw people into their content because sometimes people might see themselves in the content that the media is producing. There are also magazines that tell you on what signs you should look for to determine whether a person likes you or not. Integration and Social Interaction
This is when an individual uses the media text to satisfy their companionship needs. I also feel like this is partially a part of personal identity because of the fact that people use the media text to get closer to their friends, family and society. Individuals also use the media as a substitute for real-life companionship as they identify with other individuals that they interact with using different media like game and social media sites like Facebook. Some individuals see friends in fictional characters whether it be through anime or through games. Entertainment
This is when an individual uses media as a way to escape reality. I think that this the most common needs that people have between the other three as entertainment has been around for a very longtime and now people are accustomed to search for entertainment in many ways and using media is one of the easiest ways you can obtain entertainment. Many people want to escape from their problems and stresses and the media is the one of the best ways to relieve them. The media can be used for many things which I think that it's a great way to fill time, relax and release vent up emotions.
Out of all the listed needs that I talked about above, I think that the ones best suited for League of Legends are personal identity, integration and social interaction and entertainment. I think that personal identity is one of them because people might play it because they feel that they have something in common and similar interest with the other people that are playing the game because of the fact that they are playing the same game. I think that the reason why individuals use League of Legends to satisfy their social interaction needs is because within the game you can chat with people without having to actually interact personally. Many people use games as a way to interact with people because they may have mental illnesses like social anxiety which makes it hard for them to talk to other people face to face. I think entertainment is the main needs or reasons why people League of Legends because they want to escape reality and immerse themselves in games fantastical environment.
The main reason that I play League of Legends is so satisfy my entertainment needs along with integration and social interaction. League of Legends helps satisfy my entertainment needs because I enjoy the visuals and the graphics of the game but I also enjoy the gameplay of it, and it makes me feel good when I play good in the game which I guess you can say is a part of personal identity needs. As for integration and social integration League of Legends helps satisfy this need because it allows me to play with friends that personally know which makes the gameplay an even more fun experience because you are able to share it with a person you know.
The video above is what I'll be using as a source for my evidence.
Many people have always accused games as being a bad influence and that they make their audience more violent and aggressive.
This all started when a game called Carmageddon was released in 1997. The game was a 3D video game, it involved having to run over pedestrians to obtain bonus points to gain more time for the race, because of fact that game was so graphic it was banned from several countries like Germany and for a short time, in the United Kingdom.
Because of this games have been given the reputation that they make their audiences violent and aggressive like for example for people who play more violent games are apparently more likely to read a certain situation as and a threat and may react to this 'threat' violently as opposed to how a person who don't really play games would react to the given situation.
Although having their given reputation the production of have not stopped since. This is because there is not enough evidence to prove that games actually make their players become more violent and aggressive. Although some people might have behaviors triggered by the game it is mostly positive effects rather than negative effects. It is a given that some games are much more violent and graphic than other games but it is also up to the players to realize what is real and what is not that is coming from the game.
In the video above starting from 5.30 a professor named Craig Anderson from the IOWA State University decided to conduct and experiment on whether playing one kind of game or another for a brief period of time would have any effect on an individuals emotions as games started to develop more violent and aggressive scenes. Along with professor Craig Anderson he had some help from another professor from Ohio State University named Brad Bushman. Brad Bushman said that video games were from other kind of violent media because in games you can't really take your eyes off the screen because the player is directly tied to that particular violent character, Like in a first-person shooter game the player has the exact same visual perspective as the killer and the players are also rewarded for behaving in such an aggressive and violent way.
Because of this level of immersion researchers wanted to find whether it had any effect on the people playing it in the real world and if it would lead to any kind of acts of aggression. So to begin with they make their subjects play either a violent or non-violent games and straight after measure their levels of aggression using specially devised laboratory tests. The way they conducted the test was that the person would sit in front of a monitor with mouse and then when a red block appears on the screen they are required to click it as fast as they can using their mouse.
but as they play with other people and whoever clicks the mouse the fastest wins and nothing happens to the winner but for the looser they get an obnoxious sound blasted through their headphones but the winner gets to decide the severity of this punishment. The severity of the punishment that the winner chooses is the measurement of their aggression. Apart from this type of punishment others have also used different types of methods like electric shock, eating hot sauce,
and having their hand dunked in ice water but the methods didn't really matter as violent video games increased levels of aggression between 4% to 9% either way. And what they're saying is that if someone played a violent game that would unlikely say unkind things will now have a higher possibility of acting aggressively but this does not necessarily mean that violent video games made their players more violent and aggressive.
