Society for Technical Communication

Computer Gaming and Technical Communication: An Ecological Framework Author(s): DOUGLAS EYMAN Source: Technical Communication, Vol. 55, No. 3 (AUGUST 2008), pp. 242-250 Published by: Society for Technical Communication Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43095345 Accessed: 19-08-2018 18:38 UTC

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This content downloaded from 198.246.186.26 on Sun, 19 Aug 2018 18:38:31 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms SUMMARY ♦ Provides an overview of gaming definitions and genres ♦ Argues that games provide a rich area for research and theory building in technical communication ♦ Details a five-part framework for mapping game activity to technical communication interests

Computer Gaming and Technical Communication:

An Ecological Framework

DOUGLAS EYMAN

viously published in the journal, as well as other brief items of interest to the profession. The editor The viously reserves reserves editor published the ofthe Technical rightright in to the condense to communicationcondense journal, as letters,letters, well invites as to otherto correctcorrect correspondence briefspelling spelling items of and and interest concerninggrammatical grammatical to the articles profession.errors, errors, and andand reviews toThe to editorinsert insert pre- bracketed clarifications. E-mail submission ([email protected]) is preferred; submission by fax or post is also welcome (see the masthead of this issue for the editor's fax number and postal address).

familiar with the project, having completed many similar try offers rich opportunities for technical commu- projects in the past, so he had a very concrete plan for nicators both in terms of employment and in- accomplishing our goals and was able to clearly articulate This try nicators creased offers creasedarticle professionalprofessional status both andrich that argues computer opportunities in that terms the status of computer employment for and technical that game computer commu- and indus- in- the role each of us would play and when and where the games are complex rhetorical spaces well suited for tech- milestones would be in the overall project structure. nical communication research and theory building. After As my team moved methodically through the shared considering the connections between technical communi- virtual environment [with richly detailed three-dimensional cation activities and computer games, this article presents a (3D) graphics and sound effects], we used a wide range of five-part ecological framework for mapping game activities mechanisms to communicate with each other, from real- to technical communication practices. time chat to the deployment of visual markers (assigning particular individuals to specific targets) to nonverbal com- GAMING AND/AS SYMBOLIC-ANALYTIC WORK munication through hand signals and body language (car- In January of this year, I found myself working on a cross- ried out by our on-screen avatars). In other instances, functional team that had been put together to work online servers also provide means by which team members through a fairly complicated task. The team I was working can talk to each other directly, using microphones and with included experts with a wide range of disciplinary headsets. It struck me that the work we were carrying out perspectives and particular strengths in terms of their skills as part of the game was, in terms of the way a variety of and training. I was the only member of the team that had communication technologies were being used to mediate been trained as a rhetorician, and I found myself observing goal-oriented cooperative activity, very similar to the way the way the team leader guided each team member as we technical communicators work in nongame settings. rehearsed our roles before beginning the task proper, Although not all massive multiplayer online role-playing thinking that I might find a useful case study embedded in games (MMORPGs) are set in worlds of fantasy or science this process. The task of the team leader and coordinator fiction, the majority of them are, and that makes it easier to was complicated by the fact that several of the team mem- dismiss them as mere entertainment, as games that lack the bers were telecommuting from different locations; we had immediacy and complexity of "real life" activities, and as to juggle the difference in time zones and did not have a teleconferencing system available for this first meeting, although we did have a real-time chat application that we Manuscript received 7 February 2008; revised 31 March 2008; used for most of our communication. Our team leader was accepted 3 April 2008.

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Eyman Computer Gaming and Technical Communication

