Final Report on Females in the Super Smash Brother's Gaming Community

Transcription

1 Final Report on Females in the Super Smash Brother's Gaming Community Natalie Chow 6/6/16 1

2 Table of Contents Page # Introduction... 3 Key Findings... Joining or Learning about the Community... Retainment... Sexism Future Research... 7 References

3 Introduction I performed research to find females motivations for joining the Super Smash Brothers community in order to understand how to recruit more females into the community. Many gaming communities have few active females. Just below half of the people playing games are female, but this has not caused a significant increase in the presence of females in communities, specifically Super Smash Brothers (SSB) [1]. This gender imbalance at events has been noted by Milktea, a famous female Smash player and in my field research report [2]. This lack of diversity hurts the community because it limits the viewpoints within the community as well as the play styles. The community then develops slower in regards to members education and play because when the community is monotonous, all the members tend to think and act similarly. In order to combat this monotony, more females need to be recruited into the community. My research included field observations, interviews, and a survey, all of females who are in the SSB community. Field observations consisted of three, 30 minute sessions at two local events and one regional event. Interviews consisted of eight, 30 minute sessions with seven of those interviews taking place over Skype and one of them in person. The survey was created on Google forms and consisted of 12 questions. I received 47 responses in total. My field observation notes and interview notes were analyzed with an affinity analysis. The survey data was analyzed by putting the results into tableau, a visualization program, and looking for relationships between the results. The results from this research will be used to inform future research on females outside of the community and to develop recruitment tools. This report explains the significance of the key findings across all of my research, design recommendations, and future research. Key Findings There were three key findings throughout all of my research including: joining or learning about the community, retainment of females in the community, and sexism in the community. Each of these findings are supported with evidence from my research. I then discuss the importance of the finding and provide design suggestions. Joining or Learning About the Community The main ways that females join or learn about the community are word of mouth and media (e.g. videos, streams, articles, and smashboards). This was found through interviews and surveys and resulted in design recommendations. The interviews found a trend that the majority of females were introduced to the community through others and some (three out of eight) found the community through videos and streams 3

4 (streams are live video broadcasts that often show video games, found on platforms such as twitch.tv). The surveys reinforced this trend of word of mouth being the main way that females are introduced to the community and media being the second most experienced (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Length in the community vs. Introduction to the community Understanding why females join and learn about the community is important because if you understand why females joined in the past, you can understand why females might join in the future. Word of mouth is an important factor to recruitment because the SSB community is grassroots. Nintendo did not support the competitive aspect of SSB meaning the community received very little media coverage and had to work hard to gain support. Mainstream media has only recently begun covering competitive gaming, or esports meaning the main way of learning about the SSB community was through previous relationships [3]. However, as mainstream media picks up coverage of esports, there has been more females learning about the community through media (refer back to Figure 1). The community needs to continue to use relationships outside of the SSB community to recruit people, specifically females into the community. This includes telling others about the competitive scene and showing them how to play the game. Another focus should be on extending SSB's presence online and in the media. My design recommendations are to create advertising materials and to user test these materials before implementing them. This could include creating advertising materials for specific organizations such as high school or college clubs, or general materials that promote SSB. For clubs, I would suggest designing posters, focus on social media, and an overall pitch since many clubs set up tables to recruit students.one form of advertisement that I found worked well, were videos. This includes the Smash documentary and other tournament or combo videos [4, 5]. These videos get people excited about the game because you see the community and the excitement and want to be a part of it. Before implementing these advertisement materials, you should user test them with your target audience, whether this be females (a specific audience) or a general audience. 4

5 Retainment The main reasons that females stay in the community are competitive drive and relationships formed through the community. This was found through interviews and surveys and resulted in design recommendations. The interviews found that six out of eight females experienced the desire to improve at the game. One female who expressed a lack of competitive drive stated that the lack was a reason she did not play the game. The surveys confirmed that the drive to improve at the game, or competitive drive was the most experienced by females in the community (see Figure 2). The field observations showcased the importance of relationships which led to the interviews explaining that the majority of females friend's are from within the community. The relationships they form also link them to the community in a different way than playing the game does. The survey then confirmed that relationships with both males and females are widely experienced among females in the SSB community (see Figure 2). Figure 2. Female's experiences in the community Understanding why females stay in the community allows us to know what the SSB's community should continue to do. My hypothesis is that competitive drive is not unique to female players, but is rather a trait that the majority of Smash players have. However, it is important to note that if a female does not experience this competitive drive, she may not be interested in the game or the community. Relationships tie females to the community because even if they stop playing the game, they still have the relationships they formed. These relationships have evolved from only playing the same game to learning and caring about the other person. Relationships are arguably the most important part of a community because that is what a community is made up of. If we didn't understand why females stay in the community, we would not understand how to properly recruit people. Advertising the SSB community for something it is not, or skimming over important details, could result in the recruitment of a lot of females but the retainment of few. My design recommendation build upon the previous design recommendation (see page 3). I suggest linking the advertising materials to the themes of competitive drive and development of relationships in order to recruit females who will stay in the community. Another recommendation is to promote groups such as Smash Sisters, that focus on providing a welcoming environment for females to step into. It also functions as a way to meet other females with similar interests and experiences [6]. Focusing on the themes that are recognized as important to females, is a way to recruit females in a way that they understand what the community is about. 5

