Professional Gaming And The NEET Problem - How to improve Pro Gaming

[PrimoVitorio]

Over the past few years, pro gaming has come to the mainstream.
It is a divisive topic, some here are fine with it, others not.
But pro gaming is here to stay.

Football at its heart is a game.
Hockey at its heart is a game.

Every game turns professional. People wanna know who is the best at something.
A popular quote in racing is that motorsport started the moment the 2nd car was made.

But there is one problem with pro gaming and speed-running. The NEET problem.

Now I have a bit of insight into pro gaming, given I participate in F1 league racing/ sim racing championships in my spare time. It isn't full blown pro gaming, but it is akin to non league football. Now I'd say I'm well rounded, i have hobbies and interests that aren't gaming and I don't spend all my time playing vidya. It isn't all I care about nor is it all who I am. Sure, I do get competitive. I will celebrate victories or championships and add up a tally of my stats and stuff.
But at the end of the day, its not my entire life. My time doing this stuff is my free time.

And though it is a problem, not everyone in esports is a NEET and i can imagine people have lives outside of it. Anyone under that assumption is making a broad generalization IMO.

Brendon Leigh won the inaugural F1 Esport series.
I think i read up on the F1 site he actually worked in Reading somewhere.
He contributes to society.
He came back a year later and he looked a lot fitter too. So looks like he went a gym or went on a diet.

Most people i know sometimes say they cant make the race due to real life.
In iRacing special events such as the 24 hours of Daytona coming up, I and my team will plan what times we'll be available to drive the car.
Sometimes I may be busy at a certain time and can't drive. Same with them.

But that said, pro gaming does have a NEET problem.
And I do see this in F1 league racing. People spending tons practicing. With myself I practice a bit, maybe 30 minutes-1 hour. Some people may "sweat" and may do it 24/7. Or for ludicrous amounts of time. They seem to have nothing else. No job, no nothing. They don't even have the excuse pros have in that it is their job. Its all they do.

A good example is Hungrybox quitting his job to train more on smash because his opponents had godly amounts of time practicing. Another is a classmate in my college who talks nothing but smash bros, rayman, mario and sonic. He brags at beating people at smash by singing "im the king of super smash bros" on the way to class. He spergs about being a pro gamer and getting money off it.

I'm not kidding. I guess he's the reason for this thread.

Now, you could say pro gaming is a job and you do contribute as much as footballers do to society, in that you entertain people. I would agree. If someone streams, speedruns, plays games competitively and makes enough money to go full time, all the power to them. Just have something outside of that and you're all right in my book.

But with football, you interact with people. Gaming well, not really. Meeting up with others for gaming is ok, but it doesn't necessarily make you well rounded.

Someone just playing video games and nothing else is someone who is very shallow. Even if I was a professional, I wouldn't do such a thing.
Its important to keep a balance between the virtual and real world IMO. Sacrificing my job, my relationships for winning a gaming competition is not worth it.

So how do we fix this?

I think if pro gaming organizations implement regulations so that the players in question need to have a full time job/grade/so forth this problem would be solved or at least cut down. Encourage pro gaming teams to make sure these people have things outside of gaming.

Educate more on keeping a balanced life between the virtual and real world.

I think the problems with pro gaming will come up more and more over time and the discussion will come up eventually. Its still a new thing and will need some adjusting.

Everything needs time to develop and grow. Pro gaming is still in its early phase and problems will exist. These problems will eventually be found and be fixed

Motorsport had a safety problem, others have a concussion problem and wrestling has well, a lot of drug and alcohol problems.

I do think professional gaming should be allowed to exist. But it does need to seriously improve itself if it is to be respected.

 

[Takodachi]

It will never be a respectable sport as long as they keep allowing trannies in it.

 

[Chocolate Wombat]

A good example is Hungrybox quitting his job to train more on smash because his opponents had godly amounts of time practicing. Another is a classmate in my college who talks nothing but smash bros, rayman, mario and sonic. He brags at beating people at smash by singing "im the king of super smash bros" on the way to class. He spergs about being a pro gamer and getting money off it.

I'm not kidding. I guess he's the reason for this thread.

The NEETs would still be unemployed, in a basement somewhere obsessing over Smash Bros and fapping to their OC Sonic character regardless of whether or not they participated in gaming professionally. That's kind of what they do. If you really want to clean up pro gaming then make a shower/clean clothes requirement as the most autistic ones will run screaming from the idea that they have to stop fapping or playing games long enough to at least bathe themselves.

 

[DumbDude42]

gaming, and entertainment media in general, serves mainly as a time killer for rejects.

 

[NerdShamer]

I think if pro gaming organizations implement regulations so that the players in question need to have a full time job/grade/so forth this problem would be solved or at least cut down.

You forgot to add "mandatory IQ screening."

Encourage pro gaming teams to make sure these people have things outside of gaming.

Educate more on keeping a balanced life between the virtual and real world.

I'm actually happy with the status quo because it gives me something to laugh at as opposed to consooming whatever comes out, nowadays.

