Another Article of Substance: How to Introduce People to Esports

This article was partially inspired by an argument I had with another writer about the social acceptability of esports. He felt that it would never become a mainstream activity that people generally approved of. Or maybe that's not what he thought, it was very confusing. Either way, I was, and am, adamant that esports is on the rise, and will continue to gain popularity, even if the games change over time. The article was publish in today's issue, #33

This conversation revealed some defensiveness on the part of esport enthusiasts. Many of us have been burned in the past when trying to talk esports ("What? Why would anyone watch that? Sound stupid!"), but as videogames grow in popularity, it stands to reason that esports will as well, regardless of the"acceptability."

Additionally, there was some discussion about how it can be weird to tell people who don't know about esports that you write (or draw) about esports. Naturally, I decided that I should go ahead and write up a guide to help people talk about esports to the uninitiated. It really doesn't need to be much a big deal.

Drama of the Week: Esports for Dummies: Explaining Esports to the Uninitiated 

By: Mike Harrell 

Esports. We love it. Whether we’ve been following competitive gaming broadcasts back in the BW days before the west even knew about it, or just got into it this week, we observe a rich culture of spectating, commentary, and artistic contributions. We can also see that it is growing very quickly and stigmas surrounding it are beginning to crumble. 

That’s how things are on the inside. But how does it look on the outside? A reeking mass of sweaty neckbeards? Maybe people used to think that, but perceptions are changing. 

This article aims to be a guide on how to introduce other people to esports as a concept. This article is not about how to get your Dad, Grandma, Significant Other, or Cat to suddenly become a frothing esports fanatic. This is about presenting an emerging new pastime and the surrounding industry to people who are unfamiliar with it. We will do this by gauging their interest level of watching a competitive event with their perception of video games, and using that information to build a conceptual path to esports. 

Step 1: Set Reasonable Goals for the Interaction 

Seriously, we should all calm down a bit when we talk to people. Don’t be defensive. Don’t assume people will say it’s dumb. The vast majority of people simply don’t know that there are video games with the depth and format to merit an esport. And frankly, there is no single activity that everyone in the world understands the appeal for, or necessarily enjoys it if they do. Not everyone likes watching football even if they know all about it and have close relationships with people who do. The same goes for all forms of entertainment. Again, this is about increasing understanding, not conversion.  

Step 2: Preparing Your Pitch 

Here is a basic explanation of esports that you can use for anyone, “There are games like [use a game you like as an example] that have a lot of depth of strategy and competition has flourished around it. There are even some large scale competitions that get broadcasted online with commentary and it can be a lot of fun to watch!”  

If they seem interested, you can follow up with a “If you want to check it out, I can send you some good clips from YouTube, or invite you over to watch with me the next time there’s an event. ” The purpose of the invite isn’t necessarily to get people at your house to watch esports, but to be open and inviting. People will be more likely to give esports a fair shake if they have someone to go to for questions. 

The most important part of the explanation, however, is how you adapt and add to it to suit your audience. Let’s discuss that in more detail. 

Step 3: Gauge Interest as a Spectator 

The following list of activities is meant to be a loose scale to help you determine how similar your audience’s interest as a spectator are to esports. The further down the list they go, the more likely they are to understand the appeal of esports.  

Rock bottom: Does not watch tv for entertainment. 

Low: Will watch a game show (Price is Right, Jeopardy)  

Will watch others play a heated card/board game 

Casual: Will watch competitive sports on tv at a party/with a group 

Will watch competitive sports on tv alone 

High: Will watch others in the same room play a videogame with interest 

Highest: Will watch a youtube video of exceptional gameplay   

Step 4: Gauge Interest in Video Games Generally 

The following list of activities is meant to be a scale to help you determine not just your audience’s interest in video games, but also the likelihood that they are aware of the types of games that have become an esport. The further down the list you can go, the more likely that your audience will be able to appreciate esports. 

