![]() Status performance is a relationship between of player performance and avatar customisation. The Steam Preference Analyser parses information on hat usage and social status directly from Steam as well as third-party resources on Team Fortress 2 micro-economy (Fox & Harrell, 2013). Players are categorised by two distinct metrics that are used in greater detail throughout the research later on: status performance and tie strength. ![]() Now bear with me as we work our way through this as it gets a little complex. With this data in-hand, Lim conducted a number of processing techniques and statistical methods in order to garner useful data from it. Lim gathered profile data from 200 players on Steam as part of the research process: gathering information on how they interact in Steam forums, communicate on each others profiles as well as gather a stack of information on item acquisition for Team Fortress 2. This actually leads to a form of projection of the players identity in an often ridiculous and exaggerated fashion. This melding of the players persona with their in-game representation as denoted in the research as ‘phantasmal identities’: a blend identity between the avatar in a video game with the real-world perceptions and beliefs of the human player. The meaning or value of a hat ranges widely from person to person, given personal tastes that clash or meld with the exaggerated and often absurdist art styles of game such as TF2 or Overwatch.Ĭosmetic items are an interesting phenomena in online games acting as an expression of achievement that isn’t necessarily linked to skill. So you might think, “Geez, this is a lotta talk about hats”, but purely cosmetic items are an interesting phenomena in online games given they often act as an expression of achievement that is not necessarily tied to a players skill. The focus of the work was to see whether the range of hats available and the rarity of certain hats, combined with the diversity of hats worn by players, can tell us something about the players themselves. Research into Team Fortress 2 hat-usage was conducted by MIT grad student Chong-U Lim as part of a master’s thesis. What does the hat you are wearing say about you?.Are there any correlations between those who wear hats and their prominence within the TF2 community?.What can we learn about people who wear hats?.Leading us to a number of interesting questions: It’s with this in mind we turn to Team Fortress 2 and look specifically at the usage of hats: the first phase in a suite of cosmetic items that have slowly had a stronger influence on gameplay in more recent updates of the game. ![]() A collection of just some of the hats that can be worn by different characters in Team Fortress 2. ![]()
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