 

[Professor G. Raff]

You can feel however you want about pro-gamers/e-sports but the idea of regulation you propose is completely stupid. As far as I am concerned if you are self-sufficient in supporting yourself you are not a NEET, no matter how autistic you are. I love to make fun of the extreme examples as anyone else on the farms, but I think it's silly to paint the group with such a wide stroke - most are not completely non-functioning and maintain all the usual parts of life just fine. This almost reads like some kind of 90's 'video games will ruin your children' stink-piece on the mainstream news.

I feel for you about the annoying sperg you know but fact is he can do what he wants. If he ends up in a gutter or working at Wendy's for life that's on him, but if he truly is the "king of Smash" as he boasts in today's time that actually has the chance to be a real career with more potential than many traditional ones. Odds are more likely he'll just get over the phase and be a normal wagie.

Point is I don't think some kind of moral regulation is what anyone needs for anything. I have no interest in watching e-sports and think often the players are socially inept but I have no desire to exert any kind authoritarian change to make them bow to my sensibilities. Besides, that's less content for KF if they're gone...

 

[NerdShamer]

but I think it's silly to paint the group with such a wide stroke

It's kind of hard to ignore that British autist who shits himself while playing Pokemon card tournaments.

 

[FFinfo]

As stated above, NEETs would exist regardless. NEETdom is usually due to some form of social failure or lack of ambition (or the feeling that said ambitions will never be sated). At least, the Chibi/Narcissa type of NEETdom is, anyway.

Gaming gets a bad rap for being full of undesirable NEETs. But really, if you're making a living playing games, you aren't a NEET, that's become your job.

Nobody talks about how Formula 1 is full of NEETs because you need to have a rich family that can afford to get you driving on country club race tracks when you're 3 and you join F1 around the same time you graduate high school. Those people are just the elite equivalent.

 

[Red Hood]

Esports are dumb and companies derailing perfectly good game series to try and jump on the Esports bandwagon piss me off (LOOKING AT YOU GRAN TURISMO!)

 

[PrimoVitorio]

As stated above, NEETs would exist regardless. NEETdom is usually due to some form of social failure or lack of ambition (or the feeling that said ambitions will never be sated). At least, the Chibi/Narcissa type of NEETdom is, anyway.

Gaming gets a bad rap for being full of undesirable NEETs. But really, if you're making a living playing games, you aren't a NEET, that's become your job.

Nobody talks about how Formula 1 is full of NEETs because you need to have a rich family that can afford to get you driving on country club race tracks when you're 3 and you join F1 around the same time you graduate high school. Those people are just the elite equivalent.

Yeah, I guess my point is that you need to be well rounded and from what I see on this site, most people dislike pro gaming because the people aren't well rounded.

So to fix the problem, you need to make sure regulations stop NEETs.
Its more a balancing act than anything.
What if you have a guy who's got a job, and doesn't have the amount of time others have. Those people have an advantage because they have nothing outside of vidya.

It seems unfair for those people who have something else

 

[GHTD]

You forgot to add "mandatory IQ screening."

He sounds like Chris if the IQ was dialed down 40 points.

 

[Epic Fail Man]

tl;dr

 

[PrimoVitorio]

Keep in mind I did stress that not everyone is like this and I people who state that pro gaming "is just NEETs and losers playing vidya" are often as annoying as the spergs to me.

For something like pro gaming you'd think of the stereotypical fat gamer, but a lot I see are pretty average guys.
Rather its the "keeping well rounded" aspect that's the problem.
I'd say most are but especially for people going into pro gaming, you see this too often for my tastes.

 

[Enceladus]

I don't even like watching real sports that much. Maybe racing. Nothing can get me excited about vidya sports.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I remember hearing that speedrun community is divided to chads with life outside of gaming that effortlessly break and keep records, and friendless trannies who will waste all their time on a single game they constantly fail at and are basically on a timer to suicide.

 

[PrimoVitorio]

I don't even like watching real sports that much. Maybe racing. Nothing can get me excited about vidya sports.

I guess my passion for racing has led to my passion for sim racing/league racing.
Most of my interest in pro gaming is interest in pro racing game championships.

The NEETs are annoying because they really drag everyone down and you get people just brushing everyone with the same brush.
I find speedrunning interesting too, and the same problem is there too.

 

[PrimoVitorio]

I remember hearing that speedrun community is divided to chads with life outside of gaming that effortlessly break and keep records, and friendless trannies who will waste all their time on a single game they constantly fail at and are basically on a timer to suicide.

I'd second this. I think this what im talking about when you look at pro gamers.
You'd expect most of them to be fat but most of them seem more fit than you'd think.
Some of them are overweight and stuff but its suprising how most seem like they are well off.

 

[Celebrate Nite]

All you have to do is look at the FGC (Fighting Game Community) and it'll show just how stupid "pro" gaming is.

 

[Marissa Moira]

It will never be a respectable sport as long as they keep allowing trannies in it.

Tell that to NASCAR, every racer uses a tranny.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

eSports is so mainstream that even speedrunning communities need to be acknowledged in that space as well.