Tumgik
Video
youtube
ZeRo teaches us how to get sponsored. This is worth watching if you are interested in the career options associated with esports. Something he points of that is important, arguable even more important than skill in a game, is branding. The more you can show that people follow you and the more you promote your brand, your more likely you are to be noticed to sponsors. Since there is sponsorship that exists for positions other than just top players, (which means there is still hope for you if you can’t input like westballz) being just overall involved in the scene and with aspects like streaming and commentating could be very useful.
1 note · View note
Video
youtube
One of my favorite things about fighting games is the technicality and input speed required to compete at a high level. Super Smash Bros Melee is one of my favorite games because I think it is one of the most technical and allows the player to have and extremely free range of movements and control over their character at more instances in the match, compared to other fighters. Here is just one example of how fast this game can get. What game do you think is the most technical of all fighting games?
0 notes
Text
Esports Journalism
What does esports mean for sports journalism? Well more sports to write about means more articles to be written, correct? and there definitely are site that allow (and some that will even pay you) to do so. Essentially, esports can only be a positive thing for sports journalism.
Also, remember that coverage does not only have to take the form of writing and can be conducted through interview and video formats. Right now I think we are seeing more coverage in the form of videos, because a lot of it consists of post tournament interviews, and I think that since many players are already streamers/ youtubers, video works as a consistent tool for them to streamline their angles when it comes to covering the latest topic.
0 notes
Video
youtube
ESAM weighs in with some more gems of knowledge relating to Sm4sh and the new Panda Global Rankings of top players.I definitely agree with what hes saying about using the most data that’s available at the time to try to get the most accurate and inclusive ranking, and some interesting questions are raised to what tournament results should actually count in the rankings and about how to rank players that lack a lot of data but still consistently do well.
He also points out that the rankings are not a perfect system, and not 100% accurate and updated at all times in relation to the most current results. Overall, I agree that ranking lists are helpful though, and are an important aspect of exposure for players in the competitive scene.
0 notes
Link
In relation to my last post, this is an example you can watch of what I mean by “where esports is going. Check out the legitimacy of the venue, also the players jerseys. Jerseys are legit.
...Also here are some articles that relate, the first one kind of about the history behind competitive StarCraft, and this one about the highest earning professional gamers. This second article is actually from two years ago, but I think its still supports that gaming for a living can be a thing. I mean one player can afford a lambo and he’s not even number one on the list... and yes, college StarCraft classes do exist.
1 note · View note
Text
For those who are just learning about the world of esports, you have to understand that modern esports (or at least what it's trending towards) largely started outside of the U.S. in Korea. Playing StarCraft has been a career there for a couple of years now, compared to the more recent boom in American and European Competitive gaming. I think one interesting aspect of esports is the idea of it being an internationally growing sport. However, some issues do come to mind about places where technologies to support esports are inaccessible.. It’s clearly something for now that has it’s limitations, though it is growing. There are a lot of arguments about whether or not players could make a living on gaming alone, but I will say that regardless of the money, it does take a particular kind of person to live the lifestyle of a professional gamer, and like any lifestyle, there are benefits and sacrifices associated with it.   
0 notes
Text
Losing in Tournament
For many professional players, losing is not something that is easy to deal with though it is something that is experienced by the majority of them. I want to provide two different examples of how different player’s responses to a loss could be. These two videos: Hungrybox Interview at Dreamhack Austin and Mew2King Interview at Dreamhack Austin demonstrate two very different reactions to loosing.
The first player, Hungrybox, came in second place at the tournament, while Mew2King came in third place. For a tournament with hundreds of entrance, and many top players participating, you’d think this is pretty good… no reason to be sad right? Well anyone who follows competitive Melee, already would know how M2K and Hbox and consistently in the top five of almost every major tournament they enter. These results are no surprise. The reactions however, could not be more different.
Honestly, just watch the video and you tell me who you think has the better approach to losing. How do you think their different approaches to the loss affects their mindset and mental fortitude in matches to come? Clearly we can’t make any true assumptions until we get to see these players in action again, but do you think any of this shows how important mindset is in competition?
Personally, I think the best way to respond to a loss is to accept it but not linger on it. The loss does not define your overall skill in the game and certainly does not condemn you to more losses in the future, though if you let it get in your head and distract you, it could become the case. Remember that there is a reason you lost the match and that by analyzing your mistakes, you can correct them the next time you get to play.  However, this all takes an initial level of confidence, which means that you know that you have the potential to win and even if you do lose, you’ll still have that potential. Never count yourself out before a match it over, or worse, before it even begins.
