The Logic of Affective Economics in Philippine Fans’ Discursive Articulations in Response to a League of Legends Skin Sale

• Main Author: Enverga, Manuel R, III
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: affective economics; discourse; fan studies; League of Legends; Game Design; South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/european-stud-faculty-pubs/3; https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1002&context=european-stud-faculty-pubs
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

This study has employed a single case study approach to examine how Filipino League of Legends (LoL) fans reacted to sale of a skin; or character cosmetic; to raise awareness for the Taal Volcano eruption in 2020. The promotion was posted on Facebook and received over 9,000 reactions. It also received over 1,000 comments; which served as the data source for this study. Following a discourse analysis of relevant comments; the researcher has found that commenters’ articulations were underpinned by the logic of affective economics. Responses to the skin promotion either exemplified brand loyalty towards League of Legends or expressed the possibility that the game’s producers ran a promotion to endear themselves to fans and simultaneously generate profits. As a study that has brought together discourse; fandoms; and affective economics; this article demonstrates how the assumptions of affective economics can inform the discursive articulations that fans make towards media producers. This article hopes to expand scholarly understandings of affective economics; which have hitherto been somewhat neglected in the field of fan studies.