Scenario 1
Dr. Norman: Reza, so you are a student in my course on the psychology of video games. Can you tell me about your involvement with video games?
Reza: Yes, I have played video games all my life since I was a kid up to today. I have played so many different games. All of the Pokémon games, tons of fighting games, first person shooters, and the rest. I am mostly a PC gamer, but I have played games on all of the systems, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Game Cube, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Wii, and WiiU.
Dr. Norman: I understand you are into League of Legends now.
Reza: Yes, actually I am the copresident of the University of Maryland League of Legends Club. We currently have over 1,000 members on Facebook.
Dr. Norman: Just what is League of Legends?
Reza: So, League is a MOBA, a multiplayer online battle arena. As of January 2014, over 67 million people played League of Legends per month, 27 million per day, and over 7.5 million concurrently during peak hours. Additionally, League of Legends made over $1.6 billion last year, completely dominating the gaming market (source: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/26/digital-gaming-sales-hit-record-61-billion-in-2015-report.html).
Dr. Norman: I understand that tournaments are held. Can you tell me about that?
Reza: Yeah, so since League of Legends is a competitive 5 versus 5 multiplayer game, people love going against each other. With over 130 characters to choose from, building teams around combinations of 5 becomes really exciting for both players and spectators. In the past few years, watching League of Legends at live stadium events has only grown larger, as Riot Games has sold out at venues like Madison Square Garden, the Seoul World Cup Stadium, and the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Viewership reached 36 million people worldwide watching the world championship grand finals last year, overtaking the NBA finals. We also host viewing and gaming parties on campus.
Dr. Norman: So, how is the University of Maryland doing in the competition?
Reza: We have been competing in the uLoL with a number of other universities. This year our team went to the final-four tournament in Boston, but we lost to Robert Morris University.