Less Talk, More Trust: Understanding Players' In-game Assessment of Communication Processes in League of Legends

TL;DR

This study explores how League of Legends players perceive and evaluate in-game communication, revealing that players often see communication as a sign of potential team issues, which informs better communication design.

Contribution

The paper provides qualitative insights into players' in-the-moment communication assessments, highlighting the role of game context and norms in communication decisions.

Findings

Players assess communication based on game state and expectations.

Communication is often viewed as a precursor to team breakdowns.

Players' perceptions influence their communication behavior.

Abstract

In-game team communication in online multiplayer games has shown the potential to foster efficient collaboration and positive social interactions. Yet players often associate communication within ad hoc teams with frustration and wariness. Though previous works have quantitatively analyzed communication patterns at scale, few have identified the motivations of how a player makes in-the-moment communication decisions. In this paper, we conducted an observation study with 22 League of Legends players by interviewing them during Solo Ranked games on their use of four in-game communication media (chat, pings, emotes, votes). We performed thematic analysis to understand players' in-context assessment and perception of communication attempts. We demonstrate that players evaluate communication opportunities on proximate game states bound by player expectations and norms. Our findings illustrate players' tendency to view communication, regardless of its content, as a precursor to team breakdowns. We build upon these findings to motivate effective player-oriented communication design in online games.