Don’t go Hollow, Friend. An in-depth analysis of an online videogame community and their communication.

Technology is changing how people communicate, how people connect with one another, and how relationships between strangers and friends alike are constructed. This thesis aims to explore the configurational relationship between a form of media, in this case the videogames of the Dark Souls franchise, and a community that almost exclusively exists and interacts in virtual environments. The most relevant findings in this thesis were related to how members of this specific virtual community communicate with each other, express their sense of belonging to this community and how the Dark Souls videogame (communicative) mechanics play a role in this. Therefore, the research focuses on the Dark Souls videogame franchise gameplay, and the Dark Souls community that exists on the content-sharing and forum-like website Reddit. The aim of this thesis is to answer the question: How are certain gameplay elements of the Dark Souls franchise used by the related virtual community to both construct and observe this community, and to communicate with other community members? A thematic analysis was used in this research to research the configurative relationship between Dark Souls gameplay and the Dark Souls Reddit community. Before the thematic analysis was conducted, several hundred threads and posts were collected from the three most active Dark Souls related ‘subreddits’. Additionally, Dark Souls gameplay mechanics that allow players to interact with other players through online functionalities were analysed in order to make sense of some of the contents that were stumbled upon during the thematic analysis of the community on Reddit. The analysis of the gameplay also helps understand some of the most arguably most important mechanics within the videogame that, observable in the results of this research, configure the community, it’s members and the communication among them. The results of this research show that a configurative relationship between the Dark Souls videogames and the online Dark Souls related Reddit community exists. Usage of Dark Souls jargon in discussion on Reddit shows that the gameplay and lore of the franchise configure the modes of communication in the community. What also reflects that affectation of the virtual universe is the 2 way Dark Souls community members identified themselves, and how they expressed a certain sense of belonging to this specific community. Additionally, community members also discussed how individual gameplay experiences are altered by the larger Dark Souls community. The online functionalities of Dark Souls allow players to (involuntarily) enter the virtual world of other players, leading to unique, unintended gameplay experiences. What became evident throughout the analysis of the relationship between the community and the gameplay, is that the (common) experiences had by community members lead to a common understanding of emotions, jargon, gameplay interactions, discussions and more, showing the importance of the gameplay itself in the construction of the community and the subjects discussed, and even in what manner they discuss these subjects.