CONSUMPTION PATTERN IN DOTA 2 TRADE CENTER INDONESIA: A VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHY STUDY

• Main Author: ADAM AFIF MOLL, 121211233032
• Format: Theses and Dissertations NonPeerReviewed
• Language: English; Indonesian
• Published: 2016
• Subjects: HD6350-6940.7 Trade unions. Labor unions. Workers' associations; HM756-781 Community
• Online Access: http://repository.unair.ac.id/56753/1/ABSTRACT.pdf; http://repository.unair.ac.id/56753/13/FS.%20BE.%2081-16%20Mol%20c-min.pdf; http://repository.unair.ac.id/56753/; http://lib.unair.ac.id
• Institution: Universitas Airlangga

The concept of freemium game has been applied in recent years due to the result of intense competition in the online game industry. Consequently, game developers and publishers are having their own way to convince players to use their money on virtual items inside the game. As the best Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game in the world, the freemium video game of Dota 2 successfully induce its players to spend their money on it as evidenced by its world competition in 2015 with the prize pool of $18,429,613. This phenomena leads the player to create the virtual community called as online trade community. Established in 2012 with the total of 21,339 members, D2TCI (Dota 2 Trade Center Indonesia) become the biggest and well known online trade community for Dota 2 players in Indonesia. Thus, this study is conducted to investigate the consumption pattern of the members inside the virtual community of D2TCI and the meanings they embedded toward the items that they buy for the game itself. This qualitative research used Kozinet’s consumption pattern model alongside with virtual ethnography as its method. The results taken from in-depth interview with 7 respondents through online chatting provided by the community show that they consume virtual items in the community to show the display of prestige and wealth as a nouveaux riches. Thus, it indicates that the members of D2TCI use the power of anonymity to express themselves through their consumption pattern.