MAXWELL – Weekly Writing for Rhetoric of Gaming F2017

Final Project

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17CBL_Jg8FaFwxxS3q1zYXoLHXiONbPDDMlBF7W1CfLs

As a note: I had sent my project to you as a word document last Friday, December, 15th, but never heard back from you

Project 1 – Rhetoric of myCareer in NBA 2K18

https://docs.google.com/document/d/109d_7ujFstw263glfBYfgFr2kqLNNt5Ap1Jg59DFw6w

Topic Proposal, containing a topic, a working thesis, and at least one primary (game object) and secondary source shared via the weekly blogs, no later than 1159 9/29 (5%) – YES
Presentation of topic proposal, in class 10/3 (5 %) – YES
Defense of topic proposal in conference with me no later than 10/3 (5%) – YES
A draft project overview with a thesis and and no fewer than 200 words, shared on our weekly blogs no later than 10/6 (5%) – YES
Commenting on two other writing projects via the blogs, on or before 10/8 (5%); – NO
A draft conference with me, on or before 10/6 (5%) – YES
Another draft conference with me, showing a substantially finished draft of the project, on or before 10/13 (5%); – YES
A near-final draft, shared/linked from a post on our shared blog, on or before 10/13 (5%); – YES
A final round of commenting on two drafts, due on or before 10/14 (5%) – NO

Final Draft – NBA 2K

Since its inception in 1999, the NBA 2K gaming franchise has grown to be one of the highest selling sports games in the world. With millions of copies being bought every year with the annual release, NBA 2K has evolved from the simple competitive play of battling it out on the hardwood against your friends, to being able to play online against someone on the other side of the world in real life time. One of the most distinct feature which has risen to prominence in the 2K gaming franchise, would be the addition of the career mode, which gives the player of the video game the ability to create their own avatar and follow the path to become an NBA legend. With this distinct feature, comes a unique situation that can be examined when looking at a type of play that allows a player to make an avatar that looks like how the player conceives them selves, acts and/or plays like how they may play the real-life version of basketball, and enter into a computer generated game which follows along a fictionalized storyline inside the constructs of the NBA lifestyle and basketball gaming aspects such as practicing and playing in a NBA game against the digitalized versions of real-life NBA stars. What I look to examine, would be this type of play I’ve described and how the player of this type of play interacts with their avatar, making them better in certain basketball attributes and/or customizing them to how they would see them selves if they were in the role of an NBA star and how these two types of style of play differentiate from one another in a rhetorical standpoint.

When first starting the game, the user is asked to design an avatar of there own and customize the looks of their basketball player within the realm of options of height, weight, skin tone and physique. The player may also go through the steps of changing how the face looks by sculpting different aspects of facial features such as the cheek, nose, ears, eyes, and mold them how the user sees fit to them. Then, the user is able to choose from different styles of hair and facial hair along with different colors for the hair choices. The user is able to then pick and choose different accessories and clothing items for their avatar to wear during gameplay on the court and within the realm of the story mode. Though the basis of the customization is required when beginning the game and the story mode, many players can be found within the realm of the online story mode that have gone beyond the basics of the clothing and accessories you begin with and bought, using the NBA 2K currency, clothing and accessories that further customize the look of the avatar. When examine this aspect of the game, it becomes evident that though not all users customize a close to life like representation of them selves with their avatar, many decisions regarding customization are made on the personal connection between user and avatar that result on the user gaining a positive feeling from the ability to make a character that represents ones self.

In the same aspect of spending virtual cash to purchase the aesthetics of the users personalized avatar, the players of the game may use the same currency to boost the actual basketball playing aspects of the character. When looking at this side of the myCareer mode of the game, the player is first started off with several options that lay the ground work to the particular playing style of your avatar and how they will exceed in the actual gaming aspect of the game; whether that be either following the story mode or playing online with fellow users of the game in a street ball style of play, the user can explore different options of playing styles at the traditional basketball positions and/or cross the boundaries of the various hybrids of positions that can be seen in todays NBA players. When progressing through the various game modes, the user will accumulate the currency that 2K gives to its users and can use it for a variety of measures. With regards to the use of this currency to the ability to better the users avatar in the basketball skills aspect, the user may pick and choose what skills they feel are needed to be improved on to raise their character to the status of all-time great.

