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Inside the Huddle: the Phenomenology and Sociology of Team Play in Networked Computer Games

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Inside the Huddle: the Phenomenology and Sociology of Team Play in Networked Computer Games Inside the Huddle: The Phenomenology and Sociology of Team Play in Networked Computer Games Emma Kate Witkowski A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IT UNIVERSITY of COPENHAGEN DENMARK Supervisor: T.L. Taylor APRIL 2012 ii Abstract As any sports sociologist would say, sports are contested terrains. They are dynamic in practice and historically specific: They are shaped by institutions, politics, and local standards as well as formed throughout everyday actions by the range of performers on any given playing field. But what of computer games? What does it mean when these types of games are suggested to be “found” securely in the software? What and where else is the game in action? And how are these games oriented by the many things engaged in their configuration? Taking a qualitative approach, this study explores such concerns looking at the players, organizations, and technologies involved in producing networked team play from the sites World of Warcraft Arena tournament high performance competitions. Throughout three years of multi‐sited fieldwork, this study has probed at how networked team play is lived and produced, asking: What are the practices of networked team play(ers)? How are such practices shaping team play culture(s)? And how do those involved make sense of their engagements? The exploration draws on events which took place between 2008 and 2012 using qualitative research, including ad‐hoc and in‐depth interviews with players, administrators, organizers and spectators, as well as observations and field notes. I take the perspective of phenomenological sociology coupled with a decidedly Actor‐network theory approach, which assists in exploring the connections and translations made between embodiment, game cultures, and the associations between designers, software and technologies. From this exploration, the players emphasize that the game extends beyond the packaged product, and the product of their high performance team work relates to more than hand‐eye coordination and time spent in front of the machine. Though more importantly, networked team play is rendered by players as a iii sensuous and intimate engagement; this is an engagement that is described by nuanced connections between the pressures of many things at play, humans and nonhumans, which co‐ construct the experience. This research ultimately conveys that experiences produced in high performance networked team play come from an attunement and reflection of the many things in action, emphasizing that the active meaning‐making of players makes them principal “designers” of their gaming engagements. iv Acknowledgements To TL – this manuscript should come wrapped in quotation marks and be cited (T.L. Taylor, personal communication, 2008 – 2012). Conversations with you have formed, stretched, and edited every part of this work. You have been greatly generous as a mentor and attentive to my apprenticeship in all of its considerable forms. Very simply, I couldn’t have made it to shore without your shouts of encouragement (“paddle, paddle, paddle!”). And if you are indeed my Yoda (with dreadlocks), then I must also give thanks to “the crew”. The gang on the Millennium Falcon: The (work)force and visitors of the Center for Computer Games Research ‐ for the good conversations, brilliant workshops, unicorns, rainbows, werewolves, and general being‐there‐ness when needed. R2‐D2s: To the hi‐tech editing and feedback of Chris Paul, Nick Taylor, Todd Harper, Peter Zackariasson, Olli Sotamaa, Miguel Sicart, Pippen Barr and Hanna Wirman – for your timely technical help and offers of support in moments of need. (The respectable) Lando Calrissian(s): To Janni and Jens for letting me hide at “cloud city” (Knolden), as well as to Ib, Annette, Mum and Dad for taking care of the “little” crewmember and for your general assistance in not letting the (research) Empire take over us all. Ewok: Ronja, you’ve been the sweetness amidst the chaos ‐ and chief hug‐giver when most needed. C3‐POs: Great thanks to my committee – Henry Lowood, Fern Delamere, and Torill Mortensen. And my appreciation also extends to the hard‐working ITU PhD support team. And to Han Solo: For your endless support. Jonas, you are the character who everyone wants in their storyline. The script would just be shallow without you. v vi Table of Contents {CHAPTER 1} INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 A socio‐material approach ............................................................................................................................ 5 Beyond games versus sports ........................................................................................................................ 7 Technologies of sports and games .............................................................................................................. 10 Structure of the dissertation ...................................................................................................................... 16 {CHAPTER 2} METHOD ASSEMBLAGE .......................................................................................... 19 Arriving at high performance networked team play ................................................................................... 20 Getting inside the huddle ................................................................................................................................ 24 Playing research .............................................................................................................................................. 27 Field outline ................................................................................................................................................ 31 Fieldwork: Location‐based Arena Tournaments, World of Warcraft ............................................................... 36 The form of high performance teams ......................................................................................................... 46 Moving towards high performance tournaments ...................................................................................... 54 Situated in LAT play ......................................................................................................................................... 56 {CHAPTER 3} HOOKING INTO EXPERT PLAY: CHUMS & COMPETITIVE CIRCLES ....................................... 62 Incredible intercorporeal bodies ................................................................................................................ 64 Access and expertise .................................................................................................................................. 71 Recruitment and retention ......................................................................................................................... 73 First time LANs and becoming a LAT player ............................................................................................... 82 vii {CHAPTER 4} INTIMATE BODIES & THE NUANCES OF EXCELLENCE ....................................................... 87 Team synergy and nuanced communication .............................................................................................. 87 Movement interplay ................................................................................................................................... 96 Virtuoso composure & the creation of space ............................................................................................. 99 Haptics in play .......................................................................................................................................... 106 {CHAPTER 5} GENDER PERFORMANCES AT LATS .......................................................................... 112 Women (Gladiators) ................................................................................................................................. 117 The production of eventful masculinities ................................................................................................. 127 Hegemonic sporting masculinities ............................................................................................................ 129 Counter‐hegemonic practices at LATs ....................................................................................................... 131 {CHAPTER 6} THE PERSONALISATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE PLAY .................................................. 151 Feeling rules .............................................................................................................................................. 152 Beyond instrumentality ............................................................................................................................ 169 Re‐personalising high performance team play ......................................................................................... 174 On exiting the ride … ................................................................................................................................ 180 {CHAPTER 7} CLOSING REMARKS .............................................................................................. 182 Serious leisure, distributable teams and eventful masculinities .................................................................... 183 Diluted narratives, re‐personalising
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