E-Sports. Can you make a fortune?

There are many video and stories about Esports taking place, as well as it's place in the sports world. Is it a real sport? Most of the vids I saw are over an hour long so I didn't watch them. But I think it's worth a discussion. The crowds are huge, and the money is BIG.

Is it a real sport?




BBC Documentary:

Not to be confused with multi-player video games:

eSports (also known as electronic sports, esports, e-sports, competitive (video) gaming, professional (video) gaming, or pro-gaming) is an activity where the primary aspects of the activity are facilitated by electronic systems; the input of players and teams as well as the output of the eSports system are mediated by human-computer interfaces.[1] Most commonly eSports take the form of organized multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players. The most common video game genres associated with eSports are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter (FPS), and multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA). Tournaments such as The International, the League of Legends World Championship, the Battle.net World Championship Series, the Evolution Championship Series, and the Intel Extreme Masters, provide both live broadcasts of the competition, and prize money and salaries to competitors.

en.wikipedia.org...

Oh shoot, I intended for this to go in an off-topic forum.




Anyway this is a great article, introducing all the Esports-stars. Some people say it's not a sport, but a competition --others say it's a true sport, and the article discusses both sides.

(Aren't all sports 'competitions, though?)

Whatever you think, these guys are making MILLIONS.

www.bbc.co.uk...

My brother has been given a couple of offers for sponsorship, but has declined. I was offered on Fox network by two people for the same show, they must not be communicating correctly... and I don't even like gaming! In a world of billions, what a couple hundred maybe can be considered pro-level to the extent they make their income primarily from the "esport". So my brother decided to not try, and for me it was more about reputation thing. I don't want something like this on public record when I make it big. It would be kind of embarrassing, to tell people that there was a period of time where I had no life and found out how to score super high on silly games.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

Yes, I think to achieve the celebrity and big bucks those guys are pulling in, you'd have to spend almost every waking hour in front of a game.

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Right, and what's the point of that?

Or rather, what's the point of anything you're not passionate about. It was always just a mind-eraser for me, between drinks of mind-erasers.

I'm far too busy to mess with stupid games now. The people who are my age that are addicted to video games are just losers, unless they're one of those top-200, but I mean you gotta pretty well know you're towering over everyone else around you to really go for that. I'm not THAT good.

E-sports' can be big money, but it is only so for the top players and teams. Dota 2 is the best example.

But I would not say that these top players are just lazy gamers. Many at the top level are very intelligent and excel in other areas as well.

a reply to: ladyinwaiting

Is it a real sport?

Not at all and the name irks me.

oh jeez. I love the bashing on playing vid/PC games all day to get good at it but shooting a basketball at a hoop all day is considered admirable?
Unlike physical sports I don't need to be born with special genetics for a specific body. Usually I just need a functioning, high processing brain.
Until someone has played at a high level in a game, I don't think someone could understand. There are equivalent moments to buzzer beater shots, last second field goals, etc. 
I would say starcraft 2 and Halo 3 were my two favorite to watch. Halo 3 also a blast to play. Starcraft was real work on the brain to play at a competitive level.

Literally NEVER heard of this until five minutes ago. What the heck is it?

eta: please don't make me watch a video

originally posted by: HoldMyBeer
Literally NEVER heard of this until five minutes ago. What the heck is it?

eta: please don't make me watch a video

E-sports is when top gamers or gaming teams compete in cash tournaments, or even private side games. It can be big money for the winners.

Sure can, if you're in the right game and platform and tournaments, etc.

Back in my younger days I got into competitive gaming for a few years. Never made that much bank but my team had beer money.

All the time.

ETA - oh and no, I didn't and don't consider it an actual sport, but it's a hell of a lot shorter than "online competitive gaming."

a reply to: Shamrock6

I don't know whether or not it is appropriate to call it a 'sport', but there is a lot more too it than just practice and time. There is a physical/mental relationship needed to play at the top levels, just like in real sports. It's equal parts brains, physical ability and art.

a reply to: introvert

Yep. It's as much a lifestyle choice as any other "thing" one does. I very much enjoyed my time in it and still talk to most everybody that was/is on the team I played for.

a reply to: jellyrev

I bash on them just the same. It wasn't until a few years ago that I accepted physical sports as a necessity for modern societies as a means to let out tensions in a prosocial environment vs antisocial.

Funny the assumptions people are making to justify wasting time (again, I just don't value it). I likely had more potential as a gamer than my brother, so I know what it means to game at a high level, but I lost interest a long, long time ago. I don't think it has to do with not understanding it, it has to do with not valuing it all too highly.

There's much more interesting and important things to work with, and if I need a good fantasy or action-packed experience I can doze off or day-dream. It's a hell of a lot more entertaining than any game I've ever played or watched.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

I'm very anti-social and I still excelled in physical sports and, in a small way, e-sports.

Does either e-sports or physical sports serve a purpose?

No, but it does provide us with a bit of fun mixed with a competitive outlet.

It's bread and circus for the masses that watch, but it's fun and glory for those that enter the 'battle'.

originally posted by: introvert
a reply to: pl3bscheese


Does either e-sports or physical sports serve a purpose?

Whose purpose? If you're going to put it like that, it's too easy to see it both ways.

No, but it does provide us with a bit of fun mixed with a competitive outlet.

...or not?

It's bread and circus for the masses that watch, but it's fun and glory for those that enter the 'battle'.

There ya go. That's what I mean. It's a prosocial outlet for duking it out.

I'd rather not, is all I'm saying. To each their own.


PS, I think you're using antisocial to mean dyssocial. I'm using the word antisocial in it's clinical term, so to mean more criminal activity. As in beating someone to a bloody pulp vs tacking guys over and over with pads on. Maybe you do like the former? I don't know.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

Whose purpose? If you're going to put it like that, it's too easy to see it both ways.

They do not serve any purpose.

..or not?

What's wrong with having some fun?

There ya go. That's what I mean. It's a prosocial outlet for duking it out. I'd rather not, is all I'm saying. To each their own.

Nothing wrong with a little fun competition.

originally posted by: introvert
a reply to: pl3bscheese

Whose purpose? If you're going to put it like that, it's too easy to see it both ways.

They do not serve any purpose.

They don't serve any purpose based on what you choose to see purpose in.

Understood.

There is no objective "purpose" in this world.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

There is no objective "purpose" in this world.

Then have some fun in the meantime.