Media technologies and learning in the starcraft esport community

Interest-driven Internet communities often use an assemblage of media technologies to support knowledge creation and learning. In this paper, we examine the uneven functions of these media technologies in meeting the learning needs of online game players. StarCraft is an online game and electronic sport where millions around the world compete in virtual battlegrounds. To become better players, gamers actively share strategies in online forums, wiki, videos, and in person. We conducted participant observation of a StarCraft community known as Teamliquid. We performed 24 in-depth interviews with professional gamers, editors, game commentators, and community leaders. We found that the novice learners generally learned from, and participated in, public media channels, whereas the StarCraft experts congregated in small teams in which members learn from each other within private media channels and in person. We use the concepts of informational media and socially-oriented media to describe the general learning needs supported by media technologies. © 2013 ACM.