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Warning! Long meandering rant ahead!
What's the difference between golf and croquet? Both are played on a grassy pitch. Both require players to precisely strike dimpled spheres toward targets. Both are played competitively somewhere in the world. So why does one give us names like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, while the other is the choice lawn game of homely women?
Casual gamers, circa 1873.
Golf is a sport. Croquet is a game.
Biathlon is a sport. Riflery is a hobby.
Baseball is a sport. Kickball is a joke.
Rally racing is a sport. Stock car racing is for kids who like explosions.
One makes you sweat, the other makes you yawn. One might kill you, the other kills time. One is hardcore, the other is casual. One is inspirational, the other is whimsical. One draws an audience, the other is mutual masturbation.
It is the final point that I think is most discriminating: watchability makes a sport. The ability of someone uninitiated to the rules and formalities to immediately grasp the level of skill required to play, and immediately be awestruck by superior performance; the inability of players to give it anything short of everything.
By this standard it is hard to say what might constitute an eSport. After all, there are thousands of computer games out there, some that will never achieve a large following despite their high skill ceiling and well-thought design. Most have arcane rules that an outsider would not readily appreciate. And for every computer game that is out there, there is someone that is a wizard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQZ9wXO8RVs
Every computer game has its Lim Yo Hwan.
I would argue that SC2 is not an eSport (it's merely an eGame), but this shouldn't be controversial. We know it's inferior to Broodwar. We know it's boring to watch. We know if Blizzard released SC3 tomorrow we'd forget SC2 like a bad dream. Most of all, a real sport does not have a steering committee to shuffle the rules of the game on a monthly basis. Sports do not release expansion packs. Sports do not come with "intellectual property" restrictions and license agreements dictating how you may play and whom you may play with. Sports do not tolerate lag.
A sport also lives on its own, by the interest and involvement of players. To this end, it must either be fun or inspire people to become better players in the absence of external encouragement. Take chess. You can play online ladders against some of the best in the world, or you can enjoy a game in your home on your own time, and when it's over it's over -- no post-game commentary or highlights necessary. Chess has survived hundreds of years without television or Internet promotion. Broodwar was ready for Korean prime time because an entire generation of kids was already in love with the game.
When SC2 was announced, we knew that it would be a visual feast, but also that it would necessarily compete with Broodwar -- in this sense it was forced upon the thriving Broodwar community, and many were apprehensive that SC2 would not live up to Broodwar's quality. I'm sure Blizzard works diligently on patching the bore out of the game, but real sports do not have this kind of problem, or this kind of solution. As of today, the only things pumping life into competitive SC2 are its angels (Blizzard et al) and sponsors that buy advertisement space during events. And this is where we can get down to the real difference between golf and croquet:
There's money in golf because it draws an audience. Sports entertain for spectacle, games entertain personal satisfaction. Some of the best golf players can fight against the wind and terrain to place the ball uncannily close to the hole from an unreal distance, and people want to see this. No one will pay to see your grandmother putt balls around the lawn, no matter how good she is.You can sell spectacle, but you can't sell personal satisfaction. The best SC2 can hope for is taking pocket change from introverts with addiction problems (i.e. you and me), but it will never go mainstream until it achieves a WOW factor (needless to say, it has none).
I enjoy futbol, I ridicule football. One is celebrated worldwide, invokes violent nationalism, and is a joy to watch even if you've never followed the game or the teams. The other is bogged down in rules, stoppage of play, and turns its players into human battering rams. Both are sports in that they can draw an audience, but if you have watched American NFL you will understand that the genius of football as a "sport" is not its spectacle, or strategy, or anything else that might define a sport. Televised football is in fact a genius of marketing. It provides just enough hard-hitting violence in 1-2 minute blocks and then the clock stops, and that means a commercial break. In short, it's ripe for whoring out.
Imagine if SC2 made it onto ESPN. I can't, because all the games would have to last 5-10 minutes instead of 20-30 to make room for commercials. Ok, imagine SC2 on Pay-Per-View or another premium channel. Would you pay premium rates for HD Starcraft on your television? Maybe, you're exceptional. I'm certain there are more people willing to pay for MMA and softcore porn than for pasty nerds blowing shit up on computers. Live skin >> digital skin.
