"Good" Grief: Subversion, Praxis, and the Unmasked Ethics of Griefing Guides. Issue 3 (2nd July 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Beale, Matthew; McKittrick, Megan; Richards, Daniel
• Is Part Of: Technical communication quarterly. Volume 25:Issue 3(2016)
• Page Start: 191
• Page End: 201
• Publication Date: 2016-07-02
• Subjects: Collaboration -- digital technologies -- documentation -- ethics -- help systems; Technical writing -- Periodicals; Technical writing -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 808.0666
• DOI: 10.1080/10572252.2016.1185160
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1057-2252

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article uses genre-field analysis (GFA) to examine Minecraft griefing guides: user-generated documentation that operationalizes destructive approaches to gameplay. Griefing guides promote subversive praxis while forwarding a utilitarian ethical system that alues hedonistic schadenfreude, running counter to morals of cooperation championed by most Minecraft players. Published in online forums where debates over conflicting praxis continue, these guides explicitly address, rather than mask, the negotiation of ideological values and ethical systems within a community.