Sunday, April 21, 2013

Reflection: Two Discourse Communities



The League of Legends club is interesting when studied as a discourse community, as the League of Legends game, and as the club itself can be considered individual discourse communities. In terms of the game itself, League of Legends utilizes its own unique language. The game employs specific slang, such as OP, support, carry, OOM, and Leash. All of these terms have their own unique meaning within the context of LOL, and can be heard during any given game. Furthermore, players typically communicate with each other through the in-game chat or out of game video chat. The in-game chat function is native to the game and allows players to type text to one another. Since this is sometimes difficult during intense bouts of play, players that know each other will set up audio chats through programs like Skype or Oovoo. This unique method of communicating leaves player’s hands free, while still allowing them to talk to each other.

On the other hand, the League of Legends club at Purdue University is also a discourse community, as they employ methods of communication unique to their club. The club officers sets up meetings with general members through its Facebook page, and then they meet in person to play. This face to face interaction is unique to the club, as typical League of Legends players do not ever interact face to face, as the game is played online, allowing players to connect with people from all over the world without moving from their computer. The dual discourse community nature of our documentary subject has thus far proven beneficial for our project, as it provides us with plenty of material to discuss in the documentary.

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