unworthy of attention. However, 4mthese Perhaps games most importantly, are all mapping con- the ecology structed systems that go through the of same game activities development onto technical cy- communication cles and business processes that any practices computer can provide application a theoretical lens that re- requires; and as such, they provide the flects same and opportunitiesrefracts "real world" positionsfor and technical communicators to provide the problems skills faced and by technicalexpertise communicators. that they bring to any systems development Seeing the elements project.of computer Ingames fact, that can be linked because technical communication isto technicallargely communication absent from practices the also provides an en- game development field, there istry both point for an technical exigency communicators and toan approach the opening for technical communicators game to design offer industry their and communicateexperience the value we can as information designers, information offer in architects, terms that will be usability readily understood. ex- The ecolog- perts, and documentation specialists icalto frameworka fast-growing I propose in industry.the second half of this article Documentation and usability represent focuses on howthe computer two most game systemsim- can serve as mediate avenues for bringing technical simulacra communicationof the range of knowledge into work activities of game design processes: technical communicators technical communicators are and howadept engaging at these virtual, systems documentation (both in terms game-based of activitieshow they can serve work to help and build both research how they are used) and usability. methods Usability, and rhetorical theoriesparticularly that benefit technical if com- approached as recommended bymunicators. Johnson, Salvo, and Zoetewey (2007) as the interpretation of human action that articulates contexts and accepts contingency, Definitions can certainly be shaped to fit the needs of game Before designers addressing and the gamers.reasons for In-considering computer deed, Laitinen (2006) found both that games "usabilityas useful sites expert of inquiry eval- and theory-building for uation and testing provided both technical novel communicators, and useful itdata seems forprudent to establish a game development" and that "there shared was vocabulary;no significant a glossary differ- of game types that will help ence in the number or the rated relevancy distinguish ofthe differentthe problems kinds of thegames and virtual envi- gamer and non-gamer usability specialists ronments that found." are currently This available.indi- Robbins (2008) de- cates that technical communicators scribes need the many not acronyms be gamers that describe to games and game- take advantage of the opportunities like virtual available spaces as "a inhierarchy the ofgame environment design industry (but, I would argue, descriptions to avail that ourselvesallows us to understand of these which environ- opportunities, we should make an effortments are suited to tounderstand, specific purposes" Sheif identifies not six key wholly embrace, computer game designacronyms/environment principles descriptions: and com- MUVE, MOO, MUD, puter gaming culture). In addition CVE, MMORPG,to opening FPS, and SPVE.the gaming industry to technical communicators Thein firstterms four descriptions of employment, describe systems of online I argue that computer games offer collaboration opportunities that are less obviously for game-like.both MUVE research and theorization that can be beneficial to the field of stands for multiuser virtual environment, which Robbins technical communication. describes as "a supercategory that includes any multiuser There are four primary reasons that technical commu- environment whether competitive or not; [a content man- nicators should embrace games as locations of research agement system such as] Blackboard could be considered and practice: a MUVE just as easily as Second Lifď (Robbins 2008, n. p.). 1 . The increasing economic and cultural impact of MOOs and MUDs are text-based virtual environments; games continues to move games and gaming whereas MOOs (multiuser domains, object oriented) tend from a perceived fringe activity to a valued to focus on social interaction and education, MUDs (mul- method for education, training, and social interac- tiuser dungeons) are traditionally role-playing game tion. spaces. Like Second Life , which is itself a kind of MMORPG, 2. The rich rhetorical spaces of games constructed MOOs and MUDs differ from other virtual environments by through the complex interactions of users, inter- offering the user the opportunity to build architectural faces, and digital tools places computer games structures and create objects within the virtual world of the solidly within the disciplinary purview of techni- game itself. CVE stands for collaborative virtual environ- cal communication studies. ment and is applied to wikis, multiuser blogs, and online 3. Games can serve as objects of study from which project management systems like Basecamp. technical communicators can leam about interface Many of the examples I use in this article come from design, interaction design, and how users engage in MMORPGs, in part because these are the kinds of virtual complex communication tasks mediated by text and environments that can at first seem most removed from the data visualizations on a large scale. work of the technical communicator and in part because I

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Computer Gaming and Technical Communication Eyman

