Video games are common hobbies today, and as such they have been studied within the field of LIS. However, video gaming is a wide subject, and therefore there still exist areas that have not yet been properly researched. This bachelor thesis investigates the ways video game players experience the use of external and internal information and the effect it has on their gameplay experiences. The aim of this study is to determine players’ motivations behind searching for information in relation to gaming and the factors they consider when doing so. Metagaming, which is a commonly used term when it comes to describing what is popular and considered optimal within gaming communities, is explored within the thesis. The theoretical framework that is being adopted for this study and which is being used to interpret the empirical data is Information Practices, Cognitive Authority and McKenzie’s Information Practices model, with related terms. This study is qualitative in nature, and the method that is being used is semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that the kinds of information sources and media types that are used by the players are varied. Furthermore the type of game that is being played has a significant impact on the ways in which the players view external and internal information seeking. Metagaming is shown to be a strong influence on how information is searched for in relation to online games. The impact of communally negotiated norms is clear and is clarified within the thesis.

The main objective of this thesis is the description and characterization of media content generated within the community around the game League of Legends inside the phenomenon of e-sports. The central issue is the definition of metagame term and anchoring its functions in different types of media content rising in the community around the game League of Legends. The output of this work is analysis of different types of media content, in which the term metagame is designed, interpreted and transmitted to the audience.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-08-22T12:17:33Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Saulo de Oliveira Machado.pdf: 2123394 bytes, checksum: c349146a4877892402785fb3a1e6f964 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T12:17:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Saulo de Oliveira Machado.pdf: 2123394 bytes, checksum: c349146a4877892402785fb3a1e6f964 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-29 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The attendant research aims to describe the present relations between the concepts of magic circle and metagame and how they are evidenced in the experience of the player. With the increasing presence of digital and board games in the daily life of society, it seems propitious that we return efforts to decipher the elements that make up the experience lived in the games through the players. Through the review of these two concepts we managed to elaborate how their joint acting is presented through a common player presence in the game. To do so, we start with a review of the concepts of magic circle and metagame, its definitions, its most used approaches and how they focus on the experience that the player has during the game. Finally, we focus on demonstrating the presence of these concepts through the MMORPG, World of Warcraft, a game that constains in its diverse ways of playing, various approaches for the player to have contact with his universe / A presente pesquisa tem como objetivo descrever as relações presentes entre os conceitos de círculo mágico e metajogo e como eles se evidenciam na experiência do jogador. Com a crescente presença dos jogos digitais e de tabuleiro no cotidiano da sociedade, parece propício que voltemos esforços em decifrar os elementos que compõe a experiência vivida nos jogos através dos jogadores. Através da revisão destes dois conceitos conseguir elaborar como sua atuação conjunta se apresenta através de um ator comum presença do jogador no jogar. Para tanto, partimos de uma revisão dos conceitos de círculo mágico e metajogo, suas definições, suas abordagens mais utilizadas e como eles se incidem sobre a experiência que o jogador tem durante o jogar. Por fim, nos concentramos em demonstrar a presença destes conceitos através do MMORPG, World of Warcraft, um game que consegue conter em seus diversificados modos de jogar, diversas abordagens para que o jogador tenha contato com seu universo

Over the many years since their inception, the complexity of video games has risen considerably. With this increase in complexity comes an increase in the number of possible choices for players and increased difficultly for developers who try to balance the effectiveness of these choices. In this thesis we demonstrate that unsupervised learning can give game developers extra insight into their own games, providing them with a tool that can potentially alert them to problems faster than they would otherwise be able to find. Specifically, we use DBSCAN to look at League of Legends and the metagame players have formed with their choices and attempt to detect when the metagame shifts possibly giving the developer insight into what changes they should affect to achieve a more balanced, fun game.

This research paper presents a study of the Teamfight Tactics (Riot Games, 2019) metagame and its evolution over time. For this research purpose, we have defined metagames as the ways in which games exist within broader social and cultural contexts. By using a mixed-methods approach, we explore players' relationship with the TFT metagame, their strategies used to succeed, and the factors that influence the metagame's evolution, as well as how TFT metamedia impacts players' relationship with the metagame. Our research's theoretical framework is based on the idea of metagame analysis presented in 2017 by Boluk and LeMieux. The main results of our study show that most players consume some kind of TFT-related metamedia, which suggests that metamedia has a big influence on how players approach TFT and formulate their gameplay strategies. Players with varying skill-levels may consume different kinds of metamedia, which raises the possibility that they may be persuaded to adopt distinct approaches to playing the game and thereby contribute to the emergence of the metagame. This implies that the impact of metamedia on the metagame is not ubiquitous for all players and that additional study is required to properly comprehend the connection between the consumption of metamedia, skill level, and the metagame evolution. Due to the focus on TFT and the small sample size of our data collection, our research is restricted. However, our findings may be intriguing to TFT players, game developers, and researchers who are interested in game design, player behavior, and competitive gaming. With a particular focus on highlighting insights of the TFT metagame and its relation with metamedia, this study contributes to the larger discussion on game metagames and their development over time.

The present doctoral thesis addresses the insufficient exploration of the concept of play style in current video game player's research. To reach the goal, theoretical framework of style as an intentional model of player's believes and desires is used. The main proposition of this particular paper is based on the presumption that play style works as a tool for predicting opponent's behavior. The research consists of two parts. The first one proposes a categorization which might in greater accuracy explain existing forms of play. The second part researches the topic of intentionality further through the procedural model of style prediction in progaming area, which is exemplified by the video game League of Legends. The results are based on extensive analysis of players' texts, interviews with semiprofessional players, commentators and game journalists. The conclusion implies a significant number of play styles and procedural complexity of recursive theory of mind ("I think about what you think that I think") in the field of video games. Keywords: Play Style, Intentionality, Intentional Model, Metagame, Metacognition, Mindgame, Progaming, Theory of Mind, Player Typology, Video Game

Progression of human civilization in fields of technology, culture and media is closely tied to the creation of remains known as a cultural heritage. These artefacts and knowledge are testimonies of human cultures of distant and recent pasts. In last two decades, a trend of creating and living in synthetic worlds has emerged with social media and vast digital games being prime examples of such synthetic worlds. To better understand human culture, a new, yet undeveloped and academically unestablished (even though suggested by texts in past 30 years) interdisciplinar field has emerged: archaogaming. Its mission is researching distant and recent past through cultural heritage in and of digital games, connecting archaeology, game and media studies, using methods and tools inspired by archaeological practice. Among such methods belongs digital ethnography and on-site research, methods used in this Master's thesis' research. Its aim was to describe artefacts used and left in game worlds by gamers of three chosen digital games: GTA Online, Fortnite Battle Royale and Soul Calibur VI. Moreover, other goals of this research were to identify factors influencing such relics and their lifespan. Analysis of data collected during 60 gaming sessions throughout the trio of synthetic worlds suggests that artefacts...