Rock bottom: Will not play any video game

Low: Will play digitized games on their phone  (Sudoku, Words With Friends)

  Will play casual games on their phone (Angry Birds, Boom Beach) 

Casual: Will play on a PC or Console at a party/in a group. 

Will play anything at all on a PC or Console alone. 

High: Will seek out and buy a game of their own accord on PC or Console 

Highest: Already plays a game with a strong esports scene. 

Step 5: Make Your Pitch 

Now that you’ve taken a few minutes to consider your audience’s interests, let’s put it together.  Here follows a list of several configurations as well as a suggestion on how you could begin a productive conversation. 

Rock bottom interest on either list: Don’t get your hopes up here. Stick with your basic pitch and hope for the best. 

Low Interest in both areas: Another hard sell, but not hopeless. Esports is probably not going to be their thing, but that doesn't mean they can’t be cool about it. Again, stick with your basic pitch and hope for the best. 

Casual Interest in both areas: This one’s hard because these are probably the people you WANT to get esports. Try to determine what appeals to them as a spectator or a gamer and emphasize those things in your portrayal of esports. Try not to come on too strong.  

Uneven interest: This is the most likely situation. Like the casual viewer/gamer, pick the activity that they seem to have a greater general interest in, and expand on that in relation to esports. If they love brackets or stats in sports, tell them about some esports upsets and facts. If they’re a big gamer, tell them how esports showcases the best gamers in the world.  

High interest in both areas: It’s easy at this point, it’s just a matter of figuring out which game they would be interested in seeing played at a high level and telling them about it. 

Highest interest on either list: Dude. They’re already there! Invite them over for WCS and don’t be surprised if they become more hardcore than you!  

Caveat: Some People Aren’t Ready 

Unfortunately, you may know someone, someone important to you, who’s just too set in their own opinion that they may willfully refuse to listen to you about the appeal of esports. If this happens, I’m genuinely sorry. It’s hard when someone is dismissive of your passion. Maybe it will give a little comfort to know that kind of feeling is not the growing trend. Esports is becoming more popular and “acceptable” every day all over the world. Maybe your friend/family member will come around in time, or maybe not. Either way, you tried. The rest is up to them.

An Article of Substance: eSports In the Olympics: Where Do We Stand?

last week I decided that I needed to start getting some articles published that aren't completely silly. I landed on writing about games in the Olympics and thought I'd make little thing that was page or two long that would give me a chance to look into the matter and report back.

Upward of 15 hours later, I have this monster of an article. I also happen to know so much more about the Olympic process than I ever have. A few times while writing, I felt like a 4th grader writing a report. But here it is. It appeared in Issue #30 of The Weekly All In as the headlining article. More details at the bottom.

A few weeks ago, the unlikeliest of all men, my father, who I have never seen willingly play a videogame in my life, genuinely asked me if eSports would ever be an Olympic event.

This is not a new topic among video gaming enthusiasts, as competitive gaming is as old as video gaming itself. Tennis for Two, which is frequently given the title of the first video game, pit two players against each other in a competitive match. As competitive gaming continues to gain momentum (and people still watch Twitch.tv more than Hulu), this is a topic that will increasingly pass through the minds of more than just gamers. If my father can stop and wonder and ask if eSports could make it to the Olympics, the pinnacle of all competitive sports, anyone can.

But what about…?

Is holding a high score really worth a gold medal? Is winning a game of StarCraft or Heroes of the Storm or Hearthstone really worthy of that kind of recognition? Do the majority of gamers even care to see competitive gaming at the Olympic level?
The hallmark of any discussion of gaming in the Olympic Games are the questions. StarCraft in the Olympic Games sure sounds awesome to me, but how would it be done? Is it “athletic” enough? Which video games would be played? Who would get to play? How is the balance/rules decided for each game? Won’t the owners of the game get a bunch of free advertizing and make a ton of money? What about hacking and other forms of cheating?

There are many philosophical and logistical obstacles keeping eSports out of the international mainstream. Let’s discuss some of the biggest ones. Also, I’ll be assuming that eSports is going for the summer games for this article, although winter would work too.

How Would It Even Be Done?

