http://archive.gamespy.com/top10/april03/progaming/index.shtml
Hmm so interesting article here. Basically its a list of “problems” with Professional Video Games as a spectator event. I just thought I'd go through this article and discuss/defend Professional Video Games. The article has some good points, but some of them are beyond stupid, so I thought I really should respond to this.
Point #10: Professional is not a Sport.
No. Its not. Video games are not sports, don't call them that. They are competative activities, yes, like Billiards. Did you know that Snooker and Pool are on ESPN all the time? At least, they are in Bangladesh. How is this event relevant? There are “fishing” competitions all over the world, why can't we have Video Game ones as well?
Point #9: Its no fun to watch.
I just feel the need to call bull on this. Sure, its no fun to watch the faces of two nerdy 20-something year olds as they gaze at a screen and constantly press the same 10 buttons over and over again. But then again, no one watches Wayne Rooney's face when he plays soccer, they watch him as he moves across the field of play. Video game players control virtual characters, you should be watching those virtual characters. Its extremely exciting (for me) to watch Starcraft II and League of Legends Games, and I know very little about Starcraft II. But I don't watch the players, I watch the field of play and what the players do on that field. If the camera is on the players for more than a few seconds before and after the game, then yeah, something is wrong.
Point #8: The Games Keep Changing
This is really valid. Its also kinda invalid. I'm sure its frustrating for casual gamers to watch '90s Quake and then 20 years later watch people play Halo, Call of Duty, and whatever newest Unreal Tournament game is out there. However, the truth is, these games have a lot similarities. Pretty much every shooter has a shotgun, a sniper, a automatic rifle, a pistol, etc. There are some differences, but these are not so huge as to make them incomparable. Sure, at the very highest levels of play, they make a difference, and this IS an issue, but casual gamers won't notice this, especially if the commentators are doing their job and properly explaining the nuances of strategy that are going on. This is a problem, its not one that is huge though.
Point #7: Online Leagues Don't Work
Meh. Maybe. I dunno. They have problems, especially in 1 v 1 games where its pretty easy to login under someone else's name. But in my experience, especially with the way the internet works today, online leagues work pretty well and we should continue to make them better.
Point #6: Pro Gamers have no personality
This guy obviously has not watched enough gamer streams or been around a community of high level gamers. I know that HotShotGG, a professional league of legends player has a lot of personality. So does Reginald, and so does Guardsmanbob (all pro gamers in LoL). To be honest, I know HotShotGG, in terms of personality, a lot more than I know, say, Chase Utely, who plays for my Baseball team, the Phillies. I'm not sure where the idea that video game players are devoid of personality comes from, at all.
Point #5: There is no mainstream appeal
Obviously. That's why we support and promote gaming? There is no mainstream appeal for Baseball outside of a few select countries. Baseball players and owners of Baseball teams haven't given up and said, “we have a good fanbase. Europe only wants to watch Soccer anyways.” They're constantly trying to grow the sport into something bigger and more popular.
Additionally: “Besides, professional gaming leagues just look plain childish to the outside, uneducated observer. Who in their right mind is going to be intrigued by the likes of "-=[dAffY]=-d00k!" or "ClAn gH3tT0 bR0z?" You can’t even say the names of the majority of the players without damaging your larynx.”
Lies. All of them. Who are the top League of Legends Teams in North America? Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), Team Solomid (TSM), Epik Gaming (EG), Defy All Odds (DaO), Rock Solid, Oh God Bears (OGB), etc. These are not stupid or hard names to learn. Sure they are sometimes stylized in a more internet friendly way, but, let's be honest, your average 20 year old is probably going to realize that if your team is Eff0rtl3ss Victory, that the 0 and 3 stand for o and e respectively. Besides, everyone will call you EV anyways. The “team” I'm on is “The Cool Kids Table” (so CKT? I guess haha). We don't come up with stupid names like ghetto broz anyways.
Okay, I guess some of the screennames people use are annoying sometimes, but I honestly haven't seen it. And personally I'm a fan of screennames, because they let players title themselves much easier. Tiger Woods will always be Tiger Woods, but me, Isaac Johnson, I'm Lord Toasty or toastymow when I'm playing video games, and I like it that way.
Point #4: The Rules are Inconsistent:
This is valid. Take Super Smash Bros. Brawl and its apparently obvious that there are needs for serious rule changing from the standard setup to this game work in a hardcore setting. Realizing that an FPS game can be Capture the Flag, Team Deathmatch, or some sort of Siege Mode does make the game confusing. But the truth is that these are easily fixed. Look at Cricket, for instance, there are literally 3 types of games: Test Matches, ODIs, and Twenty20. Cricket is stupid popular in South Asia. There are other differences as well in other sports, these don't make a difference. Obviously, heavily modifying a video game to make it “work” in hardcore setting is going to bring about some problems, but that's why Counter Strike and Starcraft are so popular, because they've been designed to accommodate hardcore players. That's why the MBL and the NBA have different rules than High School Baseball or Basketball teams (at least, I'm assuming they do), because they're more serious. You can take an FPS game and made it hardcore or casual. It just takes planning.
