Project: Applied Ethnography Role: Analyzing Data, Design, Moderating Duration: 4 Months
Overview
This ethnographic report is based off of a series of interviews and observations at a place called Battle and Brew to find out what eSports meant to its community. We also wanted to find out from the community if they felt that traditional sports differed from eSports in any way.
Challenges
1) The environment was very busy, so it was tricky to focus on certain details.
2) New Atlanta Reign players attended the Homestand Afterparty, making Battle and Brew even more busy and packed with fans.
3) We had to be mindful of game times because fans didn't want to be away from the tv too long.
Meet the Team
Seb Gonzalez
Lead Ethnographer
Yanci Pengelly
Ethnographer
Interview Questions
There were questions we asked along the way to really explore the influence that eSports had on the lives of the people who followed it so eagerly. Our main interview questions were:
1) What are some formalities used whenever eSports teams are competing?
2) Do you have an MVP/favorite player?
3) How do you build attachment to the player? Is it based on the character(s) they play?
4) Are there any team values that your team uphold throughout the tournament?
5) Do you follow other eSports (ex. Street Fighter, League of Legends, etc)?
6) Do you follow traditional sports (ex. Basketball, soccer, etc)?
7) If you follow both eSports and traditional sports, do you see more similarities or differences?
8) Do you talk about eSports with your friends and family?
9) What piqued your interest in your favorite team?
10) Are there eSports for video games that you don’t play, but enjoy following?
Background
Esports have been around since the early 70's and has been rising in popularity ever since. With eSport's significant fan base as games are played competitively throughout the world, we wanted to find out what the industry was like and how it may be compared to more traditional sports. It's in the Overwatch League that we explored some aspects of eSports thanks to the Atlanta Royal Family, a local event hosting group for the Atlanta Reign team that's in the League. Overwatch is a first-player-shooter game full of action and dynamic gameplay that is team based. Developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, this game has united gamers across the world and is a playing field for many eSport teams. In our report we also discuss these teams and what eSports mean to its fans.
Findings
My team partner and I got to attend two events at Battle and Brew, one of them was the Atlanta Homestand After Party to celebrate the game that took place at the Cobb Energy Center while the other one was the Atlanta Reign vs. the Huangzhou Spark Watch Party where the actual live viewing of a match took place. Our ethnography tool kit included notebooks as well as phones to record and take pictures whenever it was allowed. From there we took on our roles for the applied ethnography to observe as much as we can in the environment we were in. With contextual inquiry and our observation we were able to put together jottings on what the lively world of gaming looked like.
Our Participants
We had 4 interviews with participants who were very open to share with us what there thoughts were on eSports. I took notes and recorded while my partner interviewed our participants.
Megan
Our first interview was with Megan, she is a cosplayer who loves to show up to watch parties as the famous character D.Va. Megan shared with us how much she kept up with the Overwatch League and what defined her favorite teams as well as players. It was usually diversity that made a team stand out to her when looking at rosters and when it came to players it was all about personality when she mentioned how Daco was one of the most relatable players. This showed us that player preferences in eSports didn't always go down to skills but other reasons unique to the fan. She also mentioned how she is still a fan of traditional sports and follows the Georgia Bulldogs since she graduated from University of Georgia.
Kendra
Kendra is an organizer for the Atlanta Royal Masquerade a cosplaying group based in Atlanta for group pictures at events. She told us how she had never played a game of Overwatch before but stilled loved to show up to the Watch Parties to be around friends and help out with her cosplaying group. That showed how much of an impact the friendly and welcoming environment of the Watch Parties had on people attending. She also mentioned to us how her parents, who were from Hong Kong, didn't know much about how involved she was in the eSports community since eSports wasn't praised as much in her culture.
Ryan
A fan of both traditional gaming and eSports, Ryan is a graduate from Southern Polytechnic State University who studied Game Design. He also played football and is a host on the Bird Watchers, a live podcast for the Overwatch League. He spoke on how eSports was losing a lot of the bravado that may come with traditional sports sometimes. He told us a story from when he was at an eSports event and how he thought two guys were about to fight because of the words they exchanged and then they both sat down and decided to settle the dispute through a game. He also mentioned how he would be willing to bring people to a Watch Party who don't follow eSports since the energy was always so great.
Val
Val is a member of the Atlanta Royal Family who was a longtime fan of eSports. It was through the Atlanta Royal Family, that he had made a number of friendships that he spoke very fondly of. He told us how casual the group was and that he knew he could reach out to his friends in the group to just hang out. A great point he brought up is how the teams on the League itself shares the same inviting attitude when he told us how he was able to reach out to one of the players on the team and just start chatting with them through messaging.
Moving Forward
In result of our endeavors to see what the eSports community was about, we were sold on the fact that this community was undoubtedly centered around close bonds. A lot of these bonds seem to happen through a love for games and how it brought everyone and anyone together. We learned that eSports did differ from traditional sports in some ways while there were some similarities too. The Atlanta Royal Family showed us with their amazing network of members how meaningful the concept of eSports is.