The manner in which a sport is included in the Olympic Games is changing. Long and complicated story short: there are going to be 28 sports in the 2016 Summer Games. Of those 28, 25 are “safe” sports that will definitely be at the 2020 Summer Games in Japan and will persist to future games as well unless something drastic (decreased popularity, very large scandals, etc) happens. The remaining three are non-core sports. In the case of the 2020 Games, there eight more sports attempting to gain admittance as a non-core sport: baseball/softball, bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing, and wushu.

Esports would have to put together a bid as a non-core sport with a set list of “events” that cover each of the games and/or game modes to be played. A bid would also probably include rulesets, a description of the equipment required and its cost, a plan for how competitors will be chosen, as well as some kind of justification for why eSports merits a place in the Olympics. A simple majority is all that is required by the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, to approve the bid. How likely is that? Impossible, at least in the short term.

Japan is one of the more video game-friendly countries in the world, but the eSports scene is not as developed as in America, Europe, or Korea. And, unfortunately, it’s the IOC and not the people of Japan that need to be convinced. Furthermore, it’s already too late to try and get eSports included in 2020. The IOC won’t cast their deciding votes until 2016, just before the start of the  Games in Rio de Janeiro, but the final presentations for those sports already in the running will take place on September 30th. We’re looking at 2024 or 2028 at best.

Are Video Games Physical Enough?

Day9 famously describes StarCraft in the following way, “StarCraft requires the dexterity of a pianist, the mind of a chess grandmaster, and the discipline of an Olympic trainee. We believe that our game, StarCraft, is as dynamic and exciting a spectator sport as any other.” If we use sports like archery and shooting as a standard, it is very easy to think of StarCraft, DOTA 2, or Counter Strike in the Olympic Games. The spectatorship for League of Legends especially is very convincing, having once achieved 32 million viewers for one event.

The highest level of these games require world-class dedication, strategy and dexterity as well as being physically demanding. Other popular games...not so much. For example, Hearthstone, despite it’s popularity (and fun factor), I think a digital card game would be a hard sell. In short, I think some video games would be more welcome than others.

Who Would Play?

the International e-Sport Federation, which has been around for several years now (see http://ie-sf.org/), but isn’t very prominenent, would determine who would play.  International sport federations exist for every sport. They supervise play at the international level, recognize and encourage up-and-coming athletes, and choose their own method of granting admittance to Olympic competition.

For the current Olympic sports, there are multiple ways that athletes make it to the Olympic Games. Some sports require that athletes be selected for a national team, which competes in qualifiers until a final set of teams “make it” to the Olympics. Others are able to rely on a ranking system based on their performance in recent, non-Olympic, competitions. There are already events that use these same methods in the gaming world. The eSports big wigs would simply have to pick one and go with it.

Who Decides the Balance/Rules?

The International e-Sport Federation would decide how the games are played. There would have to be a discussion as to whether the Federation would simply to defer to the developer’s current rules/balance, or to adjust it to suit the intended audience (only the best players in the world). I believe it’s unlikely that game balance would be left completely in the hands of Blizzard, Valve, or any other private entity, as they have to appeal to the entire playerbase. The balance and rules within each game would also probably have to be solidified months before the games are actually played, which the developers may not want to be held to.

These alternate rules would, of course, be very similar to default ones. In the case of a game like StarCraft, that would likely consist of choosing the map pool, game speed, finally nerfing Adepts, and do something with Colossi.

This may chafe the developers of each game a little, but that’s how it works for most sports. I assume that developers would also be encouraged to add some kind of in-game consideration for players who want to play the international version of the game. A special “Official Olympic Mod” and matchmaking sounds like the natural place to start (should we ever get that far).

Facilitating the Games

Running an eSports event, especially with multiple games, is expensive. But is it that expensive? Assuming that a new building specifically to facilitate the eSports competitions does not have to be built, eSports would automatically become one of the least-expensive events to run in the entire Olympic Games.

