Do you watch eSports?

[Glordit]

I don't get it, I mean, it's like standing next to someone that's working and watching him/her enter stuff on an spreadsheet and clicking the mouse and pressing a few buttons. Something I can do myself at any age and actually something I am doing.
Basically, why should I watch other people in my spare time, doing the things I do when I work or play. I'd rather do something completely different.

People documenting their everyday lives and eating via Twitch is not enough. I think watching people actually do some form of economic support/work/job is the next best thing.

Let's be the first to usher it in and reap those nice "donations" before it becomes too mainstream.

Edit
I don't watch e-sports.

[Xiphan]

Why watch Rugby/tennis/cricket/soccer/"insert your sport of choice here" when you can play it yourself?

I actually used to use this excuse a lot in the past to avoid sport simply because I didn't like sport of any kind. I would say I don't like watching sport because I would rather play it. I didn't play.

Second on watching The International whenever I can. It's not just about watching someone else play it's about watching someone with skills that are far superior to anything I am capable of and every so often I even learn something.

So much of this! When you are playing you only see the small picture of what is happening in front of you, but when you watch you get to see the big picture and how an entire team can come together to pull off some amazing plays. Plays which typically don't happen in your average public game. One play in particular has gone on to become so iconic that it is known simply as The Play:



So yes there are definitely merits to watching eSports, both in terms of its entertainment value and for the opportunity to learn new things. The latter being especially true for Dota 2 which easily has the highest skill barrier to entry out of any game out there.

People documenting their everyday lives and eating via Twitch is not enough. I think watching people actually do some form of economic support/work/job is the next best thing.

So basically everyone should become their own version of The Truman Show?

[Gforced]

When I played CSGO I would watch the esports. Since I understood the game and knew the maps, I could really appreciate the skill these players bring to the game.

But like real sports in general, I don't really care to watch them. F1 for example to me is just a bunch of cars driving around in circles, and one car overtaking another means nothing to me because I don't know who is who.
Maybe if I had stakes in the outcome I would care, maybe that's why people bet on games, but when my team inevitably lost I would just feel bad.