see MMORPGs as representative of athe movie most (Spiderman complex 3) and the rhe- final Harry Potter book's torical systems that are explicitly firstshaped day sales as (Entertainment games Exam- Software Association 2008). ples of MMORPGs include the aforementioned Film executives reportedly World blamed theof popularity of Halo 3 , Runescape , and Guild forWars. the worst FPS October games weekend are in box office sales since "first-person shooters" and may be played 1999 (Ivan individually 2007). (like the classic FPS, Doom) or in teams. Multiplayer It could also be said FPS that games,computer and video games are like Halo 3 , differ from MMORPGs becausewhere the moneythe elementis, literally. ofIn 2001, economist Edward role playing is largely absent - the Castronova in-game calculated character's the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of identity has been established by the virtual game game designers,economies at $135 and million per year. In 2007, there is little opportunity for the player Julian Dibbell to influence used data from that the Virtual Economy Research identity. SPVEs are single-player virtualNetwork to calculateenvironments, the total worldwide virtual GDP as which range from single-player games $28.215 to billion single-user (which is slightly blogs higher than the GDP of (Robbins 2008). Lebanon). Of course, this repository of wealth has not gone It should be clear from this taxonomy of user environ- unnoticed: a congressional task force has announced that it is ments (some of which blur the lines between "gaming" and researching the feasibility of taxing in-game assets (Lederman more traditional forms of communicative activity in online 2007). spaces) that there is a wide range of systems being devel- The economic impact of the gaming industry is mirrored oped and deployed; indeed, if we shift our perspective by an increase in cultural visibility. Games and gaming sce- from "game" to "system," the role of the technical commu- narios are showing up in increasing numbers of television nicator in the gaming industry can be seen in much the shows (including the parodie SouthPark " ' same way that the role is seen in any industry that develops episode); Coca-Cola aired a Superbowl ad from the FPS software applications. However, because technical com- Grand Theft Autor, and Burger King teamed up with Microsoft munication has not yet made significant inroads into the to produce "BK" video games. The CBS television show "CSI: industry, there is an opportunity to show how we can offer New York" featured the multiuser virtual environment Second value and potentially improve the organizational power of Life in an episode that aired in October 2007 (Babii 2007); CBS technical communicators as we move into this new realm. subsequently developed in-game murder mysteries con- To take advantage of this opportunity, however, we nectedneed to the show. And mainstream media outlets and aca- to take gaming seriously enough to understand it on demics its alike are paying more attention to questions of gaming own terms. As a first move in that direction, I offer a briefand violence, sex, and racial stereotypes. overview of the increasing significance of computer and What does this mean for technical communicators? video games in economic and cultural arenas. First, it means more jobs: a good number of game devel- opment companies, like other software companies, employ Economic and cultural impact technical communicators. However, it also means that The staggering economic impact of computer and games video are becoming important locations of cultural and games is indicative of the expansion of games and economicgaming activity in need of the particular documentation practices into the overall social and cultural lives of Amer- and knowledge-work skills of technical communicators. In icans. In 2000, Interactive Digital Software Association short, re- virtual worlds offer opportunities that should not be ported that the computer and video game industry ignored had - but the potential increase in job openings is not created 220,000 jobs and nearly $9 billion in wages the and only reason that technical communicators should be federal and state tax (Interactive Digital Software Associa-interested in games and game design: computer games are tion 2001). In 2006, Robert Crandall and J. Gregory particularly Sidak well suited to technical communication re- released a study showing that the video game industry search and theory work because they are, at both the contributed more than $18 billion to the American econ- system design layer and as enacted through interaction omy in 2004. Crandall and Sidak's study looked at game with players, deeply rhetorical spaces. sales, salaries paid to game developers and retail workers who sold games, sales of gaming hardware, and technol- Games as rhetorical spaces ogy transfer from gaming to other industries (Crandall and Computer games, particularly those games that support mul- Sidak 2006). In 2008, the Entertainment Software Associa- tiplayer environments, are complex rhetorical spaces where tion reported that computer and video game software sales both players and designers engage in the solving of rhetorical reached $9.5 billion in 2007 - an increase of 28% over the problems. Like Anscheutz and Rosenbaum (2002), I define previous year. The same report noted that Halo 3, the technical communication (and the work of technical commu- best-selling game title of 2007, took in more revenue in its nicators) "more expansively, as a comprehensive network of first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for activities, knowledge, and skills that help technologies be

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Eyman Computer Gaming and Technical Communication

