Everyone Needs to Pitch In”: an Ethnographic Study Of
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School “EVERYONE NEEDS TO PITCH IN”: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF COLLEGIATE ESPORTS A Dissertation in Learning, Design, and Technology by Robert Hein © 2020 Robert Hein Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2020 ii The dissertation of Robert Hein was reviewed and approved by the following: Ty Hollett Assistant Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Simon R. Hooper Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology Stuart A. Selber Associate Professor of English Director of Digital Education Priya Sharma Associate Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology Susan M. Land Associate Professor of Learning, Design, and Technology Director of Graduate Studies iii ABSTRACT Although researchers have shown interest in videogaming since the early 2000s, the hyper- competitive world of “esports” has received less attention. However, multi-million dollar gaming tournaments—such as the 2019 Fortnite World Cup—now make headlines and spark national discussion. Similarly, colleges and universities have begun offering athletic scholarships to students who excel at games like League of Legends and Overwatch. Consequently, this present study aims to shine a light on the values, beliefs, and practices of gaming’s most “hardcore” players and communities. To better understand how these competitors improve their in-game skills, the author adopted a “connective ethnographic” approach and immersed himself in the day-to-day activities of a collegiate esports club. This process involved attending club meetings, interviewing members, and participating alongside players as they competed with and against one another in the game of Overwatch. As the investigation unfolded, the study narrowed its focus to explore how club members leveraged technology—like the livestreaming platform of Twitch and social network of Discord—to engage in collaborative observation, analysis, and self-critique. By drawing and iterating upon Gee’s “affinity spaces” and Rogoff’s theories of “learning by observing and pitching in,” this study suggests that competitive gamers naturally create and seek out their own learning ecologies. More specifically, these gamers come together to form “observational and analytical gaming ecologies” (OAGEs) wherein members find the cultural tools necessary to experience and re-experience gameplay from multiple perspectives. By harnessing virtual worlds and emerging technologies in compelling new ways, these gamers are thus reimagining how people learn from their peers and from their own failures. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................. vi LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................ viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………….. 1 Background………………………………………………………………………… 2 Why Esports, Why Now?………………………………………………………….. 5 Research Questions………………………………………………………………… 7 Significance…………………………………………………………………………8 Chapter Outline…………………………………………………………………….. 9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK……….. 11 Affinity Spaces……………………………………………………………………...11 Esports and Livestreaming…………………………………………………………. 15 Learning by Observing and Pitching In……………………………………………. 31 Towards a Theory of Observational and Analytical Gaming Ecologies…………... 38 CHAPTER 3: METHODS…………………………………………………………………. 41 A “Connective” Ethnography……………………………………………………… 43 Primary Research Sites…………………………………………………………….. 45 Overwatch………………………………………………………………….. 47 Twitch……………………………………………………………………… 51 Discord……………………………………………………………………... 53 Willard 371………………………………………………………………… 55 Overview of Participants……………………………………………………………57 Profiles of Select Participants……………………………………………………… 58 Researcher Identity………………………………………………………………… 63 Procedure and Data Collection…………………………………………………….. 65 The Weekly Meeting………………………………………………………..65 Match Day………………………………………………………………….. 69 Informal and Impromptu Sessions…………………………………………. 74 Interaction and Data Analysis……………………………………………………… 77 Summary…………………………………………………………………………… 82 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS…………………………………………………………………. 84 Preparation…………………………………………………………………………. 84 Scouting……………………………………………………………………. 84 Storytelling…………………………………………………………………. 91 Gameplay…………………………………………………………………………... 99 Callouts…………………………………………………………………….. 99 Emotional Calibration……………………………………………………… 107 Review……………………………………………………………………………... 120 Self-Reflection……………………………………………………………... 120 Looking to the Pros………………………………………………………… 126 v A Culture of Leveraging Perspectives……………………………………………... 132 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS…………………………………….. 