Chapter 5 Characteristics of Video Gamers and Video Game Communities Introduction

Amongst the Smash community, several contributed making a short animated video to commemorate FalcoMaster3000, ‘whoever he may be’ (see Figure 5.20) – after a month from uploading (16^th April 2016), the animated video received over 135,126 views on YouTube. This suggests that the fan-made animated video of FalcoMaster3000 can promote fan creativity and demonstrate a sense of community among community members (Sihvonen, 2011).

In comparison, from the field-notes, I summarise my first experiences from competing in Hearthstone tournaments at Insomnia53 (i53):

Throughout the duration of my PhD, I found myself reading, writing and playing Hearthstone. While carrying out research at several Insomnia (i-Series) events, I came across several Hearthstone tournaments, but it was until Insomnia53 (i53) that I decided to complete after competing in a few local tournaments in Manchester. During my first tournament at Insomnia53 (i53) I found myself panicking (unsure what to do), worrying (that I came across as a noob) and starving (from not planning ahead and attempting to play a 10 hour back to back tournament with only a bottle of water) due to my lack of competitive gaming experience – in my defence, I did not expect myself to go that far in the tournament. The tournament consisted of group stages followed by a double elimination tournament (Top 16). During the group stages, players were friendly enough to locate your BYOC seat and offer a ‘well-played’ handshake, but once you were in the Top 16 bracket, it was common for players to approach you, discuss tactics, exchange information (such as Skype, Twitter and Twitch) and hang out together. My matches became more intense the further I got in the tournament, and after causing an upset (knocking a sponsored player out the tournament), I felt that I caught other player’s attention, ‘She’s good’. I finished coming Top 8 in the Hearthstone tournament at Insomnia53 (i53) – a respectable position for my first major tournament (Field-notes – Insomnia53)

Upon approaching the gaming scene for the first time, it was common for players to meet face-to-face within an event environment – hence, first impressions are important. As Freud (1933, 113) states: ‘when you meet a human being, the first distinction you make is ‘male or female’ and you are accustomed to make the distinction with unhesitating certainly’. Thus, being a female field-worker in a male dominated setting is something of a double-edge sword;

…the presence of a female researcher may be a definite asset, especially in a male dominated setting, because females generally are perceived as warmer and less threatening than males (Weitz, 1976). Of course, the other side of this coin is that women may not be taken as seriously as men, which poses a threat to the validity of the information a female field-worker obtains… (Shaffir and Stebbins, 1991, pp.55-56).

Despite the researcher being recognised as a female player, it is important to highlight that there were times where she was not taken seriously within a male dominated environment. For instance, there were several occasions where the researcher was mistaken to be a male player, such as when opponents sought for a ‘well played’ hand-shake; ‘I’m looking for Munchkin, is that your boyfriend?’ – of which I usually responded, ‘No, I left the Mrs at home, I’m Munchkin’. In addition, the researcher was also perceived to be a noob (inexperienced player) on several occasions after accidently registering using her full name, rather than her gamertag, leading to a confusion when playing against her opponents (see Figure 5.21). Hence, with these presumptions of being an inexperienced player; even though the researcher came Top 8 at Insomnia53 (i53), there were assumptions that the outcome may have been a fluke, an off chance, which was not fully credited – unless proved otherwise. For instance, the researchers credit for being recognised as a ‘good player’ was not acknowledged until Insomnia55 (i55), when the researcher came Top 8 again; ‘You’ve come Top 8 twice now… and at the UK’s biggest LAN tournament… there’s no fault in that you’re good’ (Hearthstone player: Insomnia55).

However, it is important to highlight that most competitive gaming communities are welcoming to all players; ‘…a gaming community is open to anyone… without new players, how else will you make the community grow?’ (Mario – Group Interviewee: Play Expo). For instance, although the researcher was ‘new’ to the Hearthstone scene, Hearthstone players commonly ‘hung-out’ together, discussing tactics and arranging plans for the next tournament.

Once entered into the gaming scene, it is important to learn how to play one’s role within the gaming community – whether it is a casual, competitive, sponsored or professional gamer – as well as tournament organisers, casters, coaches, managers and streamers. As mentioned earlier, this section considers Shaffir and Stebbins’s (1991) four stages of field experiences to provide an understanding on the progression points of those engaged in competitive gaming. I have purposely not adapted Crawford’s (2004) career of a sport fan/video gamer model, however, this does not mean the model is useless to examine the career of a video gamer – where career progression may demonstrate different characteristics in their patterns of play and attitudes (Crawford, 2012) (see Figure 5.22).


