Thoughts on E-Sports?

[KelVarnsen]

[Shazam]

I would've totally e-sported in Street Fighter II if it was around back then.

Sometimes I want to start playing SFIV and V and beat up the youngins.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

I guess fat kids need something to aspire to too.

[dobbles]

I think everyone would be better served if they just dropped the esports term so we can get over all the semantics. Just call it competitive gaming and we can at least move on to different topics of the conversation.

[Static]

What's not to love. Playing a competitive game at the highest level takes an extreme amount of dedication, practice and smarts. South Korea was a pioneer in the early esport days with StarCraft and MOBA's and now esport communities and are growing on a global scale with twitch and other streaming platforms.

I get every bit as excited watching my favorite player or team winning on the big stage. IEM Katowice was an amazing tournament to watch.

[mrkajz44]

Only real experience is with Overwatch league, but they've shown early on that it is easy to access and can have some really solid production values. I think GGG nailed it though that mainstream sports are very static and the the masses understand the main objectives (score goals, baskets, touchdowns, etc.) - as such that makes them easy to watch casually. Personally I think that's just not possible right now with e-sports and will be an issue for them going forward.

Heck, I play a good amount of overwatch and sometimes I can't even follow the action in pro games. It is pretty wild to see how good some of them are - that's the reason we watch mainstream sports too, to see how amazing some people are at them.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Just because it is like a real sport, doesn't mean it is a real sport.


As said earlier I rank it along with poker, bridge, etc.


Now, if you have these players having to ride bikes to power their computers I might change my mind.

The difference between card games and video games is that very few card games force you to react quickly. i.e., you can play a card game using only your intellect.

Beyond that, video games are more exciting to watch than cards being flipped over.

[OmegaV4]

I do agree with a lot of the comments about it being in the Olympics. It doesn't make sense for it to be there, seems weird to me.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

The difference between card games and video games is that very few card games force you to react quickly. i.e., you can play a card game using only your intellect.

Beyond that, video games are more exciting to watch than cards being flipped over.

Clearly you have never played Snap good sir.


But to be clear the force reaction isn't physical beyond fingers, maybe hands...E-Sports just isn't a sport, IMO.

[Sliver]

Meh, if curling can be in the Olympics I don't see why this can't.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Clearly you have never played Snap good sir.


But to be clear the force reaction isn't physical beyond fingers, maybe hands...E-Sports just isn't a sport, IMO.

That's fine... that doesn't change the fact that the best players in the world have an entertaining skill that Joe Schmoe on the street doesn't have. People can't just pick up a mouse and keyboard and do what they are doing.

[mrdonkey]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

That's fine... that doesn't change the fact that the best players in the world have an entertaining skill that Joe Schmoe on the street doesn't have. People can't just pick up a mouse and keyboard and do what they are doing.

...despite what a bunch of the hockey dads here might tell you.

(For the record, I don't have a problem with people who take umbrage with eSports if it's just not their thing. But a lot of older people seem to dismiss them out of hand as "not real sports" without really understanding what they're about. Which comes across to me as willful ignorance)

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

That's fine... that doesn't change the fact that the best players in the world have an entertaining skill that Joe Schmoe on the street doesn't have. People can't just pick up a mouse and keyboard and do what they are doing.

I never said they didn't have a skill, as an aside card players have a skill as well.

E-Sports all day long for all I care, suggesting it should be in the Olympics (not you) is dopey.

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by Shazam

I would've totally e-sported in Street Fighter II if it was around back then.

Sometimes I want to start playing SFIV and V and beat up the youngins.

And then you realize that todays players analyze frame data for each move and know everything about all 30-40 characters in todays fighting games. I was awesome at SFII in the arcade also but I couldn't tell you how many frames each move took, we did however learn to know which moves cancelled out others by trial and error, you know the fun way.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

..

(For the record, I don't have a problem with people who take umbrage with eSports if it's just not their thing. But a lot of older people seem to dismiss them out of hand as "not real sports" without really understanding what they're about. Which comes across to me as willful ignorance)

I guess it comes down to an individual's definition of "Sport".

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by mrdonkey

...despite what a bunch of the hockey dads here might tell you.

(For the record, I don't have a problem with people who take umbrage with eSports if it's just not their thing. But a lot of older people seem to dismiss them out of hand as "not real sports" without really understanding what they're about. Which comes across to me as willful ignorance)

How come anyone who has the opinion that disagrees with it being a sport is willfully ignorant? I totally understand competitive gaming requires immense skill and practice. But I just don't classify it as an athletic sport, plain and simple. Why are esports people so adamant in fitting it into that description? To me, it's something different, and should be classified as such. It doesn't take away from the fact that is ultra competitive and requires a lot of work to get good at.

[PsYcNeT]

I honestly think the cutoff for integration into eSports is around 30 right now. I'm 34 and the only eSports tournament that has even started to stir interest in me is the yearly WoW Arena tourney, which (for a player) is actually fun to watch.

That said, I have friends in their mid to late 20s that will watch OW and LoL tourneys over weekends, same as any other weekend-long tournament, and get up to similar shenanigans as any other sport. Betting on teams, drinking heavily while watching, and getting super into the rise and fall of different groups.

It's 100% a generational thing, and I think it's very short sighted to assume that it will die as the new generations grow up with it being the norm. For christsakes, most people here are talking about watching it on Cable Television, rather than the platforms most people under 30 are using (Streaming services, Twitch, YouTube, etc).

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

I guess it comes down to an individual's definition of "Sport".

Here's you go, on the Australian Today show this morning.

https://press-start.com.au/news/2018...gs-got-heated/

I accept either side of the argument but for a reporter who actually went to an E-sports event to be countered by two women who just dismiss out of hand is bad.

I've been to one of these in Korea. In the soccer stadium! I know girls who have crushes on guys on certain teams. It was just insane.

[btimbit]

I've understood for a long time that I'm an old man in a young man's body.

I love video games and always have. But watching a tournament has never appealed to me

[Ashasx]

It's not a sport. It's an e-sport.

Nobody says e-sport and thinks somebody is lacing up a pair of skates or throwing a ball. If the concern is semantics, I think "E-Sports" are going to be just fine.