My BFA Graphic design thesis project is working on the topic of eSports, because I want to find out how players develop a team synergy with their teammates, so that I can help others develop a team synergy of their own.
Synergy is a team strengthening application and requires users to connect their in-game accounts through the corresponding game clients. This helps synergy acquire in-game stats such as rank, kill-death ratio, wins, etc. Since people enjoy playing games that they can “vibe” with, a short personality quiz is taken and is used during the matchmaking process.
In order to build a strong team, players must have the same goals. So, players can either choose to play at a casual or competitive level. Team formation is based on in-game stats, roles, personality, and location. After finding a team, players will be able to “ready up” and join the leaders (leaders are chosen based on highest rank since they are considered “veterans” of the game) lobby. If they choose to leave the team, it would cost players 1 synergy coin (synergy currency system).
In order to have a high performance team, both online and offline interaction is essential. Online interactions are based on in-game weekly challenges provided by Synergy. Offline interactions consist of team building exercises. By completing these challenges, players are rewarded with Synergy coins and experience to level up their team banner. If a team banner reaches a certain level, teams will then qualify for eSports tournaments.
This offline interaction challenge requires teams/players to meet up in person. Teams can choose to strengthen their communication, trust, or collaboration. These exercises will be simple and will require little to no preparation. Since teams are formed based on location, players will then connect their devices via bluetooth and a timer will be set with instructions. Completing this challenge rewards players with 5 synergy coins and strengthens their team dynamics.
Gamers tend to have self reflections after matches to improve their individual mechanical skills. Another way players can reflect on their gameplay is by having the perspective of other players. For giving feedback, players are prompted to highlight the other players strengths through set tags and give constructive feedback during the writing portion. In order to avoid “toxicity” (swearing, name-calling, etc.) during feedback, Synergy would permanently ban those accounts to mitigate the problem.