useful, usable, learnable, enjoyable, Games memorable, as research locations marketable, for technical competitive, and of high quality" communication(150). These same descrip- tors can just as easily be applied to In thethe pastwork several of years,game there design- has been a dramatic increase ers if we replace "technologies" in in the research quote related above to withvideo andthe computer games: psychol- specific set of technologies that engage ogists are computer studying the and transferability video of leadership skills games. Although I am not suggesting and examining that technical interpersonal commu- communication and relation- nicators can be game designers, shipI do issues argue related that to games online andgames (Yee 2003a; 2003b); gaming represent a specific instantiation sociologists of arethe examining rhetorical games ac- as sites of social practice tivities that technical communicators through engage ethnographic in and research might (Harrelson 2006; Yee claim as part of our practice. 2003c); scholars in cultural studies are exploring the inter- Indeed, I would extend this notion sections further of games by and claiming identity formation (Filiciak 2003; that technical communication, which Griebel takes 2006); rhetoricaland computer the- games for education and ory and practice as the core of its training disciplinary have a long and history profes- of research (although this trend sional power, should take up the became intertwined more visible fieldswith the of publication of James Gee's rhetoric and design as rightfully What within Video Games its purview.Have to Teach In Us About Learning and Thoughtful Interaction Design ,Literacy Löwgren in 2003). and What Stolterman is missing from this litany of re- (2004) take as their starting point search that projects "[w]e is technical live in communication. an This is puz- artificial world. It is a world made zling toup me of because environments, computer and video games, as com- systems, processes, and things that plex rhetoricalare imagined, spaces that formed, engage interaction, pedagogy, and produced by humans" (1); and if designdesign in much is rhetorical the same way that technical commu- (Buchanan 1985), technical communicators nicators do, seem can to me position to be ripe for technical communi- themselves equally as rhetoricians cation and research. designers. This special In terms issue of Technical Communi- of a rich and fertile theoretical and research arena for cation is certainly hoping to encourage technical technical communicators, MMORPGs provide a wide communicators range to see games as available for research and of environments where rhetoric and design are made theory visi- building, but we are coming rather late into the ble - perhaps more so than any other contemporary game tech- (pun intended). nology. As I noted in the introduction, computer games can However, we can reverse this claim (that games and serve as objects of study from which technical communi- gaming are squarely and fittingly within the realm of technical cators can learn about interface design, interaction design, communication research and theory) as well. Mason (2008) and how users engage in complex communication tasks argued that "current video games already provide situations mediated by text and data visualizations on a large scale. in which being a successful gamer entails doing technical Online games allow researchers access to multiple obser- writing" (n. p., emphasis in original). He further explains: vational modes, both outside of and within the games themselves. And the activities that take place within and This is due not only to an epistemological correspon- around games are remarkably similar to the core fields of dence between technical writing and video games, but research for technical communication: because the experience of being a gamer always goes ♦ Games need to be learned, so they are a useful site beyond the screen, engaging individuals in social prac- for studying instructional design, both provided by tices mediated by texts that are predominantly written the game developers and resources established by by gamers themselves (np.). users. ♦ Games have very complex interfaces, but in the case Both positions - that gamers "do" technical writing and that of most MMORPGs, these interfaces can be modi- technical writers can (and should) "do" computer and fied, rearranged, and reprogrammed by users. video games - fit into an ecological framework that can be ♦ Games have to convey detailed - often technical - used to delineate a continuum of roles for both writers and information through verbal and visual media. gamers. Before I present this framework, however, I want The question that arises then is "why have we not already to digress briefly to speak about how games (using MMOR- claimed games as a fitting research space for technical PGs as the primary examples) hold value as research loca- communication?" The work of technical communication is tions for technical communicators; in part because this no longer seen as purely textual (consider the articles that more practical approach (as opposed to the theoretical have appeared in this journal on visual communication, approach that structures the ecological framework) offers interaction design, usability, and project management). an immediate connection between game systems and the Perhaps the problem is that technical communication takes work of technical communication. itself too seriously to be attracted to "mere" games. Or

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Computer Gaming and Technical Communication Eyman