140 Summary and Discussion of Findings……………………………………………... 141 How Club Members Participated with One Another………………………. 141 How Club Members Organized Themselves………………………………. 145 How Club Members Interfaced with a Wider Community………………… 149 Contributions………………………………………………………………………. 153 Contributions to Theory……………………………………………………. 153 Methodological Considerations and Recommendations for Future Work… 155 Towards an OAGE-Infused Classroom……………………………………………. 158 Closing……………………………………………………………………………... 160 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………….. 163 vi LIST OF FIGURES 1.1: The anatomy of a Twitch stream………………………………………………………. 3 1.2: The anatomy of a Discord server……………………………………………………... 5 2.1: Competition in early arcades………………………………………………………….. 18 2.2: The Shanghai Dragons win their first match…………………………………………. 29 2.3: The LOPI Prism……………………………………………………………………….. 36 3.1: A “Victory Screen” in Overwatch…………………………………………………….. 41 3.2: A “Field of Relations”………………………………………………………………… 46 3.3: Tracer’s abilities in Overwatch………………………………………………………...48 3.4: The “Battle of LA”……………………………………………………………………. 49 3.5: In-game spectating…………………………………………………………………….. 51 3.6: Club members streaming……………………………………………………………… 53 3.7: The club Discord server………………………………………………………………. 55 3.8: The weekly meeting……………………………………………………………………56 3.9: An in-person VoD-review…………………………………………………………….. 69 3.10: An Overwatch “lobby”………………………………………………………………. 72 3.11: Sending a Discord “ping”……………………………………………………………. 75 3.12: A text-based VoD-review……………………………………………………………. 79 3.13: Conducting analysis………………………………………………………………….. 81 4.1: Oak’s scouting report…………………………………………………………………..85 4.2: Junkertown……………………………………………………………………………..93 4.3: Storytelling at the weekly meeting……………………………………………………. 98 4.4: Comic panels showcasing “callouts”………………………………………………….. 100-4 vii 4.5: Comic panels showcasing “emotional calibration” …………………………………... 109-13 4.6: More comic panels showcasing “emotional calibration”……………………………... 115-8 4.7: Coaching through Discord………………………………………………...…………...121 4.8: Dealing with Mei……………………………………………………………………… 123 4.9: The Open Division stream…………………………………………………………….. 124 4.10: The Dallas Fuel “comp”……………………………………………………………...129 5.1: Cross-contextual participation………………………………………………………… 145 5.2: The “Academy Team”………………………………………………………………… 148 5.3: The Esports Club during Covid……………………………………………………….. 161 viii LIST OF TABLES 3-1: List of Participants……………………………………………………………………. 58 3-2: Types of Data…………………………………………………………………………. 77 ix ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Research and writing are not individual endeavors. This dissertation was only made possible by amazing ensemble cast that worked tirelessly behind the scenes. I would now like to recognize those colleagues, friends, and family members that supported me on this journey. To my committee, thank you for your patience, trust, and open-mindedness. I will always remember Dr. Priya Sharma as one of the first professors to welcome me to the department. By legitimizing the study of videogaming and action-sports in her own classroom, she gave me the confidence to pursue the “new and strange” types of research that I describe throughout this dissertation. Dr. Stuart Selber offered me a safe haven at a time when I was feeling lost in my graduate studies. In particular, he encouraged me to learn and experiment with multimodal tools to better bring my research and writing to life. Similarly, Dr. Simon Hooper constantly challenged me to answer the question “so what?” He thus showed me how to take the theories and philosophies of our discipline and to turn them into something more tangible and practical. Dr. Ty Hollett tied it all together while providing a steady voice of encouragement throughout the process. I could not have completed this dissertation without him. He always knew what to say and how much space to give me. I will always treasure our conversations at Rothrock Coffee, where he taught me how to become a better researcher, writer, teacher, and person. To my friends and family, thank you for keeping me sane during these last six years. Dr. Jason Engerman mentored me in qualitative research methods and exemplified how to be a hardworking graduate student. Dr. Nate Turcotte helped me to break out of my shell and to be more sociable at academic conferences. My parents, Jim and Georgienne Hein, not only x were my number one fans, but they also became my go-to editors and therapists. My godmother, Dr. Roberta Zolkoski, represented a spiritual rock to help anchor myself during uncertain times. And to the members of the Penn State Esports Club, thank you for the excitement