In my opinion, e-sports are not sports. Sports require physical activity and all these online games require almost no physical activity. And I don't believe people will eat this up like they have with the NBA or NFL.
So, i read here recently that the U.S government is giving visas to league of legends players, which i think is pretty damn awesome. In sharing this with a friend who is a big sports fanatic exploded to a huge argument about league being a sport and comparing the LCS to the NBA and such. So what are your opinions ? Can esport players be considered athletes ? Can League and other games be considered sports ? Does the LCS and Other esport competitions such as the MLG deserve what the NBA and NFL get ?
In my opinion, e-sports are not sports. Sports require physical activity and all these online games require almost no physical activity. And I don't believe people will eat this up like they have with the NBA or NFL.
I'd agree with Raj, I wouldn't consider online games players as athletes. Most athletes have spent their entire lives training and working hard to achieve their dreams, and they've been rewarded for their efforts. I just wouldn't put them in the same calibre.
My roommate is the manager of the a soon to be LCS team when LCS rolls around again in December. As two of the teammates are Canadian, this is a pretty great thing.
Epic (07-20-2013)
In my opinion its hard to answer, because of the fact i think the word sport is like are, its really cannot be defined, it has no definite definition. I think a sport it where a team of people face another team, and try to complete a task or object before the other team to win.
So i think that yes, eSports can be considered a real sports. The people in the LCS train and study the sport religiously. They put in hard work, more than im sure we know, to get and stay where they are.
Last edited by Epic; 07-20-2013 at 08:33 PM.
i don't see anything wrong with this tbh.
maybe i'm biased as someone that grew up around progaming and esports, as well as becoming part of it myself, but this is just my opinion i guess c:
a lot of the players grew up around video games. depending on which game they're playing professionally, they may even have played the game for a good portion of their life (like starcraft maybe? really young korean kids play that.. and some of them actually go pro at ages 13-15.
i can see where you're coming from though. league, having been released (kind of) recently in 2009, makes it almost impossible for players to have years and years of practice in the game. however, they may have played similar games (defense of the ancients, ~2005) in the past, giving them atleast experience with that kind of game.
larger tournaments like MLG are kind of like the Olympics of gaming.
different countries all over the world spend large amounts of money acquiring players for teams, just like any other sport.
they come together and battle it out.
seems fine to me.
this new thing (visas) help the teams get their players together to do things like practice and bond! ♥
for team games like league it's really important that players get along with their teammates. if there are conflicts within the team, they hold back their team's true potential.
a bit unlike real sports tho, it's not really gonna be something they do for the rest of their life. most progamers don't go past ~30+ish from what i see. a lot of them retire, pick new things to do, or become coaches for upcoming young talent. ^_^
Last edited by Jin; 07-20-2013 at 08:34 PM. Reason: forgot to add an important line ahhhh
Why not give it to them? Our immigration system is going to be a huge joke soon... might as well keep em coming with telling gamers they are "athletes" xD
I think that videos are just that, games. There is no athleticism required to play them, at all.
So you can move your fingers and stare at a screen, yay.... lol
I don't think we need to grant them visas by any stretch. I know I would never pay to see somebody play a video games, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.
What's my definition of success?
Creating something no one else can
Being brave enough to dream big
Grindin' when you're told to just quit
Giving more when you got nothin' left
The games are just as exciting as sports games. Someone gets tackled in football, someone kills another guy in the game, etc, it's all the same thing. The Buffalo Wild Wings here plays tournaments and sells as just as much as their sporting events. MLG (Major League Gaming) just had a huge esports convention here and the place was nuts. I hate sports, but I cheer the shit out of e-sports, it's something we gamers can get into.
@(you need an account to see links) I'm sure they're exciting and all if you enjoy that stuff but I don't think they can be considered a real sport. As Epic said, sports doesn't have a true definition so it's all opinion based on what you consider a sport is. To me, its something that requires physical activity. To you, it may include gaming. But I've never been into that stuff much so its a bit more challenging to see your point of view.