2022
Friman, Usva
Sukupuoli, pelaajaidentiteetti ja pelikulttuurinen osallisuus
In: Friman, Usva; Arjoranta, Jonne; Kinnunen, Jani; Heljakka, Katriina; Stenros, Jaakko (Ed.): Pelit kulttuurina, Vastapaino, 2022, ISBN: 978-951-768-965-6.
Book chapter
Tags: Gender, Participatory culture, Player identity
@incollection{Friman2022c,
title = {Sukupuoli, pelaajaidentiteetti ja pelikulttuurinen osallisuus},
author = {Usva Friman},
editor = {Usva Friman and Jonne Arjoranta and Jani Kinnunen and Katriina Heljakka and Jaakko Stenros},
isbn = {978-951-768-965-6},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-31},
urldate = {2022-03-31},
booktitle = {Pelit kulttuurina},
publisher = {Vastapaino},
chapter = {6},
keywords = {Gender, Participatory culture, Player identity},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
Blom, Joleen
In: Ruotsalainen, Maria; Törhönen, Maria; Karhulahti, Veli-Matti (Ed.): Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch, pp. 49-66, Palgrave Macmillan, 2022, ISBN: 978-3-030-82766-3.
Book chapter Open access
Abstract | Links | Tags: Author, Game characters, Implied player, Overwatch, Participatory culture, Reader-response criticism, Transmedia
@incollection{Blom2022,
title = {The Player’s Interpretative Agency and the Developer’s Disruptive Powers: How Blizzard Enforces Authorial Intention in Overwatch},
author = {Joleen Blom},
editor = {Maria Ruotsalainen and Maria Törhönen and Veli-Matti Karhulahti},
url = {https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82767-0_4},
isbn = {978-3-030-82766-3},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-03-10},
urldate = {2022-03-10},
booktitle = {Modes of Esports Engagement in Overwatch},
pages = {49-66},
publisher = {Palgrave Macmillan},
abstract = {With the overhaul of Mercy, one of Overwatch’s healer characters, in August 2017, Blizzard Entertainment changed the healer’s ultimate ability to resurrect all allies at once to one where her abilities were only amplified in order to prevent Mercy players to hide until her ability was ready to be used. This change to the hero caused the player to not only adjust to how they engage with Mercy inside the Overwatch game, but also influenced how they perceive her as a fictional being—as a character, that is. According to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (2019), in our participatory culture of the digital age, the meaning of media works is constantly negotiated as more people participate in writing, reading, playing, and watching different media for work and leisure. The players of games, like anyone who engages with media content, do not simply consume, but take an active part in the construction of the game to create their own unique version of the work (Mortensen 2003). However, more than ever before, games require constant internet connection to be played, which grants developers, such as Blizzard Entertainment, the possibility to alter their content rapidly and frequently based on fluctuating financial and other strategic needs. Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment 2016b) represents one such product: being systematically altered by Blizzard Entertainment so that the players’ interpretative agency over their meaning-making— how they make sense of the game and play it—is heavily subjected to the developer’s evolving authorial intentions.},
keywords = {Author, Game characters, Implied player, Overwatch, Participatory culture, Reader-response criticism, Transmedia},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {incollection}
}
With the overhaul of Mercy, one of Overwatch’s healer characters, in August 2017, Blizzard Entertainment changed the healer’s ultimate ability to resurrect all allies at once to one where her abilities were only amplified in order to prevent Mercy players to hide until her ability was ready to be used. This change to the hero caused the player to not only adjust to how they engage with Mercy inside the Overwatch game, but also influenced how they perceive her as a fictional being—as a character, that is. According to Ebony Elizabeth Thomas (2019), in our participatory culture of the digital age, the meaning of media works is constantly negotiated as more people participate in writing, reading, playing, and watching different media for work and leisure. The players of games, like anyone who engages with media content, do not simply consume, but take an active part in the construction of the game to create their own unique version of the work (Mortensen 2003). However, more than ever before, games require constant internet connection to be played, which grants developers, such as Blizzard Entertainment, the possibility to alter their content rapidly and frequently based on fluctuating financial and other strategic needs. Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment 2016b) represents one such product: being systematically altered by Blizzard Entertainment so that the players’ interpretative agency over their meaning-making— how they make sense of the game and play it—is heavily subjected to the developer’s evolving authorial intentions.