A look at the communication of body language of a digital avatar. 

So, as a kid I did not play that many video games, but as a teen and young adult I found myself getting sucked into the gaming community specifically with a game called minecraft. I found it difficult to communicate through only a text chat. But many players had already helped solved this issue. I began to learn some short hand communication by producing certain movements with my avatar. If someone wants to give a greeting, you walk up to a person and use the crouch feature. Similar to how people in some culture bow to one another. Its a way of showing recognition and respect. If a player is excited than they may jump to show their joy. If a player is sad about something than they may crouch and bow there had and sort of move diagonally away from another player to show shame or embarrassment. This mimics the act of shuffling from foot to foot or digging a toe into the ground used in real life. 

But the language can get even more complex from there. The interaction of certain objects can also be used. For instance if some player is giving a long monolog or speech other players may pop down a boat and hop in it, riding around on land, to express a playful nature of boredom or just general silliness or anticipation. This can also also be done with a trap door. The trap door when used correctly will place a player in swim mode which could be used to mimic someone laying down and resting their chin on there hands. 

The same sort of communication can exist in other times of games like first person shooters or even MMORPG’s. 

In first person shooters the most basic and versatile way to express one’s self is to jump up and down. This can be used to show excitement, to say “yes” or even to let other players know that they did a good job. This can be used to show an emotion of affirmation or positivity. But when combined with a feature of “sighting down the barrel” it can be used to gloat over another player's dead body.