I'm working on a university research paper on the use of English in online video games, and I'm searching for material to use as a base from which to analyse the language. Basically, I'm making an academic description of the types of English people use in text to communicate with others in an online multiplayer environment. What I need is authentic logs of multiplayer games, either MMO or other kind of games.
Right now I have a couple of friends gathering logs from their WoW playing, but it would be best if I could gather chat logs from multiple games and sources. That said, are there people who could help me gather said material?
I'm not looking for anything specific in the language. Everyday usage of language, in raiding, PvP, PvE, and all sorts of general chats. Logs from non-MMO games like LoL or Starcraft would be interesting to find too, but I don't think there is a chat logging method for them available.
If someone is interested in helping, please either post here or PM me and I'll get back to you.
There are chatlogs from LoL... it's called the Tribunal ;)
My Chatlogs, that is, not a cross-section of the Worst the League community has to offer.
If it's on the Tribunal, it's probably because someone was a Horrible Person.
But seriously, if I find out how to keep chatlogs from my Planetside 2 sessions, I'd gladly contribute them.
Planetside 2 would definitely be an interesting game to tackle. The scope of the paper is fairly limited this time around, but I'm definitely going to expand it in my later studies. From my time playing the game, there's a lot of joking (at least I hope so) "faction loyalty" going on, with people yelling mottos and taunts to the other factions. It fits into the MMO part of the paper which is my main focus right now.
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Originally Posted by Thanatos 51-50
I'll see if I can't record me some chatlogs from LoL.
Other than that, your paper interests me. I would like to know more.
LoL chatlogs would be very much appreciated, since it is one of the most popular online games there are at the moment. I don't believe LoL has an inbuilt chat logger, so I won't be picky about the way the logs are presented, screenshots, text or otherwise. Timestamps would be nice, but not essential.
As for the paper itself, right now I'm mainly focusing on the general way language is used in games, and how it differs from normal internet usage. David Crystal has more than a few books on the topic of Internet English, which will serve as the base comparison. Then I'll be observing and analysing the various common features in focused PvE, focused PvP and "general" chat, pointing out why people do the things they do and how the use of abbreviations are used to maximize the efficiency of the chat under pressure as well as other ways to be "more efficient" in chat. Abbreviations would likely get their own section for analysis, as well as general etiquette during games (things like gl/hf and gg, and how games themselves encourage being polite. LoL's Tribunal would likely be mentioned here one way or another). There's a lot more to analyse, like the various power structures in guilds and how they're made and enforced (because most of the time, the social statuses in guilds are equal and based on respect more than authority), and how chatting varies in different genres which I might not have room to properly address in this paper.
If/when I'm to expand the scope of the research, it would likely start including things like how people see poor grammar and spelling in different games and situations (for example, how exactly do the impressions you get from poor/excessive grammar differ when the person talking is in PvP, or just hanging around in Stormwind). That's beyond the scope of my current paper though, and would involve questionnaires and many other things for which I have neither the time nor the resources at the moment.
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Originally Posted by Joran
There are chatlogs from LoL... it's called the Tribunal ;)
I took a look at the Tribunal in LoL (as far as I could anyway). It's definitely useful, but it's not a valid source for general information. Tribunal cases are all exceptions, and are there because something happened, most likely verbal abuse or similar things. While they're very useful for material of people actually using language, I also have to note that they are exceptions to the extremely limited amount of talk that happens during a normal game. As one of my friends put it, most people are there to play the game, not to chat.
The other problem with the Tribunal is that you have to have a certain level account to access it. And I don't play LoL.
Still, the language used isn't everything. The lack of conversation is a distinct factor in video games too which I'm going to be documenting and that makes chat all the more significant when it happens. Even mundane things are interesting and relevant, so don't be afraid of sending logs of a game where the only things said are "hi" at the start and "gg" at the end. Sure, I don't really want all my logs to be like that, but they're not insignificant either.
There might be some decent information contained within paratextual sources such as these forums here. Why limit the language used to only "in-game" when games probably also influence the language "about" its self.
It might even give you comparisons from which to draw upon such as a thread dedicated specifically to a certain game while others are based more on other life issues.
Also, don't forget about FAQ's. These are questions brought up due to gaming and are most likely in easy-to-find records (plus give you an idea of gamers speaking to different rhetorical audiences other than fellow gamers).
There might be some decent information contained within paratextual sources such as these forums here. Why limit the language used to only "in-game" when games probably also influence the language "about" its self.
It might even give you comparisons from which to draw upon such as a thread dedicated specifically to a certain game while others are based more on other life issues.
Why in-game only? No particular reason other than "I just want to". People talking about the games in forums is far different from in-game, which is both more manageable (don't have to sift through dozens and dozens of forums to get an accurate portrayal of the average playerbase) and more interesting (forum discussions are far more eloquent and have less interesting things in them, such as common game etiquette). Specific terminology will be mentioned, but won't be too much of a focus of the paper, since every game has their own terms they use and expanding upon every single game would take forever. Forum discussions haven't been discounted though, if there's something relevant in forums it will be addressed. However, I likely won't start pursuing leads in forum threads, because I know neither the terminology nor what to search for.
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Also, don't forget about FAQ's. These are questions brought up due to gaming and are most likely in easy-to-find records (plus give you an idea of gamers speaking to different rhetorical audiences other than fellow gamers).
The paper is mostly concerned with gamers communicating (or at least trying to) with each other, but the FAQ might be useful for the reason you mentioned. I will keep it that in mind, thank you.
Planetside 2 would definitely be an interesting game to tackle. The scope of the paper is fairly limited this time around, but I'm definitely going to expand it in my later studies. From my time playing the game, there's a lot of joking (at least I hope so) "faction loyalty" going on, with people yelling mottos and taunts to the other factions. It fits into the MMO part of the paper which is my main focus right now.
Seems PS2 doesn't keep local chatlogs, but I can screenshot some of the most interesting things I see. Although people tend to shout sometimes, and sometimes even faction-related things, it's mostly All Quiet on the Vanu Front.
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