Both professor Craig Anderson and Brad Bushman wanted to take the test a step further and see whether it made people react differently to real world violence. They measured each individuals heart rate and skin conductance which are measurements used as markers fear, stress and excitement. Half of the participants out the 30 played violent video games while the other half played a simple ball game. They were then shown violent real life events and what they were hoping to get as a result is that whether the participants who played the violent video game would be less disturbed by the violent clips they showed them. The results showed that for the participants that played the non-violent game their stress levels rose by an average of 80% while the other half of the participants that played the violent video game had only rose by 12%. Professor Craig Anderson and professor Brad Bushman published their findings which then later seemed like it was proof of the negative effects of video games, their findings uncovered two different effects on the players by playing violent video games, first was the increase of aggressive thinking and the second was desensitization, meaning that they were much more accepting of real-world violence. This doesn't matter whether the player is a child, and adult or a teenager.
With League of Legends it's just like any other MOBAs out there where the objective is for the players to defeat the opposing team by killing them and gaining gold to buy items to make your character stronger and stronger.
For this task I will be using the reception theory model to help me analyse my own response to my chosen game which is League of Legends.
Researchers came up with this theory model as a way to further their findings on an active audience and so in the 1980's and 1990's there was a lot of work done on the way that individuals received and interpreted text and how their circumstances like gender, class, age etc. affected their way of reading.
The way this works is the creator must first encode a type of message for the consumer and then the consumer decodes it or interprets it, this means that not everyone will interpret the text they are given the same way. So this theory points out that in fact the meaning of any media text is actually created by the consumer instead of the actual creators. Like I said before the meaning is first encoded into the media text by the creator but after that it depends on the consumer how they interpret or decode the signs within the media text given to them. The audience can arrive to the three following readings:
Preferred Reading - This type of reading is when the audience understand and accepts the ideology that is being offered to them.
Negotiated Reading - This is when the audience understands the ideology but only accepts some of it's aspects but rejects the other aspects.
Opositional Reading - This is when the audience interprets the offered ideology the opposite way than it was intended.
In my opinion I think that League of Legends is quite a complex game, its one of those game where if you've had no experience with other similar games then you won't really do well and because of this I think that even though their PEGI rating is 12+ they mainly cater for players over the age of 16.
Sometimes the developers of the game drops hints in-game about upcoming changes to a specific character or a new upcoming character. The way they drop these hints is by putting unusual symbols all over the map in-game and it is up to the player to guess whether its going to be a new character or a minor or major change to a character.
For me I would say that my way of reading the game is both through preferred reading and negotiated reading because I understand the ways of the game and how it works but there are some aspects of the game that I can't accept like how some characters look and how they are played but the developers of the game do make changes surrounding these subjects. It's not opositional reading for me because I actually understand the game and so it prevents me from interpreting something the opposite way it was intended to be.
Genre description League of Legends is a MOBA game which stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, These type of games also has the sub-genre of strategy because within the game you have to think carefully on what you next step is going to be, MOBA game maps are usually split into three different lanes There is top, middle and bottom with the additional jungle which isn't exactly a lane because junglers are free to roam the map without having to commit to one specific lane although they have the role of helping their teammates get kills. There is usually a lot of fantasy element that get incorporated into these games which I think is one of the main reasons as to why they're quite popular because of the fantasy factor because people when play these games they get submerged into a completely different world. In MOBA games the camera angle is usually a slightly tilted and high angle third person view which is what League of Legends is played in but there is one game that I know of that uses a much more closer this person sort of over the shoulder view and because the camera angle is positioned that way it's possible to play it using a console like the Xbox.
Selection of content
What's good about MOBA games is that it doesn't just consist of one map and with League of Legends you can choose from two other maps apart from the map that you would normally played in which is called summoners rift and summoners rift is very woodsy with tree's and greenery like bushes everywhere, there are also rivers which you character can freely trek.
If you also look closely you would be able to see little extra creatures running around like frogs and butterflies. Because summoners rift is based on a forest it's very green and bright where as another map is called The Howling Abyss and just from the name you can tell it's going to be something eerie and it is because the game play is limited to only one lane because it's based on an old bridge in far reaches of Freljord which is basically a harsh snowy country that has been separated into three kingdoms and The Howling Abyss is located in one of the kingdoms and because its based on a harsh snowy land it's very eerie and it's complete with the sound of the wind blowing under the bridge which completes the whole abandoned and eerie environment.
