LFG CULTURE 1

LFG Culture

Vincent P Carguillo

University of Central Florida

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Abstract

Wrongfully, video games are often negatively perceived. Containing much strategical

intelligence, communicational awareness, and mental capacity, video games are not something of

the negative kind. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Video games have had a profound impact on

the youth of the 21st century. Gravitating towards participatory culture, Microsoft recently

released a communicational platform for gaming onto their Xbox One consoles. This platform is

called LFG, or Looking for Group, and it contains a blog-style posting service that allows

players to upload a post asking for # of players and type of players. In order to use this feature,

players must navigate to the LFG and create a post, thus including their participation and making

them part of the culture. This “culture” is participatory culture, which Jenkins describes as one

that has low barriers, strong support, mentorship, belonging, and social connections. I, myself,

participate heavily in this culture and platform nearly every day, scanning for the correct post

and even posting my own groups in order to create a team. To aid with the posting, LFG has a

fully customizable options menu that allows players to pick out the structure of their post. The

structure is often created in a way that will only attract specific players. Within LFG there are

players who tend to play more serious or more casual. Due to this difference, there are distinct

comparisons between these kinds of posts. Players will purposefully design, organize, and

structure a post a certain way in order to achieve the ideal players.

The design of an LFG post provides the seeker with valuable information by stating

which type of communication is needed, what game mode will be played, and the

emoji’s/symbols involved. When it comes to the psychology involved when attempting to attract

better, smarter, or competent players, the design allows the creator to adjust his post accordingly.

It’s very much like an internal argument. Furthermore, those who seek posts are hit with the
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internal struggle to find a post that fits their mood. Greene indirectly explains this scenario, “You

will want to read with an eye toward the claim’s writers make, claims that they are making with

respect to you, in the sense that writers want you to think and feel in a certain way,” (Greene,

2001). Greene’s statement is on the par with the idea of pathos; however, it can apply directly to

LFG. While reading through posts, players can stumble across the occasional simplified post. In

this case, the writers have effectively made the reader feel a certain way by shortening their post

to only about 5 words or less. Through this design, the reader may conclude that the creator is

looking for experienced players with precise aim due to the simplicity of the post. Let’s theorize

for a second, if person A was to post an ugly, disorganized, and sloppy post, many players would

overlook the creator because their gameplay may reflect their design skills. On the other hand,

person B posts an organized, attractive, and high-quality post, which attracts the better players

within the community.

I believe there are a wide variety of writing techniques involved in these posts. Many

players use shortcuts, abbreviations, and fragments to be straight forward and obtain the best

candidate. Writing within this community influences the decisions made by players as they

scroll. Unlike other cultures, participatory cultures force no participation from its members.

Everything is voluntary and can be done by the willingness of the member as stated by Jenkins,

“Not every member must contribute, but all must believe they are free to contribute when

ready and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued,” (Jenkins, 2006). As you

navigate to the LFG page, new posts are being made every second, each with new creators

and descriptions. Every member is free and clear to sit back and choose their post with no

rush. This allows the readers to examine the organizational value brought to the post. A

“good” post will contain stickers that let the reader know the age, mic, and rank
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requirement. These stickers can be organized in a way that visually pleases those who view

it, which can lead to more players interested. By spending countless hours on the platform,

the patterns have become transparent. A good post will attract good players and a bad one

will attract bad ones.

Structurally, creators implement their own shortcuts, techniques, and length in order

to attract their ideal player. When creating your own post, you can add tags (hashtags), edit

descriptions, set dates, change languages, and even select a time for the post. A lot can be

determined from the structure of the post. Speaking from experience, writers who use

emojis within their post tend to be of younger ages, so I avoid those. On the other hand,

writers who are simplistic and straight-forward tend to have a closed mindset and a strong

desire to win, so I also stray. The writing is effective when it has satisfied the targeted

audience. The audience changes from player to player so the variety of posts is always vast.

However, this does not mean that every post is “good” or “effective”. To be structurally

“good”, the creator must fill his group with teammates who are a part of the targeted

audience. If this is not the case, the creator can either take down the post or join an existing

one. The incredible variation amongst these posts stretches the mind in a way that allows

the writer to grow and excel beyond the culture itself.

We suspect that young people who spend more time playing within these new media

environments will feel greater comfort interacting with one another via electronic

channels, will have greater fluidity in navigating information landscapes, will be

better able to multitask and make rapid decisions about the quality of information

they are receiving, and will be able to collaborate better with people from diverse

cultural backgrounds. (Jenkins, 2006)

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Being able to effectively write in the LFG can offer many benefits along the way. Jenkins

mentions a greater ability to interact with one another due to the creation of a gaming

culture. The communication involved can give insight into what is considered “good”

writing outside of the culture, giving you an advantage in the real world by being able to

assess well-constructed modes of communication.

Within the LFG every post is different, including the ages, goals, and requirements. If

players need help winning games, learning strategies, and making friends, they can specify

accordingly in the post. The people involved in the community aim to support others by

connecting and playing together in order to further the community and promote the game. I

believe there are a wide variety of writing techniques involved in these posts. Many players use

shortcuts, abbreviations, and fragments to be straight forward and obtain the best candidate.

Players who look for posts often investigate the design, organization, structure, and requirements

of the post. Noting which aspects are lacking and which are thriving. This can indicate a good

host or a bad host, influencing whether they apply for the post. Writing within this

community influences the decisions players make, making it that much more crucial to be a

“good” writer.
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References

Greene, S. (2001). "Argument as Conversation: The Role of Inquiry in Writing a

Researched Argument." The Subject Is Research. edited by Wendy Bishop and Pavel

Zemliansky, Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Jenkins, H. (2006, October 19). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media

Education for the 21st Century (Part One). Retrieved January 30, 2020, from

http://henryjenkins.org/blog/2006/10/confronting_the_challenges_of.html