A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Gaming Capital on Overwatch's Official Forums




AuthorsKorkeila Henry, Dashiell Steven, Harviainen J. Tuomas

PublisherSAGE PUBLICATIONS INC

Publication year2023

Journal:Games and Culture

Journal name in sourceGAMES AND CULTURE

Journal acronymGAMES CULT

Number of pages19

ISSN1555-4120

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1177/15554120231198890

Web address https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120231198890

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/181344697


Abstract
This study uses the public discussion boards of Overwatch to see how context-based gaming capital is present, accumulated and expended through the messages. The data consists of a 1-month snapshot from which 50 most viewed threads were analyzed. The following aspects were recorded from each thread and first 10 replies: views, number of comments, users' role in forums, has the developer replied to thread, topic, date, whether there are types of capital (social, economic, cultural, symbolic) present, and in what linguistic form is the message posted. Findings: while discussions are within Overwatch's framework, there is scarcely any demonstrable amount of gaming capital in a single post or reply. Certain topics elicited more discussion, articulation methods varied but greatly leaned on the user's anecdotal experiences. Further, it was found that gaming capital is used to validate users' own views and argument for the credibility of the user and their messages.

Downloadable publication

This is an electronic reprint of the original article.
This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail. Please cite the original version.





Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 22:33