Gamer Metaculture

One of the aspects of player culture that is discussed in chapter 7 is the metaculture. Not only does playing the game have its own culture, it has expanded outside the games. Of course, there are forums and websites for fan followers to learn any new information that will be related about the game. One of the aspects talked about was gamer lingo where “leetspeak” was mentioned. From playing games, gamers create their own language to communicate with others. It goes more into depth with the topics of modding, interactions with people outside the game, and poaching. As discussed in class, modding is very big in the fan community. People change certain elements of games to add enjoyment or furthering game play for themselves and other gamers. This had led to websites that are specifically for mod downloads which has created interactions between players. Interactions within games can lead to contact outside games. Best examples are online games with some sort of guild system. Outside of the games, guild members usually communicate with each other to set up a schedule for raids or events. Poaching is the way gamers create their own media based off the games they play. They can create fan-fiction, flash movies, and so on to add their own mix to the realm of their game. Beta-testing also is one of the reasons people look forward to the game. Everyone would like to have a taste of the game and give their feedback in hopes to make the game better as well.

One of the last things on the video game metaculture is gaming competitions. Many different players face off against each other in a wide range of game titles to win prizes and such. Like most competitions, there is glory and status to be obtained. Some of the competitions have become very popular in way such as in South Korea where contests in Starcraft have been televised for entertainment. This reminded me of poker. Since such games like poker have gotten more attention for its televised events, can gaming competitions obtain something like that in the U.S.?

-Vircell D.