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Matthew Miller

Professor Pierson

September 22nd, 2017

Autoethnography of Thy Nerd Discourse

As one can guess from the well-crafted title, the Discourse that Ive chosen to select has been

my Nerd discourse. There are several different types of nerds out there in everyday life, such as

someone who mostly sits behind a computer screen on the internet yelling at one to get better at

the game, while ironically being complete, utter garbage themselves. If I were to denote the

discourse I would say that the identity kit (Gee, 278), which integrates words, acts, values,

beliefs, attitudes, and social identities (Gee, 278) is comprised of the fandoms that connect thy

fellow Nerd with my closest friends: Nick, Nikhil, and Edward, and also with complete strangers

on the internet or in public. For example, Nick, Nikhil, Edward, and I all have very similar

overlapping interests in the following fandoms or games: Marvel/DC comics (as well as their

extending cinematic and TV universes), Yu-Gi-Oh!, Star Wars, Overwatch, etc. We are all

connected to each other as well as many others inadvertently through our fandoms and interests

that have compounded into many years of friendship and fun, especially for many more years to

come.

The literate activities in the Discourse include: article readings, books, YouTube/ forum

discussions, texting and other instant messaging communication platforms on games or apps.

Through all of these literate activities we intertwine and converge these sources with our own

perceptions and knowledge to advance our depth of knowledge within a particular fandom or
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game. To that we look toward a diverse group of literacy sponsors in the form of professional

players or YouTube personalities.

In Esports, the most popular game by far is the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena)

League of Legends. However, unlike my closest friends in my community: Edward, Nick, and

Nikhil, I do not play this game. But I know how they go about the game through specific literate

activities. For example, Nick, Nikhil, and Edward, will usually watch streamers, either on

YouTube or Twitch, as they play League of Legends. While certain players are streaming, they

can leave comments or talk to the streamer as theyre playing to ask them certain questions. This

could be anything from the mindset of a certain champion (the characters you play with in the

game) to how certain champions can mesh with other team compositions. This allows them to

develop and create strategies and team compositions of their own to win games and gradually

build up their SR (skill rating) to climb up certain ranks (which include everything from bronze

to diamond, master to grandmaster). The overall goal is to become the best players in their

champion and team, such as a popular Esports team like Cloud9, with the dreams of becoming

successful gamers that make money.

In another game, Yu-Gi-Oh!, were in an entirely new gaming medium, as this is a TCG (trading

card game). This game revolves around a meta, which in Deborah Brandts terms is the

formation of new requirements while decertifying older ones (Brandt, 89). Players in this game

usually establish a meta through a plethora of literate activities. One is a banlist, which is posted

on the Konami website every couple of months, which players are required to read through so

they dont play an illegal cards or illegal amounts of cards. The banlist tells the player what is

either: banned, limited, semi-limited, or taken off the banlist (can only have as much as 3 copies

of one card). When a new meta is established, either through a ban list or through the release of
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new cards and archetypes, then that often sky-rockets certain card prices to become outrageously

expensive and forces the players to adapt to a new format that encroaches on the creativity of

players. As a result, this can eliminate the players that cant afford to switch to another deck due

to lack of funds. Also, this paradigm shift raises the stakes in struggles for competitive

advantage (Brandt, 89). However, there is a game online called DuelingBook, which allows

players the access to every card in the current database for free. Which is a fantastic tool if a

player needs to practice with a certain deck until they can obtain the cards in real-life. Anyone

who wants to play a deck that recently won a regional event or a YCS (Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship

Series) can simply net-deck, copying and pasting a deck list, onto DuelingBook, and play the

deck while forgoing the costs of those cards. We usually pull these deck lists from specific

players such as Jeff Jones or Billy Brake, and other YouTube channels such as: thecardGuyz,

team PPG, SimplySlimYgo, Mkhol40, House of Champs, etc. These players and channels have

the biggest influence on the games meta, market, and influence.

For any other fandoms, I mostly just go to IGN (International Gaming News). This allows to

me to read articles based on specific topics of certain shows, games, or upcoming events. I can

usually look up certain Easter Eggs (which is denoted by the allusion to a certain character or

event in the future) as well as the specifc insights correlated to those Easter Eggs. I can also

gather new information on upcoming projects as well as peoples opinions on new releases. For

example, if I have a particular theory about the show The Flash, and I want to see if its similar

to other peoples theories, I can look that up on their homepage and find videos as well as

articles about the theory. From this I can gather if Ive correctly guessed the outcome of the

season or if I caught a specifc reference to an upcoming new character or new antagonist.

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The discourse, or in this case the fandoms in which we associate with, can be described in many

ways. We value wins, ranks, tournament repertoire, etc. The beliefs, at times, as well as some of

the actions/behaviors, are very toxic and generally considered offensive. The attitudes are quite

petty and immature, and can be very rude when responding to peoples posts or questions, which

just sucks in general because the attitudes outlie the general antithesis of what the creators of

these games intend for their communities to flourish. The YouTube streamer PewDiePie has

recently exemplified the most negative qualities of these communities in his most recent scandal

(yes, there have been others), in which during a livestream on his channel he screamed out a

racial slur as he raged about the game. Now, someone who read this story probably assumed that

this never really happens that often. But they would be very wrong to assume that. These

constant racial slurs and vulgarity are constantly hurled out in either raging-opposition towards

the game or as a means of talking trash. But its not just a particular group, or a stereotype, no

this pervades every crevice of the gaming world unfortunately. So kids of younger audiences

usually are kept away from these communities due to the toxicity and the harmful effects it has

on development as a child. Also, for the most part, this community approaches literacy as a

means to either disprove or uphold their opinions and beliefs about certain shifting metas and

theories, and automatically loathe and detest those that even trying to oppose them by retorting

with crude, offensive language. There definitely needs to be some changes.

