Friday, 6 September 2013

Message Received

In COD, the only written behaviour performed is via the online private messaging system. In my particular virtual network, the written aspect of communication is not the primary focus of participating. More attention is placed on the actual in-game voice communication, however COD’s written adaptation of self-expressive written communication is simplistic yet effective for its purpose. Van Luyn (2013) states that “Genres are dialogues; they form links in the chain of speech communication”, which is particularly evident in COD where the main objectives of written com-munication is to; invite players to a game you are in (known as lobbies), instant message (IM), and invite players to be your  'friends'.
Instantaneous back and forth messaging (IM) has its own written language. Terms or initialisms such as ‘GG’ (GoodGame) or ‘KDR’ (KillDeathRatio) are used in messages to allow for quicker responses and writing. The use of initailisms, and what they actually mean, is important in understanding the context of conversation. Writers rely on “presuppositions” (McNeill, 2011) to engage their recipients (p. 320). Without having prior knowledge of certain words and their appropriate uses, the written communication can look like a bunch of letters mixed up that do not actually spell anything. Once I became familiar with how these terms are used, I found that the conventions of written language are quite easy to use and understand; the letters mean a particular word that is exclusive to this genre of gameplay. When I have received and sent messages, I found that game invites and friend requests are pre-typed to make a quick exchange. There is the option to add extra text, however, due to the writing medium being a controller - not a keyboard – players often do not insert supporting text. Overall, I found that this type of written communication works excellently with how the game is structured. Quick easy exchanges parallel the short amount of time the game is in the lobby.

References

McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?. A Genre Moves from Page to Screen. Language and New Media (pp. 313-323). New Jersey: Hampton Press Inc.

Van Luyn, A. (2013). BA1002: Our Space, Networks, Narrative and the Making of Place, Lecture 6: Genre and Identity [Power Point Slides]. Retrieved from: http://learnjcu.edu.au

Image Credit

Hodges, B. (2011). Social Media Relationship Can Be Powerful [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://relatingonline.com/archives/628

2 comments:

  1. Hi Jess,
    I found it interesting how Call of Duty has an actual online chat service. Although I do not play the newer games that have internet connectivity allowing players to talk to their virtual ‘teams’. Even though, as you say, the written communication is simplistic there is really no need for a instant messaging service. The idea that a written service could bring the online gaming world and its members closer in comradery. The idea that there are preset texts that users can use with their controllers instead of having to write everything out with the controller – which everyone knows is difficult – is a brilliant idea that the developers have implemented. The use of certain words and phrases is very similar to how Tumblr operates; as soon as you learn the appropriate meaning, it makes life so much easier. As McNeill (2011) says “common ground becomes the means for establishing and policing community boundaries (p. 320).” This would mean that as all members have experience in the game it is easier to establish those that are new to the game and those that are gaming veterans.

    References
    McNeill, L. (2011). Diary 2.0?: A genre moves from page to screen. Language and new media: Linguistic, cultural and technological evolutions. (Pp.313-323).

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