'Cadenland': An Ethnographic Case Study Exploring a Male's Videogaming Literacies on Crayta within the Larger Stadia Culture

As content creation becomes more accessible and social through gaming, defying hardware barriers, not deterred by software interfaces, moving gaming into the cloud has made it a massive multiplier for players to explore their literacies and creativity without the clutter of the physical space. Videogaming's popularity has sparked controversy, especially the perception of videogames as violent and having a negative influence on players or having no social value in it. Hence, the need to create a balance by focusing on the merits inherent in videogames. This virtual ethnographic case study explored the literacies found in a 26-year-old male gamer's videogaming on Crayta within a larger Stadia cloud gaming community. The methodology included observations, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, in-game chats, game-based artifacts, and thematic analysis to analyze the data gathered from the participant. Findings reveal how videogaming experience enhanced the participant's engagement, resulting in four significant literacy outcomes. Results are discussed regarding implications for collaboration, creativity and innovation, critical strategic thinking, and social skills. Included is a hybrid theoretical framework of layered literacies and the feedback loop for examining the lived-in experiences of the participant. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]