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Ethnographic study of Role-playing in World of Warcraft
Dušek, Ondřej ; Švelch, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Reifová, Irena (referee)
This thesis explores the almost unexplored phenomenon of role-playing in the MMORPG video game genre, focusing specifically on role-playing in World of Warcraft (WoW). Its assumption is that although players of this genre overwhelmingly focus on the gameplay aspects of the game, role-playing in MMORPGs exists and takes place as an activity of the fringe culture of players. The aim of this thesis is to investigate this phenomenon in WoW, to find out how role- playing in the game takes place and what artificial reality role-playing participants create in the virtual world of the game, and also to define this phenomenon as a form of role-playing The theoretical part of the thesis is divided into three segments. The first segment deals with role-playing itself and the role-playing game (RPG) genre, which is superior to the MMORPG subgenre. The second segment delves into the known knowledge about role-playing in MMORPGs, and the third describes the examined game WoW. In order to fulfill the goals of this thesis and answer the research questions, ethnographic procedures are used in the research part, by which the author of this thesis infiltrates the virtual role-playing environment in WoW and actively participates in the events, which he further describes and analyzes. Based on the analysis of field...
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The Age of Draci doupe: New Concept and Commercialization of Leisure Activities during the Early 1990s.
Houha, Libor ; Storchová, Lucie (advisor) ; Ducháček, Milan (referee)
In my Master's degree thesis I'm dealing with the phenomenon of role-playing games in the Czech republic in the first half of the 1990s. Role-playing games came to the Czech republic in the form of a game called "Draci doupe" with an active community of players being established immediately. The main aims of this study are analysis and contextualisation of subculture of these players in the first half of the nineties and also publisher "Altar", who released "Draci doupe" at the end of the year 1990. "Draci doupe" and commercialization were inherently bound together. In my thesis I'm dealing with the description of development of publisher "Altar" with regard to his commercial strategy and influence on the subculture of role-playing game players. The rest of the study is dedicated to the community of players with the focus on development, form and spreading through fanzines (non-professional and non- official publication produced by community of players), magazines and community conventions (called "cons"). Struggles in the community of players regarding commercionalization of this leisure activity are analysed further in the study. These struggles led to degradation of the whole community of players. The view of public is added to the thesis to complete the whole picture of analysis of subculture...
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Current role-playing and role of mediation in the Czech Republic on example of Dungeons & Dragons
Motlová, Adéla ; Švelch, Jaroslav (advisor) ; Fousek Krobová, Tereza (referee)
This thesis examines the RPG game Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and its players in the Czech Republic. Although, D&D is primarily a game that uses physical components such as paper character sheets or dice, technology has also found its way to it, which is no surprise because current world is full of new technologies. The aim of this work is to examine the motivation of players to play, what role mediation plays, what technologies are used in playing and what are the main differences players perceive in the case of face-to-face session and in the case of online session. Many different technologies are used in both cases. Research questions dealing with these topics are answered through semi-structured interviews with a total of eight players and two participant observations of a player group's session. The most important reasons to play are the social and creative aspects of the game - players play with others, with whom they often form long-term friendships, and enjoy creating and using their imagination to create unique characters, narratives and worlds. D&D is also a source of inspiration for them. The main differences in offline and online game are especially in sociality and opportunities for communication, which is related to the atmosphere and experience, which in the case of face-to-face game...
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The Age of Draci doupe: New Concept and Commercialization of Leisure Activities during the Early 1990s.
Houha, Libor ; Storchová, Lucie (advisor) ; Ducháček, Milan (referee)
In my Master's degree thesis I'm dealing with the phenomenon of role-playing games in the Czech republic in the first half of the 1990s. Role-playing games came to the Czech republic in the form of a game called "Draci doupe" with an active community of players being established immediately. The main aims of this study are analysis and contextualisation of subculture of these players in the first half of the nineties and also publisher "Altar", who released "Draci doupe" at the end of the year 1990. "Draci doupe" and commercialization were inherently bound together. In my thesis I'm dealing with the description of development of publisher "Altar" with regard to his commercial strategy and influence on the subculture of role-playing game players. The rest of the study is dedicated to the community of players with the focus on development, form and spreading through fanzines (non-professional and non- official publication produced by community of players), magazines and community conventions (called "cons"). Struggles in the community of players regarding commercionalization of this leisure activity are analysed further in the study. These struggles led to degradation of the whole community of players. The view of public is added to the thesis to complete the whole picture of analysis of subculture...
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