Emergent Behavior in Playerunknown's Battlegrounds by Christopher Aguilar, B.A. a Thesis in Mass Communications Submitted to T
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Emergent Behavior in PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds by Christopher Aguilar, B.A. A Thesis In Mass Communications Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS Approved Bobby Schweizer, Ph.D. Chair of Committee Glenn Cummins, Ph.D. Megan Condis, Ph.D. Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School August, 2019 Copyright 2019, Christopher Aguilar Texas Tech University, Christopher Aguilar, August 2019 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I just want to thank everyone that has been an inspiration for me on this journey to get me to this point of my academic success. To Dr. John Velez, who taught the gaming classes during my undergraduate that got me interested in video game research. For helping me choose which game I wanted to write about and giving me ideas of what kinds of research is possible to write. To Dr. Bobby Schweizer, for taking up the reigns for helping me in my thesis and guiding me through this year to reach this pedestal of where I am today with my work. For giving me inspirational reads such as T.L Taylor, ethnography, helping me with my critical thinking and asking questions about research questions I had not even considered. Without your encouragement and setting expectations for me to reach and to exceed, I would not have pushed myself to make each revision even better than the last. I am grateful to Texas Tech’s teachers for caring for their student’s success. My journey in my master’s program has been full of challenges but I am grateful for the opportunity I had. I want to thank my parents, for all the times I would travel back home to Abilene on the weekends and let me relax when I had days where I couldn’t find motivation to write. For letting me play PUBG undisturbed for many hours, only to ask who I would be yelling or cheering at. My parents are my biggest supports in everything I do and without them, I wouldn’t be able to get up time and time again to keep moving forward even at my lowest of times. Both my sisters, Alyssa and Leslie, for checking up on me and being supportive siblings when I need it the most. My family is my pride and joy, and each member plays a vital role in my success in life. They are my biggest inspiration and my support on everything I do in life. I want to thank Larry Phillip, from Student Disabilities and Services. For always being a listening ear from my undergrad to graduate school journey. Whenever my disabilities would flare up, I could talk with you about my week and always be ready to help assist me in my troubles. For helping me with my financial aid to continue my tuition with scholarships and many more things I could list on. Without your help, I probably would have struggled even further through my education while dealing with my disabilities. Thank you for all the work you do for me and other students. ii Texas Tech University, Christopher Aguilar, August 2019 I also want to thank my second family to me, Team Chip, a Tae Kwon Do School in Abilene, Texas run by Chip Townsend and his wife Glynn Ann. I want to thank every single member and staff associated with Team Chip for teaching me the 5 tenets of TKD. Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-Control, and Indomitable Spirit. For teaching me to be courteous to everyone, be truthful with integrity, persevere through the hardest of challenges, having self-control when things aren’t going well, but indomitable spirit to never give up. These life lessons taught to me when I was very young helped me through the struggles I had writing this paper. Going back home on the weekends to train and to have a clear mind when returning back to Lubbock for the week. Every member of Team Chip that I would talk about my thesis to would listen and give me inspiration to write this thesis more and more. They never discouraged me, only encourage that I could finish writing this and make it the best work I could produce. Everyone I mentioned, I thank you all for without you, this thesis would not be possible. And anyone else I might have forgotten to mention; I thank you as well because in some way you played a vital role in helping me complete this work. iii Texas Tech University, Christopher Aguilar, August 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. ii ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER 1 ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 1 Emergent Behavior in Virtual Worlds ........................................................................ 1 The Battle Royale Genre ............................................................................................. 4 CHAPTER 2 .................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 14 Introduction to Methodology .................................................................................... 14 2.2 MECHANISMS IN GAMES THAT ALLOW FOR SOCIAL PLAY (FORMAL ANALYSIS) .... 15 Virtual World Ethnography ...................................................................................... 17 Archival Evidence ..................................................................................................... 20 Collection Methods ................................................................................................... 25 Preforming Ethnography in PUBG ........................................................................... 29 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................................................... 34 3.1 EMERGENT BEHAVIOR IN PUBG .............................................................................. 34 Introduction to Emergent Social Behavior ............................................................... 34 3.2 LEARNING HOW TO BEHAVE .................................................................................... 36 Learning how to be a Snake ...................................................................................... 36 Learning to throw apples grenades and snowballs ................................................... 38 Experimenting with Game Mechanics While Invincible .......................................... 41 Learning to take on a cheater/hacker ........................................................................ 44 3.3 LEARNING TO COMMUNICATE .................................................................................. 52 Learning using Nonverbal Communication with guns ............................................. 52 Learning to use Nonverbal communication with emotes/action ............................... 55 Learning to communicate truces between players .................................................... 58 3.4 LEARNING TO PERFORM ........................................................................................... 62 Learning to entertain stream audiences ..................................................................... 63 Learning to perform Naked finish challenges ........................................................... 67 Learning to use and perform with Costumes and skin changes ................................ 70 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 73 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................... 75 iv Texas Tech University, Christopher Aguilar, August 2019 ABSTRACT The study uses a combination of virtual world ethnography and archival inquiries of saved videos, replays, and clips to filter through raw data and find cases of emergent behavior of players within PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. What I am looking for is emergent behavior that is outside of the goal orientated objectives. The main goal in battle royale games is to be the last one standing out of 100 players, yet players within this virtual world choose to deviate from this goal and as a result, new inventive gameplay is born. As a result, emergent behavior such as behavioral, communication, and performance becomes possible due to non-goal orientated objectives that players and streamers decide to do instead. v Texas Tech University, Christopher Aguilar, August 2019 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1 View from PUBG Game Mode Select Screen .................................................. 7 Figure 1.2 View from PUBG Map ...................................................................................... 9 Figure 1.3 View from PUBG Map .................................................................................... 10 Figure 1.4 View from PUBG Map .................................................................................... 11 Figure 1.5 View from PUBG Map .................................................................................... 12 Figure 2.1 View from my Steam....................................................................................... 27 vi Texas Tech University,