Left 4 Dead 2 is a multiplayer survival first person shooter horror game released in 2009, one year after the original game was released.
Part of the plan is still up in the air, as I would like to incorporate a video element to help explain certain points and add another element to the blog posts. For example, highlighting how the Tank affects the gameplay and strategy of the players. Another aspect is how much of the online multiplayer I will play, what campaigns I will play, the modes as well. I will most likely play the more popular modes like Online Versus rather than less popular modes like Mutations.
As far as the sources are concerned, looking into how the benefits for video gaming companies of creating sequels to their most popular games. This Newspaper article from 2004 could help my understanding of the process gaming companies go through to make sequels.
The utility and audience for this project can be reached, as this game franchise has a large in-built fan base that is still actively playing the game. But this project will also reach out to others, through engagement with the subreddits of the Left 4 Dead fan base. This link is through to the Left 4 Dead 2 subreddit, while this one leads to the Left 4 Dead subreddit. I am also mindful of the fact that I need to also engage with more people than just this specific group, and should aim at targeting zombie media fans as well. Perhaps engaging and asking for feedback from a relevant subreddit would be a tool to reach my target audience and get crucial feedback to improve my work.
Ben's opinion on everything 
Hello Ben! You have a very interesting DA about the game ‘Left 4 Dead 2’ and a well structured analysis of the game presenting to the audience what you will be doing weekly by trying to finish the level on normal difficulty. In your contextual blog you talk about the fan base which relates back to an audience based analytical framework and the replay-ability the game has to offer which therefore tells us that the game is capable to be played multiple times without getting bored easily. You also mention you will be using secondary sources to reach out to different audiences playing this type of game to gain a further understanding of the fan base and the structuralism behind ‘Left 4 Dead 2’. My only suggestion is to look further into the history of the game and look into why this game is popular with users! Well done.
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This DA will work well in how targeted and specific the topic and analysis you have presented is. The timeline was a bit vague and could do with a more specific weekly plan to show exactly how you will progress and in what field. While you have a great focus on the game itself, it seems your post-structural analysis of the games industry in regards to sequels could be more fleshed out. For example, you could look into the design of multiplayer games and how that experience is adapted into a sequel that maintains the identity of the first game (which Left 4 Dead 2 did really well). A more recent source regarding this is ‘Continuity of Expectations, User Experience in Game Sequels’, (https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A936901&dswid=-6165). On top of this, you could compare the first and second games to analyse if one is prefered over the other.
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Hey Ben, your framework for analysis looks to be solid and I love the idea of comparing this game to the original based on those parameters. If possible, I’d suggest including the brief description showing what the game is about in the video next time, as I watched it first I was confused because I hadn’t heard of the game before – it’s great to see this detail was added into the blog post!
Your planning also seems well thought out but may benefit from a visual representation. It seems like you are planning of doing a lot of work each week, and visuals may allow you to assess how these plans will fit into your uni schedule.
You may also need to consider how you’re planning on capturing video content. Will you be recording the whole time or only at certain times? I did find a video tutorial that may be helpful as it shows how to record footage without using a capture card or otherwise streaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juRLeMrNtSs
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Hey Ben
Your framework for analysis looks good and I like the idea of how you are analysing Left 4 Dead 2 from 3 perspectives. I can see you already have a lot of knowledge about the game and have also done a lot of research about it which is very useful.
It seems like you are planning on doing a lot of work each week, and visuals may allow you to assess how these plans will fit into your uni schedule.I see your planning on doing a lot for this project each week so I thought adding some visuals to your pitch such as a weekly schedule about when your posting would be helpful with managing your time.
Because ‘Left 4 Dead 2’ was released in 2009 you could of done some background research on why people are still playing it now. You could check out this article “Why Left 4 Dead 2 is still worth playing”.
You could even look into using other platforms such as twitch as it’s such a popular platform for gaming
But overall your DA looks great and can’t wait to see how it goes
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I just want to start by discussing the pitch and blog as a whole. I think your idea moving forward is really strong. Throughout the pitch, you clearly outlined your aims, in relation to the game itself ‘Left 4 Dead 2’, and the content you wish to produce. I think including a visual component will be really beneficial like you mentioned, to help with engagement and give your intended audience more of a visual aspect to relate the information based on the analytical frameworks your wish to explore! I am really interested to see if, as it is an XBOX 360 game, if it has any difference when using a different console (I’m not really sure if it is something that happens?). I can recommend using platforms like youtube or TikTok as a source for your visual elements. Both these platforms can be linked really well into blogs, as well as being able to reach a greater number of viewers. TikTok especially has a really interesting algorithm, the use of their for you page really relates content to the user’s personal niche and also to content that relates to other videos they like, comment on, and share. The blog I have linked below goes into a little more detail about how the algorithm works.
https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-algorithm/#:~:text=The%20TikTok%20algorithm%20is%20a,your%20current%20state%20of%20mind.
I have also found this TikTok creator that I think can really give you an idea into some visual aspects when it comes to analyzing the game.
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZSJcYM7bE/
As a whole, I’m really interested to see where you can take this digital artefact! I think your analytical frameworks really align well with the content you wish to produce. Although the idea is there and ready The only thing I wasn’t able to really see was a timeline of how you wish to move forward!
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