Slice and Dice
They are visually appealing, that's correct.
But the problem is that at their cores, regular sports are simple to follow. Get the ball over there, you're not supposed to touch the ball with your hands, or what have you.
But the barrier of entry is a lot higher in Esports, because taking League or Dota, there are at least 100 distinct characters, each with 4 abilities. You can't just sit down and watch and absorb it.
I actually have almost no clue what goes on in basketball or baseball.
I don't really care either way but I would find it pretty funny to see e-sports, which demand so little muscular improvement (even if they can cause a life-threatening amount of stress) in the Olympics.
edited 24th Dec '14 10:10:47 AM by YuukiAsuna
MMORPGs are serious business.
God-Mayor of Sim-Kind
The main argument I have is that video games are not an sport, traditionally speaking. Well for one, there's an lack of physical activity, the only training involved is reflexes and strategy; and most people sees it as entertainment; the genre isn't an professional sport like basketball or baseball. With that said, the odds of the genre actually becoming a sport are somewhat slim.
edited 24th Dec '14 11:22:10 AM by RabidTanker
Answer no master, never the slave Carry your dreams down into the grave Every heart, like every soul, equal to break
Court Dragon
Probably not likely to be an Olympic sport, true. That said, there is precedent for games and competitions which require little to no physical training to become respected competitions on a world scale. Games like poker, for example. There's still a heck of a lot of training that goes into becoming world-class with one of these.
I have a message from another time...
What's the precedent for non-athletic competitive events making the Olympics?
Also, I have doubts that you'd be able to sell them on that level. How many people are going to be able to follow when a caster says "Oh, Bloodseeker, that's a great counterpick to the Slark", versus something like speed skating or pole vaulting, which is easier to follow and doesn't look as silly to outside observers?
edited 24th Dec '14 1:28:06 PM by Pannic
Fanfiction I hate.
Additionally, there's the problem of deciding which games to include. I'm fairly certain at least a few people will cry foul if, say, Halo gets included and TF 2 doesn't, for example.
Court Dragon
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
I didn't say there was precedent for such things in the olympics. I meant there was pecedent for such things enjoying wide popularity on television and stuff.
I don't think that would work. On the other hand, I guess E-Sports COULD at least have official federations, like Chess and Bridge already do.
No regret shall pass over the threshold!
Court Dragon
As with many subjects, I'm gonna drop my own poorly-constructed rhetoric, and just defer to a well-done Extra Credits episode on the subject.
Does anyone else feels like Hearthstone is a step in the right direction? Because, to me, it fits the "fun to watch" aspect Extra Credits talks about. Personally, I've never played Hearthstone. It seems like a fun game, but I don't think I have the patience to play enough to make a decent deck or even to play enough matches per day without getting bored. However, I am a Hearthstone fan. I love watching people play the game and I have my own favorite players. I never get a hang on the tournaments schedule, but I do enjoy seeing a random tournament match from time to time. To me, right now, Hearthstone is much more a spectator game than anything else.
Coin Operator
The realistic chance that e-sports would be a modern Olympic event are gone, with other 'mind sports' like chess being more likely, but no closer to being included in the Olympics.
One would think that Chess would be an Olympic sport, as it is a classic competitive game, but has never been so.
That said, Poetry, literature, architectural design, music, and even painting have been competitions at the Olympics
, however, but that was a long time ago.
Still just awesome like that
Eh, even if there is (very slight) precedent for it, I'd rather the Olympics not open itself up to non-athletic competition. Gaming is a perfectly fine competitive institution, but it's not a sport, just as board games and card games aren't sports either. There is "sport" behind them, but only the abstract concept, not the actual classification.
Insert witty 'n clever quip here.
wak
I'd much rather see Art return as an Olympic event.
Come sail your ships around me, and burn your bridges down.
My opinion? Hell no.
Bean Sídhe
The inherent difference is that a videogame is a commercial product that is made by one company, while a sport is not.
Shut down Riot games inc, and League of Legends instantly dies.
Shut down FIFA, and another association naturally sprouts in its place, football remains unaffected.
edited 25th Dec '14 4:42:51 PM by lazybanshee
I joined the police just to kill people.
Shutdown Riot and people just move to Heroes of the storm or Dota 2.
so i made a new avatar
I will never accept sitting in front of a TV and pressing buttons with your thumbs as a sport.