0 notes
Video
youtube
I know I spend a lot of time writing about fighting games, but takes this video as an example of something a little different in the world of esports. Check out team Cloud 9 take on Counter Logic Gaming in the team based first person shooter, Counter Strike, at DreamHack Austin, a major tournament that took place earlier this month. Keep in mind the game they are playing is almost 18 years old, which, really speaks to the longevity in terms of competitive potential for some of these games. Also take note of the environment. In what ways do you find it to be similar or different to settings with are used to in other professional sporting events? 
0 notes
Text
Tier Whores
A popular buzz term that comes up a lot in the fighting game scene is the term “Tier Whore.” It’s basically and expression or negative label for a player that only competes with top tier characters (the best characters in the game.) Players can receive a lot of negativity from spectators for being label as a tier whore, so much so that it can even lead to them permanently changing their character, or in some rare cases, a character even getting banned from competitive play.
Personally I don’t understand why professional players get hassled for this. We have to remember that these people are playing to win and often times for large sums of money. This is their career. unless a character is broken, and needs to be banned because it’s clearly unfair, why wouldn’t you want to choose the best character?
Now I understand the gripe a lot of fans has with seeing the same characters fight over and over again in matches, and the matches can become boring. However not every player is playing to please the fans. There are some players that choose low tier characters and receive great fan supports because they purposely take on the role of the underdog. I understand how fun these players can be to watch and upsets do happen. However, most players who main lower tier characters understand that their chances of winning a major tournament are not high. In terms of statistics, its the top tier characters that win the majority of the tournaments and therefore people are going to pick them. Maybe a good idea would be to try having some “low tier character only” tournaments in order to give those fan favorite characters that you never see used, a chance to shine. 
0 notes
Text
Tier Lists
In competitive gaming, especially with fighting games, a topic that comes up a lot is “tier lists.” A tier list is basically a list in which the different playable characters in the game are ranked in first to last order in terms of how good they are in the game, in regard to things like their moves sets/ the different actions they can perform, their “match-ups” against other characters and things like unique strengths or weakness that they have. This seems like a simple concept, and it really is. However there are a few things I think people forget to keep in mind when talking about tier lists.  
Who makes these tier lists? For the most part, it a combination of the players and spectators/fans that through discussion decide this. With a lot of games, developers put thought into which characters are the best in the game and generally developers aim to make well balanced game in which no character is significantly better than another. However, what a developer intends and how the game actually plays does not always lined up perfectly. Therefore it normally takes a long time before an accurate tier list can be agreed upon.
Some important things to keep in mind about tier list:
We can only talk about a character's stop on a tier list in relation to their match-ups with other characters.  A character can be considered to be great and can clearly excel over other characters in the game. However if that character suffers one match-up that is considered to be unwinnable, their variability in tournament play can be decreased dramatically.
Characters are only realistically as good as what humans can do with them. Yes, we might be able to think about a bunch of things a character could theoretically do, but if it's unreasonable for human hangs to be able to do it, it might not be taken into consideration when ranking the character.
Characters are normally ranked in levels or tiers. This is to say that numbers are only so telling about a tier list. Just because a character is ranked first does not mean that they are significantly better than the character that’s ranked second. What’s more important is the characters over tournament viability which can ranged from them being very viable in competitive play, only somewhat usable, or not viable at all.
I think people need to remember these things when debating tier lists for any fighting game. What do you think is most important to keep in mind when it comes to this topic?
0 notes
Text
Mental Fortitude
Whenever I am asked about whether or not I consider professional gamers to be athletes or not, there is always one point I bring up in regard to why I believe they are, which is something called mental fortitude. Mental fortitude refers to the concentration and strong mindset that is required for players to compete in top level matches. In my opinion, this is the most important attribute any athlete could have.
Obviously there are other things in life that require mental fortitude that are not sports, but it is such an important attribute for athletes because of that nature of their careers. Professional athletes often spend a large majority of their time practicing, and most are fairly confident in their abilities when it comes to perform at any given time. However, when it comes down to making money, everything often comes down to a small amount of time that is a game or tournament match. Being in the proper mindset to perform is extremely important for any athlete if they want to be able perform to the best of their abilities during a game. Things like distractions, nerves, random thoughts, and just about anything that does have to do with the current game being played are examples of things that can cause someone to not be able to perform in the way that they'd like. In a professional football game, a quarterback must possess great mental fortitude before every play. Obviously he is capable of running a play or making a pass that he has thrown 100 times before in practice. What matters is, if he has the mental fortitude to concentrate enough and do things right in that one moment that actually matters. The same exact thing goes for any professional League of Legends or Melee, player that competes. Higher levels of competition, crowds, and other pressure create a need for high levels on mental fortitude. This is why I credit these players as high level athletes. Also, the tournaments a lot of them enter require playing through brackets that last almost all day. To stay focused for that long is not easy. Especially if one mistake could mean you being out of the tournament.
