HA12 - Task 1 - Analysis

Genre : MOBA or Multiplayer online battle arena

Multiplayer online battle arena, also known as action real-time strategy, originated as a subgenre of the real-time strategy  genre of video games, in which a player controls a single character in one of two teams. The objective is to destroy the opposing team's main structure with the assistance of periodically spawned computer-controlled units that march forward along set paths. Player characters typically have various abilities and advantages that improve over the course of a game and that contribute to a team's overall strategy. A fusion of action games and real-time strategy games, players usually do not construct either buildings or units.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplayer_online_battle_arena

The following games I will be using as examples are as follows League Of Legends, DOTA 2, Heroes Of The Storm and Smite. 

League Of Legends Gameplay

Most MOBA style games are pretty similar in the way they are designed as each player mainly controls separate characters that you can customise in game. League of legend is a personal faveroity of mine as i have put many hours into he game myself.

http://i.imgur.com/eJhM3a7.jpg


As you can see this image above is of the in game currency  which can be bought with real money, Many MOBA's have these micro transactions implemented into the games. As most MOBA'S now-a-days are free too play so the companies must make money some how.

This image above is of the interface that is used during most MOBA'S so people can buy stuff in game and also too customise your character build. Many MOBA'S implement this and I like the sense of customisation.

DOTA 2

As you can see from the screenshot of DOTA 2 it holds the same characteristics that League of legends has supporting my claim that the majority of MOBA's are very similar in design.

Heroes Of The Storm

MOBA's don't have a story too follow and is mostly used for the competitive community this is one of the main appeals of MOBA's from my point of view then as you can see through the screen shots and videos that most the MOBA's have the sdame codes and conventions and all follow the same guidelines through creation.

HA11 - Task 1 - Glossary

The Hypodermic Needle Model
The hypodermic needle model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model, transmission-belt model, or magic bullet theory) is a model of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. The model is rooted in 1930s behaviorism and is largely considered obsolete today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypodermic_needle_model

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qt5MjBlvGcY/hqdefault.jpg

The Inoculation Model
Inoculation Theory was developed by social psychologist William J. McGuire in 1961 to explain more about how attitudes and beliefs change, and more importantly, how to keep original attitudes and beliefs consistent in the face of persuasion attempts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inoculation_theory

The Two-Step Flow Model
The two-step flow of communication hypothesis was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in The People's Choice, a 1944 study focused on the process of decision-making. This theory asserts that information from the media moves in two distinct stages. First, individuals (opinion leaders) who pay close attention to the mass media and its messages receive the information. Opinion leaders pass on their own interpretations in addition to the actual media content.

https://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20Clusters/Mass%20Media/Two_Step_Flow_Theory-1/

The Uses & Gratifications Theory
Uses and gratifications theory is an approach to understanding why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy specific needs. UGT is an audience-centered approach to understanding mass communication.Diverging from other media effect theories that question "what does media do to people?". The Uses & Gratifications Theory
assumes that audience members are not passive consumers of media. Rather, the audience has power over their media consumption and assumes an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives. Unlike other theoretical perspectives, UGT holds that audiences are responsible for choosing media to meet their desires and needs to achieve gratification. This theory would then imply that the media compete against other information sources for viewers' gratification.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uses_and_gratifications_theory

https://mediablogofchris.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/maslow.png

The Reception Theory
Reception theory is a version of reader response literary theory that emphasizes each particular reader's reception or interpretation in making meaning from a literary text. Reception theory is generally referred to as audience reception in the analysis of communications models.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reception_theory

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt1F31RsYX5m4yESvSEWYS7j-2V1-Bjar90cjGsOcQAbX_6hqfRoKPHr8_mfalNnJYMhqT7FrmVLBvX63kkq9CFI-0AknEcxy6c6rQgkM-Sn1a6aGOLr4h80HqKObEPQxOOZm2a7JxSrU-/s1600/RECEPTION+THEORY.png