perhaps those gamers among us would For rhetoric,rather the keepaudience games - the living components in the world of leisure rather than inintroducing what might be consideredthem to a communicationthe ecolo- world of work. Or perhaps we simply gy - have havealways been not assumed allowed to have greater agency ourselves to claim game-space as an (and appropriateare therefore of greater place concern for to the rhetor) than technical communication research. In the remainder of this the nonliving components such as the medium of deliv- article, I propose a theoretical model that links multiplayer ery and the immediate context of the rhetorical act (al- game ecologies to the work and concerns of technical though these elements do play an important role, rhet- communicators. oric derives a great deal of its power from the fact that it engages medium, mode, and context). One benefit of WORKING WITH/IN GAMES: AN ECOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK working through an ecological metaphor is that agency When I speak to game designers at game development can be seen in the interactions and interrelationships of conferences, I have noticed that they always seem any to ofwant the components of a given ecosystem. This is to talk about narrative theory. These designers, on learningparticularly important for digital game spaces, which that I work in an English department, assume that Ifeature will be both users and system agents (including non- both familiar with narrative theory and happy that player they characters,are the environments in which the actions using it in their game design process. I think they take areplace, and the rules that govern in-game interac- sometimes a bit taken aback when I suggest that tions).narrative theory is a good starting point,1 but that, considering the nature of multiplayer games, where the interaction Gaming and ecologies: five relationships design are taken up by the game players themselves, I propose they the following ecological framework through ought to be considering how rhetorical theory canwhich help we can organize the activities, both textual and them make more persuasive experiences (as opposed trans-textual, to that work in, through, and around computer logical stories within which the users play). This games.has been This organization can also be mapped onto techni- an easier argument to sustain since the publication cal ofcommunication Ian activities, thus providing a more con- Bogost's Persuasive Games (2007), where he argues crete that connection between the concerns and work of tech- computer games use a procedural rhetoric that gives nical them communicators and the interactions of multiplayer persuasive power, citing examples of games used gaming.in poli- I situate the ecology of gaming activities within tics, marketing, and education. five distinct elements: ♦ Environmental action (what happens in the game) Ecologies as metaphorical and methodological ♦ Para-textual development (game interfaces) structures ♦ Documentation (user and developer created texts I see the activities and interactions that take aboutplace games)in com- puter games in ecological terms because they ♦ Infrastructural engage not processes (the game design itself) just "texts" but function within environments ♦ whereResearch people (critical commentary and scholarly investi- interact with a variety of human and nonhuman gation actors.of games andI their relationship to "real life"). also reframe my view of games as ecologies These because elements thisare interrelated and in some cases may view moves from games-as-objects-of-literary-study seem to overlap (for to instance, documentation appears both games-as-designed-worlds, and it is in the asdesign(ing) texts and in the that infrastructure element as process - the technical communicators can write themselves into the primary difference being the contexts and actors involved); gaming industry. however, these ecological elements represent rhetorical A scientific term originally applied to research situations on in- rather than genres, so it is important to view teractions in specific natural environments, "ecology" them as not a as a specific taxonomy but as an organic frame- metaphor for complex, interconnected relationships work has designed a to facilitate a view of gaming as relevant to rich history of use in technical communication researchthe work and concerns of technical communicators. (Blythe 2007; Nardi and O'Day 1999; Spinuzzi 2003; Environmental action takes place through in-game ac- Spinuzzi and Zachry 2000). The basic scientific definition tivities, of which can be mapped onto technical communica- ecology is "the study of the relationships of organisms tion practices to that include procedural documentation, their environment and to one another. The key wordproject is management, and leadership skills training. In- relationships. "Ecology is a study of interactions" game(Brewer activities can also be recorded and distributed, thus 1988, 1). The key elements of ecological study, relation- creating relationships between environmental actions and ships, interaction, complexity, and community, para-textualare all developments. Perhaps the most famous such present in multiplayer games (and often more explicitly recording is a guild-produced video clip of a team of available to observation than in natural environments). players preparing to take on a difficult task (similar to the

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Eyman Computer Gaming and Technical Communication

