EPTThis argument of "if we want sc2 to go mainstream, we need to get rid of nicknames" is stupid to begin with. We absolutely don't need to get rid of a really important tradition just for the sake of "going mainstream", it will not help in the slightest.
Nicknames? Why? - Page 16
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Roggay
Switzerland6320 Posts
This argument of "if we want sc2 to go mainstream, we need to get rid of nicknames" is stupid to begin with. We absolutely don't need to get rid of a really important tradition just for the sake of "going mainstream", it will not help in the slightest. | ||
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DarQraven
Netherlands553 Posts
My thought on this is if some people are so closed-minded to not be able to accept a culture of nicknames - which gaming has had for decades -, then other aspects of the esports culture will turn them away long before the nicknames will. For instance: - The terms and lingo being used in the game ("Rush, macro, noob, timing push, unit names ...) - Esports not being an athletic endeavour in the traditional sense (No big physical strain or activity such as found in football, tennis, etc...) - The theme/setting of the game being played. Maybe even the objective itself (kill the other guy? Why? Capture a flag? For what?) - The entire esports setting and advertising being focused on the gamer lifestyle (energy drink, blue LED lights, gamer gear, chicks dressed up as elves or videogame characters) instead of 'normal' style (cars, beer, high-profile-brand adverts, "support your country/team", barely dressed girls). Just don't worry about people like that and instead work towards acceptance of e-sports by people who are naturally inclined towards it. | ||
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NOTjak
United States25 Posts
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Gestalt
United States39 Posts
On November 22 2011 12:25 Daudr wrote: ... Starcraft 2 isn't Football or any other "conventional" sports for that matter. We should try to legitimize ESPORTS for what it is, not turn it into something else. Agreed  | ||
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Assirra
Belgium4169 Posts
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Sbrubbles
Brazil5776 Posts
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lindn
Sweden833 Posts
On November 22 2011 12:08 Fuzer wrote: I mean for a normal guy who havent never heard about Starcraft 2 or other video games it sounds kinda stupid that they are calling each other by their nicknames, example Huk instead of Chris Loranger. If the new guy doesn't know who huk is, what makes you believe he does know who chris loranger is? it's far easier to know players by their nickname rather than their full name, can you name MVP, Nestea or MC? probably not but you sure as hell know their nickname from the games you've seen them play. remembering names is far more difficult than remembering nicknames. Especially when there are people with the same or extremely similar names but never people with the same nickname and only possibly related nicknames. | ||
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Sfydjklm
United States9218 Posts
Flags are generally good, they incite country rivalries that generally add to a popularity of any given sport. But you can't force it. While the level of popularity might be new internets arent. This is by now a very old and established culture which got way past having 10 Neos in any given pub. | ||
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r3z3nd3
Brazil522 Posts
On November 23 2011 00:25 whsper wrote: Real issue: Korean names are much more likely to be unique. Western culture has a much smaller range of names, there can be a million Gregs out there but there likely won't be a million of the same 3 character asian name. Not to mention people use almost any character for the 3 character combinations... whereas Western culture rarely uses arbitrary words for names. Korean names can be so likely that you have two Lee Young Ho that are BW A-Team Pros and 2 BW players called Kim Jae Hoon FI:  Flash and  LuCiferJaehoon and beataceedit: typos | ||
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terranmoccasin
United States74 Posts
This whole notion of "I can't take it seriously," is nonsensical. As long as an individual, be it a caster or player, has a certain degree of charisma and an ability to attract fans, there will always be people who will take them seriously. Having a handle or "gamer id" does not make anyone less credible. It actually creates a public persona that the casters and players can control as they become more and more like mainstream celebrities. What is Lady Gaga's real name? I have no clue, but she is indisputably a very influential international superstar in the music industry. Marshall Mathers... oh you mean Eminem. Artosis and Tastless are the same in the realm of E-Sports and StarCraft II. E-Sports is only in its infancy, and the reason for this is because it is something new. It is also something unique to our generation and our passion for gaming, which I believe further stresses the point that we (as gamers) should do what it takes to foster growth within our own community instead of trying to appeal to the general population. In the interview with Sundance, he mentions that we should not be trying to "convert" mass audiences, which I completely agree with. We need to concentrate on building a solid foundation for E-Sports as a new and unique genre of entertainment that will naturally grow over time. | ||
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PiratosTheGreat
2 Posts
On November 23 2011 00:52 Roggay wrote: It's a gamer tradition to have nicknames and be called by them, and there is nothing wrong with it. That's actually a very good thing, because its much easier to remember a lot of nicknames than a lot of real names. This argument of "if we want sc2 to go mainstream, we need to get rid of nicknames" is stupid to begin with. We absolutely don't need to get rid of a really important tradition just for the sake of "going mainstream", it will not help in the slightest. This, so much this! eSPORTS should get popular on it's own merits, they haven't changed the tennis point system to make it more appealing. On a personal note, I think the gamertags are something that makes it interesting and different - outside of the games that is. EDIT: Next up, we have "Eric Petersen playing as Humans vs Joe Smith playing Space Insects" | ||
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Mehukannu
Finland421 Posts
On November 23 2011 00:52 Roggay wrote: It's a gamer tradition to have nicknames and be called by them, and there is nothing wrong with it. That's actually a very good thing, because its much easier to remember a lot of nicknames than a lot of real names. This argument of "if we want sc2 to go mainstream, we need to get rid of nicknames" is stupid to begin with. We absolutely don't need to get rid of a really important tradition just for the sake of "going mainstream", it will not help in the slightest. Tradition, really? It's more about protecting privacy than anything about ''tradition''. Also it is not about getting rid of everyone's nickname, but rather using pro players real names in big tournaments like MLG. Which would mean their names would be more marketable, which then would help pro players get sponsors and make esports more known. Just think how are you going to sponsor anything with boxers name to some people who don't know anything about esports or/and starcraft for that matter. | ||