HA10 - Task 1 - Glossary

Media Text 
A text is any media product we wish to examine, whether it is a television program, a book, a poster, a popular song, the latest fashion, etc. We can discuss with students what the type of text is—cartoon, rock video, fairy tale, police drama, etc.—and how it differs from other types of text. We can identify its denotative meaning and discuss such features as narrative structure, how meanings are communicated, values implicit in the text, and connections with other texts. This concept leads to three broad areas within which we can raise questions that will help students to "deconstruct" the media: text, audience and production. more in Representation. Anyone who receives a media text, whether it is a book read alone or a film viewed in a theatre, is a member of an audience. It is important for children to be able to identify the audience(s) of a text. Texts are frequently designed to produce audiences, which are then sold to advertisers. http://www.medienabc.org/page5/page40/page40.html

http://www.games73.com/media.games73.com/files/2012/12/ME3-title.jpg

Semiotics Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what it is. Below are some brief definitions of semiotic terms, beginning with the smallest unit of meaning and proceeding towards the larger and more. 
Signifier: any material thing that signifies, e.g., words on a page, a facial expression, an image.
Signified: the concept that a signifier refers to. Together, the signifier and signified make up the.
Sign: the smallest unit of meaning. Anything that can be used to communicate (or to tell a lie). Symbolic (arbitrary) signs: signs where the relation between signifier and signified is purely conventional and culturally specific, e.g., most words.
Iconic signs: signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture.
Indexical Signs: signs where the signifier is caused by the signified, e.g., smoke signifies fire.
Denotation: the most basic or literal meaning of a sign, e.g., the word "rose" signifies a particular kind of flower.
Connotation: the secondary, cultural meanings of signs; or "signifying signs," signs that are used as signifiers for a secondary meaning, e.g., the word "rose" signifies passion.
Metonymy: a kind of connotation where in one sign is substituted for another with which it is closely associated, as in the use of Washington for the United States government or of the sword for military power.
Synecdoche: a kind of connotation in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor).Collections of related connotations can be bound together either by
Paradigmatic relations: where signs get meaning from their association with other signs,or by
Syntagmatic relations: where signs get meaning from their sequential order, e.g., grammar or the sequence of events that make up a story.
Myths: a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations, e.g., the cowboy myth, the romance myth.
Codes: a combination of semiotic systems, a supersystem, that function as general maps of meaning, belief systems about oneself and others, which imply views and attitudes about how the world is and/or ought to be. Codes are where semiotics and social structure and values connect.
Ideologies: codes that reinforce or are congruent with structures of power. Ideology works largely by creating forms of "common sense," of the taken-for-granted in everyday life.http://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/terminology.htmlhttp://www.gamestudies.org/0501/lindley/figure2_420.gif

Genre
Media products can be classified into categories or genre. The word 'genre' comes from the French word meaning 'type' or 'class'. Media genres appear within a medium (film, television) such as the "horror" film or the television "situation comedy".A genre can be recognised by its common set of distinguishing features (see discussion on codes and conventions). These features associated with a genre's style and content may be, for example, a particular setting, character types, technical codes (lighting or music). You may also find that some media texts blur genre boundaries.Audiences recognise these features and therefore expect certain things. For example, at the end of a romantic comedy film the two lead characters will realise they are in love. Audiences may even select a text on the basis of its genre.Producers market texts according to genre because a niche audience has already been identified as taking pleasure in that type of text.However, a genre is not static – it changes all the time – resulting in hybrid (or sub-) genres and changing codes and conventions. There is also a relationship between genres and the societies in which they are created.http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Genre

http://igm.rit.edu/~gdd1/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/game-genre.png

Selection of content

Selection of content is when the developers choose the final colors and design put onto  the game and game case. For example this means the different images and objects that are used, and the text font and size. This is all important to appeal to the target audience because certain fonts and other themes will not be suitable for a game with a younger audience viewing so they need to make sure that the theme suits the target audience

.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/GLAMWiki_Toolset_manual_content_selection.png/300px-GLAMWiki_Toolset_manual_content_selection.png

Construction of content

The construction of content is how to interface between player and game is constructed. For example this is done when you can pick multiple answers to reply to an AI. This is good for the players as it can broaden the story line making the players personalize there story too they're specific needs.