One pricey facet of running a tournament: paying for player transportation, room, and board, would not be the responsibility of the Olympics at all. That responsibility is on the competitors themselves, although they frequently receive assistance from sponsors, their team, or even their government.

Gone also would be the cost of a prize pool. The only prize awarded by the IOC itself is the medal. Some federations will also pay a monetary reward for each medal won, depending on their place on the podium. I wouldn’t be surprised if the game developer contributed or crowd-sourced a prize of some kind as well, just to make things more exciting. But on the whole, this is another cost that would be avoided.

The largest cost would be the cost of the “production,” meaning the computers, the cameras, the screens, the network to get all the computers wired together, and then the bandwidth to broadcast it all. It would cost at least a couple hundred thousand dollars. I haven’t been able to get an exact number of any particular source for an event of this size, but this seems like a safe estimate. And, while it may sound like a lot, it really isn’t that much compared to the cost of the other games. Plus, I’m sure that would be easily covered with ticket sales and streaming subscriptions.

All in all, none of the organizational challenges seem all that hard to overcome. We just need to knuckle down and do it. But there’s still one massive elephant in the room that will need to be addressed before any progress can be made: Money.

Won’t Blizzard/Riot/Valve Make a TON of money from this?

YES. The answer to this is ABSOLUTELY YES. Having a privately-owned game in the Olympic Games  would result in a huge amount of free advertising and revenue for the game and its developer. If the company is publically traded, just the announcement would result in a huge spike in share values. It would affect the entire gaming market. Careers and companies would be made or broken by securing or being passed over for a coveted slot on the eSports event list.

It’s only fair for a business to make money from their product, but no one entity owns soccer (or football, if you insist), diving, or any other Olympic sport or event. They transcend ownership, which puts eSports at odds with every other sport. It stands to reason that if eSports were to be admitted, each game would be played fully on the terms of the IOC and the Federation, outside the influence of, and without any direct benefit to, any outside league or for-profit business.

How to Take Money Out of Sports?

This brings us to the question that I cannot answer alone. How do we remove the unmatchable profitability that would surely come to the few developers who were able to get their game in the Olympics? (And curtail the corruption and cheating that would be sure to follow?)

Is it as simple as the developer agreeing to put their game into the public domain if it is selected? That could be too harsh. Maybe the studio just agrees to donate all revenue from that game, and any promotional content related to the Olympics, for a specific period of time (say, from the date of the announcement of its inclusion in the Olympic Games until the end of the Closing Ceremonies)? Maybe a non-profit Federation version of the game is created that the developer agrees to support but not profit from?

My recommendation at this time would have to be the donation of revenues route. Given the iterative nature of videogames, it wouldn’t be fair for a company to completely lose their intellectual property over one game that will probably only be in one or two Olympics at most before being replaced by a sequel or something entirely different  Also, it would be important for the recipient of the donation to be an organization that is not owned or overseen by the Olympic Committee or the Federation to maintain the separation of interest. Neither the developers nor the Olympic bodies should get the money if a conflict of interest is to be avoided.

A Bright Future

The greatest of all the obstacles keeping eSports out of the world’s largest international sporting competition is, most likely, the perception that videogaming is a complete waste of time, and only braindead manboys do it. However, that perception is changing.  

It’s only a matter of time before spectating competitive gaming becomes as prominent as traditional sports and, when that time comes, people will stop asking what if? and begin to ask why isn’t eSports in the Olympics?

After writing this beast, I have two major questions.

1. Summer or Winter Games? It could really go with either one. I think we should just go with whatever we can get, frankly. Shooting and archery could go into either, I guess. Maybe Winter sports really do have to be Winter-specific. Whatever.

2. Are people interested in the No-money route? I'm not sure there's ever been a long running international non-profit sporting organisation that wasn't hugely corrupted. I imagine that my ideals of trying to keep all of the money out of the event to maintain purity in competition and event selection wouldn't actually be shared by the primary stakeholders in the conversation (The federations and the game developers). It's a shame.

