The "Armchair Philosopher": The StarCraft Metagame and Identity Formation

• In Event: 66.057 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 66.057-14 - Promoting Engagement: Teaching and Learning With Digital Means

Abstract

Research on videogames and learning has typically focused on features of games, and how these can be leveraged to promote deeper learning. In this paper, we examine how playing StarCraft, and learning within the StarCraft gaming community, influenced three players’ development of identities as they consider their post-secondary aspirations. We make use of the concept of “identity resources” to propose that the metagame, or activities outside of regular gameplay, is a toolkit on which players draw to articulate their identities and future interests. Our findings indicate that the players envisioned linkages between the game’s skills and strategies, and the work they hoped to find—or avoid—in the future.

Authors

• Josie Chang-Order, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Erica Jeanne Van Steenis, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Michael D. Harris, Colorado University - Boulder