Figure 5.22: The career of a sport fan/ video gamer (Crawford, 2012, p.63)

For instance, casual gamers could be located within ‘engaged’, where players take on an interest in the game and may play casually. Competitive gamers could be located within ‘enthusiastic’, where players are fairly dedicated in their patterns of play and their gaming interests will occupy a comparatively important location in their everyday life. This may consist of regularly playing games, such as tournament games, and identify themselves as a fan of their enthusiasm – which may involve wearing signifiers to identify the individual as a fan of a particular enthusiasm (Crawford, 2004). Sponsored gamers could be located within ‘devoted’, which tend to be a smaller section of (primarily) long-term gamers. Sponsored gamers are likely to have a significant knowledge and understanding of the game/rules (Crawford, 2004). I consider sponsored gamers above competitive gamers, because to become a sponsored gamer requires a further step, either to be recognised as a good player to be picked up by an eSport organisation or forwardly approach eSport organisations to be picked up. However, it is important to highlight that sponsored players are not necessarily professional players. For instance, within the Hearthstone community, it was common for players to be sponsored with varying levels of support; from a monthly wage, gaming equipment to a team T-shirt. Hence, I consider sponsored players, those who receive smaller returns, such as a team T-shirt, which is not enough to be considered a professional or semi-professional. Professional gamers could be located within ‘professional’, where professional games make up a very small ‘elite’ group of gamers, who will usually make at least a partial amount of income from their involvement in their gaming career, ‘these individuals tend to have been following their sport or enthusiasm for a considerable period of time, and will often have quite detailed knowledge of the sport’s rules, tactics and history’ (Crawford, 2004, p.48). Finally, tournament organisers, casters, coaches, managers and streamers could be located within ‘apparatus’, where individuals are involved with running and administration of the enthusiasm.

Although Crawford’s (2004) career of a sport fan/video gamer model is useful to consider the fluidity and temporality of fan/ gaming communities, Shaffir and Stebbins’s (1991) four stages of field experiences also provides an understanding on learning how to play one’s role within the gaming community; as well as maintaining and surviving the several kinds of relations that emerge within the gaming community. For instance, amongst the participants that competed in gaming tournaments, it was important to be considered a ‘good player’ or at least a ‘competent player’, as it proves self-worth, by living up to community norms and development towards a certain amount of social capital (Taylor, 2003). For example, to be considered a ‘good’ Hearthstone player, and for some eSport tournament requirements, it states that that players must have reached ‘Legend rank’ (see Figure 5.23).

Figure 5.23: Researcher hitting Legend in Hearthstone

One of the hardest achievements in Hearthstone is hitting Legend, especially for those who have never done it before. In Ranked Play, players usually start at Rank 25 and every win rewards one star above the player’s medal – win streaks (2 consecutive wins) rewards one additional star (up to Rank 5), but every lose loses one star. To rank up, each rank requires 2-5 stars, where more stars are required the higher you climb. Once a player reached Legend rank, the rank cannot be lost until the season ends (end of the month). Therefore, hitting Legend can be considered a time-consuming, but also a skilful task too - Blizzard states that only 0.5% of Hearthstone players hit Legend rank; out of 20million players, roughly 100,000 reach Legend (Hass, 2014). Although, hitting Legend was considered an achievement for first timers, hitting Legend every season (every month), in the top 100, on both EU and NA accounts, was considered a more superior achievement - of which ‘devotees’ and ‘professionals’ often aimed towards.

However, it is important to highlight that amongst reaching Legend rank, Hearthstone also required more than just playing in front of a video game screen – it also consists of other video game related practices. For instance, from the field-notes, I learned to prepare myself better for tournaments and to become a more ‘competent’ player, where I did more than just play Hearthstone to hit Legend:

After attending Insomnia53, I consider there to be a learning curve for those who have never participated in a tournament before, especially one of the UK’s biggest LAN events. I felt that I was just someone who turned up with three decks and played. I didn’t know how to register correctly, I didn’t know how to submit decks and scores (I had to ask another player for help), I occasionally contacted TO’s (tournament organisers) for help too, and I didn’t know how scores tallied up in the group stages – so I was surprised when I was told I made the Top 16 bracket. And most importantly, I did not prepare myself to play 10 hours of Hearthstone, back-to-back, with minimal toilet breaks and limited food (Field-notes, Insomnia53)

After attending Insomnia55, I felt a lot more confident with the procedures of the tournament, and I began to focus on the preparations for the tournament itself… Becoming a ‘competent’ player was difficult, as it was more than just playing well and attending regularly; it was about attending with the latest knowledge where conversations do not appear out of your depth when talking to other Hearthstone players. Hence, it became important to build bonds with other Hearthstone players – so you wouldn’t feel left out. It was common for Hearthstone players to hang out together - in particular, sit together in the BYOC hall…. After competing in several tournaments, you start recognising the ‘regular’ Hearthstone players within the Hearthstone community (such as the casters/streamers/sponsored/professional players)… Therefore, to fully prepare myself, besides playing the game, I acquired more knowledge; from learning match-ups, win conditions, deck testing, discussing tactics, play styles and player attitudes, practicing matches, communicating with other Hearthstone players on TeamSpeak and watching streams on Twitch… For Insomnia55, I came Top 8 again and won £120 in prize money. After being considered a ‘good player’, I was picked up by an eSports organisation providing support and a sponsored Team T-Shirt (Field-notes, Insomnia55).