6 Number of responses Sexism Females tend to experience sexism in the community including an unbalanced gender ratio, stigma of females in gaming, microaggressions, and online toxicity. This was found through interviews and surveys and resulted in two design recommendations. The field observations revealed the unbalanced gender ratio, with only 4% of attendants being female. The main types of sexism that I found during interviews included the stigma of females in gaming, microaggressions, and online toxicity. The survey showed that the assumption was that females did not want to join the community because females are intimidated by both sexism and the gender ratio (see Figure 3). Figure 3. Reasons females may not join the community In regards to sexism, the most experienced types are microaggressions and online toxicity (see Figure 4) Microagressions Unwanted Sexual advances Online toxicity Stigma of females in the gaming community Harassment (because of gender) Figure 4. Types of sexism experienced 6

7 From an outside perspective, gaming communities are seen as sexist. Microaggressions, online toxicity, and the stigma of females in the SSB community are still present. However, the community has improved a lot since it's beginning. Microaggressions refer to intentional or unintentional actions that perpetuate prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. Online toxicity refers to the comments found on streams or social media, directed at females, that are violent, derogatory, or overtly sexual. Females who are shown on stream find that their gender is criticized rather than their gameplay. Similarly, females who speak out on social media about male dominated topics such as sports or games, often receive hate [7]. The stigma of females in the gaming community refers to the assumptions that females are not good at the game and that females just want attention. In order to recruit more females into the SSB community, we need to correct the assumption that gaming communities are inherently sexist address the sexism that still exists within the community. When developing the advertisement materials referenced above (see page 3) we need to focus on showcasing a welcoming and safe environment for females. For example, Smash Sisters offers a safe space for females to enter into because of their all female events. Showcasing these types of events to females who are worried about sexism and the gender ratio when joining could be beneficial. In order to combat the current sexism in the community to recruit and retain more females, educational materials and training should be implemented. The educational materials will address the communities problems with microaggressions. These comments and actions tend to be unintentional, however females do not confront those who perpetuate these actions so they are not aware that they are hurting others. Providing accessible information about what microaggressions are and how to be aware and willing to learn could help change the community for the better. Providing training for stream moderators can also improve the community because they can help prevent and deal with sexism in stream chats. In order to rid the community of sexism, people must be educated and understand how to prevent and deal with it. Future Research Future research, to follow up on my findings, will include interviews and surveys of females outside of the SSB community to understand if there is interest in the SSB community and the games. The limitation of my current research is it only addresses females within the community. This research assumes that females outside of the community are interested in the game. I have some hypotheses on why females choose not to join the community, including: not knowing about the community, lack of competitive drive, and the perceived sexism in the community. Conducting further user research would affirm these hypotheses or allow me to find the real reasons females don t join the community. 7

8 The interviews would be 30 minute sessions conducted in a semi structured format, very similar to my previous interviews. The goal of these interviews would be to find if females are interested in the game, and why or why not they are interested. I am interested in finding out if they have prior knowledge of competitive gaming or the SSB community and games, if they have been involved in other competitive activities, such as sports or other video games, if they perceive gaming communities to be sexist, and if they are interested in the SSB games or the community. The interviews would allow me to find the themes around why females are not aware or do not join the SSB community. The survey will be under 15 questions and consist of different question types, including multiple choice, likert scale, and ranking. The survey will focus on the same themes as the interviews, as well as exploring any new themes that appear during the interviews. It would allow me to affirm my findings in the interviews, as well as quantify the responses. References [1] Entertainment Software Association. (2015). Essential facts about the computer and video game industry. ESA. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from [2] Chen, L. (2014, September 18). What s it like to be a woman in competitive gaming? A female gamer explains. Retrieved May 05, 2016, from [3] Rovell, D. (2016, January 15). Retrieved June 04, 2016, from [4] The Smash Brothers Documentary, [5] Chow, N. (2016, May 09). Interview Report. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from web_.pdf [6] Miller, P. (2016, May 13). Guest Column: Meet the Smash Sisters. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from [7] Dicaro, J. (2015, December 17). You Can't Just Ignore The Trolls. Retrieved June 04, 2016, from 8