Well how about the Internet? Surely eSports can flourish there. Whether or not it's flourishing, that's pretty much what we have today, and even if you get tens of thousands of people tuning in to GSL/IPL/TSL/etc, you've pretty much accounted for everyone that's potentially interested in watching. And no, your non-nerdy friends aren't interested in watching space-pokemon blow each other up for great glory.
Your non-nerdy friends also don't care what "damage" Savior dealt to eSports. The fact that such a large amount of personal profit could be made on the black market proves that Broodwar went mainstream... SC2 can only hope to achieve such notoriety in its lifetime. Fixed computer games, like fixed boxing matches, fixed wrestling matches, fixed horse races, or any kind of thrown victory upset people because they destroy the illusion of spectacle. Ruined matches remind you just how meaningless the game actually is and how much emotional stake you've entrusted inside the hype. Have established strategy games like chess ever had this kind of identity crisis, or do we play games for other reasons?
Barcrafts are another manifestation of this identity crisis. What could be more mainstream than drinking beer and watching "the game" with other young men in the commons? Beer is great, I love beer, but the game sucks, so stop pretending that you're having a good time or that it validates your lifestyle. You're not having a good time, and you're still a nerd. You're a lonely yuppie (or worse, underage!) with nerdy hobbies desperately seeking acceptance inside an alienating society. The bartender doesn't give a fuck what the customers want to watch as long as the hockey/baseball/basketball game is not on and no one else complains. You can attend bar meetups on almost any hobby group if you look hard enough, but your willingness to spend money to be with people just like you is no more of an indicator that eSports is growing than weekend book clubs among housewives are an indicator that competitive literary leagues are on the rise.
Foreigners need to stop wishing for South Korea to come to their neighborhood; you cannot force culture. SC2 is an entertainment platform developed by Blizzard, delivered by the Internet streaming sites, promoted by high-end computer hardware manufacturers (i.e. shit you don't need), energy drinks, & other providers of "gamer gear," and ultimately consumed by you, the lonely PC gamer of the Western world who wants a sense of community in his hobbies. The benefactors of this niche market don't care about social recognition, they just want your money. If you advertise it to your friends, that makes "eSports" more money.
So when iNcontroL writes that he wants 2012 to be an even bigger year for eSports, he should probably just be satisfied that he's got a home, friends, and a semi-stable career playing a mediocre computer game with some gore and neat explosions. EG is doing better than most. Prize pools may increase under better sponsorship, but the payout is still chancey and not going to improve the quality of life of players. Under the facade of "dedication to the game," players are required to work long hours for little pay (a tiny bunkbed & Ramen noodles is not pay, it's slave wages, or the college experience without the education) and sacrificing the best years of their lives for what... the entertainment of some netizens? A slim chance at fame and riches?
What ever happened to fun gaming?
Sometimes I worry that the competitive Starcraft scene is too concerned with the image of "eSports," and not discriminating enough of the game within the sport. Sometimes I think that there are too many events & wanna-be events, too many casters & wanna-be casters, too many progamers & wanna-be progamers. All too often the quality is low, which is a shame when the people that put things together are taking personal risks or volunteering their time. I hope it's worth it for the people who have a lot invested. I hope it's still fun for the players, because it's not going to get any better than this. This is the complete and fulfilled dream of eSports, and the only thing hurting eSports now is its own self-obsession.
  
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Excellent blog. 5 star for 'we know it's inferior to Broodwar'
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So, to summarize your post, you don't like Sc2. Ok. Oh yeah, I liked the part where you secretly entered the mind of every pro-gamer and discovered that not a single one of them actually enjoys playing........................A hater and a mind-reader a good poster does not make.
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thinly veiled anti sc2 blog? check
:/
tired of all of these blogs and posts.
please put "anti sc2 blog" instead of something generalizing a topic as your title next time,
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People who only know of BW/SC2 shouldn't try to get on a soapbox about eSports.
There's a reason twitch.tv hired djWHEAT/2gd and not mmp, because they transcend Starcraft.
Starcraft is not eSports, eSports will still be alive when Starcraft dies.
And fun is just a buzzword.
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stopped reading @ your analysis of american football. no one watches for the violence or the commercials, but rather the plays and the physical/mental strength required to execute. you seem to be of the vocal minority here on the rest of your post.
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Excellent analysis of football. American football is a game designed for commercial whoring, and is perfect for the retarded average American who is in just for some violence. This and hockey make the perfect marketable "sport".