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Ysellian
Netherlands9029 Posts
On November 22 2011 23:06 Full.tilt wrote: I've never heard a UK commentator call Hernandez chicarito and Aguero is always just called Aguero He gave a poor example, but there are plenty of nicknames for Brazilian players in football which do get used often by commentators. For instance: Kaka, Socrates, Pele, Deco and Dunga. It's a cultural thing really. | ||
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PiratosTheGreat
2 Posts
On November 23 2011 01:08 Mehukannu wrote: Tradition, really? It's more about protecting privacy than anything about ''tradition''. Also it is not about getting rid of everyone's nickname, but rather using pro players real names in big tournaments like MLG. Which would mean their names would be more marketable, which then would help pro players get sponsors and make esports more known. Just think how are you going to sponsor anything with boxers name to some people who don't know anything about esports or/and starcraft for that matter. I don't see how using their real names in big tournaments changes anything. Sponsors are looking to get their brand out to the people who like the player. If the fans know Chris Loranger as HuK it makes far more sense sponsoring him as HuK than Chris Loranger - honestly, I don't know the real names behind more or less all the people I see play. | ||
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EnderSword
Canada669 Posts
When I go online in Canada, as far as anyone I meet there knows, I AM EnderSword, or Tryal, or IceMan, or whatever I call myself. Especially if it's like an MMO type game, I'm Tryal, Dafoe, Atune, Saladin all at once, and the name refers to which character you're talking about. The name isn't just a handle, it often means an actual character or account. But in either case, I'm anonymous on the internet, I'm only who I say I am, and that's it. In Korea though, you log onto the Internet as you, you're not anonymous, Their real names also have more information which is culturally important to them. It's also just a smaller country. Being a celebrity just works differently in a smaller, isolated country. Most people won't know what Lady Gaga's real name is, But I bet you'd find most people in Iceland know Bjork's last name. In either case, I just don't see it as any form of issue or barrier. Like 90% of people at this point have at some point used an online nickname or handle. And if people can accept Madonna, Lady Gaga, Sting or Jay-Z then I don't see what the problem is. | ||
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Roggay
Switzerland6320 Posts
On November 23 2011 01:08 Mehukannu wrote: Tradition, really? It's more about protecting privacy than anything about ''tradition''. Also it is not about getting rid of everyone's nickname, but rather using pro players real names in big tournaments like MLG. Which would mean their names would be more marketable, which then would help pro players get sponsors and make esports more known. Just think how are you going to sponsor anything with boxers name to some people who don't know anything about esports or/and starcraft for that matter. I disagree, nicknames are far easier to remember and are far more catchy, especially for someone unfamiliar with the esports scene. It's a cultural thing, and people are interested by the culture, not by some common names you can find everywhere else. It is not bad that we have something different than the "regular" sports, because it will attract attention. | ||
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Trang
Australia324 Posts
1. Why are people still saying 'OMG calling players Greg will just be stupid'. In other sports people use full or last names, not first names. First names just lack the necessary professionalism or formality, so first names alone are obviously out of the question in this discussion. Of course nobody wants casters to be saying 'Greg' all game long. Stop being so dramatic. 2. The 'Korean names are hard to remember' argument is ludicrous, and just downright intolerant. Every other sport has no problem with foreign names. Not to mention aren't we used to hearing foreign names all the time, such as on the news? Are people that xenophobic that they can't handle foreign names? We can handle the foreign names. 3. 'It's ESPORTS culture': well ESPORTS is young, and not entirely resistant to evolving or changing. Just because it's how it is, doesn't mean it must always be this way. (Not to say this is why we should change, but just saying this argument is not a strong one.) 4. The discussion in this thread appears to be very polarised, between nicknames only and real names only. I can totally understand that many are opposed to a complete switch real names. But what happened to a middle ground. Though a total transition to real names might be undesirable, it does not make sometimes using real names unacceptable, nor does it make the use of nicknames only the sole remaining option. Please consider options other than the two extremes. (Note that the poll has more than two options.) Maybe we would like to consider that in certain circumstances (pre-game introduction, in-game introduction, introducing a player in interviews, or referring to other players in interviews, etc) you could call a player by [First Name] '[Alias]' [Last Name] (eg Greg 'IdrA' Fields). Then at most other points of a cast/analysis you could simply refer to their alias. This would not detract from the flow of calling a player by their alias during a game or discussion. Meanwhile it would allow us to become familiar with the real person behind the alias. I myself am not only interested in this whole 'progressing ESPORTS' thing. Personally, I want to know more about the players, and real person behind that name on the screen, so that I can more deeply enjoy the games, the stories, the runs, the rivalries, etc. There are events out there that use both real names and aliases simultaneously, and I think this is great. This point brings me to the next point below. 5. 'But people won't know who is who, and this was proved from the CPL experience, etc.': well, see above point 4. (edit for post below) 6. 'What if two people have the same first name?': see point 1. 'What if two people have the same last name?', use full name or see point 4. | ||
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ProxyKnoxy
United Kingdom2576 Posts
"CHRIS IS MAKING A HUGE ATTACK, CAN CHRIS HOLD?" Nicknames are better for casting | ||
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Toth201
Netherlands49 Posts
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WolfStar
United Kingdom155 Posts
But when you look at poker over half the pros have silly nicknames. | ||
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