one described at the beginning ofactivities. this Guildarticle); sites take the on acareful variety of rhetorical tasks, planning is interrupted when one including player, the support who ofwas existing clearly players and the recruit- not paying attention, screams his mentname of additionaland rushes guild membersinto the (the dragon's den, which precipitates an video epic mentioned failure above on is the presumed part to be a recruitment of the team (the video is available tool for on the YouTube: guild "Pals for http:// Life," for example). Perhaps www.youtube.com/watchPv = LkCNJRfSZBU). more interesting from This a technical player communication stand- is Leeroy Jenkins who became an pointinternet are the mememany companies in his thatown have developed con- right and eventually went as far astent becoming management ansystems answer specifically on designed to sup- the television gameshow Jeopardy! port guildAlthough websites (see,a rhetorical for example, GuildPortal , analysis of the video shows the http ://www.event guildportal as one . com) that . was staged and used as a marketing tool Documentation,by the player a resource guild that that is often found on filmed it (Davis 2008), it is a relatively both corporate clear andexample user community of how sites, includes writ- players negotiate complex tasks ingthrough about the audio,gaming world,visual, including and how-to guides, textual interactions. tips, and reports on in-game economic development; A more recent example, and one that, like the Leeroy documentation is the element that most explicitly relates video, has been often remixed and remediated is the "More to the typical practices of technical communicators. Dots" video (DOT stands for "Damage over Time." This There is is a certain amount of cross-over between the also available on YouTube, but seriously NSFW - not suit- socially motivated para-texts and documentation: online able for work - so you should search for it at home). Thisdocumentation sites such as www..com and clip also shows a team in the process of planning andwww..com use a database system and World of executing a complex task, but the leader is very forceful (toWarcraft API to make the listing of all objects in the the point of being abusive) and effectively represents gamean available for inspection by players. Attached to example of failed leadership caused by a rhetorical style each at object is a discussion forum where users can con- odds with the team's goals. Perhaps learning from others' tribute notes, information, and narratives of their expe- mistakes, many guilds run "boot camps" within the game riencesto interacting with these objects. Other documen- prepare the teams to work well together (see, for example, tation examples include sites such as bosskillers.com this video on the Sunder Guild site: http://www.sunder- and killerguides.com, both of which sell guides to com- guild.com/archives/000, 088.html). pleting the most difficult tasks in the game (these tasks, Para-textual development takes place outside of the known as raids, nearly all require teams of 15-40 players game worlds themselves but build on the environmental working together to succeed). Bosskillers.com even of- actions (for example, through the guild websites, gaming fers small monetary rewards (between $30 and $50) for communities, and character development blogs); these users who submit well-written guides (the site provides activities also have technical communication counter- a specification document, a warning against plagiarism, parts, such as the development of user profiles and through a 30-day period of user testing of the guides that the focus groups and role playing. Para-textual development editors deem worthy of the award). occurs within communities of practice, whereas docu- One of the questions raised by this wealth of docu- mentation (described below) is primarily textual mentation in na- is whether the availability of such guides blurs ture. the line between playing and working; if users are playing The official World of Warcraft community site theprovides game, the documentation may be seen as a form of Blizzard corporate news, information about upcoming cheating, game but if they are working within the game, doc- patches and events, and forums for users to discuss strategies,umentation is a vital component of success for game debate the histories of the many cultures and subcultures users (for more on "cheating" and game guides, see Mia included in the game, and complain about game and Consalvo'sinterface (2007) Cheating: Gaining Advantage in mechanics that the players find broken or unusable. AlthoughVideogames , which explores the complex relationship there is a great deal of activity on these forums, perhaps between more game structures and official and user-developed interesting are the guild websites: most MMORPGs documentation).provide mechanisms for players to work together as a team, sharing Infrastructural processes include the underlying narra- communication and in-game economic resources; tives in game and systems development of the game worlds them- parlance, these official and explicitly declared teams selves. of co- These processes invoke spatial metaphors and re- players are called guilds. quire awareness of many actors within a specific Outside of the game, most guilds have developed organizational framework, so this element both maps onto guild websites, which serve as community resources and suggests avenues of development for technical com- outside of the official corporate rendering of extra-game munication practices. The most obvious opportunity re-

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Computer Gaming and Technical Communication Eyman

