Games die and become outdated, but that doesn't necessarily mean the genre dies and progamers can convert (as well as sequels). So WC3 and BW died, but those players moved to StarCraft II. Some couldn't adapt and some couldn't be interested. We ushered in new players. Everything moves and E-Sports doesn't die because of its title game dying, sequels are made to continue a scene and legacy.

E-Sport is the next level of competitive gaming for me. People play sports, people watch professional sports. That's how I see it. Different leagues, levels of dedication and heigh of skill (pee-wee, little league, baseball, softball, etc.)

Your last question is tough because there's no right answer. As I see it, sequels help establish consistency (so further building blocks can be made) while new games help garner new interest and expand the scene in more ways (like branches on a tree).

thanks!

That "dying and outdated" part has been true in the past, but I think that we dont really have that much of an increase in computer power anymore as we had around 1995-2005 or so. We are now at a point where even low end computers can display fairly good looking graphics, so that death of a game isnt really "necessary" anymore for the players and only the companies will have an interest in that to sell new games. For eSports titles it would be good to have long lasting games simply because the interest in that will grow only slowly.

The only real "improvements" to the technology seem to be on the side of streaming and communication, but not gameplay, and these things should ideally be able to be added later on rather than creating a whole new game.

Torte de Lini

Germany38463 Posts

December 19 2012 15:14 GMT

#22

On December 19 2012 15:56 DonKey_ wrote:
How do you feel about a game company effectively employing their pro-players; an example is what Riot is doing with LoL.

Whole different article and I admit I'm not as informed about the different ways companies hold and leash players. But I feel different approaches are met due to different levels of maturity. StarCraft, CS and Dota are all much more mature in terms of growth and independence than LoL.

But that's me. I'd have to look into it some more.

Torte de Lini

Germany38463 Posts

December 19 2012 16:45 GMT

#23

On December 19 2012 16:14 Rabiator wrote:

Show nested quote +

On December 19 2012 04:42 Torte de Lini wrote:

On December 19 2012 04:34 Knee_of_Justice wrote:
I'm curious about your take (and others') on the longevity of esport scenes.

I am typically skeptical of the idea of "esports" because video games seemingly cannot stand the test of time, given their graphics limitations, the difficulty of older games that may be perceived as "primitive" mechanically, dwindling player bases as new games come out etc.

As I see it, "esport" is a broad, general term, encompassing every game that is played competitively rather than making, say, Broodwar or SC2, synonymous with the name of a sport (ie instead of saying, "esport" (the general) one might say "SC2"(the specific), just like how you dont say, "i love to play sports" when referring to soccer, cricket, basketball etc)

Sports like football, baseball and soccer don't have this problem. Is the death of individual esports inevitable or are there ways to solve this crucial problem? Do developers have to remake these games or can the community develop ways to keep these old titles relevant in new ages and markets? Or is continuing to develop sequels the best thing esports titles can hope for?

edit: along the lines of concerns found in this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=156768

Nice article. Good work!

I am typically skeptical of the idea of "esports" because video games seemingly cannot stand the test of time, given their graphics limitations, the difficulty of older games that may be perceived as "primitive" mechanically, dwindling player bases as new games come out etc.

I think you underestimate possibilities and options that can still be done with future games.
Also, revising old mechanics for more structured and precise future mechanics is something that needs to happen to refresh game's appeals and such :b