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So you hate SC2...cool. Nobody's forcing you to watch it, calm down.
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United States1719 Posts
Interesting read, im out before the flamewar inevitably ensues
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I don't think golf has the WOW factor you're talking about... 99% of the time it's just meh, then it's spectacular when the guy makes a hole in 1. Overall I thought that your comprehension of sport was pretty low and why did you felt the urge to give us your opinion when no one obviously care...
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"We know sc2 is boring you watch"
LOL
No, you think sc2 is boring to watch. I enjoy watching it. I enjoy playing it.
Your efforts would probably be more productive if you put the time you spend disparaging and insulting SC2 viewers/casters/players into supporting/promoting Brood War. Be positive about BW rather than negative about SC2.
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Okay, I am going to disagree with your ridiculous arguments/statements 1 at a time.
On December 01 2011 01:45 mmp wrote:
I would argue that SC2 is not an eSport (it's merely an eGame), but this shouldn't be controversial. We know it's inferior to Broodwar. We know it's boring to watch. We know if Blizzard released SC3 tomorrow we'd forget SC2 like a bad dream. Most of all, a real sport does not have a steering committee to shuffle the rules of the game on a monthly basis. Sports do not release expansion packs. Sports do not come with "intellectual property" restrictions and license agreements dictating how you may play and whom you may play with. Sports do not tolerate lag.
We don't "know" that SC2 is "boring to watch". Why don't you tell that to the tens of thousands of people going to events or tuning in online to watch SC2. If people thought it was boring to watch, they wouldn't watch it so much. I, for one, love watching SC2 and think that many games are super exciting (sure, you can point me to boring ball v. ball games, but I can point you to equally many exciting, action-packed games).
Moreover, real sports do have steering committees that update the rules to their sports as necessary. I know you despise American football (I'll get to that in a second), but the rules are constantly being updated for the NFL, with each season. For example, this season every questionable touchdown is automatically reviewed by replay to confirm that the call was correct. They are using technology to make sure that refs make the right calls, and rightfully so. The NFL has also added rules regarding helmet-to-helmet contact in a (futile) attempt to protect players against concussions. Real sports also come with many restrictions, in some cases more restrictive than restrictions placed on SC2. For example, try uploading your own commentary to the footage of an NFL game or MLB game on Youtube. Oh wait, you can't rebroadcast those sports at will, because it's illegal.
On December 01 2011 01:45 mmp wrote:
I enjoy futbol, I ridicule football. One is celebrated worldwide, invokes violent nationalism, and is a joy to watch even if you've never followed the game or the teams. The other is bogged down in rules, stoppage of play, and turns its players into human battering rams. Both are sports in that they can draw an audience, but if you have watched American NFL you will understand that the genius of football as a "sport" is not its spectacle, or strategy, or anything else that might define a sport. Televised football is in fact a genius of marketing. It provides just enough hard-hitting violence in 1-2 minute blocks and then the clock stops, and that means a commercial break. In short, it's ripe for whoring out.
I don't understand why this paragraph is a part of your post -- all you're going to do is offend fans of the most popular sport in America. Many people find your glorious "futbol" boring to watch, just as you say that SC2 is boring. To see some Americans take on soccer, see the Simpsons clip about it: Simpsons makes fun of soccer. Don't get me wrong, I love watching soccer. But for the uninitiated, sometimes it can just be really boring to watch players pass the ball around for an hour and a half, taking 5-10 shots the entire game, and maybe scoring once or twice. Anyways, I don't see how hating on American football has anything to do with SC2.
On December 01 2011 01:45 mmp wrote:
Barcrafts are another manifestation of this identity crisis. What could be more mainstream than drinking beer and watching "the game" with other young men in the commons? Beer is great, I love beer, but the game sucks, so stop pretending that you're having a good time or that it validates your lifestyle. You're not having a good time, and you're still a nerd. You're a lonely yuppie (or worse, underage!) with nerdy hobbies desperately seeking acceptance inside an alienating society.
Really? This just seems like a BW fanboy whining about SC2 not being as fun for him to watch as BW, and then taking his frustration out on the people that enjoy coming together and watching SC2 together. I went to a Barcraft and really enjoyed it with some of my friends. Am I a nerd? Yes, and proud of it. Am I a lonely yuppie seeking acceptance? No, I'm a full-time software developer who lives with his girlfriend and enjoys a variety of different things. Sorry if that makes you jealous. Sorry if I enjoy watching SC2. But please, stop the hating.
