Petro 1

Jack Petro
Ms. Hamby
ENGL 1101-019
15 October 2014
Gauging the Gamer
It employs 120,000 Americans, it sold $63 billion dollars worth of merchandise in 2012
and it can be found in 67% of all American households, what is it? Well according to the
Electronic Software Association, its video games. Video games, once considered a niche interest
for a few enthusiasts, is now one of the dominant ways that people spend their free time. To
serve the interests of these millions of gamers a multibillion dollar industry has been created in
recent decades and continues to grow at a rate seven times that of the rest of the US economy
(Entertainment Software Association). With an active industry producing hundreds of games of
various genres every year, for the enjoyment of legions of players of every age, ethnicity, and
gender the video gamers make up a truly massive and diverse discourse community. It involves
so many people of so many nations, races, and walks of life that to an outsider it may be easier to
count the ways gamers are different from each other than how they are similar. Still, despite the
vastness and diversity of the group, gamers remain united in the pursuit of their mutual hobby. In
this paper I hope to look at how video games unite so many people and what makes it such a
distinct and enduring community. I hope to look at what makes video gamers a discourse
community and why so many people, of such diversity, are drawn to it.
Methodology
In conducting research for this assignment I made use of statistics published by
Entertainment Software Association, the trade association for video game industry in the United
States which conducts extensive market based research in who buys and plays video games. This

Petro 2
research was for the purpose of allowing me to gain a more complete picture of the diversity of
people in the video gaming discourse community. I also made observations based on the online
writings of gamers in forums and chat rooms and I observed the gameplay and in game
communications of people playing the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) genre video
game League of Legends. I was not a participant in the game and the gamers would have had no
way to know they were being observed, which allowed me a true glimpse of their normal
behavior.
After observing the League game I interviewed a gamer called Nathan. Nathan has been
playing video games for 14 years and is heavily involved in social and multiplayer internet
gaming. He describes himself as an ardent gamer who has played video games over a wide
variety across many different platforms (a platform is a device that facilitates video game playing
like a computer or gaming console). He primarily gravitates towards highly competitive games
and describes gaming as A competition of problem solving. In Nathan's interview and
observation I primarily focused on how gamers interact in a game and broad questions about
gamers and their community. My other interview subject, Larissa, is a gamer who is very
different from Nathan. Larissa has been playing video games for about 7 years and gravitates
towards very different types of video games like the Sims, a life simulation game that involves
building and furnishing houses and controlling the life of characters that the player creates (sort
of like computer version of playing with dolls), and Sid Meier's Civilization, where one assumes
command of an empire and strategies over hundreds of turns of gameplay to make their empire
the most powerful. Unlike Nathan, Larissa does not often engage in online competitive gaming
prefers to game with small groups of friends or alone. The primary focus of the Larissa's

Petro 3
interview questions was to uncover the unique way video gamers share and expand their game in
the form of modding.
In conducting my research I did face some limitations. Since gamers are a very diverse
group I would have liked to represent that diversity more in the people I interviewed, however in
the interest of time I had to be content with two individuals, purposefully chosen because of their
difference in gender and gaming preference. I also would have liked to have observed gamer
interactions in more than one game. Originally I had in mind to do at least two games of different
genre so that I could compare them. Again however in the interest of completing the assignment
in a timely manner and making a clear and concise essay I had to be content with observing one
game. I also wanted to save room and time to discuss one of the unique and critical ways gamers
share their hobby in the form of modding, which caused me to decide that further observation
might be more redundant and less helpful than an alternative discussion on modding.
Analysis
In observing a game of League of Legends, called a match, interaction between the
gamers begins before the game does. The game servers connects 10 total strangers from
computers all over the world who will be gaming together for the next 30 minutes to and hour,
the average run time of a match. Before the game even begins there is the necessity of choosing
one's character, called a champion. These champions are an assorted mix of strange fictitious
people and creatures like Teemo, a furry, rather cute rodent like character who has the unique
ability to leave exploding landmine-like mushrooms for his foes or Annie, a little girl who shoots
fireballs at her enemies and is protected by her enchanted teddy bear. Each champion is unique
from each other in their special abilities and stats, like damage they deal and hit points they have.
Lots of players have their favorite champion and class so you have to make sure you select

