Media linguistic features of the tabletop role-playing game text

Abstract

The subject of the study is the media linguistic features of the text of a tabletop role-playing game (TRPG). The purpose of the work is to identify the essential features of the media text and answer the question: can media accompaniment of a tabletop role–playing game be considered a media text? Despite the sufficient elaboration of the topic of media communications on the Internet, the research material is a little-studied phenomenon. The research material is transcripts of sessions of the board RPG "Dungeons & Dragons" from fragments of the TV show "Critical Role" on streaming platforms. The study examined the emergence and development of the media text concept, noting a significant expansion of this term semantics in the context of media globalization. Further, the typological properties of the media text as an object of linguistic media research were systematized and the text of the TRPG was analyzed for compliance with existing criteria. The article used descriptive and comparative methods; a statistical method to assess the popularity of the TRPG. When working with the transcript of the game, Python programming methods were implemented: to increase clarity and create a correct text transcription. As a result, conclusions were drawn about the presence of such media linguistic features in the media accompaniment of TRPG as collective authorship, hypertextuality, interactivity and etc., which constituted the scientific novelty of the study. Comparative analysis by criteria allowed us to trace qualitative changes in the typology of media texts. In addition, the expediency of expanding the terminological apparatus of media linguistics was emphasized, which correlates with the study of transmedia narration. The results of the observations can be applied to improve the text-generation that accompanies the gameplay, and can also be used to conduct similar studies based on the speech material of TRPGs.