Intimacy Imagination: A Study Of Affective Labor Of Otome Game Players

With the trend of verticalization in the digital game market,otome games have become the focus of the game industry.The players of otome games actively participate in the games and engage in "inter-dimensional romance" with the virtual characters in the games.Under this intimate relationship,players are reduced to the "free affective labor" of the game capital.This paper intends to take the theories related to affective labor as the care,mainly using in-depth interview method and participant observation method,take the player group of the typical otome game case "Love of Light and Night" as the research object.The virtual intimate relationship constructed between the players and the game characters is taken as a clue.Analyze the specific performance,reasons and impact of affective labor performed by the otome game players.The study found that the affective labor stems from the players’ imagination of intimate relationships with the game’s virtual characters.In otome games,virtual intimacy is presented through various forms of affective labor,and the affective labor process of otome players is expressed as a dynamic cycle of "capital empowerment-affection generation-affection expression-affection consumption-capital appreciation",which constitutes the dynamic balance of players’ affective resources consumption and replenishment.The construction of intimate relationship in otome games is the driving mechanism of affective labor for players: firstly,the game capital integrates players’ affective needs into the content logic of the game,constructs the proposed social relationship expected by players,and becomes the premise of affective labor for players;secondly,the game platform cultivates players’ game contact habits by building the labor framework inside and outside the game,and realizes the virtual intimate relationship is maintained.In addition,the affective identity of otome players is constantly internalized into the labor training of active labor,which further strengthens the virtual intimate relationship.At the same time,under the intimacy,this kind of affective labor has a corresponding impact on both players and the Internet ecology.Moreover,there are boundaries to this virtual intimacy,and otome game players will not engage in endless acts of affective labor and will take steps to resist labor alienation.Therefore,for the group of otome game players,they should not only return to rationality in the process of experiencing virtual intimacy and be wary of the loss of subjects and value deviation brought by excessive entertainment,but also need to cherish the fruits of personal digital labor,improve media literacy,and truly play the subjectivity of individuals in the game practice.With the gradual enrichment of the meaning of affective labor,the empirical case studies of affective labor of other groups can be further explored in the future.