It's clear that playing a video game is not as physically demanding as something like Olympic swimming. This I am not trying to argue. Thinking about sports like golf, poker, bowling, things that require more strategic thinking, combined with some physical activity but less emphasized on it, you might be able to begin to understand how playing a video game can be a sport. These players are generally not getting severely injured, (although you'd be surprised what some game can do to your hands) or running marathons, but they do need to possess and exhibit the same mental fortitude and mindset that any other athlete generally would.
0 notes
Text
Competitive and Casual Gaming
When it comes down to trying to make a clear distinction between what counts as casual and what is competitive gaming, it can be a lot more challenging many people would initially think. It is clear to me that some people play games just for fun and pleasuring playing through a game can be a great hobby for anyone. I am also aware that there are other people who enjoy the rather competitive aspect of gaming and their hobbies consist streaming their wins, and sometimes losses to world on sites like twitch. When we look at gaming as black and white like this, my initial point may seem to not make sense, but allow me to elaborate.
Think about your favorite video game. Maybe it’s Metal Gear, or maybe it’s Mortal Kombat. Maybe it is an O.G. like Super Mario Bros. 3. Maybe you like playing games like Sims or RollerCoaster Tycoon. Maybe you don’t even play video games, at all. The point here is, with any game the developers who made the game had some idea of the level of competition that could go into your experience. Even if it’s just you and a friend playing Madden on some random weeknight at home, fighting to go up in points by scoring that one virtual field goal, competition is something that is involved in a lot of games, intrinsically. Even some games that are intentionally designed to be a one player experience and not competitive in the least with another player, become very competitive. For example, just think about highly “speed-ran” games like Ocarina of Time, which speed runners try vigorously to overcome other players time, as well as their own. Any game, rather pretty much anything we do in life, could become as competitive as we make it. Whether gaming is competitive gaming or not pretty much relies completely on the person playing and how much they care about competition. This is why there are different levels to competitive gaming and why it takes this high competitive drive to become and remain a top player. This goes for not only fighting games, but all of esports.
    So competition in general, is only what humans make it. That being said, the more people that care about something, and the more they individually care about it, generally increases competition for the players and generates spectators. This is why games like football and basketball, that just as easily can be played for only fun as any video game, become sports that are played at a high level and with so many spectators. We care about these games as spectators because they are exciting and fun, and at higher the level of play, the more exciting they become to watch. In this way, it is the competitive aspects, allow esports to thrive and without them, the scene would not be growing as quickly as it currently is.
1 note · View note
Text
Introduction, Purpose and Welcome!
I just want to start off this blog with post going into some further description about what the content will be focused around, as well as defining and explaining some things in relation to esports before the discussion really gets started. First of all, esports or “electronic sports” can be defined “as a form of sports where the primary aspects of the sport 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.” This definition can found on the Wikipedia page for esports but originally comes from a more in depth article that focuses on defined Esports and why people watch by , literally titled “What is eSports and why do people watch it?" by Juho Hamari and Max Sjöblom, of University of Tampere.    
In layman's terms, however, we can just pretty much think of Esports as competitive video gaming. The level at which we can draw a distinction between casual gaming and competitive gaming, however is something left up for debate, which there will be a full post about later on.
Now, I know it can seem a little redundant spending time defining things like what esports is on a blog surrounded around it, but I figure it’s never a good idea to assume that every reader already has knowledge of the terminology in the esports scene. I actually plan on making this blog more friendly towards readers who not super familiar with esports but may be interested in it, for more inclusive discussion, so I will do my best to define things that are unclear or super specific to certain games along the way.
I’ll be primarily focusing on fighting games when it comes to posts about specific games, players and tournaments, but I also will have many posts about topics relating to different aspects of the esports community in general, how this scene in community is operating in an age so heavily focused on social media and marketing, and where I predict video games will change in the future. If there are any topics you wish to debate or discuss specifically, please feel free to let me know. With that being said, I hope to hear all of your opinions, so please comment!
0 notes