Thesis and Rough Draft

Topic Proposal

For my project, I will be using prompt #2 to discuss the relationship of play and player when looking at popular sporting video games, and the game modes that involve a creation of a personal player and the playing of that player in game modes that have you build your character to become a hall of fame caliber player. Though in the game modes, one will usually tend to creat players that look at even play the sport like they feel they play as, I would like to point out that the overall goal of the player of the video game would be to construct the greatest version of them selves and creating a more than ideal version of a life they create in the game. I will be looking mostly at the NBA 2K franchise, as well as the Madden games.

Rhetorical Analysis

In the most recent NBA 2k game that was just released, their is a particular game mode titled myCareer that lets you create a character and step into the story of “DJ” and play through his career from the streets to the NBA. In the game mode, you are able to customize your own player that may or may not look like your actual self, with the option to even scan your face with a cell phone application and scanned into the game and onto your player. Throughout the game, you can customize your players attributes to the playing style of your choice and focus on bringing up your skills in selected areas of your game.

Though overall your goal is to be the best and win as much as many championships as possible, there is no exact end goal, rather specific goals one might set for them selves outside the realm of the video game. This begs the interesting conversation then, comparing the type of play that can be compared to a Sims type environment where you are creating a player and setting goals outside the realm of the video game, would Juul consider this a none game, even though you are still competing and winning the basketball games that are being played inside the game.

Weekly Research 3

Lyons, Elizabeth J, et al. “Engagement, Enjoyment, and Energy Expenditure During Active Video Game Play.” Health Psychology, vol. 33, no. 2, 14 Feb. 2014, pp. 174–181. EBSCOhost.
http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=940da24a-0873-4be7-be2f-c4dd90acffdc%40sessionmgr4010

In this article, the authors study the effects of video games that which require physical activity and how that activity correlates between enjoyment of the game and how much energy is expended while playing. In their study, they examine data collected from a group of people playing the popular dancing video game, Dance Dance Revolution, and look at how enjoyment while playing is related to energy spent while playing. At the end of their study, they conclude that games that are more enjoyable to play may correlate to a great level of energy expended thus more exercise for the player.

Weekly Research 2

Przybylski, Andrew K, et al. “The Ideal Self at Play: The Appeal of Video Games That Let You Be All You Can Be.” Sage Journals, vol. 23, no. 1, 2012, pp. 69–76. Sage Premier.
http://journals.sagepub.com.proxy-wcupa.klnpa.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0956797611418676

With this article, the authors of the article study how the creation of a fictitious self in a video game serves as an appealing experience in which someone can literally place themselves inside a game and give them the attributes they seem fitting. The various authors also dive into the idea of a person putting themselves into a game to create their “ideal self”. With research being conducted by the group, they were able to find that when the player had come to see their game version of themselves in the light of this “ideal self”, the more the player was to enjoy the gaming experience.

Weekly Research 1

Conway, Steven. “Avastars: The Encoding of Fame within Sport Digital Games.” Playing to Win : Sports, Video Games, and the Culture of Play, 12 Jan. 2015, pp. 133–151. Ebook Central – Proquest.
http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/wcupa/reader.action?docID=1865436

In this article, Conway talks about how in sports video games they can be made to deal as though you’re in the actual game and/or playing as a famous athlete over a multitude of games. He covers how a particular character in a game that represents a real life player of that sport, has been made to mirror that of the real life athlete in not only appearance, but also in the ways in which they interact in the gaming world. He also talks about how a player of the video game must already know the actual rules of the sport of the game they are playing, or they will quickly begin to learn the real life rules.

Rhetorical Analysis 1 – 9/4

In Tania Smith’s article title, “What is Rhetoric”, helps define the word ‘rhetoric’ in the simplest terms. As the article continues on from her initial base work of defining rhetoric, she explores the facets and ways in which everybody directly and or indirectly uses. Smith notes that rhetoric must be defined by its “function, not by a communication medium, topic, or social location.” Smith does a proficient job at properally explaining the basis to that of rhetorical communication whether that be writing, proclaiming a speech, seeing a poster, or even sending out a tweet to your 500 followers. Although Smith does not delve to deep into the details of rhetoric’s history and the ins and outs of the different discourses and aspects of rhetoric, she is able to very effectively lay-out the framework of rhetoric in layman’s terms.

When asked to rhetorically analyze an underlining function of Smith’s article, I believe she’s essentially laying a base for the reader to go on and further explore the function of rhetoric in everyday life situations. She even ends the article with a Wiki link to rhetoric and will continuously revisit the article to answer questions down in the comment section.

Maxwell Randolph