Why elitism is bad for E-Sports

Bravo. Nice article.

I especially hate it when COD guys complain about noob tubes. If you can score in a game using the mechanics given to you by the game then it is fair isnt it? I can understand getting angry at hacks and cheats but tubing and camping is a tactic.
 
Its no different in real life sports. If you try to play football / rugby and you suck, you will be made fun of and probably not play much or at all after that, unless with close friends.

The competitive side in us is ugly.
 
Blackhand said:
Its no different in real life sports. If you try to play football / rugby and you suck, you will be made fun of and probably not play much or at all after that, unless with close friends.

The competitive side in us is ugly.
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It's less likely in real-life though - because of a lack of anonymity. You're less likely to call someone out if everyone can see your face. And I'm yet to hear the word n00b used on the cricket or rugby field :p

Also, I wouldn't say it's limited to competitive gaming either. Go hang around in the main chat of any MMO and you'll spot what I refer to very quickly. Elitism in its worst form. Ask a question about slotting/acquiring gear - there will be 10 answers, 5 of which will be outright abuse, 4 which are people attempting to be funny, and only 1 actual answer that helps the person who asked.

Any newer player who complains about not getting help from the higher levels to gear up a bit (especially if you're in a faction that gets its ass handed to it on a regular basis by the opposing faction) will be subjected to a torrent of abuse which - and I have seen this happen - results in said player leaving the game. Of course - the abusers are quick to point out that they had to do everything themselves - ignoring the fact that the odds weren't significantly stacked against them.

But it should be common sense, not? Your faction gets pounded - so leveling the playing field involves getting lowbies leveled up and geared up asap so they can help with the exacting of revenge. But more often than not the newer guys get discouraged and quit the game. And in the end everyone loses.
 
A good article on the whole, thanks.

I really don't see elitism being as big a problem in the local gaming community as your article suggests. I think the biggest problem is the one of entitlement. SA gamers, in general, have this attitude that they are entitled to certain things. The way we, as a community, behave towards game developers is a case in point. We feel we have some God-given right to demand things from the developers. Rubbish! They produce a product and offer it for sale to the public, we have the choice to buy it or not, it's that simple!

I understand people complaining about bugs or performance issues in games (I currently cannot play Crysis 2 multiplayer for that exact reason) but when people feel they have the right to demand changes to game content or dynamics I find it truly astounding. Imagine telling Mercedes Benz or BMW that you want them to change the fabric of the interior of you car, they'll kill themselves laughing or charge you an arm and a leg to do it. Gamers expect this for free.

I believe that this will change in the future with developers moving towards a subscription based model. Where is you pay a monthly fee for playing a game, you have the right to request (not demand) changes to be made, if the developer wants to keep you as a subscriber, they will make the changes, if not - you move on and stop paying them. I feel this model will work very well internationally but there will be serious resistance in SA.

You also need to look at the games where elitism is an issue, doesn't it have more to do with the age of the community (maturity)? I'll use Battlefield 2 as an example...

When I first discover the local BF2 gaming community, I found most players to be extremely helpful. Then again I didn't join servers with an attitude of "everyone can kiss my ass!" Many of the vets took me under their wings and showed me the ropes and I made some very good friends through it. A huge factor in that was the VOIP that BF2 uses and the fact that it worked. BC2 has had VOIP issues since it's release and because DICE tried to gain some market share from COD, the game was aimed at younger gamers. Gamers who jumped in thinking this was just another COD clone and make lonewolf. This does little to help grow the community.

All this said and done, I feel the behaviour of gamers online is reflective of attitudes in our society. Pride and honour have no place and it is acceptable to achieve success by any means necessary. This leads players to using hax, game exploits, spoiling tactics, etc. If they get caught, so what? Just create another account. My nick is something I am proud of (even though it must be one of the most ridiculous nicks out there), all my friends and family know my nick and I use the same nick in all the games I play. I see guys that I recognise from other games and I'll sure some recognise my nick too. That's the key right there, PRIDE!

Hopefully things will change but I won't be holding my breathe. GG HF :)
 
I summah feel like +karma'ing Tinman for putting up Chris' article! Hahaha :D

Best article in the land today! :p
 
ChaosADPumpkinHead said:
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Nice post dude. I also don't know where this crap attitude is coming from these days. Who decided that gaming is so special that you automatically become entitled to do and say what ever the hell you want? It's actually quite ridiculous if you think about it, like you said!

I guess all we can do is start making a small change, and by we I mean the South African gaming community.
 
Compare our rugby crowds (booing at every single turn of the match) to England's. When the other team is kicking, you can hear needles fall.

I think most people in any format where they congregate are a bunch of hooligans. It's the masses man, the masses!
 
Imber said:
Compare our rugby crowds (booing at every single turn of the match) to England's. When the other team is kicking, you can hear needles fall.

I think most people in any format where they congregate are a bunch of hooligans. It's the masses man, the masses!
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Fair point but just remember that the press in England rip their sportsmen and women to shreds.
 
COD is really a good example of this. Anyone using second life or camping or the "noobtube" at some stage become the target of insults. Most servers have actually started to enforce their own rules stopping people from using them completely by threatening people with kicks off of the server.

