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Kevan Bateman
ENC1102-0031
Professor Jennifer Murray
December 8, 2014
League of Legends Annotated Bibliography
This annotated bibliography is designed to give the readers common knowledge about the
League of Legends discourse community. This community shows diverse types of
communication among members in which distance is never an issue. With about thirty million
active members per month from various countries around the world, the League of legends
community is very unique. Fellow members involved with League of Legends, as well as
anyone who holds an interest in how people communicate without physical interaction, will be
intrigued with how this community uses discourse to communicate with one another. In
addition, they would find it compelling to see how complete strangers can come together to
achieve a common goal.
Before I began my research I was questioning not only which resources I would use, but
how to find them. Although there are nearly thirty-two million active members, the League of
Legends community is not filled with scholars and journalists who have written about the
discourse between members. In order to find results for my research, I broadened my search and
found some relative information and connected it to the League of Legends. The following
sources represent how communication is vital for the community and how the discourse is
influenced by it. Each reference shows how technology has made communication easier and
help people with similar interests come together. Although communication through technology

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is now convenient and easily acquired, it now causes members of a community to become less
familiar with one another and even anonymous.

Annotated References
Alberti, John. "The Game Of Reading And Writing: How Video Games Reframe Our
Understanding Of Literacy." Computers & Composition 25.3 (2008): 258-269.
Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Alberti argues his opinion that video games are inherently dialog discursive
spaces and that reading and writing are arenas of socialization, communication, and
ultimately, play. Video gamers are both the readers and writers and without them, these
games could not function, the goals would not exist, and therefore, the game would not
be completed. Video games are discursive worlds that develop and evolve through text
and show new possibilities of digital writing. These games show visual writing as
communication instead of printed text, that reframes our understanding of literacy.
Colby, Richard, and John Alberti. Rhetoric/Composition/Play through Video Games: Reshaping
Theory and Practice of Writing / Edited By Richard Colby, Matthew S.S. Johnson, and
Rebekah Shultz Colby. n.p.: New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013., 2013.OneSearch.
Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
This book contains vast information that directly relates education, writing, and
video games. It contains a multitude of chapters containing information about
communication relative to video games. Colby states Rhetoric/Composition/Play
emerges the moment when three academic conversations seem to be productively
merging: the study of games, writing studies, and discourse analysis (intro). Through
exploring theoretical and applied gaming relative to writing, this collection provides
innovative ways to enhance composition and scholarship in games, gamers, and the
gaming community.
The collection as a whole is split into three parts- play, composition, and rhetoric.
Each part examines the relation between rhetorical theory, pedagogy, literacy, and
gaming. As the book goes on, it answers many questions like How can playing a video
game encourage students to consider how they read, write, and research? and In what
way do video game designers take into account the audience (beyond commercial
consumption)?

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Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning And Literacy / James
Paul Gee. n.p.: New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004., 2004. OneSearch. Web. 8 Dec.
2014.
In this book, Gee argues that schools, workplaces, families, and academic
researches all have a lot to learn about learning from good computer and video games
and how they can use games and game technologies to enhance their learning. He states
many facts about how gaming can be considered a better way of learning, like Good
games operate at the outer and growing edge of a players competence, remaining
challenging, but do-able, while schools often operate at the lowest common
denominator.
Gee talks about many different topics that are relative to league of legends. He
says things like when players play in massive multiplayer games, they often collaborate
in teams, each using a different, but overlapping, set of skills, and share knowledge,
skills, and values with others both inside the game and on various internet sites. He
explains in detail how games allow the players to become producers and not just
consumers through decision making by becoming part of the community and speaking
to/with the makers/designers of the game. To sum up the entire book, Gee states his
opinion about how the school system isnt always enough to educate some students as
they need a real challenge.
Hartman, Michael. Better Communication for Winning LoL. Altered Gamer., 17 Apr. 2012.
Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
This article is filled with tips and suggestions to both improve communication and
teamwork during the game League of Legends. Communication is extremely important
when referring to winning. Familiarizing yourself with other players allows you to
understand what they are trying to say as well as making communication simpler by
using abbreviated terms. Without communication, you cannot win an online team based
game, because you lack the teamwork required to do so. Although the article is short,
Hartman fills it with examples of specific terminology used by players and the
background of how they came to exist.
Johnson, Matthew S.S. "Public Writing in Gaming Spaces." Computers & Composition 25.3
(2008): 270-283. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Johnson states that text and writing from players in reference to computer games
is not only directed to a specific audience with specified purposes, but has the potential to
cause change within the community and that gamers are agents who have the power,
through writing, to shape the electronic worlds. Communication between members of