The other map is called The Twisted Treeline and it's located in a continent known as the Shadow Isles where it's apparently filled with paranormal happenings, the map is very dark and ghoulish and filled with dead trees. With each of these you can interact by fighting the monsters that live deep with their respective jungle camps and by defeating these monsters you can gain some advantage.
The League of Legends logo itself you can already tell that the game will be fantastical because they used a rich dark green/turquoise color which is complemented with gold which I think is a very regal color combination there is also the font which very bold and because of the gold it pops which I think is what makes it eye catching.
Summoners rift
Howling Abyss
Twisted Treeline
In Smite although it falls in the same genre as League of Legends because of the fact that the game revolves around gods and so the environment is very much based on places that have ties with the origin of the gods or characters that you play as in the game. Like for one of the maps you can tell the it's based on ancient Greece because of the way the structures are, you can see gigantic pillars and the colors give off that same Grecian feeling.
Construction of content
I don't think that League of Legends really has a specific target audience because I think there are many other MOBA games that are similar to it's much easier for them to market the game because its a type of game that people are already familiar with mechanics wise, but I think one of their main selling points is their art style because even though there are many games similar to it as it is quite a popular genre the characters you play as have different backgrounds and so does the entire game and also the way the character looks and colored must fit in with the game maps style like for example just about a year ago League of Legends completely renewed the look of summoners rift map and because the style and coloring of it changed of course the characters had to also be recolored some had to have their looks changed completely. With this change I think the game looks a lot more inviting than it did before and I think this got more people into the game because of it's eye catching visuals.
Like other MOBA games they don't just consist of MOBA elements because with games like this requires strategy because you can just start running into a lane and expect to win. Although game developers construct the game using a complex series of codes like languages and symbols which can communicate a range of meanings however the audience/players can decode these signs in order to read or interpret them so that they'd make sense to them this 'reading' process is know as semiotics in media terms.
There are times when the maker of the game will denote (show) something, additionally by selecting the camera angle, the lighting, the framing process, focus and interaction, the game is then given a series of 'connotations' or hidden meanings the audience/player can decode as they play the game. These games are known as 'polysemic' they give out lots of signals which could have many effects on it's viewer these signs are known as Easter eggs in game terminology. These signals can be interpreted in many ways but each interpretation depends on the audience's/player's situated culture.
The video below shows an audience's/player's views and thoughts on the Easter eggs that the developers had laid out in the games map.
Codes and conventions
There are two types of common codes, one is technical and the other is symbolic. An example for a technical code is maybe how the camera is angled and in league of legends is placed at a tilted, high angled, third person shooter view. Some people might argue that it's birds eye view but I think that it's in third person shooter view because of the fact that it's not high enough to be in birds eye view and also when your character walks you can see their back and whole body, not just the top of their head like how birds eye view is traditionally positioned.
For the symbolic codes it could be something minor like how the brushes around your character are rustling which makes the player think whether something is there or not.
If the games visuals have technical and symbolic codes, the games audio can also be parted in two, there is Diegetic and there is Non-Diegetic. Diegetic means in the scene and Non-Diegetic are sounds like the background or out of the scene, sometimes non-diegetic sounds come after the diegetic sounds like for example in League of Legends the objective is to destroy the enemies nexus which is located in their base but once you destroy it you hear the sound of crumbling and explosions and then a woman will either proudly say "Victory" or bitter-sweetly say "Defeat" and these are diegetic because it happened as the 'scene' played out, but once that scene is over a big message in bold lettering will pop up on your screen saying either "Victory" or "Defeat" and in victory you will hear victorious music play in the background but in defeat you will hear sad and sorrowful music play in the background apart from this as you play the game it plays it's theme song in the background but only a bit faint but you can change that through settings. Usually these codes are connected to each other because they need each other to work and to keep the little logic within the game.
In MOBA games people usually expect to see a lot of exciting team fights, characters that look like their splash arts and the competitiveness between the two opposing teams. Some could also look forward to the fact that it's similar to other older MOBA games others might expect to see really good story lines with each of the characters lore intertwine with other characters story, although the game itself doesn't really have a story when a one characters story is connected with another then it makes things a little bit more interesting.
Modes of address
The game itself doesn't exactly talk to the audience but they do have characters to do it for them as each characters have their own personality and each character have their own unique dialogue that they say from time to time but because the Pegi rating of the game is 12 the characters don't really swear although some of them can say some violent things and some sexual innuendos but I don't think that will really understand any of it, because of the characters diverse backgrounds some have formal and some have informal dialogues. Apart from this the only other way the game speaks to its audience that I could think of is like before when I was talking about diegetic and non-diegetic sounds where if you were to win the game a message in bold letters will pop up saying either victory or defeat but there are also times where if you were to kill a certain amount of enemis the game will announce that your on a killing spree which would also be displayed on the other players screen including the enemies and vice versa.
