eSports

Overwatch finals on ESPN tonight.

Dude in the crowd has an Abolish ICE sign hell yeah!

London Spitfire takes it.

Post season thoughts:

- Watching is still a mixed bag if you don’t know how to play or know the deep game. I’m curious how long you lasted/felt about the experience Nick?
- The 3rd person camera is probably the best one. Seeing the action from a 1st person perspective is cool but I feel it’s a bit too kinetic. Knowing what’s going on helps but they need to find a way to smooth out the gameplay for viewers. I get that players need to keep moving so they don’t get sniped or caught in a CC trap but it’s difficult to watch and over time bores me similar to an ALL action movie.
- This type of sport will get much bigger once they get some personalities in the mix. I’m not familiar with these players outside of Overwatch League (don’t follow Twitch) but not a single one interest me outside of their gaming skills. The language barrier also prevents viewers from full enjoyment. I can tell those Koreans are excited but they could be saying Welcome to Flavortown and I wouldnt know any better.

what do you guys think?

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/27/us/jacksonville-shooting-victims/index.html

Watching Overwatch league on ABC before the NBA playoffs.

I don't play or watch e-sports.

I'm vaguely aware of how players can fill different "roles" on a team in a game like Overwatch or other battle-style games. You know: healer, tank, dps. People are still using these words, right?

I'm reading this comic right now and really enjoying it. (This is kind of what's got me writing this post right now.)
https://tapas.io/episode/1719966



Are players on teams really forced to lock themselves into one of these roles before a match? (They're probably going to do this voluntarily anyway, it's a time-tested strategy that rewards teams who do it, but that's not the point.)

I mean, I don't think there's any difference in the rules for players based on what role they play, unlike in some sports (only the pitcher can deliver the pitch in baseball, only the goalie can touch the ball with their hands in soccer, etc.). So why bother forcing people to "lock" themselves into a role that feels more like a wise suggestion than anything they're really forced to do during a match?

I'm well aware that this post probably reads like total nonsense.

It’s to avoid horribly balanced teams. Once you get past just playing for fun and get more serious in ranked modes balance is incredibly important. It’s not even just healing and buffs which have obvious benefits but also how one can slow an advancing team or speed your whole team up to get away. For example, in games like league of legends or overwatch, you have characters that can block a lane with something, whether it’s a wall or a patch of oil, but it makes the lane unusable so the team has to go a different route if they want to chase you or risk putting themselves in a position to get killed. Think of it like setting a screen in basketball, it’s super important but not glamorous at all. Many players just want the glory. Especially kids. Why would a kid wanna play a role that involves minimal action but really helps the team as a whole? Locking in a support role usually gets you in a game super fast because nobody wants to play that way. DPS characters now may take much longer to match up because so many people want to play that role. I hope that kinda answers your question.

I guess that makes sense, you can't just leave it to people to work it out between themselves (especially among strangers playing online) so you've got to lock players into those less-popular but vital roles or else matches just won't happen.

I guess a part of me is still thinking that teams that don't get their shit together and wittingly or unwittingly take some horribly-balanced approach ought to be free to suffer the consequences of their poor planning. Does that make sense?

Think of it this way, if a match takes 30 minutes to complete and you get matched up with a bunch of schmucks, then 30 minutes of your life was wasted instead of enjoyed. You don’t play to lose. So forcing role locks at least makes it potentially more enjoyable for everyone. I agree with your sentiment but this really applies more for random player matches then actual teams.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/2021/4/12/22374893/esports-arena-surge-virtual-reality-gaming-bronzeville-scott-greenberg-chris-lai