Keywords for Video Game Studies session on ALT PLAY/FANDOM, Jan.26 @3:30pm

Submitted by Comparative History Of Ideas on

RESCHEDULED DUE TO SNOW! NEW DATE/TIME

The Keywords for Video Game Studies graduate interest group’s (GIG) second event of the Winter Quarter is this Thursday, January 26, 3:30-5:30 PM, in Communication 226.  This is our second public reading group/workshop of the year and will focus on the gaming term “Alt Play/Fandom.” (read more here)

There will be free food & drink!

In our discussions we will consider....

  • Do these altplay/fandom activities extend the ‘magic circle’ or are they outside it? What would Huizinga say?
  • How has the spread of broadband internet access at home influenced fan communities? 
  • How do altplay/fandom activities subvert or complement game designers’ intents? How do these activities affect or influence the relationships between designers and players? 
  • Does altplay represent an unintended ‘use’? How can designers leverage altplay activities to improve the User Experience of a game?
  • What kinds of information management techniques or strategies might fans utilize to participate in altplay/fandom activities?
  • What kinds of barriers exist to participation in altplay/fandom activities? Is participation ‘equal’? Is participation equally distributed throughout a fan community?
  • Are ‘fair-weather fans’ really fans?
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