Is computer gaming a craft? Prehension, practice, and puzzle-solving in gaming labour

Abstract

This article applies sociological theories of 'craft' to computer gaming practices to conceptualise the relationship between play, games and labour. Using the example of the game Dota 2, as both a competitive esport title and a complex game based around a shared practice, this article examines the conditions under which the play of a computer game can be considered a 'craft'. In particular, through the concept of 'prehension', we dissect the gameplay activity of Dota 2, identifying similarities with how the hand practices craft labour. We identify these practices as 'contact', 'apprehension', 'language acquisition' and 'reflection'. We argue that players develop these practices of the hand to make sense of the game's rules and controls. From this perspective, it is the hand that initiates experiences of craft within computer gameplay, and we offer examples of player creativity and experimentation to evidence its labour. The article concludes with a discussion on the need for future research to examine the quality of gaming labour in the context of esports.

‘Seeing isn’t doing’: Examining tensions between bodies, videogames and technologies ‘beyond’ the game

“…This feeling of obligation to mobilise esports techniques is consistent with previous accounts of players’ relation to esports-level strategies, which are seen to have a high degree of currency or legitimacy in the context of amateur play (see Egliston, 2019; Brock and Fraser, 2018; Taylor, 2012). As some of my participants saw it, the best players were those who studied esports metagames and replicated them effectively in their own play.…”

“…Given the central character of extrinsic, ‘paratextual’ material in games (see Consalvo, 2007), more clearly understanding the implications of such material on gameplay is an urgent concern. Through the findings presented in this article, we get a sense of the complex material ecologies that comprise how play happens (or more specifically, how skilled play does not happen ) – pertinent to ongoing conversations around embodiment and gaming in a range of disciplines, including media studies (Behrenshausen, 2014), game studies (Apperley, 2009; Keogh, 2018), human geography (Ash, 2013) and sociology (Brock and Fraser, 2018).…”

“… 4. While recent work has briefly discussed this phenomenon in Dota 2, as part of a broader account of Dota 2 skill drawing from sociological theory (Brock and Fraser, 2018: 1229–1230), and as part of a wider account of the somatic and technical transformations provoked in players by the ubiquitous esports spectacle (Egliston, 2019), the present work provides a further contribution by presenting a more sustained empirical and theoretical account of the tensions between everyday players and gameplay information transmitted through esports broadcasts. …”

“…Within the limited research around this area, one fruitful direction taken by scholars of esports has been to examine how esports broadcasts work as technological intermediaries that shape users’ action and perception within the context of their own everyday videogame play. Recent research suggests, for example, that a popular way for players of videogames to build skill is by watching video broadcasts of esport – a point made in game studies (Taylor, 2012: 236; Taylor and Elam, 2018: 254), media studies (Egliston, 2019), sociology (Brock and Fraser, 2018) and human–computer interaction (Cheung and Huang, 2011). 1 Extended outward from their original locus in the professional arena, the techniques and strategies of esports players and teams are emulated by esports audiences in their own everyday play of the same games.…”

Video gaming as craft consumption

“…More recently, the first author has traced the 'craft' of playing video games to the dexterous movement of a player's hands and the connection that this has to the experiences of skilled labour (Brock and Fraser, 2018). The author examines how this definition of skill applies to video gaming practices: that is, how the play of digital games involves a 'dialogue' between the player's hands, the controls and the enablements and constraints of a game's design, such that, with practice, players feel that they can make something well.…”