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an online community is self-motivated and impacts the entire community, as the goals
of one member can usually be related to the goals of another.
Publicly hosted websites, streams, and forums are the training grounds for active
citizenry. Reciprocity is as essential element of the public writing in online games, as
mutual benefit aids the communitys goals, as reciprocity is how members affect the
community in order to invoke change. Gamers and members of the community influence
the game and spread their ideas and knowledge between themselves by communicating
with each other while they actively play the game.
Moberly, Kevin. "Composition, Computer Games, And The Absence Of Writing." Computers &
Composition 25.3 (2008): 284-299. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 8
Dec. 2014.
Moberly states that computer games fundamentally incorporate composition into
their gameplay and gives examples as he explains in his article how they help
understand the compositional process and give fundamental knowledge. Computer
games require each and every player to read and comprehend the words being said both
in game and by other players, causing them to react accordingly. He also states that
symbolic constructs (such as symbols and various pictures within a game) are the photorealistic graphical environments that teach composition. Communication in the League
of Legends community is done through these symbols and other forms of textual
language that allows an individual member to work with another to achieve their goal and
ultimately win the game.
Niek. Why Am I Here: A Guide to Roles and Lanes. League of Legends Community RSS.
N.p., 23 Feb. 2012. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
This article is an accurate in depth guide that explains every aspect of League of
Legends. It helps new players understand specific terminology and what each role in the
game are, and what they do. The guide explains these five roles as Marksman, MidLane, Top-Lane, Jungle, and Support. Niek describes the overall objective and talks
about how to effectively earn gold in order to buy items (and what items should be
bought), and what your objective should be at different times throughout the game. He
explains each term in detail. This guide talks about how important communication is
when referring to teamwork and how important it is to your success. This guide is short,
yet extremely accurate and filled with information.

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Thorne, Steven L., Ingrid Fischer, and Xiaofei Lu. "The Semiotic Ecology and Linguistic
Complexity of an Online Game World." Recall 24.3 (2012): 279-301. ERIC. Web. 8 Dec.
2014.
Understanding the specific terminology in an online community is vital in order to
succeed as its member use lexis in order to exchange their knowledge between one
another. The text is usually linguistically complex and contains lexical sophistication,
lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and readability, and is important as it facilitates
the knowledge and meaning of the actions of the players and their surroundings. The
texts are extremely relevant to the actions, decisions, and problem-solving that players
face when playing an online game. The second language development research studies
have described the importance of linguistic structures, vocabulary, and genre-specific
text conversions as vital, as they are key components in an online gaming world.
Genres are the backbone that holds these communities together and show that the
relationship between the player and environment is the most complicated part of these
games.
Valkrin S3/S4 Challenger Jungle, Mid, and Support Main New Stream schedule 10am6pm EST . 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
Valkrin is known as a former professional League of Legends player. He is not
only an expert in the field, but also has mass knowledge of the game. His stream shows
how to effectively jungle in League of Legends and how to use communication to your
advantage in order to help you win (or at least not lose). People who watch his stream
can ask questions to not only him, but other members who are watching. The chat system
allows one member to communicate with anyone else who is watching and lets Valkrin
focus on helping people improve their knowledge of how to play League of Legends
effectively. Valkrin talks about his opinions and play style while allowing everyone to
talk about what they think and express how they feel about his comments and strategies.
This is an experts analysis, commentated by an expert, to help explain and understand
how to adapt your personal play style in order make it more effective.

Worlds Group Stage 1 Day 1. Riot Games. 18 Sept. 2014. Web. 8 Dec. 2012
This was a broadcasted event in the LCS (league championship series) that
showed Team Solo Mid (TSM) playing against the Star Horn Royal Club (SHRC).
While not only being entertained by watching the action take place, there were
broadcasters that commented and explained what was taking place while it was
happening. They analyzed the communication between both teams (as you could not
hear the teams talk to each other) and explained how it allowed one team to gather more
information and work better as a team. The ping and ward systems are ways of

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visual and audible signals (pings) that allow a player to quickly notify the team of an
enemy, while wards allow temporary sight of an area on the map. Good use of these
systems gave one team an edge over the other, thus allowing them to win.