Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by mcantor on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:29PM
(#2172960)
I wasn't aware that cheating is such a huge deal in pro gaming. Source?
Also, it occurs to me that cheating has been a big deal in regular sports, too...! ;-) In fact, I would say the same about interest levels. I found football excruciating until I learned the rules.
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by kjr on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:36PM
(#2172994)
In pro gaming not so much. What I mean here is "casual" pro gaming. This is a big issue in FPS games. Smaller player driven leagues have a hard time weeding out cheaters in games like counterstrike and other fps's. This leads into the other point as well. Football is just jammed down peoples throats so much that even watching TV/movies you probably got a decent understanding of it. Without casual pro gaming it is hard to gain interest in e-sports at a high level.
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by kevin_morrill on Thursday February 03, 2011 @06:43AM
(#2174389)
Search for "saViOr starcraft cheating" and you'll find an example of scandal among high level players. Not saying this is common, but it does happen.
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by amalcon on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:58PM
(#2173048)
It's a pretty big deal in high-level sports, too. Ask Jose Canseco (the baseball player who most famously used steroids), Bill Belichick (the infamous American football locker-room videotaper), and He Kexin (the almost-certainly-underage Chinese gymnast from 2008).
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by Charuru on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:36PM
(#2172991)
Cheating is not a major issue. I follow StarCraft and have never heard of an instance of actual cheating. Match throwing to earn money on betting against yourself was a major scandal 2 seasons ago though.
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by tieTYT on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:59PM
(#2173052)
2 major hurdles:
-Competitive video games are very complex compared to sports
-Sequels come out every 2 years or so, making you have to relearn the rules
For example, do you understand what crazy thing happened here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeM0rH_4ung
Re:What I learned from watching six hours of Starcraft
by Charuru on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @07:39PM
(#2173001)
>Thus, before any real money can be made (for players and distributors/producers) elements of american sports need to be echoed: big money backers (owners), betting, and a more structured and and centralized league system.
>The problem is e-sports is still so immature for the above three things, both technically (cheating is a major issue) and in popularity (e-sports has yet to prove exiting to the uninformed spectator).
Just to be clear, you're talking about the west right. In Korea these things are all already in place. Huge sponsors throwing huge events, salaried teams making a lot of money, a large spectator community, 2 tv channels, proleague.
The problem is e-sports is still so immature for the above three things, both technically (cheating is a major issue) and in popularity (e-sports has yet to prove exiting to the uninformed spectator).