EPTThat's why I will publish it here as my first entry. Please don't be too harsh with the OP
Starcraft is a RTS (Real Time Strategy) game which was a huge hit in the globe (having sold more than 11 million copies worldwide) by the end of the end of the 20th century. It would be just recently, that Starcraft would be part of the Korean Culture and a major e-sport (Competitive gaming) around the world. Starcraft is in South Korea, not only a game, but a sport itself filled with passion and love by the fans.
However, recently there was an incident that shocked all Korea. It was discovered that some people, including progamers (professional gamers), where illegally fixing matches for their own benefit, therefore, ruining the “just established” E-Sports to shreds. In the end, the case was solved, and all the culprits were punished, the involved progamers were banned from competitively gaming forever.
Yet, these people ruined the future of e-sport to establish as a real sport in the future. They have left an open wound that won’t likely heal soon. For example, they caused many hardships to KESpa (Korean E-Sports Association) to find sponsors for their newer tournaments. Another example would be, the lost of trust of the fans to ever watch this game again. However, putting aside the involved people, but progamers, are there selfish actions be justified? I think so, and I may take this opportunity to explain why.
People are criticizing the progamers involved for perverting the spirit of sports, but not that many people are pointing out why they made such decisions. Progamers are hailed by many fans, but behind the screen, there is a very competitive system. The problem only worsens by the fact that most people believe that "earning money through gaming isn't labor."
Because of this fact, what people don’t know is that the reality that progamers must face is harsh, basically is the survival of the fittest, the more you win the more you are famous, therefore, you manage to get a higher wage than the others, however, as you lose, the opposite happens.
In addition to it, people don’t know the lifestyle of a progamer. Progamers must endure practice for an average of 72 hours a week and not even paid a nickel out of it! There are even some players who avoid social life by just sleeping, eating and practicing in their team’s house just humbly hoping they would get a televised match.
Having no liberty at all, progaming training sessions are very strict. In teams there are always A-teamers, which represents the team, and B-teamers, the substitutes. A-teamers are said to have a wage but B-teamers don’t. There was a case in one of the teams, where one progamer, who belonged to the A-team, skipped a practice session to go out with his girlfriend, eventually, this progamer was demoted to the B-team.
According to an interview to a progamer in South Korea, the future of a progamer is dim and too uncertain. Many progamers ditch school to fulfill their dreams to become a progamer. “As you get older, younger ones may replace you, and the oldest you can be is when you reach your early 20s, after that it’s really hard for a team to pick you up…”
What is worse is the fact there are almost no resting time in StarCraft. Almost every day, including holidays, are packed with matches. OGN and MBC, the two major e-sports broadcasters, have very tight schedules. In a year there is only one month period where there are no leagues ongoing. This went worse as time passed by, the players are dissatisfied, but have no way of speaking out as they are just the slaves of e-Sports.
There are even more reasons to highlight this issue. One of them would be the average wage of a progamer in comparison to the hours they work; another reason would be, the fact most of the progamers are minors. However, this has become the reality of a progamer, a harsh reality where human rights aren’t considered, where people end up living in frustration with the job they have always hoped for. In the end, people still think progaming isn’t a job but a game.
