LOL Research Project Requiring YOUR Help :)

Hello Fellow Summoners!

My name is Sydney and I am a graduate student conducting research for my linguistics project this semester. I decided to investigate pragmatics (rules for social language and meaning), specifically face-threatening acts and politeness theory in League of Legends. Face-threatening acts (FTAs) is an act that threatens the face of others. For example in League if a player verbally attacks another and says, “You are such a “noob”, you don’t even belong in Bronze” they are committing an FTA. If you could take the time to respond to some or all of the following questions I would greatly appreciate it. My study will only be effective if I have willing participants so please take just a little of your time to help me. I have provided a short explanation of definitions and examples below the questions so that if you are unfamiliar with the terminology you can better understand it and respond to the following questions. If you are uncomfortable posting directly on here, please feel free to email me directly with your response ([email protected]), this would actually be easier for me. Findings of this study will only be used for educational purposes. Neither your name nor your summoner name will be used in this study. If you feel comfortable please provide your age, sex and ethnicity when responding to the questions so that I can best collect data and analyze the results for emerging patterns.

**Survey/Forum Questions **

1. Why do players feel they can commit face-threatening acts (FTAs) in League of Legends (LOL)? Do you think it is because of the autonomy (facelessness) and social distance created by Internet gaming? Or is it partly because of the necessity for quick communication in a high intensity environment?

2. Do you think players in LOL try to mitigate FTAs or are they apathetic and increase the effects? How so?

3. Do you think FTAs are more concerned with loss of negative or positive face?

4. How do you think culture and language differences/variations affect how players treat one another in LOL?

5. How do FTAs and loss of positive or negative face affect your attitude to play LOL? Do the effects ever cause you to not to want to play the game?

6. With regards to LOL or Internet gaming, can you think of an example of an FTA or one in which your positive or negative face was threatened or violated?

7. How do you think FTAs could be mitigated or reduced in Internet gaming, specifically LOL? Or is it even possible to reduce them in an online community? Do you think the Tribunal of Justice is effective in decreasing the possibility of players using FTAs?

Supplemental Information -->"We can think of politeness in general terms as having to do with ideas like being tactful, modest and nice to other people. In the study of linguistic politeness, the most relevant concept is “face”. Your face, in pragmatics, is your public self-image. This is the emotional and social sense of self that everyone has and expects everyone else to recognize. Politeness can be defined as showing awareness and consideration of another’s person’s face” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135).

-->Face-threatening act (FTA): saying “something that represents a threat to another person’s self-image” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135). Face-saving act: saying “something that lessens the possible threat to another’s face” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135).

--> Everyone has negative and positive face. It is important to remember that negative does not mean bad.

-->Negative face: “is the need to be independent and free from imposition” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135).“So, a face-saving act that emphasizes a person’s negative face will show concern about imposition (I’m sorry to bother you…; I know you’re busy, but…)” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135). Negative face centers around the hearer’s personal freedom. It may come in the form of an order, promise, compliment, request, suggestion, advice, reminder, threat, warning or a dare. Examples: I promise I will come by your house tomorrow (an act predicating a future act of the hearer). I really like you (which may involve an anticipation of a positive reaction from the speaker). (Glottopedia)

-->Positive face: “is the need to be connected, to belong, to be a member of the group” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135). “A face-saving act that emphasizes a person’s positive face will show solidarity and draw attention to a common goal (Let’s do this together…;You and I have the same problem, …)” (The Study of Language, George Yule, p.135). Positive face deals with the hearer’s self-image and can come in forms of criticism, expression of emotions, accusations, contradictions, disapproval and complaints, or ones in which the speaker demonstrates apathy towards the hearer’s face such as expressing violent emotions, taboo topics, bad news, emotional topics, interruptions etc. Examples: “Your report was not concise enough (the hearer is being blamed for not doing something correctly). (Glottopedia)

For more information and examples: https://sites.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/all-about-linguistics/branches/pragmatics/example-research-face-theory-and-politeness_