For this Task I asked a good friend of mine who has played my chosen game which is League of Legends questions about the games construction.
1. For my first question I asked him what the genre of the game was and why he thought that was the genre of the game and he responded by saying "I think that the genre of the game is MOBA because the map is divided into three different sections or lanes as we call it in LoL"
This is what the map/mini map of League of Legends looks like.
2. For my second question I asked him the reason why he started playing League of Legends, what caught his eye and what reeled him into playing the game. His response was "I first encountered the game when a friend of mine came over to my house and while he was waiting for the game to load the loading screen showed the splash arts of the characters and that immediately interested me but then when he actually played the game the characters were exactly the same as they showed on their splash art and I was so amazed because that was the first I saw something like that and then after it I downloaded the game and started playing it."
This shows that a games visuals really count as a part of it's selling point.
3. For my third question I asked him why he thought that certain structures were placed and what makes them so significant to the game. His response was "Well I think that some things are placed the way they are because it's typical for MOBA games to be like that, like how they divide the map in three sections, but there are some significant parts in it like if you kill a jungle monster you get a buff which is also quite typical for MOBA games but I think the design of things is what makes MOBA games different from each other."
4. For my fourth question I asked him what he expects a MOBA game to look like or play out and he responded with "I think for MOBA games because League of Legends was my first MOBA game I expect other MOBA games to have the same mechanics or at least similar so that it won't be too hard for me to figure out."
5. For my fifth and final question I asked if there was anyway he thinks that the game has ever offended someone because of the characters dialogues. His response was "I don't think so... if anything I think players enjoy it when a character says or does something weird or unusual, and I think it's great that they design an give each character their own personality and creative dialogues to go along with it."
For this task I will be explaining the information that I found out about how the game that I chose which is League of Legends addresses its audience from task 1 and analyse the results from the little interview that I did with my friend from task 2.
I will be splitting the my explanation into the five topics that I talked about in task 1 which were: genre description, selection of content, construction of content, codes and conventions and modes of address.
Task 1
Genre Description
While doing research on this topic I found out the the official genre for League of Legends is MOBA which stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena but it also had the sub-genre of strategy because of the way that the game worked and how the map was laid out.
Selection of Content
In the game the way that the environments for the three maps were extremely detailed which I thought was one of the games main selling point was it's art style this is also including the splash arts of the characters because they are mostly bright and colorful and they fit the characters background.
Construction of Content
While doing research on this there some interesting things that I gathered, I found out about the denoting and connoting withing games and the kind of reading is known as 'polysemic' in media terms which then made me realize that it was just a fancy word for the game term 'Easter egg' which is when developers and game makers drop little hints around the map and let people decide and theorize as to what the purpose of it is.
Codes and Conventions
While doing research on this topic I found that the games and conventions can be divided into four codes, two codes for the games visual aspects there were technical codes and symbolic codes and two for the sound aspect of the game, the codes were diegetic which mean sounds that are played within a scene and non-diegetic which are sounds that are played the background music.
Modes of Address
While doing research on this topic I came to the realization that game doesn't really have a specific way of talking to it's audience except for the anouncer and the characters dialogue. The announcer usually talks formally however with the characters because of their background diversity each character has different personalities so some of the characters have formal and informal dialogues.
Task 2 Genre Description
For this topic I asked my friend what he thought the genre of the game was and why he thinks it's that particular genre and he that it was MOBA because of the games map was sectioned into three parts or lanes which strengthens my results from my task 1 research as the games official genre was MOBA. Selection of Content
For this topic I asked him why he started playing League of Legends, what it was that piqued his interest and long answer short he said that it was because he was captivated and drawn in by the art and the visuals of the game which is no different from what I found out that one of League of Legends main selling point is it's art. Construction of Content
For this topic I asked why he thinks the game is structured to be the way it is and what significance it held to the game which he said that it's structured the way it is because it's how MOBA games are typically designed and constructed like how the maps are divided into lanes. Codes and Conventions
For this topic I asked him what he would expect to see from a MOBA game and he said that because League of Legends was his first MOBA game he expects other MOBA games to have the same or at least similar mechanics so that it's easier and faster for him find his way around the game. Modes of Address
For this topic I asked him if he thought the game had ever offended anyone because of the characters dialogues and he said that he didn't think it has ever offended anyone and that if anything players love to see and enjoy characters do the things they do and say the things they speak, be it formal or informal.
