Interesting discussion in the comments about what the general public seems to think about e-sports (spoiler: apparently very few like them, or see very little reason for them to exist).
Seems like people on that site use CPLs failure to bash esports in general. Most of these kids don't even have a clue what happened to the CPL in the last 4 years, like world tours, really poor games, the lacks of pricemoney and non-attendance of G7 teams etc..
Comments like "pro-gaming was doomed from its start" are just plain stupid - CPL digged its own grave in the past years, but there'r still ESWC and (more or less) WCG left to prove that it does work.
And what about these "pro-gaming took the fun of FPS games away"-comments? Did these guys actually see how bad they played? or how could a pro-scene affect my personal experience in a game?!
I guess the takeaway from this is that e-sports, like some comments suggested, still has a ways to go to be as publicly accepted as, say, what's happening in Korea - then again, Korea is the exception to the whole thing; I still don't know how StarCraft exploded over there.
Anyway, I think e-sports still needs some magical combination of a specific game, a competent organizer, a significant amount of coverage that the general public can easily follow without much intervention, and a heaping amount of luck and timing before it can be as embraced as other niche sports have been, like poker and the X Games.
More like fascist corporations have taken the fun out of gaming. Ever since xbox and playstation came out, video games have become more about money than 'fun'. Pro-gaming is only one branch of this commercialization. Instead of who can make the best game, it's a matter of who can make the most advanced tech game.
Funny how all the great paintings make almost no attempt at 'realism'. Use art for visuals (try picasso and van gogh for inspiration), use music for sounds (no corporate crap), make sure the game plays well, and no advanced technology is needed.
Actually, let me use my brain-science skeelz to tellz the truthz.
The real problem is competition. Video games used to be mostly single-player. When the joy comes strictly from playing the game, it is more fun than when the joy comes from winning. This is because, when joy comes from winning, there is a chance of losing (and you only get joy when you win). When the joy comes from playing the game, playing in itself is joy (the entire time you play and regardless of winning or losing).
Pro-gaming being the hallmark for competition makes it falsely get the blame.
"In 2007, NaDa signed a new 3 year contract with Wemade for approximately $830,000 USD."
"Slayers_Boxer is the highest-paid professional gamer in world history, with annual earnings that exceed $300,000 US Dollars, and endorsement contracts that bring in an additional $90,000 per year."
Gaming blogs such as Kotaku and Destructoid are the internets biggest breeding ground for losers. They are interested in anything slightly related to gaming, whether its Starcraft 2 or My Little Pony for the Wii, very pathetic.
Can't blame people for hating on esports though. Money laundering companies such as WSVG, CPL and CGS have made it easy for people to hate it. They present esports in a way which makes me cringe, takes all the professionalism out of the sport. I feel embarrassed to support or associate myself with modern day esports. Yet here I am on an esports site, waiting for change :(
The people who read/comment on Kotaku and Destructoid are the people who need to know EVERY detail of EVERY game, they get hyped about any new game, whether it be good or bad, they love to see innovation, etc.
These are the people who love and adore Single Player, NOT mulitplayer.
E-sports to them is stupid, because they don't understand the concept, and are most likely jealous. Most of them WANT to make money from video games, but don't have the ambition, or just plain suck at most games.
I was shocked when I read Kotaku that day, seeing how many people hate it. I then realized 99% of the people there know nothing of e-sports, letalone care.
kotaku is good reading but but the commenters are worthless, and they're a totally different subclass of gamer from these parts
they're mostly a bunch of anime nerds/rpg fanatics really... i mean look at the the title of the site, they're the sort of clowns that if they were to play starcraft 4pool and attack move every game, cause it's an unbebatalbe strartergy, and complain about motion sickness when they try to play quake