"An Article of Substance" is a reference to Nicolas, who, during our meetings, will listen to us pitch idiot silly ideas for 30 minutes and then ask "and who will write an article of substance?" Then it gets quiet.

Streaming again!

Get this, I've streamed SC2 twice in two days! BOOYAH!!!

It's been a very busy few months, and my company is in crunch time for CES still (I worked ~70 hours last week), so I haven't had much time for uninterrupted gaming. But I should be getting back into it in the next few weeks. Maybe I'll even make it into Gold league in Starcraft. How exciting would that be? I played several games as Terran because I like their music so much. But I sucked at it and started BM'ing people when they started to do offensive GG's. Rude! Sticking with dat Protoss!

To make things official, HBA: Live is no longer a regular feature on the stream. I'll probably be sticking to esport games. like Starcraft, Hearthstone, and Counter Strike: Global Offensive. Spoiler alert, I'm not actually very good at any of them, and I've not been inclined to drop a few hundred bucks on the new set of cards in Hearthstone. Either way, I'll probably just be streaming whatever I'm feeling like at the time, and try not to drop games because I have to go change a diaper or rescue my wife for copious amounts of infant vomit. At least not too many.

On a sidenote, Heroes of the Storm just isn't that fun yet. I want to spend money every time I open it up, but I have no desire to play it. I know that's totally random, but it just doesn't do it for me. I played yesterday on stream and I just didn't have any fun. DOTA is still my go to MOBA game. Sorry Blizz.

Heroes of the Storm: A First Look

At the time of this writing, Valve has raised over $7 million to be paid out as prize money for one single eSports tournament, the DOTA 2 International Championships 2014. It has also been a $21 million payday for Valve for minimal work. They have done so by selling the "Compendium", a digital companion book to the tournament. If a player buys it, they can make predictions for the tournament for prizes, vote on two all-star teams, and get in-game items and boosts. This is in addition to the warm and fuzzy feeling you get every time you contribute to eSports. It costs $10, 25% of which goes to the tournament prize pool and 75% goes into Valve's pocket. Furthermore, it's only been out for a couple weeks now and will continue to sell until the end of July, when the tournament ends. Marketing level: Genius. (Sidenote: Did I buy one? Absolutely!)

In an attempt to start getting in on those MOBA/Hero Brawler dollars, Blizzard has finally released a Technical Alpha of their entry to the genre: Heroes of the Storm. (Note: I posted a trailer of it back when it was still called Blizzard All-Stars, literally two years ago. see new trailer here.) By Technical Alpha, they mean the game is playable but there are still lots and lots of changes coming, large and small. Also, you can already give them your real money to unlock characters and items that will later be re-locked (and your money refunded). Heaven forbid they don't get that feature in ASAP.

Anyway, I've played it. I like it! My favorite things about it so far are the things that really make it different from other MOBAs. I like that the games are short. I like that the maps are varied. And I like that the heroes are recognizable to me. However, there are shortcomings, too. Lots of those.

Game Length: If I sit down to play a game of Starcraft, we're looking at a possibility of a 45-minute game. Probably only 15 to 25, sure, but it really could go as long as three-quarter of an hour. Or even an entire hour. A game of DOTA 2? Forty-five minutes, EASY. You have to plan on that before you start a match. It could run as long as an hour, maybe longer, but probably not. I have never had a game of Heroes of the Storm take 25 minutes. Boom. Quick and easy. I love that.

On the flipside, however, each victory or defeat feels very insignificant. But my instincts aren't telling me it's because of the time commitment; it's just a matter of scale. A game of Heroes of the Storm does not feel grand or epic. It just feels like a quick little game. Maybe that's because it's a lot easier to tell if you're ahead or behind in HotS than it is in Starcraft or DOTA. But there's something going on there. And it's ruining it for me a bit.