TL;DR I'm sorry you don't enjoy SC2, but that doesn't mean others don't as well. You're wrong in pretty much everything you say.
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Your post is full of terrible opinions and mute points in my opinion. You hate starcraft 2 and you're a self hating nerd. Other than that i'm not sure what i'm supposed to take away from this post. I take an interest in eSports, and therefore, am invested in it's future. But thats not why I have passion for the game, merely a side effect of that passion.
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mmp you talk like your opinion is the end all. Its not. Just because you don't enjoy the game doesn't mean its bad. If you don't like starcraft 2 then stop playing, watching, and posting. kthx
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On December 01 2011 01:45 mmp wrote:
Sometimes I worry that the competitive Starcraft scene is too concerned with the image of "eSports," and not discriminating enough of the game within the sport. Sometimes I think that there are too many events & wanna-be events, too many casters & wanna-be casters, too many progamers & wanna-be progamers. All too often the quality is low, which is a shame when the people that put things together are taking personal risks or volunteering their time. I hope it's worth it for the people who have a lot invested. I hope it's still fun for the players, because it's not going to get any better than this. This is the complete and fulfilled dream of eSports, and the only thing hurting eSports now is its own self-obsession.
A very solid but flawed rant.
It's not just SC2 fans that are driving the "eSports" image, it's Blizzard itself. Blizzard has a vested interest in making Starcraft II as big as Brood War was (and is) in Korea, and is encouraging people to take it incredibly seriously toward that end.
That said, I don't agree with your argument that all of this is at all detracting from the actual enjoyment of the game. Just because people play soccer professionally doesn't mean that laypeople don't like playing soccer.
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What ever happened to fun gaming?
That is probably the best question/statement in this blog.
A lot of people are too worried about getting on a team and being pro, instead of just playing the game for fun.
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It's an interesting point of view, although I think you were probably overly... enthusiastic in attempting to make your point, and will draw lots of flamers. In fact I'm going to disagree in many places, but let's start with the good.
I think you're correct in saying there's too much blather and concern about "esports" as a separate thing. To me, all the talk about "esports" tends to come across as suggesting that we don't see Starcraft II as a big enough game on its own: that we recognize limitations. On the one hand, duh: not every game can possible appeal to everyone. On the other hand, that implication that a widely-played game with an international scene and beaucoup hype can't stand on its own is, even if true, incredibly unfortunate coming from the game's own fanbase. The question isn't "esports", the question is SC2. Tennis is international fanfare; badminton is, mostly, a picnic game. There is no "Roger Federer's lack of results is hurting racket sports" nonsense: even if you saw anything like that message, it would be tennis it was hurting.
On the other hand, your own black-and-white distinctions between "sports" and "games", and your own biases, hurt your message. On your own sort of terms, for instance, but with a different bias, I could be a typical American and talk nonsense about how, "Football is a sport but soccer's just a game, football's an intensely strategic game while soccer they just run around a bunch and its international success is purely a result of FIFA marketing and historical leftovers". Which is ignorant and judgmental, but no more implausible than your own viewpoint. (For the record, I enjoy watching both.)
What comes across most clearly is that you don't like Starcraft II. Which is fine: I don't much like rugby. But I think you're so fixated on that, and that idea is reinforced by your (legitimate) dislike of the "esports" mantra, that you never take the step back to ask why the game's been such a huge hit. Marketing has something to do with it, as does the history of BW; a growing gaming population has more.
What you dismiss as lack of "sport"-ness is due to growing pains. Chess rules were unsettled for thousands of years. The NFL changes rules every couple years; FIFA issues new points of emphasis and rewords things; etc. If we imagine a sort of Platonic ideal of "Starcraft", which like chess or tennis comes to dominate a field and be "the" game for a significant population, it may be that Blizzard lucked out the first time and BW will be the iteration that finally survives. It also may be that we'll be blown away by SC4: Doom of the Xel'Naga, a ludicrously well-balanced 5-race game.
In short, while I agree with you about the whole "esports" thing, your other points seem more bias-driven than reasonable criticism.
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There are lots of things I don't enjoy but I don't make threads about them to belittle them and convince other people that they shouldn't like it either.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/Edouard_Manet_012.jpg/640px-Edouard_Manet_012.jpg)