Petro 4
yours before anyone takes it, explains my guide Nathan. League of Legends, like most
multiplayer games, requires a great deal of coordination and cooperation for a team to be
successful. Every champion belongs to a class, and each class fulfills a unique and distinct role
that supports the efforts of other players and the team, much like the different positions on a
sports team. Unlike a sports team however these people have never practiced with each other
before, don't know each others name, and can't even see each others faces. Though statistically
speaking the ESA estimates that with 40% of all gamers are women and gamers come from all
corners of the world factors such as gender, race, and nation of origin are entirely absent from
this online exchange, replaced by the strange online names of the gamers and the champions
representing them.
After the champions are chosen the game begins with the gamers exchanging the
customary 'glhf' in the chat. That is good luck, have fun. Despite never having played together
before the teams seem to run like well oiled machines. Each player has likely played dozens, or
even hundreds of league matches before this and rushes to fulfill their role. The objective of the
game is to advance along three avenues of approach, called lanes, to the enemy base while the
opponents try to push down the same lanes to get to your base. To attack the enemy base directly
only one lane needs to be cleared, however since a team must keep guard over the other two at
the same time the game is a lot about maneuvering more efficiently than the enemy, so that a
team can both make gains in one lane, and stop the enemy from gaining supremacy in another.
As the game progresses their communications are solely about this maneuvering. Teammates
report the enemies positions and call on each other for aid when a lane is threatened. In truth
however their communication is rather sparse despite the high level of coordination that is
clearly required in playing the game. At one point in the game a player on Nathan's team is

Petro 5
confronted by 2 of the enemy. He turns and runs to stay out of range of their attacks. Without
saying anything all the other players see the danger and gather further down the lane their ally is
escaping on. The enemy continue to pursue but are suddenly struck by the 2 addition enemies
who arrived to help their fleeing comrade. The 3 then turn on the 2, slaying one and routing the
other thus regaining the lost ground, all without a word of planning being said. In truth I feel like
I am watching an elaborate dance or a surgery. All the players know the steps and how to succeed
in their objective and need few words to coordinate and accomplish it. This almost second nature
way of coordinating is made all the more fascinating considering that beyond their common
interest in gaming, they know nothing about each other and are likely all very different people.
Gamers don't just limit the celebration of their hobby to interaction inside a video games.
There are numerous internet forums and podcasts as well as magazines like Game Informer and
massive conventions like RTX or E3, both of which attract thousands of enthusiasts. Video game
companies have also learned some tricks from the movie industry often have other merchandise
like t-shirts, models and even action figures to accompany their video games. In addition to these
many ways that gamers share their hobby, there is another way that is unique to electronic
gaming called modding. Our second interview subject, Larissa explains A mod is a fan-made
alteration for a game that adds new content that is not in the game naturally. Mods, a shortening
of the word modifications, alters the programming of a game. Some mods are relatively simple,
they might add new items, alter text options or fonts, add new music, or tweak game mechanics.
Other mods can make a game look and feel very different and add new levels and characters.
Some ambitious modder might even remake the game into something entirely different, using the
existing game as a template to build their own in. Larissa goes on to explain Developers
encourage modding to utilize the community to make additional content for the game... modified

Petro 6
files are made available on fan made websites and are freely shared between gamers. At such
sites mods are given review ratings and have attached forums where gamers can talk about a
mod. A glance at one of those sites, nexusmods.com, shows how active this exchange is, with the
popular game Skyrim alone having some 30,000 posted mod files. Very good modders have been
known to be able to gather quite a bit of money in the form of gratuities for the content they
make and some even use their popularity in modding to begin making their own games, allowing
the gaming community to get even more content from talented programmers and designers.
Gamers are a group that often have little personally in common but in pursuit of their
hobby they are very much a united community. Their methods for communication, interaction,
unique diction and the common desire to game and add to their gaming experience as well as the
gaming experience of others by multiplayer gaming and by creating new content in mods shows
them to be a united and strong discourse community with a unique culture. They share in a
unique and relatively new hobby but in many ways it is really one of the oldest community
practices of man. As Nathan put it The challenging of our minds in competition with each
other.. and to have fun are the real reasons we play video games. From ancient Chess to modern
League, the reason people game hasn't changed and man's ancient and seemingly innate
enthusiasm for games seems to have only intensified modern gamers unified interest how we
game today, in video games.

Petro 7
Citations
"Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry." www.theesa.com.
Electronic Software Association, n.d. Web. 9 Oct. 2014.
"The Entertainment Software Association." - Industry Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct.
2014.
"Video Game Industry Statistics | Entertainment Software Rating Board." Video Game
Industry Statistics | Entertainment Software Rating Board. Entertainment Software Rating Board,
n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
Lyons, Sterling. "League of Legends Has 32 Million Monthly Active Players." Destructoid. N.p., 12
Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.