Cardona Ruiz 1

Andres Cardona Ruiz

ENC 1102
Professor Jennifer Murray
September 3, 2014
Welcome to the League
League of Legends (LoL) is a Massive Online Battle Arena with over 300 million players
in the world. Due to the sheer size of the community, it has developed characteristics that can be
attributed to a discourse community. I selected this particular discourse community due to the
fact that I have past and current involvement within the community. In this paper I will analyze
the specific terminology, genres, and how this discourse community meets all six of the proposed
defining criteria of discourse communities characterized by John Swales.
Swales defines the first criteria of a discourse community as [containing] a broadly
agreed set of common public goals (Swales 220). The main goal of the game is to destroy the
enemy nexus, as the destruction of the nexus awards the opposing team that demolished it a
victory. The nexus in LoL is the headquarters of both teams where minions (grunt A.I. forces)
spawn. The process of destroying the opposing teams nexus involves demolishing turrets and
inhibitors, which serve as obstacles to protect the nexus. Turrets are towers that automatically
target and fire at enemy units that get within range (prioritizing enemy summoners [Real life
players] that damage friendly summoners, followed by minions). Taking down enemy turrets
allows friendly minions to travel along the paths toward the enemy nexus with less resistance.
Minions are vital to victory due to the fact that they absorb damage that summoners would not
otherwise be able to withstand from the turrets. After taking down three turrets in a lane, the
enemy inhibitor is exposed. The elimination of enemy inhibitors allows the enemy nexus to be

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targeted. Until that time, it is invulnerable. The common goal of the community is the destruction
of the turrets and inhibitors in order to access and destroy the enemy nexus.
The second criteria of a discourse community is defined as [containing] mechanisms
of intercommunication among its members (Swales 221). Within the game there is a text-based
chat where players are able to communicate with their team and their enemies if they wish. There
is also a ping system that provides an audible and visual signal which is an effective way to
communicate something important without having to type, and is more noticeable than the chat
box. There are six pings within the game that you can use to signal your team: alert, retreat,
enemies missing; assist me, on my way, and danger. Outside of being physically in a game there
are forums, friend chats, and discussion posts where members are able to communicate to a
broader array of members to convey ideas and information.
The third criteria of a discourse community is defined as [using] its participatory
mechanism primarily to provide information and feedback (Swales221). In order to be eligible
to play ranked games, a player must work their way up to level thirty. This helps to improve
general knowledge of the game, as newcomers are not able to play ranked games that determine
their position on the ladder system. Those members that are active throughout the season receive
awards based on their performance in the game. Players are informed and receive feedback of
their performance through the ladder ranking system (generally the higher a person is on the
ladder, the better of a player they are). Being inactive in a game leads to negative consequences
such as being reported by teammates, as well as the opposing team. Reports can result in
punishment such as being banned from the community, or being matched with other players
reported for the same things. After five minutes of inactivity you are kicked out of a game, which
forces involvement on the part of the player once they are committed to a game. Post-game there

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are positive and negative feedbacks. Players can honor teammates or enemies for being good
sports, and more specifically how they helped you in the game i.e., helpful, teamwork, friendly,
honorable opponent. The negative feedback that players can receive if other players report them
are, harassment, verbal abuse, assisting enemy team, etc.
The fourth criteria of a discourse community is that it utilizes and hence possess one
or more genres in the communicative furtherance of its aims (221). Genres are textual tools that
meet the needs of the discourse community. Members use the different types of genres such as
LoL wiki, guides, Twitch, and the Journal of Justice in order to pursue the main goal of winning
games, and increasing their knowledge of the game. LoL wiki, guides, and Twitch (streamed
gameplay) increase the knowledge of members by discussing how to play, what to purchase, and
how to respond to different scenarios. The journal of justice gives background information about
champions (in-game characters that summoners can play as) that helps members understand the
story behind the game.
In addition to owning genres, a discourse community must have acquired some specific
lexis (222). The specialized language within discourse communities allows rapid exchange of
information between members with terms, or phrases that are standard in their fields. Several
examples of the specialized language that LoL utlizes are ADC- attack damage carry, APCability power carry, OOM- out of mana, AoE- Area of effect, B- recall button to go back to base,
CS-creep score (monster and minion kills), GG/BG- good game/bad game, Feed- to constantly
die to enemy summoners, LP- league points (points that rank you on the ranking ladder), etc.
The sixth and final criteria of a discourse community is that A discourse community has
a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of relevant content and discoursal expertise
(222). LoL has a ranking system that ranges from very low level of mechanical and game

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knowledge (bronze) to very knowledgeable and mechanically good at the game (challenger).
With over 300 million players in the world there is definitely a threshold level of players, and
with the ranking system there is a varying degree of knowledgeable players.
To wrap things up, the discourse community I have discussed meets all six of the
defining criteria proposed by Swales: there are common goals, participatory mechanism,
information exchange, community specific genres, a highly specialized terminology and a high
general level of expertise (224). The terminology and genres are tools that allow the members
of the community to reach their goal of winning games. Within the community I am considered
an expert in the field as I am within the top 6% of all players that play in North America. I am
actively involved in the game and will continue to be involved in the near future.

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Work Cited
Swales, John. The Concept of Discourse Community. Writing About Writing. Eds. Elizabeth
Wardle and Doug Downs. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2011. 466-480. Print.