The Swamp

Sorry, Vice Sports and Deadspin. You can keep posting articles about eSports, but I'm not going to read them.

Is this just a content-generating issue? Or is there really that big of a market for this stuff? It seems that, whenever I visit Deadspin, a third of the posts that aren't ads or about DeMarcus Cousins will be about eSports. I know that I'm hopelessly out of touch with a lot of the culture, and I usually just shrug and accept it. But I'm beyond shrugging here. 2015 was the time for shrugging. This calls for something more drastic.

I'm glad I'm so old that nobody in my lifetime will ever try to engage me in conversation about eSports participants.

Might happen to you whippersnappers some year in the not-too-distant future.

I think DS had two or three eSports articles over this past weekend. I had the same thought, bapo!.

Said this here before--I love video games, but have zero interest in watching other people play them. Especially the type of basement-dwelling misanthropes who make up eSports leagues.

rass wrote:I think DS had two or three eSports articles over this past weekend.

A few days ago, I counted 3 of the top 10 posts. And another 2 or 3 posts were ads. Man, Deadspin really sucks now.

I understand that the Gawker sites share content, and that success across all of the sites benefits everybody. But it seems like they're trying to turn a niche thing into a mainstream thing.

I think most/all of those articles are cross-posted from a sub-blog (these may not be actual terms, sorry). That's why we get snack posts and all the leftover Gawker political stuff too.

Also, eSports generates 10% the revenue of the NHL and that gap will probably disappear in 10 years and I'm not really helping am I?

Maybe from the Cultural Blind Spots thread?

But I care more about what's in my neighbour's garbage bin than about eSports.

And a thought - like video poker or slot machines, if these things are all machine based, how on earth can people assume that the whole thing isn't rigged?

This is something I will never comprehend. How can anyone care about a video game league they aren't playing in?

I assume I am in the minority on here, but I love eSports. I watch more League of Legends then I watch any sporting events now days. I even spend time watching people on Twitch play different games. It used to be mainly League, but I have branched out and found some people that play multiple games and gives me an idea of new ones that I may purchase. Most days at work, I have a stream on as background. If something interesting is being talked about I will tab over to see what is going on. Or possibly a YouTube of the latest series played in the LCS.

I don't like the FPS games, so no CS:GO or Halo watching for me. And I don't enjoy watching people play Starcraft II. I know those are pretty big eSports communities.

The Sybian wrote:This is something I will never comprehend. How can anyone care about a video game league they aren't playing in?

How can anyone care about a sporting event they are not playing in? Same concept. Just less physical activity.

duff wrote:

The Sybian wrote:This is something I will never comprehend. How can anyone care about a video game league they aren't playing in?

How can anyone care about a sporting event they are not playing in? Same concept. Just less physical activity.

Fair point. Once I lost touch with NHL and MLB, it was impossible to get into it again or care when I didn't know any of the players or recent history of teams. It all just became a random collection of kids I didn't know wearing uniforms of the teams I used to watch.

These eSports leagues, do they play a season with standings and teams, or just televised tournaments like the PGA? Do they have separate leagues for different video games, or does a team play all sorts of games? Are there FPS specialists? Are they playing games directly against each other, or playing Pac-Man and the highest score wins? Do they show entire games, or highlights?

bapo! wrote:

rass wrote:I think DS had two or three eSports articles over this past weekend.

A few days ago, I counted 3 of the top 10 posts. And another 2 or 3 posts were ads. Man, Deadspin really sucks now.

I understand that the Gawker sites share content, and that success across all of the sites benefits everybody. But it seems like they're trying to turn a niche thing into a mainstream thing.

Could also just be that its February, the noted slow month of sports. It's why SI started doing the swimsuit issue.

The Sybian wrote:

duff wrote:

The Sybian wrote:This is something I will never comprehend. How can anyone care about a video game league they aren't playing in?

How can anyone care about a sporting event they are not playing in? Same concept. Just less physical activity.

Fair point. Once I lost touch with NHL and MLB, it was impossible to get into it again or care when I didn't know any of the players or recent history of teams. It all just became a random collection of kids I didn't know wearing uniforms of the teams I used to watch.

These eSports leagues, do they play a season with standings and teams, or just televised tournaments like the PGA? Do they have separate leagues for different video games, or does a team play all sorts of games? Are there FPS specialists? Are they playing games directly against each other, or playing Pac-Man and the highest score wins? Do they show entire games, or highlights?

