O uso colaborativo de mecânicas em videogames de sobrevivência e estratégias comunicacionais coletivas

Abstract

This dissertation aims to investigate if certain cooperation mechanics in survival digital games can generate more efficient communicational environments from the action modes delegated to the players. We start from the hypothesis that, inside the current communicational paradigm, mechanics that promote conducive environments for the interaction of players with the game design by means of ludic, multicodes and collective languages are the most effective considering the players' survival objectives. The main theoretical ground is the Pragmaticism of Charles Sanders Peirce and his phenomenological categories (firstness, secondness and thirdness), as a way to analyze semiotic processes regarding the game design, the gameplay and the players inside these collaborative environments. We resort, still, to a complementary bibliography related to the digital communication context and, more specifically, to electronic games. For the empirical test of the practical consequences deducted from the hypothesis, we used three videogames with collaborative survival design, recently released, picked by random: the series Left 4 Dead (2008 & 2009) and the indie games Don't Starve Together (2016) and White Noise 2 (2017). We concluded that our hypothesis is true in that those mechanics, indeed, foment information sharing by creating environments in which the signs conduct to effective communicational processes and understanding among players, in a practical and active way. In the course of the research, we also observed that not just the game design and its mechanics support collaboration to survival but, likewise, all the mediation operated by the players and their constant sign actualization provided by these digital platforms.