Point #3: Too Many Leagues:
This isn't really an argument against video games as much as it is stating the obvious. Watching people play video games is incredibly niche and as a result, there hasn't been a big strong company to come out and organize these video games into regular leagues. Furthermore, because the games change so fast, and because most players can't really make a living off of video games, its hard to have leagues that last. This should change if more hardcore games with standard setups can evolve. Look at Starcraft and what it did in Korea. Starcraft has been out for over 10 years now, and it took several patches to bring it to where it is today, and now its there. Sadly, Blizzard wants to makea profit and they released a sequel, which will likely make it much harder to bring stability to that area of professional video games.
Anyways, this really isn't an argument against video games, its just a fact: there are not good leagues. The problem isn't that there aren't good leagues, its several other issues.
Point #2: Pro Gaming is to “serious.”
Okay, this is badly worded. What this means is that if me, as someone new to video games, asks a stupid question like, “why does XYZ player use a shotgun more? I like shotguns.” Someone will probably say: fking n00b, gtfo and l2p (that is to say, fking noob, get the fk out of here and learn to play). You don't get that in a sports bar when you ask why the Eagles rushed instead of passed. This is a valid point, and its an issue, its a huge issue. The main problem is though, often times the people asking these questions are indeed noobs and they play in your games and they ruin your experience. No one in a sports bar has to worry about the guy next to them throwing the ball to the wrong person. When I play LoL I often get players who do the equivalent in my games and I hate it.
Point #1:Games Are Supposed to Be Fun!
This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Do you think that if you want to play in the NFL that you're gonna have fun the entire time? Do you think that Tiger Woods plays Golf for “fun”? What about Kobe Bryant and Basketball? Now, I do not doubt for a second that professional sports players ENJOY their jobs, but I don't think a coach is gonna say, “Kobe, take a break, this is supposed to be fun.” Video games may be just “fun” for you, but for me and for a lot of other people these are serious events to be taken seriously. Call me an idiot or a loser or whatever you want, but when I play with my clan and we say, “This is a serious game,” I turn into a beast of strategy and cunning and my entire focus is on winning the game and destroying the enemy Its tough and it takes a great deal of focus and energy, but that's the same with any sort of serious event. If you don't want to play video games seriously, DO NOT DO SO. But don't tell me that I'm supposed to calm down and have fun and that competing for money in a serious event isn't a good idea. Its a brilliant idea, it gives me a reason to be intense and aggressive and scream and shout in joy and rage as much as I feel like.
So in conclusion a lot of these arguments were really... bad. Video Games have issues that are preventing Video Games from becoming mainstream, and I don't see them becoming mainstream any time soon, but many of these issues are hardly the reason why.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Monday, May 16, 2011
Symphony X, Blackguard and Powerglove Concert
So last night I went to a metal show. 5 acts, 7:30-like midnight (I left before the assumed encore of the final act). I payed twenty something dollars Good show, all-in-all.
The first two acts where local bands. Which means they were not that good. The first act, Immortal Guardian, seemed like a good band. Like, generic, but good. That's kinda the problem with small bands like that, I suppose. The second act was kinda lame. Their vocalist came on stage making the love sign instead of the metal sign (subtle, but key difference) and he didn't have a very good voice in my mind. Finally blackguard took the stage. Now, Blackguard is not by any means a special band in terms of sound. They have a good sound, but its generic. However, they have an amazing stage presence. They got on the stage and I instantly could tell the difference in their performance and even the quality of their music. Its generic, but its not super generic. They also managed to do something that I find very difficult: sound pretty much exactly the same as they do in the studio. They had a short set, like 30 minutes. However, it was a good set. I feel like they did their thing and gave us a show and it was over.
Next band was Powerglove. I knew very little about this band except that they were an instrumental band that sang music based off of 80s video games and TV shows. They come on stage dressed up as characters out of Mario, their drummer has flags attached to his back (more like Banners, honestly) and they start jamming away in the most metal fashion ever. I didn't think it was possible to Mosh to a Mario song, now I know it is. So amazing. I think these guys were the best act of the night, in all honesty. Its probably because I'm a bit biased towards silly music and the like, but a band that doesn't take itself seriously like that is my favorite. Their guitarist told me after the show that he “revels in the absurdity” of their style and I think he has the right mindset. Play your solos and riffs seriously, but play the silliest solos and riffs you can think of!
