Gaming Capital on Overwatch's Official Forums

Datos Bibliográficos

ID18960617
AutoresHenry Korkeila (0000-0002-0187-2690, University of Turku, autor de correspondencia), Steven Dashiell (0000-0003-0381-9989, American University), J Tuomas Harviainen (0000-0002-6085-5663, Tampere University)
Año2025
Volumen20
Número2
Páginas171-189
Fecha de publicación2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
EditorialSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/15554120231198890
OpenAlexW4386729079
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas4
Referencias citadas23

This study uses the public discussion boards of Overwatch to see how context-based gaming capital is present, accumulated and expended through the messages. The data consists of a 1-month snapshot from which 50 most viewed threads were analyzed. The following aspects were recorded from each thread and first 10 replies: views, number of comments, users’ role in forums, has the developer replied to thread, topic, date, whether there are types of capital (social, economic, cultural, symbolic) present, and in what linguistic form is the message posted. Findings: while discussions are within Overwatch's framework, there is scarcely any demonstrable amount of gaming capital in a single post or reply. Certain topics elicited more discussion, articulation methods varied but greatly leaned on the user's anecdotal experiences. Further, it was found that gaming capital is used to validate users’ own views and argument for the credibility of the user and their messages

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