sides in the practices of game development players as well. Mireland argues program- that technical communicators ming documentation that take place can provide as part the support of thethe users game need if we are willing to design itself (that is, distinct from see ourthe roles postdevelopment as rhetoricians and designers rather than documentation detailed above that simply focuses translators on gameof technical use language or and writers of play). As Martin Peterson (2004) argues, documentation. Computer games offer three important opportunities Documentation and information organization for technical communicators. are an First, they offer job opportu- integral part of video game construction. nities. The computerCurrently, game industry is growing at a very fast there exists no uniform, standardized pace; if way we position to write, ourselves to provide technical com- document, or organize information munication in the gamingexpertise to in- computer game design just as we dustry. Because the industry is still do for young other technologies, and still from mobile communications to developing norms, a gap is evident automotive in the toknowledge web-based application, we can expand our and methods used. As the necessity employment for quality options video and also make sure that rhetoric, game design and hence proposal documents design, and usabilityincreases, have their place alongside narrative this knowledge gap presents an opportunity and theories for of playability. technical communicators ( n.p .). The second opportunity is the availability of computer games for technical communication research, ranging from Technical communicators can, with interface some and imaginative interaction design tore- documentation practices thinking, enter the game development of users. industryAlthough we canas seedocu- similar employment oppor- mentation specialists. Similarly, expertise tunities when in considering rhetoric game is developmentan as akin to entrée to contributing to the game designany other technologyprocess withfrom which the technical communicators outset. Research is the most external element of the frame- work, in the research arena, computer games offer unique work, but it nonetheless is part of the overall ecology. opportunities for qualitative studies and technical commu- nication research. Relatively little research into games has been published in technical communication journals, but a great deal of re- The third and final opportunity that I see is that com- search has been published in humanities and social sci- puter game environments and gaming ecologies offer ences fields such as psychology, sociology, cultural studies, theory-building opportunities for technical communica- and history; still more research focuses on software and tion. The ecological framework I have set out in the latter hardware innovations that may spur (or are spurred halfby) of this article provides a possible heuristic for situating game design work. In the past 7 yr, the new, multidisci- technical communication theory (that is, theories of rheto- plinary field of Game Studies has continued an increased ric, design, interaction, and usability) within the complex rate of growth and a gradually increasing amount of aca-interrelationships surfaced within and around games. demic capital as a legitimate field of inquiry. However, My goal here is to offer a tool with which to consider again, the voices of technical communicators, and all thatthe usefulness of computer games for technical communi- we have to bring to this field, are few and far between. cation research and theory; I hope that many of the readers Usability, both as testing and as research, user-experience of this issue of Technical Communication will consider the design, information design and information architecture, benefits of engaging computer game ecologies as oppor- and knowledge management can all figure prominently tunities as for such work. TC contributions of expertise from technical communication to the gaming world. REFERENCES

GAMING THE SYSTEM (S): COMPUTER GAMES AND Anscheutz, L., and S. Rosenbaum. 2002. Expanding roles for OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHINCAL COMMUNICATORS technical communicators. In Reshaping technical In this article, I have argued that computer and video communication, ed. B. Mirel and R. Spilka. Mahwah, NJ: games are both appropriate sites of technical communica- Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 149-164. tion research and present opportunities for technical com- municators. Indeed, the work of technical communication Babii, J. CSI: NY to treat Second Life's potential. http://www. could also be beneficial to game development; as Mirel slnn.com/index.php?SCREEN=article&about=csiny. (2004) notes, "users need better support for many core actions and strategies they devise to get coherently from Blythe, S. 2007. Agencies, ecologies, and the mundane artifacts 'here to there' in complex electronic information spaces in our midst. In Labor ; writing technologies , and the shaping and situationally determined investigations" (381) - which of composition in the academy, ed. P. Takayoshi and P. happens to synchronize neatly with the needs of game Sullivan. New York: Hampton Press, pp. 167-186.

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Bogost, I. 2007. Persuasive games: TheGriebel, expressive T. 2006. Self-portrayal power in a simulated of life: Projecting videogames. Boston: MIT Press. personality and values in The Sims 2. Game studies. International journal of computer game research Brewer, R. 1988. The science of ecology. http://gamestudies.org/0601/articles/griebel. New York: Saunders College Publishing. Harrelson, D. 2006. Minions of the night: Ethnography of a Buchanan, R. 1985. Declaration by design: World of Warcraft Rhetoric, guild, http://www.webchica.com/papers/ argument, and demonstration in design guild-ethno.pdf. practice. Design issues 2(1):4-22. Interactive Digital Software Association. 2001. Economic Castronova, E. 2001 . Virtual worlds: impacts A first-hand of the demand for account playing interactive of entertainment market and society on the cyberian software,frontier. http://web.archive.org/web/2001 060421 2202/ http://ssrn.com/abstract=294828. http://www.idsa.com/releases/EIS2001.pdf.