I will examine a rhetorical situation that recently occurred in my friend group in regards to a

particular game that just released: Destiny 2. For this situation, the Rhetors, responsible for the

Authorial voice (Grant-Davie, 495), and the audience, people whom try to achieve rhetorical

objectives (Grant-Davie, 497), will be both Nikhil and I. We both have very differing opinions

on the game, but they come from different origins. I personally think the game might not be that
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bad, especially after reading a review on IGN, in which they gave the game a score of 8.5 out of

10. For me, I usually trust IGN because theyre very reliable and, with games of this standing

with multitudes of quests, planets, side events, and PvP (Player vs. Player) events to choose

from, delve into these games for days upon its initial release. These reviews contain everything

from the graphics and the gameplay, to the enrichment of the story. Also, compared to its

predecessor, which received a score of 7.5 out of 10, I noted that the improvement was very

convincing as a reason to acquire the game. However, my friend Nikhil, felt differently. When

Nikhil was formulating his opinions and perceptions of the game, he came to the conclusion that

it simply wasnt worth getting. He also cited other articles and videos, and other peoples

responses to those posts on social media, that enabled Nikhil to believe that the game itself had

not evolved from its bland, tedious origin. Nikhils influences, which were much more than I,

was that of other audiences reactions towards the game, and also other sources that had

reviewed and critiqued the game. Therefore, since he thought that the game amounted to nothing

more than the original. This game was not worth his time. These differences in opinions, which

in terms of video games dont really happen that much unless its very controversial, made us see

differently when we usually see eye-to-eye on most games. These are some of the constraints,

all the factors in a situation that may therefore influence the Rhetors response to the

situation (Grand-Davie, 500), that occur for most gamers because we have to be able to gather

enough info and opinions on the game so that we actually know that were not buying a trash

game. If we dont read any reviews or research the game at all, we could potentially waste our

money on a title that we simply loathe and despise. However, Nikhil and I can both agree on one

thing: you never really know until you play the game.
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Now, with all that said, I believe that this community has really influenced my writing. I

remember my Junior year of High School developing quite the innate yarning to always detect

seek out the hidden Easter eggs, hidden plot developments and ideas, future events, etc. because

it could always connect to something in some way. From then on out, Ive always strived to find

the hidden details/meaning in literature as well as life. That life as depicted in movies, comic

books, articles, etc. were always worth examining and that they were quite diverse. This

community, with all of their interesting theories that are so well-developed, and keen attention to

detail have made my approach to literacy much that of growth and hope. That its definitely

possible, especially within my writing. That attention to detail usually ends up translating into

quite the detailed outline and its transparency visible in every paper, reflection, or process

journal that I could construct. Therefore, I have to outline everything. Doing so allows to me to

just answer the questions and can provide me specific examples in which I can elaborate on in

the papers themselves. Other than that, for the most part, when I sit down to write the paper, Ive

already completely envisioned the outline in my head as an algorithm from which I write my

paper. I just plug and chug until Ive met the requirements for word or page count, answered the

questions, specific formats, etc., and then Im finished. However, as Ive learned with this paper,

that there are clear distinctions between shorter papers than this one. Its tough to just sit down

and churn out almost five pages worth of info and great writing all at once. Never again. Usually

its just me, a bottle of water, an outline, and I can get everything done. After I finish a paper, I

usually only edit. This entails me just giving it a read through and just catching any awkward of

funky phrases I may have input into my rough draft. Also, I hit the spellcheck and grammar tool

to see if the program itself can catch anything. After that I usually just send it over to my Dad via

e-mail, who mostly just checks for readability and occasionally gives me feedback because he
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thinks Im a great writer and verifies that Ive met the requirements. He sometimes poses some

changes that I could incorporate into the paper to make it more cohesive. I swap and input the

correct changes and then I just submit the paper. I dont think this is the best process. Its just not

as much effort as I should be putting in, but I just dont really know how to effectively revise a

paper. I probably could improve this process more by just spending time with the paper after its

been written. To revise based on the content provided as well as the effectiveness of

communication (Richardson, 137). This is a mental switch for myself, mostly because of the

community Ive been involved with. Usually, after we just have anything from a theory to a new

insight, were so eager to tell someone that we often dont check to see if its valid or effectively

communicated. By learning how to revise in my writing process, I can grow in my writing and

start turning in more revised, wholesome pieces, that I can enjoy and be proud of.
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Works Cited

Wardle, E. (2017). Writing about writing: a college reader (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford Bks St

MartinS.

Deborah Brandt, pg.89, Sponsors of Literacy

Wardle, E. (2017). Writing about writing: a college reader (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford Bks
St MartinS.
James Paul Gee, pg. 278, Literacy, Discourse, and Linguistics

Wardle, E. (2017). Writing about writing: a college reader (3rd ed.).

Boston, MA: Bedford Bks St MartinS.
Keith Grant-Davie, pgs. 495, 497, 500. Rhetorical Situations and Their

Constituents

Richardson, A. (Ed.). (2017). UCF Writes (1st ed.). Southlake, TX:

Fountainhead Press.
pg. 137