I'm cool with that tho. Your server your rules.

What is starting to get to me tho is people who start complaining about the actual guns in the game. Try and use a Famas or AK74U for too long and the complaints start rolling in. Not a problem tho since I own just as well with the Enfield or Galil, but the point that you have to change to keep everyone happy is what bothers me.

PS: I have been banned from ever using the noobtube since MW2........the kills I used to pull off with that thing was scary. :eek:
 
I just always thought the noobtube was funny (and yes, I used it a lot), especially when you potted someone at close range. No blood, no explosion ... just *FWMP* dead. It was hella funny just to see a bloke drop in front of you.

Of course, popping one at a corner and scoring a triple-kill was just as funny, and I would only laugh harder once the insults started rolling in ... :D

Maybe I'm a sucker for punishment ...

In any case, if you were level 1 or 2 stuck between a bunch of level 20+ players, that noobtube was gonna be the most effective way of leveling up and being competitive - that starting assault rifle was a nightmare.
 
Well, what I find is that you'll definitely get a lot of complaints from the lower level pool of players, but that type of attitude usually dies down the more your skills improve, and the more you face the higher level people.

Regardless though some people just can't take a loss :(
 
Thanks for all the positive feedback guys :)

@Pumpkin

Thanks for bringing up entitlement. It's one of the serious problems with gamers' attitudes today, and seems to go hand in hand with the elitism =/ It definitely deserves equal attention, so ty for epic post :)
 
Well taken into consideration if there isnt any fierce competition then the n00bs like I would get better. I am an avid player of SC2 but my wins / loses ratio is digusting. I just play for fun. The AI is challenging but playing real folks makes it even more interesting.
I have more loses 10 fold than wins. In the article he spoke of abuse play. This concept happens in all online games and it is bound to happen. Some are looking for the easy way out and some are looking for points. I am just waiting for lose achievements coz that will make my day. :D
 
I disagree. E-sports is growing incredibly fast thanks to Starcraft II, and the only players getting sponsorship, except for IdrA, are ones who are very well mannered and nice. The fact is, growth has been huge. Maybe not in South Africa, but America, Europe and Asia are having massive E-Sports tournaments.

The other problem is, aside from Starcraft II and FPSes, there aren't many other games which are good on a competitive level. World of Warcraft is a terrible competition game; easy counters, class dependency, inconsistent. So are many other games, and no one has even tried bringing a game out which appeals to a tournament market.
 
I've been keeping a keen eye on this thread and there are some awesome responses but not very much interest it seems. I think what is lacking mostly in South Africa for a strong competitive scene is numbers. There simply aren't enough gamers to successfully sustain multiple games.

For example, CS and COD have a very strong, solid following but what about all the other FPS titles? An awesome competitive FPS title was BF2 but alas is died out when BFBC2 was released. Newer FPS titles seem to be so rushed and buggy upon release that few people actually spend enough time on them to try and grow their communities (e.g. Crysis 2 and Homefront).

So what happens is people split off into more diverse games. I'm a FPS junkie but after the crappy releases of Crysis 2 and Homefront, I've hardly been playing FPS titles. Most of my friends and I have moved onto other games which don't really lend themselves to competitive play.

Is there a way to fix this? Well I'm not really sure but the youngsters will have to keep getting involved to make a difference as my generation of gamers is almost extinct :)
 
ChaosADPumpkinHead said:
I've been keeping a keen eye on this thread and there are some awesome responses but not very much interest it seems. I think what is lacking mostly in South Africa for a strong competitive scene is numbers. There simply aren't enough gamers to successfully sustain multiple games.

For example, CS and COD have a very strong, solid following but what about all the other FPS titles? An awesome competitive FPS title was BF2 but alas is died out when BFBC2 was released. Newer FPS titles seem to be so rushed and buggy upon release that few people actually spend enough time on them to try and grow their communities (e.g. Crysis 2 and Homefront).

So what happens is people split off into more diverse games. I'm a FPS junkie but after the crappy releases of Crysis 2 and Homefront, I've hardly been playing FPS titles. Most of my friends and I have moved onto other games which don't really lend themselves to competitive play.

Is there a way to fix this? Well I'm not really sure but the youngsters will have to keep getting involved to make a difference as my generation of gamers is almost extinct :)
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It might also be that there isn't enough competitive initiative to sustain enough competitive players. That's how I see it. If there were more opportunities for competitive play, I would've have jumped to the chance. The closest thing you can get to competitive gaming in this country is by being part of a clan. But even then, there's not enough incentive, other than personal achievement, to keep you improving on your skills.
 
@ChaosADPumpkinHead: I'm interested(following this thread) but can't have anything of much use to add to it.
 
nice article :)

some competitive players are just plain annoying especially in black ops, they join a public server were there are no restrictions and tune everyone about perks and weapons ...

i do wish that the homefront community would grow and more people would support the game ... i mean now what other fps title can you play on an international server when the local servers are dead?

seems the bfbc2 is still alive and kicking so i guess im installing that again ...
 
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