Consalvo, M. 2007. Cheating: Gaining Ivan, advantageT. 2007. Halo effect in leaves movie industry reeling. Next videogames. Boston: MIT Press. Generation: Interactive Entertainment Today. http://www. next-gen. biz/index.php?option=com_content&task= Crandall, R. W., and J. G. Sidak. 2006. view&id Video = 7 549<em games: id = 2 . Serious business for America's economy. Entertainment Software Association, http://www.theesa.com/archives/files/ Johnson, R., M. Salvo, and M. Zoetewey. 2007. User- 2006%20WHITE%20PAPER%20FINAL.pdf. centered technology in participatory culture: Two decades 'beyond a narrow conception of usability testing.' IEEE Davis, A. In press. "Leeroy Jenkins!" What computer gamers transactions on professional communication 50(4):320-332. can teach us about visual arguments. In Play and pedagogy: Video games and writing instruction, ed. D. Johnson-Eilola, J. 1996. Relocating the value of work. Eyeman, A. Davis, and S. Whittemore. Logan, UT: Utah Technical communication quarterly 5(3):245-270. State University Press. Laitinen, S. 2006. Do usability expert evaluation and test Dibbell, J. 2007. Recalculating the global virtual GDP , yet provide novel and useful data for game development? again. Terra Nova, http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/ Journal of Usability Studies 2(1):64-75. 2007/06/recalculating-t.html. Lederman, L. 2007. Stranger than fiction: Taxing virtual Entertainment Software Association. 2008. Computer and worlds. New York University Law Review http://ssrn.com/ video game industry reaches $18.85 billion in 2007. abstract =969984. http://www.theesa.com/archives/2008/01/computer_and_ vi_1.php. Löwgren, J., and E. Stolterman. 2004. Thoughtful interaction design: A design perspective on information technology. Eskelinen, M. 2001 . Cybertext theory and literary studies , a Boston: MIT Press. user's manual, http://www.altx.com/ebr/ebr12/eskel.htm Mason, E. In press. So you want to be a technical writer:

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Filiciak, M. 2003. Hyperidentities: Postmodern identity Mirel, B. 2004. Writing and database technology: Extending patterns in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. the definition of writing in the workplace. In Central works In The video game theory reader, ed. M. J. Wolf and B. in technical communication, ed. J. Johnson-Eilola and S. Perron. New York: Routledge, pp. 87-102. Selber. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 381-396.

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Computer Gaming and Technical Communication Eyman

Peterson, M. 2004. Why game documentation is essential to a satisfying user experience. Usability daedalus interface: project: The STC The psychology of mmorpgs. usability SIG newsletter 1 1 (2):1 , 6. http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000339.php.

Reich, R. B. 1991. The work of nations: Preparing ourselves for 21st century capitalism. New York: daedalusAlfred A. project:Knopf. The psychology of mmorpgs. http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000467.php. Robbins, S. In press. "CVE, MUVE, MMOE, MMORPG. . . what's the difference?": Virtual environments as compositional models. In Play and pedagogy: Video games and writingDOUGLAS instruction, EYMAN ed. is an assistant professor of English at D. Eyman, A. Davis, and S. Whittemore. George Logan, UT: Mason Utah StateUniversity; he received his PhD in Digital University Press. Rhetoric and Professional Writing from Michigan State Uni- versity in 2007. He is senior editor of the journal Kairos: Spinuzzi, C. 2003. Tracing genres through Rhetoric, organizations: Technology, A Pedagogy and is the list and review sociocultural approach to information editor design. of Cambridge: the H-Net discussion list H-DigiRhet. His level-70 MIT Press. troll rogue can often be seen adventuring through the Shad- owmoon Valley on the World of Warcraft Aggramar server. Stroupe, C. 2007. Hacking the cool: The shape of writing 1 I realize that there has been a history of rivalry between culture in the space of New Media. Computers and narrative and ludology when it comes to the interpretation of Composition 24(4):421-442. video games (Eskelinen 2001; 2004; Stroup 2007). However, I am not suggesting that technical communicators become - games studies theorists in the field of literary studies. My approach to understanding and constructing point is that documentation. technical communicators can work with game Journal of computer documentation designers 24(3): 1 69-1as they 81 . build, develop, and deploy complex sys- tems (that is, games), and it is the game designers that con- Yee, N. 2003a. Learning leadership tinue skills. to Thespeak daedalus of their work in terms of narrative even if project: The psychology of mmorpgs. game studies scholars have moved beyond narratology as a http://www.nickyee.com/daedalus/archives/000338.php. theoretical framework for discussing games.

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