The Political Dimension of Skyrim's Civil War: A Study of Russian Gamers Community

DiGRA 2017: The 10th Digital Games Research Association Conference, 3-6 July 2017

Posted: 5 Feb 2020

See all articles by Mariia Rubtcova

Mariia Rubtcova

North- West Institute of Management-branch of RANEPA

Oleg Pavenkov

Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA) - Moscow Campus

Vladimir Pavenkov

Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping

Date Written: April 24, 2017

Abstract

Computer games have long been the subject of harsh disputes, but their political influence is still poorly understood. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Bethesda Softworks, 2011) describes a fantasy world in which there is a confrontation between nationalists-separatists (the specific way of development) and the empire (the universal way of development), that is the quest's line "The Civil War in Skyrim." This line is not the main quest and it is possible to enjoy the game without missions from this quest line. The scenario most likely has its roots in ancient history and should not have led to analogies with modernity. The choice of either side will show the inconsistency of this choice, and it seems the authors put an emphasis on the horrors and unjust of civil war as it is. However, the long realistic RPG game (it needs 200-300 hours) led to immersion in the game world and the emergence of a discussion between gamers who supported different sides. The separatist line in the game was supported by Russian nationalist gaming communities. Some fans recorded musical compositions of nationalistic content based on the game. The nationalist slogan heard in the game "Skyrim for the Nords" became one of the mottos of groups of fans. However, the empire's line also received support. In our research, we study four Russian-speaking forums on the choice of a party in the civil war and conduct a discourse analysis of the comments. 819 comments were analyzed, 52% of them were written by the nationalist supporters, 37% of commentators supported the empire. The rest of the responses were neutral. Nationalistic commentators insisted on the identity of Skyrim, the need to preserve its culture, and protect its independence. Pro-imperial commentators emphasized the dangers of external enemies and the unacceptability of only a national development path. This discussion, taking place in the context of Russia's reality and the country's complex foreign policy, has shown that the discussion of computer games can be a place of political battles on topical problems of the real world.

Suggested Citation

Rubtcova, Mariia and Pavenkov, Oleg and Pavenkov, Vladimir, The Political Dimension of Skyrim's Civil War: A Study of Russian Gamers Community (April 24, 2017). DiGRA 2017: The 10th Digital Games Research Association Conference, 3-6 July 2017, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2957946

Mariia Rubtcova (Contact Author)

North- West Institute of Management-branch of RANEPA ( email )

St.Petersburg
Russia

Oleg Pavenkov

Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (RANEPA) - Moscow Campus ( email )

Moscow, 119571
Russia

Vladimir Pavenkov

Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping ( email )

5/7 Dvinskaya
St. Petersburg, 198035
Russia

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