Maps: So far there are four (maybe five) different arenas (chosen randomly when you queue up), each with a different layout and a major map-specific mechanic in addition to your standard MOBA creeps/towers/lanes. The mechanics all revolve around either collecting something or trying to hold a location, resulting in a nice boost of some kind over your opponent (see in-text image). This kind of activity encourages more frequent teamfights, forcing the players to get up in each other's faces. If you try to ignore the mechanic, your team will undoubtedly lose, so there's even more encouragement. Additionally, these maps are much smaller than your DOTA or LoL maps. This also encourages teamfights, but not in an exciting way. It's in more of a you simply can't go anywhere without bumping into someone else kind of way. Not fun.

Heroes: When I play a game of DOTA, I think in these terms: "Oh! This character is based on [so and so] from Warcraft" (see here). Many, many characters are like this. It's understandable given the game's history, but it's still always in the back on my mind. In Heroes of the Storm, I get to play as the ACTUAL characters! It is extremely satisfying. The selection is currently rather low. And it isn't helping that Blizzard has decided to go the LoL monetization route (pay to unlock heroes) rather than the amazingly-awesome-community-contribution-driven way of DOTA (all heroes unlocked, pay for community-made customizable cosmetics). That means you can't even play as whoever you like at any given time (although you can try all heroes once before you have to buy them) with the exception of a rotating "Free Heroes of the Week" deal. So, that kind of sucks. But that could always change with time. I hope it does.

All in all, I'm very glad I get to be in the Alpha and be part of the process. I am very optimistic, but Blizzard has a long way to go to get this game up to a caliber that will compete with League of Legends or DOTA. I'm going to keep an eye on it and keep playing when there's a new update, but in the meantime I'm sticking with DOTA 2 when I have a MOBA itch to scratch.

Unless I'm short on time, of course.



See the show below!

ReHacked Valencia 2012

I haven't heard anything yet but I'm pretty sure I didn't get picked for the IPL contest. That's okay though. I totally get why I didn't get picked (I started the day of the announcement) but I'm not going to let that get me down at all. I just need to keep on playing and keep on casting. 

Speaking of casting, I've been watching MLG Dallas over the weekend and watching the casters and I had an idea. Casting a full on tournament is pretty hard work. There's time between matches they have to fill and everything's live and if the caster straight screws something up they have to save face and can't restart the video and try again. So I've decided that I'm going to cast a major tournament. The tournament is going to be DreamHack Valencia 2012. I know this already happened a couple months ago, but I didn't watch any of it and DreamHack made all of the replays for the entire event available for download (like a bunch of sweethearts!) So starting at the round of 32 I'm going to go through the entire tournament match by match until the finals as if it were live and unfolding as I watch them over the course of several weeks. And that I was the only person there to commentate. That could totally happen. 

This will (hopefully) give me a more realistic tournament-style experience. I'll be taking some notes to remember what each player did during their matches as well as what maps they were on to help me with commentary. This will hopefully help me to be more cohesive through the entire event. I'll be doing it live on my Twitch channel and I might even have my webcam on and dress up as if I were at a real event. That's to be determined. 

All in all I think it'll be a lot of fun and I think it will be a great learning experience. Tournaments generally have two people watching together (and a third person controlling the observer camera) so I'll really have my work cut out for me trying to get it all done myself. I feel up to the challenge, however. Frankly though, if anyone wants to join me and try to co-cast it some we might be able to figure something out with Skype. That would be fun too.

I'll get started on Monday. I'll tweet when I get started (@mikeysce) and it'll be on my Twitch channel. I'll also edit them into match-by-match videos for YouTube. Links to all of those pages on are the sidebar. See you there!

Feeling Ambitious!

I'm going to apply for this: IPL Starcraft II Caster Search Contest!

Sure, it's a long, long shot. But hey, I gotta start trying at some point, right? I'll be trying to put together a good application package over the next couple days and I'll keep you updated! Maybe we can at least get some more readers for the blog, right?

Also, news broke today that Heart of the Swarm will have leveling and cosmetic rewards incorporated into the ladder system. Exciting! Now let's hope that they put in separate ladder ranks for each race. So it's not all wonky with matchmaking if you want to change things up. That would make me happy.

Finally, DON'T FORGET about the DOTA 2 giveaway! More info here!