Codes and conventions
Codes are systems of signs, which create meaning. Codes can be divided into two categories – technical and symbolic, Symbolic codes show what is beneath the surface of what we see. For example, a character's actions show you how the character is feeling.Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interviewee quotes in a print article, but conventions are also genre specific.Codes and conventions are used together in any study of genre – it is not enough to discuss a technical code used such as camera work, without saying how it is conventionally used in a genre.
For example, the technical code of lighting is used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the horror genre that side and back lighting is used to create mystery and suspense – an integral part of any horror movie.
http://media-studies.tki.org.nz/Teaching-media-studies/Media-concepts/Codes-and-conventions

Modes of address
Modes of address can be defined as the ways in which relations between addresser and addressee are constructed in a text. In order to communicate, a producer of any text must make some assumptions about an intended audience; reflections of such assumptions may be discerned in the text (advertisements offer particularly clear examples of this).
https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081102051549AAzx5lm

Task 1 Glossary

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is a more logical and data-led approach, Which shows what people think from gathered information. For example, if you wanted to know how many of your customers support a proposed change in your products or service and how strongly (on a scale) they support it. Quantitative research can gather a large amount of data that can be easily organised and manipulated into reports for analysis. When using Quantitative research the methods used are mostly questionnaires and surveys with set questions that have pre defined answers. The research us very flexible and works well with a large group of people to get a quick and fairly accurate take on things.

http://www.bl.uk/bipc/resmark/qualquantresearch/qualquantresearch.html

Qualitative Research

Unlike quantitative research which relies on numbers and data qualitative research is more focused on how people feel, What they think and why they make certain choices.
For example, if you are thinking of changing your branding you would carry out qualitative research to see what emotional reactions people have to the new identity and what they associate it with. Qualitative research is largely led with discussion around certain concepts or ideas with open questioning. Attendees are encouraged to explain or describe their reasons for having certain responses which can reveal underlying motivations, associations and behavioral triggers.
The most common forms of qualitative research consist of focus groups relevant to the target market or one to one interviews, conducted face to face or over the telephone.
http://www.bl.uk/bipc/resmark/qualquantresearch/qualquantresearch.html

Audience Profiling

 Audience Profiling finding out the profile of your audience before hand so that you can put across your message to the right people in the most effective way to produce the best result. It might include details like age, sex, educational qualification, work experience, financial background, field of work, interests, mood, orientation, bias, food habits, religious background, psysique, health condition etc.

https://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080929075444AAPJwsK 

Task 2 – Secondary Research

I have been tasked with defining the audience of popular game GTA 5, To do this I have used different sources such as Media, The producers of the game and other means across the internet. I have come up with the final conclusion of what I believe from the research I have gathered Will be the target audience for GTA 5.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0-MQgCqE8rH_RokMLrmxSURDxN9SIWxdK6BZe7ievSfrIGABCcyX966o0fgIfRbOPR0_7HUjXjjW3_bPvPnsNYegfwCOVYXiy-qvqyAAtKOKALpLx_Ho9nT8p-0oYiXvUaAwQL3qJ4PuY/s1600/download.jpg 

The age group mainly linked with GTA is that of Mature to adults so in the range of 18 to 24. In my opinion this is stereo typed as from articles I have read many seem to link GTA with older age groups which I can definitely see as a possibility due to the nature of the game being quite graphic and also having many adult themed events that even young teens may find un-nerving. GTA may be classed as an Eighteen game but from personal experience I know that this isn't the case as children ranging from 12 to 18 play this game so I do not think that much research can really be conclusive. As myself being 17 and have played his game since the release as proof of this.

The daily mail a well read newspaper around England has released an article stating that people over the game of forty are more likely to play violent games than people under the game of thirty,

'Granddad' Theft Auto: Middle-class, middle-aged parents are most likely to play violent crime game, Online players of Grand Theft Auto V are 33 per cent more likely to have children and are twice as likely to be married, according to a study, Exponential interactive found gamers were also 54 per cent more likely to be in the middle income bracket, The video game is particularly popular among the 55 to 64-year-olds. - Quote from the article

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2451785/Grand-Theft-Auto-Middle-class-middle-aged-parents-likely-play-game.html

This next image shows a survey which I found showing how many people play GTA according to the website traffic and it also defines there age group....

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/634491-grand-theft-auto-v/67437494

As you can see the result is from 913 people which is a fair amount of people with 2.58% being under 13 justifies my finding of how even tho the game is based for 18+ it is not conclusive as the younger generation are still going to play this game so many professional surveys will be based off the false pretenses that no one under the age of 18 will be playing this game.

Task 3 – Primary Research