Emotion And Ritual:A Study On The Interactive Behavior Of Female Players In Otome Mobile Games

From 2017,when Stacked Paper launched Love and the Maker to become a phenomenal otome game to 2021,when Tencent launched Light and Night Love to become a huge hit among otome games,otome games have received excellent market feedback.Today,the Chinese gaming market has seen the emergence of a mobile internet-based group of women with huge market potential who are interested in games and have both the ability and willingness to spend independently.In order to have a deeper understanding of the interactive behaviour of the female gamer group,"paper sex",and for game brands to better understand the female gamer group,it is important to have a deeper understanding of the female gamer group.At the same time,in order for game brands to better understand the female player group and increase the stickiness of players to the game products.In this paper,we will study the interaction behaviour of female players in a otome mobile game.It will explore how emotions are transmitted in the interactive behaviour,thus providing motivation for players’ continuous activity and retention in the game.Taking the game "Love and the Maker" as a case study,the author used literature analysis,participant observation and in-depth interviews to analyse the interactive behaviour of the B-girl-oriented handheld game player group both inside and outside the game,based on the theory of interactive ritual chains.The study found that interaction rituals exist both inside and outside the game,between individuals and game characters,and between individuals and game communities.Emotions are produced in various interaction rituals,and flow dynamically and cross-contextually through the interlocking and overlapping of various interaction rituals.The accumulation of interactive rituals gradually forms a chain of interactive rituals at a macro level.Emotional energy is accumulated and stored at a higher level in the chain of interactive rituals,and at the same time becomes a source of motivation to start the next interactive ritual.In-game players form emotional ties to the game characters,and out-of-game players form emotional ties to the game community.The continuous flow and accumulation of both in-game and out-of-game emotional energy through the chain of interactive rituals provides the motivation for the continued activity and retention of gamers in the game.Based on the findings of the study,the author takes an objective view of the persistent interactive behaviour of female gamers.At the same time,suggestions are made for the retention of users of girl-oriented hand game products in terms of product design,product values and community operation.