Online gaming communities have met a well-deserved rise in academic interest in recent years, yet the focus seems to linger or long-term or permanent communities; virtual temporary teams are a subject which leaves room for rich interpretations still. In this spirit, this thesis addresses the question of how strangers collaborate in solving complex tasks together, by way of analysing temporary teams in the “League of Legends” community. The focus of the study are the communicative and strategic practices that players employ during ranked games in their attempt to defeat the opposing team, as well as what might determine them to engage in such endeavours. The thesis sets off by presenting relevant information about the competitive League of Legends community, in the spirit of introducing the reader to a League-specific culture that will hopefully become familiar by the end of the study. This is followed by an account of related research on this matter, in terms of how previous studies connect to the one at hand. The theoretical foundation that follows is essential to the discussion of the findings. The methodological approach is essentially a cyber-ethnography, with a focus on two methods: textual analysis and semi-structured interviews. The main findings show a surprising level of complexity in what communicative and strategic patterns are concerned, which also points towards the interdependency between them. Moreover, the results show a clear connection between in-game social strata and player motivation in competitive communities. This study aims not only to update the knowledge we have on how social interactions are shaping and evolving in the context of online gaming, but also to provide results that are transferable and applicable in other fields of research; from culture and society to more particular areas such as management training and learning at work, a multitude of academic fields can benefit from and hopefully expand on the outcome of this thesis.

Erfarenheter från Sverige och internationellt visar att det finns brister i förmågan att hantera kriser. Det är framför allt förmåga att agera tillsammans och samordnat med olika aktörer som behöver utvecklas. I detta visar även forskning att det blir allt vanligare att arbeta i tillfälliga team, inom vilka externa experter i ledande befattning ofta tillsätts för att kunna hantera pågående kriser. Syftet med denna studie har varit att få en djupare förståelse för potentiella framgångsfaktorer och utmaningar som tillfälliga team och dess ledare kan möta under pågående kriser. Utifrån en kvalitativ ansats genomfördes sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med deltagare som har erfarenhet av att verka som externa experter i ledande befattning i tillfälliga team. Under intervjuerna beskrev deltagarna sina upplevelser, tolkningar och erfarenheter av att arbeta under dessa omständigheter. Resultatet av det insamlade materialet resulterade i fyra framträdande dimensioner: organisatoriska faktorer, ledarskap, teamfaktorer och individfaktorer. Samtliga dimensioner påverkar arbetet i varierande grad under pågående kris och inkluderar såväl framgångsfaktorer som utmaningar. Det framkom också att respektive dimension inte bör ses som en självständig enhet, utan som en del av en nödvändig synergi där samtliga dimensioner påverkar varandra. Att kunna arbeta tillsammans i samspel med andra framkom som avgörande faktor för att på bästa sätt kunna hantera pågående kriser. Ingen enskild individ, tillfälligt team eller aktör kan ensam på ett framgångsrikt vis hantera pågående kris. Att tillsammans kunna möta och hantera allt vad pågående kris kan innebära har visat sig vara avgörande. / International and Swedish experiences indicate deficiencies regarding the ability to handle crises. Above all it is the ability to act coordinated with others that is in need of improvement. Current research also shows that it is becoming more and more common to work in temporary teams, in which external experts are called in to help deal with ongoing crises. The purpose of this study ha been to gain a deeper understanding of potential success factors and challenges that temporary teams and external experts in leading positions, may face during ongoing crises. Through a qualitative approach, six semi structured interviews were made. During these interviews the participants, who had expertise and knowledge from working in these specific circumstances, described their views, interpretations and experiences regarding exercise of leadership in temporary teams. The analysis resulted in four prominent dimensions and indicates that organizational factors, leadership, team factors and individual factors commonly affect the ongoing work during crises and includes success factors as well as challenges. It also became clear that each of these dimensions should not be seen as independent entities, but instead as a part of a synergy in which all dimensions affect each other. To be able to work well together with others in a functioning synergy, appears to be crucial. No man, woman, team or actor can in a successful way handle a crisis by themselves. The key factor therefore appears to be the ability to act together.