The E-Sports Thread

[Krone]

I didn't know where else to put this, but I figured it would be a nice little thread with the growth of e-sport titles in recent years. From ESPN covering LoL and CS:GO, to the console games, I've slowly but surely become hooked on competitive gaming.

It all started back in 2009 when I found out about MLG and Halo 3. The thought of being able to make money off of video games blew my mind and had me hooked from the word go. Since then, I've attended two Major League Gaming events (Washington D.C. in 2010 for Halo: Reach which had about 120 teams - and MLG Columbus 2011 for Halo: Reach which had 180 teams) which literally blew my mind. Stepping into a room with almost 1,000+ players who all shared the same passion as me was absolutely incredible. While I didn't exactly come out on top, it was an amazing experience that you would almost have to be in attendance to believe. Over the course of years, my gaming went from Halo to Call of Duty after Halo fell off in H4, but I had my share of local tournament wins, even winning a $1,000 tournament without dropping a map.

Next weekend, I will be traveling to Washington D.C. once more for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and UMG's $50,000 national championship. Now I'm not sure again how many people are familiar with console competitive gaming, let alone Call of Duty, but this is the third highest North American tournament excluding the MLG National Championship in New Orleans next month and the Call of Duty championships every April that take place in Los Angeles with a cool $1,000,000 USD on the line. To give you guys an idea of just how intense these things can get (and believe me, some of these people are major tools), I'll direct you all to a nice little trash talking montage as well as just what these events have to offer experience wise.

 

 

 

[Dan]

Competitive CoD makes me cringe so much. I can watch LoL but they don't talk shit to each other all game and act like they're "hard".

[Krone]

Believe me, there's nothing more annoying than having kids t-bag you or just talk shit. I was watching CS:GO and the ESL ONE Cologne this past weekend and their whole presentation and all was absolutely beautiful. I feel like it may sound farfetched, but I could definitely see console e-sports becoming as popular as actual sports with the accessibility of it to almost all casual fans. It's not like basketball or soccer where you need to go through 800 loopholes to get to a professional level. You can hop on a fair share of games and get the same action as the pros.

[Rich]

How is E-Sport different to me just jumping online and playing other people (with the exception of the money at stake)?

[Meacon Keaton]

I can't fathom there ever being a day where people are more interested in watching people play video games than an actual sport.  

[Krone]

How is E-Sport different to me just jumping online and playing other people (with the exception of the money at stake)?

Different rule sets (for CoD at least) and gametypes.

[Rich]

What do you mean by different rule sets and game types?

[Krone]

For instance (CoD only) certain abilities are banned that would be considered cheap. One would be Exo Ping which allows you to see where other opponents are on the map. Competitive views this as taking away gunskill and communication, making it 'cheaper'.

In Halo, there is no mini map in competitive which forces better communication and teamwork. Also, in Halo, power weapons spawn in different spots than 'public matches' to help better promote map movement and map control.

There are three competitive gametypes in CoD. Hardpoint (which is King of the Hill), Uplink, and Search and Destroy. Team Deathmatch isn't one because you don't 'need' map control and after getting a kill could theoretically camp the entire game which wouldn't be enjoyable from a spectators standpoint. You also can't use modified weapons which unbalance damage/accuracy to keep the playing field level.

[Rich]

So it is exactly the same as me jumping on line but only using certain servers/rules sets depending on the game?

[Your Mom]

And no one will buy tickets to watch you  

[Rich]

They are missing out

[Krone]

So it is exactly the same as me jumping on line but only using certain servers/rules sets depending on the game?

Exactly. It's pretty much just the rule sets. 

Granted, this isn't CoD, but still. League of Legends really does have it's fanbase.

And CS:GO tournament from this past weekend had 660,000 viewers on Twitch. I'm almost sure that's more than Ring of Honor draws on a cable channel so it's gotta have a little something there.

[Lint]

If your "training" consists of sitting in a chair, playing videogames and pounding energy drinks, its not a sport and your not an athlete

[Dan]

League is by far the biggest. ESPN had the NA LCS results on the ticker last night and Sports centre interviewed a caster after the game, @Ruki and @Plubby could probably tell you more about the pro scene than I could imagine though.

[Krone]

If your "training" consists of sitting in a chair, playing videogames and pounding energy drinks, its not a sport and your not an athlete

You'd be surprised at how many people actually work out more than "pound energy drinks". I don't think it classifies you as an athlete either, but I also never implied that.

I also wouldn't classify poker as a sport.

[Your Mom]

If your "training" consists of sitting in a chair, playing videogames and pounding energy drinks, its not a sport and your not an athlete

I actually don't agree with that. I feel like it is a sport. Training is training and it requires skill

[Lint]

If your "training" consists of sitting in a chair, playing videogames and pounding energy drinks, its not a sport and your not an athlete

You'd be surprised at how many people actually work out more than "pound energy drinks". I don't think it classifies you as an athlete either, but I also never implied that.

I also wouldn't classify poker as a sport.

Yea I can't classify poker as a sport either

[Ruki]

Here is what you need to know about the pro League scene: If I like the team...it's gonna do poorly. So, so poorly.

 

But the League of Legends competitive scene? It's huge. HUGE. Hell, they sold out MSG this weekend. Look at this:

 

 

 

Thousands and thousands of people from across the world coming together to watch the best players in one of the most popular video games. 'Sports' are evolving (hell...look at all these sports: https://www.reddit.com/r/theocho/). These players spend hundreds/thousands of hours honing their skill, having the best technical/mechanical/tactical skills in their field. If you can consider bowling, poker, darts, pool sports and their players athletes, then this is just as much as sport.

[Meacon Keaton]

If your "training" consists of sitting in a chair, playing videogames and pounding energy drinks, its not a sport and your not an athlete

I actually don't agree with that. I feel like it is a sport. Training is training and it requires skill

You can "train" at anything though. Would you call writing a sport? It requires practice and skill.

[MalaCloudy Black]

My favorite thing about eSports is all the arguing that comes with it re: "is it a real, true, 'aaaaaaaard man's sport?" It's the same as arguing about whether golf or Nascar are sports. There was a pretty good article I posted in the League of Legends thread.. last month? The month before? Profiling a top LoL player, and the training and practice he has to go through. Sports aren't all about the physical training or conditioning you have to go through; there's a mental component to eSports, just as much as there is one in a game of football or baseball or golf. 

A more appropriate comparison might be chess. Chess is, in some regions of the world, considered a sport. And yes, there's argument over whether or not it's "sport" or "athletics" or "just a game", but that's a shitty mentality and does a disservice to the people who train and practice, day-in and day-out. Just because you're not running the length of a field while you play doesn't mean it isn't sport.