In particular, the field-notes illustrates Shaffir and Stebbins’s (1991) stages from learning how to play one’s role within the gaming community (from Insomnia53); as well as maintaining and surviving the several kinds of relations that emerge within the gaming community (from Insomnia55). Hence, once you have learned how to play one’s role within the gaming community, it is important to maintain it – such as keeping up to date with the latest card release, strategies and tactics to continuing being a consistent player; as well as keeping in contact with other Hearthstone players within the Hearthstone community.

Finally, similar to field-researchers leaving the setting, players may also wish to leave the game scene or retire from the game. Amongst players that leave the game, this may be due to various reasons, such as something else becoming popular, or simply not enjoying the game or the sense of community – such as cancerous communities. For example, the Hearthstone community, (in particular, the online community) has often been described to be quite ‘cancerous’, where it is socially accepted to ‘behave like a bitch’, calling it ‘I’m salty’, and therefore it is ‘ok’ to whine and throw abuse at each other using in-game chat; ‘…your deck is netdecked cancer, mine is a cleverly-crafted, finely-tuned masterpiece!’ (Reddit, 2015).

Meanwhile, others players may choose to retire. As Mario (Interviewee: Play Expo) stated; ‘I retired a couple of years ago… I just wasn’t enjoying it as much’. However, even though some players may leave or retire, some do come back. For instance, Mario Interviewee: Play Expo) suggested about going back to playing Smash again; ‘I might get back into it... it’ll be nice to see old faces again’.

5.4. The Hearthstone Metagame

Garfield (2000) suggests that players usually bring something to a game from the four components; game resources, strategic preparations, peripheral game recourses, and reputation. In relation to Hearthstone, the game resources that Hearthstone players bought consists of deck lists (usually 3 decks from 3 different classes) – depending on tournament rules) to submit to tournament organisers (for registration purposes), and sometimes gaming equipment, such as PCs, laptops, tablets and phones (from April 2015, Hearthstone became available on mobile). Similarly, Smash players also bought gaming equipment, such as their own controllers (depending on the tournament rules), either customised themselves or purchased customised controllers through ‘official’ or ‘unofficial’ retailers – from ‘painted’ controllers to GCC (game cube controller) mods for consistent shield drops, hybrid gate and more (see Figure 5.24) (Smashboards, 2016) – currently there is no rule in Smash tournaments where modified controllers are banned, except for Genesis 2 (2011) and Genesis 3 (2016).

Similar to most video games, it was common to bring strategic preparations and peripheral game recourses, such as analysis of opponents (knowing which classes opponents play in Hearthstone), knowledge on play patterns (such as match-ups) and a note-pad and pen – however, note-taking is banned at Dreamhack. Finally, player reputation involves the reputation of the player itself. It is important to highlight that player reputation mainly applied to those who attended regularly, in comparison to those who attended infrequently. For instance, from the research observations, after competing in several Hearthstone tournaments, you soon recognise the same ‘gamer-tags’ that keep appearing in the bracket and see ‘familiar faces’ building of reputation of a ‘regular’ Hearthstone player.

Garfield (2000) suggests that players often take something away from a game, whether it’s some kind of stake or experience of the game itself. In relation to tournaments and competitions, whether it is Hearthstone tournaments, Smash tournaments or the cosplay masquerade, it is often for those who compete to take away some winning stakes. For example, Insomnia56 (i56) introduced their first major the Hearthstone tournament, ‘TrueSilver Championship’, with invitations to 16 professional Hearthstone players (mostly international players) for the share of $30,000 prize fund, as well as their own dedicated eSports stage for spectatorship.

In the photograph above, the Hearthstone player participated in a Hearthstone tournament at Insomnia52 (i52) (see Figure 5.25). Although the player did not come first, the player still takes away some winning stakes, as well as experience from taking part and knowledge of other players, play styles and so forth.

Garfield (2000) suggests that the space between games is filled with a rich palette of metagame activities that can add value to the core experiences. For instance, it was common for players either to take short breaks or reflect on strategy, training, or planning for the next game. In particular, depending the time between games, some Hearthstone players often ‘scouted’ on their next opponents, watching their game from over their shoulder, sometimes with pen and paper to take notes, and reflecting on strategy and planning for the next game. Due to the nature of a turn-based game, there is often time for opponents to take notes during a game; this can include information from cards mulligan, opponent cards played, cards remaining in your deck and much more - hence this can bring a significant impact to the game.