I know that there are some large eSports organizations that have a League of Legends team, a CS:GO team, and some other games. Some of the bigger teams are Dignitas, Counter Logic Gaming. In League of Legends, they have a league in North America, Europe, Korea, China, South East Asia, Brazil, and Turkey. There may be other regions also, but these are the regions that move teams to Worlds. Each region has a roster of 8 to 10 teams. I watch mainly NA LCS. There are 9 teams and they play Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There are two parts to the season. The spring split is going on right now. After spring split they play the MSI (Mid-Season Invitational). Then summer split and after that Worlds. They rotate between NA, EU, China and South Korea hosting Worlds. It draws huge crowds both live and streaming.

Plus there are usually second tier teams fighting for promotion to the "Premier" series.

Thanks for the info, duff.

To be clear, I'm not knocking this stuff. (I have my own niche interests that I force the Swamp to read about all of the time.) But it seems like eSports coverage in general-sports web sites is out of proportion.

Or maybe not. Maybe there really is that much interest in it.

I wouldn't know about the coverage. I don't read any other sports related sites besides the Swamp. And now that there are no scores on the front page, I don't even go there.

I actively play Hearthstone and I don't understand the "coverage".

Yeah, I can't stand watching people play Hearthstone. I do enjoy playing it, but damn is it boring to watch. Quite a few streamers will play during queue times for games. I find another stream to watch.

BSF21 wrote:I actively play Hearthstone and I don't understand the "coverage".

Well, you never will with that attitude. Maybe you just don't try hard enough, bro.

(This is my approximation of what I think gamer trash-talk sounds like.)

duff wrote:Yeah, I can't stand watching people play Hearthstone. I do enjoy playing it, but damn is it boring to watch. Quite a few streamers will play during queue times for games. I find another stream to watch.

I'll watch Amaz play on Twitch every once in a while. Sometimes I learn things, like you might watching someone play Chess.

I just play it because its a free way to scratch my M:tG itch from so many years ago

I think I'm completely ambivalent on this topic. I'm not going out of my way to watch, but I wouldn't be annoyed if I happened upon it.

I am fascinated by the spectacle of it though and how huge it has become. But then again, so was the World Series of Poker. Which makes me think, if more people could become video game experts the way they became poker experts, they'd probably be into it. I'd wager that you just won't see a Chris Moneymaker type in eSports.

Since the topic was brought up, my buddy seems to be doing well with Hearthstone. He has a successful podcast (he tells me) and is constantly getting lots of viewers on his Twitch channel. 1600 Dust, for those curious.

Johnnie wrote:I think I'm completely ambivalent on this topic. I'm not going out of my way to watch, but I wouldn't be annoyed if I happened upon it.

I am fascinated by the spectacle of it though and how huge it has become. But then again, so was the World Series of Poker. Which makes me think, if more people could become video game experts the way they became poker experts, they'd probably be into it. I'd wager that you just won't see a Chris Moneymaker type in eSports.

Since the topic was brought up, my buddy seems to be doing well with Hearthstone. He has a successful podcast (he tells me) and is constantly getting lots of viewers on his Twitch channel. 1600 Dust, for those curious.

Larry Level-boss?

I don't know what that means.

By your highlight I mean "random, out of nowhere dude who catches cards, gets hot on a win streak, and wins it all and is never heard from again." His flash in the pan experience leads everyone to believe that they can get rich in the same way.

Well, if I happened upon a table with a guy sitting at with the last name of "Moneymaker", I'd probably keep walking.

Level bosses are the bad-asses you must fight to move onto the next level.

Cedric CodeCheat?

Takashi Oneupfinder

Not sure if you're trolling, but 1) it was his real name and 2) read this, it's worth it:

http://grantland.com/features/the-oral- ... 5-million/

Johnnie wrote:Not sure if you're trolling, but 1) it was his real name and 2) read this, it's worth it:

http://grantland.com/features/the-oral- ... 5-million/

No, I wasn't trolling (you, I mean) - honestly. I definitely was going after a poker player's last name of 'Moneymaker' though. Is that Dutch?

https://www.dezeen.com/2018/04/05/popul ... rts-arena/

Populous is a big name in traditional sports stadiums.

Deadspin moving their esports coverage completely to Kotaku. Thank heavens!

I have been trying to figure out if I can make some $ by getting involved early in esports for NFHS (National Federation of High School Sports)
https://www.nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/esports/

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 29, 2018 2:42 pm I have been trying to figure out if I can make some $ by getting involved early in esports for NFHS (National Federation of High School Sports)
https://www.nfhs.org/sports-resource-content/esports/

Nerds are the new jocks!

( I won our physics class's Tank Wars tournament as a Junior. We spent a whole week playing tank wars in class.)

bapo! wrote: ↑Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:36 am Sorry, Vice Sports and Deadspin. You can keep posting articles about eSports, but I'm not going to read them.

Cheers. Up here, we've got competitions, broadcast on national sports networks, of video game hockey. As if actual hockey were not boring enough...