To pity someone is to tell them "I feel bad about being better than you."
Court Dragon
So you prefer things that require physical stamina?
I have a message from another time...
Bean Sídhe
They are not the same game. Same genre, but not the same game.
Riot Games can ban absolutely anyone in the world from ever being able to play their videogame, if they so desire. FIFA does not have that power. You can be permanently disqualified from participating in any FIFA sanctioned matches, but you can still play soccer with your child. League of Legends? Not so much.
Plus there's something about Riot pushing a game with blatant pay to win elements into the realm of sport, something that by definition strives for equal opportunity avaliable to anyone.
edited 26th Dec '14 3:32:08 AM by lazybanshee
I joined the police just to kill people.
Slice and Dice
You clearly dont know what youre talking about lol
Bean Sídhe
I have had this argument with league of legends fans before (it always ends when they resort to insults and memes), and I will not be having it with you again, because I know how it goes, I know how it will end, it is not interesting and you will not tell me anything new in the process.
I will defend the notion of runes being platant pay to win garbage due to the objective fact that you can put real life money into the game and get runes as a reward until they get removed from the game.
You can disagree with objective facts, you can be in denial about them, but you will not treat me with condescension when I back my opinion up with facts. I hope I made myself clear.
edited 26th Dec '14 5:21:13 AM by lazybanshee
I joined the police just to kill people.
Slice and Dice
Speaking of condescension...
You havent a clue what 'objective' means
"Runes exist" is objective
"Runes suck" is subjective
"i pay money to get runes" is completely false
edited 26th Dec '14 5:32:52 AM by hazzyhaz
Still just awesome like that
Guys, if you're gonna argue about this unrelated topic, take it to PMs.
Insert witty 'n clever quip here.
belongs to the hurricane
Since when can you buy runes with money? last i checked they are the only thing that you cannot buy with real money. you can buy rune PAGES with real money, but that's not the same thing.
EDIT: I just logged into League and checked to see if anything had changed since I stopped playing two years ago. Runes can still only be bought with IP, which is a currency that can only be gained by playing games. aka you can't put real money into the game and buy runes.
edited 26th Dec '14 3:00:15 PM by wehrmacht
http://m.bbc.com/news/technology-30597623
Competitive video gaming - known as e-sports - should be included in the Olympic Games, the creator of World of Warcraft has told the BBC.
Rob Pardo, who until July was chief creative officer at Blizzard Entertainment, said "sport" now had a broad definition.
"Videogames are well positioned to be a spectator sport," he told Afternoon Edition on BBC 5 Live.
Professional e-sports events currently attract audiences of millions.
A recent major final held in Seoul, South Korea, filled a stadium of 40,000 people - with many more watching either online or at meet-ups around the world.
"There's a very good argument for e-sports being in the Olympics," Mr Pardo, who was also lead designer on Starcraft: Brood War, a game often credited with kickstarting the e-sports phenomenon. Millions watch the most popular games, both at stadium-sized events and online
"I think the way that you look at e-sports is that it's a very competitive skillset and you look at these professional gamers and the reflexes are lightning quick and their having to make very quick decisions on the fly.
"When you look at their 'actions per minute', they're clearing over 300."
However, he conceded that video gaming faces a cultural battle to win other those who follow more physical sports.
"That starts getting into how you define sport," he said.
"If you want to define sport as something that takes a lot of physical exertion, then it's hard to argue that videogames should be a sport, but at the same time, when I'm looking at things that are already in the Olympics, I start questioning the definition." 'Mind sport'
Having new sports admitted into the Olympic roster is a long-winded process and, since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) capped the number of sports allowed in the Games, has become increasingly difficult.
Even if e-sports were to be recognised as an Olympic sport, that does not mean it will be included in the Games - it merely means a case can be presented to the IOC.
Take chess, for instance. Supporters of the game have long called for its inclusion the Games, but the IOC has been reluctant, considering it a "mind sport" and therefore not welcome in the Games.
Video games face the same hurdle, but has done its best to at least act like a sport, by adding measures such as an anti-doping programme.
Mr Pardo argues that e-sports could be visually appealing to a broad audience.
"You can do whatever you want with the graphics, you can make it be really excited and competitive," he said.