So in Ro16 of the GSL World Championship MarineKing made a statement saying Dokudo Island belongs to Korea. Now the island is a disputed territory between Japan and Korea, however it has been and is currently under Korean administration. Recently the Japanese put in the textbook that the island belongs to Japan. MarineKing pulled a sign saying Dakudo is Korean(not direct quote). People seem to disagree whatever or not political statements have place in e-sports, in fact the discussion got a little heated, however it wasn't in the right place (LR threads aren't about that and shouldn't be used as such).
So what is your opinion on the matter?
Poll: Do political messages have place in e-Sport?
No (595)
60%
I don't care (233)
24%
Yes (160)
16%
988 total votes
Your vote: Do political messages have place in e-Sport?
There should never in any sport, e-sports or otherwise be any political messages, they do not belong there and any competitor cought showing political messages should be fined or punished accordingly.
Sure, that players able to express their own opinion might sounds like a good idea.
However if you look from the point of view of sports and esports, political messages not only stir up unnecessary controversy, it take the focus away from the event itself. By permiting and supporting poltical message in the event will just result massive arugments. It will ruin viewerships as some people simply don't want to see it.
If you want to promote sportsmanship, you want to make the enviroument comfortable for everyone.
So I think they should keep it in their personal blog, tweet whatever and not in the event itself.
All it accomplishes is the polarization of your audience which is counterproductive in a competitive atmosphere which is purely for entertainment to begin with. /thread
There shouldn't be room for politics in e-sports, but that doesn't mean that competitors shouldn't be able to bring up politics. American sports players bring up religion in interviews all the time, cross themselves on camera, etc., which is kind of similar.
Edit: to elaborate a little bit, it's the responsibility of the tournament organizers to think of the audience. Since the audience is there for entertainment and not politics, there should be no explicit political purpose to an e-sports event. (As others have said, sports events are used for political purposes all the time... I just don't want to see it happen to starcraft). The players are there to entertain their fans, but just as importantly to give expression to their own skills and ideas. So I think it is reasonable that they be allowed to express their own ideas (within reason). If they want to flash a political message, it should be up to them. Giving someone time to make a long political speech after a match would be going too far.
Keep that stuff to your own personal webpages/blogs/twitter whatever source you have for personal use. Bringing it up in the middle of your job is just classless and shouldn't happen. Then again cultural differences and whatnot, I don't know how things are over there so maybe it's normal for them to do such in which case who am I to tell them otherwise.
MKP is entitled to his opinion, but it's rather counterproductive for him to make an anti-Japan statement in a tournament that's trying to raise donations for the Japan relief fund (although MKP may not be aware of that). People may bring up Son Gi Jeong or the 1968 Olympics black power salute, but those people actually suffered from imperial tyranny and racism. MKP is a 17 year old kid who likely has never been to or even seen the Dokudo islands. Furthermore, he's just a progamer. What exactly is he trying to accomplish? When hollywood stars make political statements, they (some) back it up by making monetary donations to organizations they support or acting as ambassadors. What did MKP accomplish? He got a bunch of nerds like me on TL who will have 0 influence on Korea-Japan relations talking about it. Congratulations.
On March 31 2011 20:03 red4ce wrote: MKP is entitled to his opinion, but it's rather counterproductive for him to make an anti-Japan statement in a tournament that's trying to raise donations for the Japan relief fund (although MKP may not be aware of that).
I think that may be part of the point; he knows that they are raising donations, and he wants to say, hey, I don't think we should be regarding Japan as neighbours. I don't agree with this sentiment at all, but it is not exactly uncommon in the countries that fought with Japan in WWII. Shortly after the quake, someone collected a page of facebook comments that Americans had made, saying stuff like "It's payback for Pearl Harbor". An ugly sentiment, but if you don't allow people to talk about politics, you never get a chance to argue against it either.
I'm split down the middle. I mean, they can do whatever they want. Think of it as propaganda, Superbowl Commercial style (propaganda carries a negative connotation, but America has it everywhere as well. Don't think of it as Dictatorship-Style, "OBEY!!!" propaganda. Think of it more of a, "Wuddup, America? We're awesome."). But why would you want to? Because:
On March 31 2011 19:53 scatmango2 wrote: All it accomplishes is the polarization of your audience which is counterproductive in a competitive atmosphere which is purely for entertainment to begin with. /thread
On March 31 2011 20:03 red4ce wrote: MKP is entitled to his opinion, but it's rather counterproductive for him to make an anti-Japan statement in a tournament that's trying to raise donations for the Japan relief fund (although MKP may not be aware of that).
I think that may be part of the point; he knows that they are raising donations, and he wants to say, hey, I don't think we should be regarding Japan as neighbours. I don't agree with this sentiment at all, but it is not exactly uncommon in the countries that fought with Japan in WWII. Shortly after the quake, someone collected a page of facebook comments that Americans had made, saying stuff like "It's payback for Pearl Harbor". An ugly sentiment, but if you don't allow people to talk about politics, you never get a chance to argue against it either.
Interesting point, I hadn't thought of it that way. I really hope MKP isn't that kind of person.
On March 31 2011 20:03 red4ce wrote: MKP is entitled to his opinion, but it's rather counterproductive for him to make an anti-Japan statement in a tournament that's trying to raise donations for the Japan relief fund (although MKP may not be aware of that).
I think that may be part of the point; he knows that they are raising donations, and he wants to say, hey, I don't think we should be regarding Japan as neighbours. I don't agree with this sentiment at all, but it is not exactly uncommon in the countries that fought with Japan in WWII. Shortly after the quake, someone collected a page of facebook comments that Americans had made, saying stuff like "It's payback for Pearl Harbor". An ugly sentiment, but if you don't allow people to talk about politics, you never get a chance to argue against it either.
Interesting point, I hadn't thought of it that way. I really hope MKP isn't that kind of person.
He isn't, as part of a country that is having territorial disputes myself, I can tell you that he is probably pissed about the political decision of the J. prime minister and doesn't have anything against Japanese or the initiative he is taking part in. Probably emotions running high.
Sorry to break it to the 'no' voters, but sport and politics are historically insperable. There are countless examples of this kind of thing, and esports is no different, nor should it be IMO. Why? Sport, and to a lesser extent esport, is a powerful medium watched by millions of people worldwide - what better platform to put a message across?
This even has precedant in esports, as WC3 fans should know. During WCG Seattle Fly100% and Sky actually got onstage to attack a competitor who waved a Taiwanese flag. It happens, and is a sign of esports growing up IMO. It means more than just a bunch of nerds playing games now.
Many things take place in the political arena which shouldnt take place there (bribery, fraud, lies), therefore it would be naive to ban political actions outside the political arena. It's a lot like saying cheezing is bad. Don't hate the player, hate the game. You can't make up the rules, they are already there.
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HZXYN.jpg)
