engleski

Language in video games: a tool for virtual characterization of characters in role-playing games

Video games provide an interesting and scientifically largely unexplored virtual space that reflects the popular culture of today, as well as its most frequent stereotypes. Since language is an essential factor of presentation and communication within video games, it is an easy target for categorization and stereotyping. A quantitative and qualitative study into sociolinguistic stereotypes was conducted within the virtual environment of the game Guild Wars 2. The quantitative method involved the analysis of linguistic characteristics of three races from the game that had the most clear-cut linguistic variations – the Standard English accent of the sylvari race, and the vocabulary differences between the asura and the skritt race based on the amount of nouns, verbs and adjectives used within the analyzed sample. The qualitative method involved interviewing six players that actively play the game in order to provide better insight into players' perception and observation of aforementioned races and their linguistic variations, as well as any negative and positive opinions they have of them. The results have confirmed the presence of these linguistic variations among the races ; furthermore, the interviews have shown that the players create their opinions of these races and attribute positive and negative values to them based on their real-life stereotypes towards these linguistic variations – namely, they attributed higher prestige to the sylvari race and an overall positive opinion based on their Received Pronunciation, as well as judging the asura race as the more intelligent race than the skritt based on their larger vocabulary and language proficiency.

sociolinguistic stereotypes, pronunciation, vocabulary, Guild Wars 2

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