Symphony X was next and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. Metal is really loud, that's half the fun. But Symphony X is too technical to really have that enhance their music. You can fix that by making your bass and drums and low end sounds not so dominant, or you can ignore this problem and just hope the crowd doesn't mind. They chose the later and in my opinion they concert suffered as a result. Symphony X, unlike Blackguard, which is just a band you're supposed to headbang and mosh to, I feel are more of a “watch the performance” band. They had a good performance (props to their frontman for grabbing a inflatable sword left over from Powerguard and shadow fencing on stage), but I couldn't hear the details of their music, and that's what Prog metal is, in my mind, all about. If I could have heard their vocals and guitar solos 100% of the time, or even 80% of the time, really, I would have been happy. I felt like it was more like 75% or 60%, really. I mean, I guess their live sound works for them, after 8 albums and years of touring. But I wasn't a fan of it.
So Symphony X was a bit of the bummer, but the rest of the bands I think were respectable. Power Glove is amazing and everyone should go get their music, and Blackguard played a solid show just like I expected.
The first two acts where local bands. Which means they were not that good. The first act, Immortal Guardian, seemed like a good band. Like, generic, but good. That's kinda the problem with small bands like that, I suppose. The second act was kinda lame. Their vocalist came on stage making the love sign instead of the metal sign (subtle, but key difference) and he didn't have a very good voice in my mind. Finally blackguard took the stage. Now, Blackguard is not by any means a special band in terms of sound. They have a good sound, but its generic. However, they have an amazing stage presence. They got on the stage and I instantly could tell the difference in their performance and even the quality of their music. Its generic, but its not super generic. They also managed to do something that I find very difficult: sound pretty much exactly the same as they do in the studio. They had a short set, like 30 minutes. However, it was a good set. I feel like they did their thing and gave us a show and it was over.
Next band was Powerglove. I knew very little about this band except that they were an instrumental band that sang music based off of 80s video games and TV shows. They come on stage dressed up as characters out of Mario, their drummer has flags attached to his back (more like Banners, honestly) and they start jamming away in the most metal fashion ever. I didn't think it was possible to Mosh to a Mario song, now I know it is. So amazing. I think these guys were the best act of the night, in all honesty. Its probably because I'm a bit biased towards silly music and the like, but a band that doesn't take itself seriously like that is my favorite. Their guitarist told me after the show that he “revels in the absurdity” of their style and I think he has the right mindset. Play your solos and riffs seriously, but play the silliest solos and riffs you can think of!
Symphony X was next and to be honest, I was a little disappointed. Metal is really loud, that's half the fun. But Symphony X is too technical to really have that enhance their music. You can fix that by making your bass and drums and low end sounds not so dominant, or you can ignore this problem and just hope the crowd doesn't mind. They chose the later and in my opinion they concert suffered as a result. Symphony X, unlike Blackguard, which is just a band you're supposed to headbang and mosh to, I feel are more of a “watch the performance” band. They had a good performance (props to their frontman for grabbing a inflatable sword left over from Powerguard and shadow fencing on stage), but I couldn't hear the details of their music, and that's what Prog metal is, in my mind, all about. If I could have heard their vocals and guitar solos 100% of the time, or even 80% of the time, really, I would have been happy. I felt like it was more like 75% or 60%, really. I mean, I guess their live sound works for them, after 8 albums and years of touring. But I wasn't a fan of it.
So Symphony X was a bit of the bummer, but the rest of the bands I think were respectable. Power Glove is amazing and everyone should go get their music, and Blackguard played a solid show just like I expected.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
End of the Year Summary
A flood of memories. How has this only been one year? Yikes!
Yes. I finished my first year of college. I'm on track to graduate in four years. I still don't have a driver's license, I still don't have any real work experience to my name, and I still don't have even very definite plans for my summer vacation happening right now, but I know that I'm done with college for at least three months.
In all honesty, right now, I wish I didn't have to deal with summer. Last summer was glorious because I was kept busy. I had my family with me and we did a lot of stuff. Summers before that, especially the ones in Bangladesh were amazing because it meant that I was home with friends, especially friends that went to Boarding school or Universities overseas. I probably won't see a single one of my college friends till August. Which... meh, its not too fun.
The year in hindsight though. I have to say, Spring Semester was harder than Fall. People tell me this is always the case, which I find funny. Having said that, I did fine. Grades are still coming in, but I'm confident to say that I have just over a 3.5 this semester (an increase of about .1 in my overall GPA. So I'm happy?). The honors program requires that I keep a 3.5 GPA, and I'm confident I can keep that, at least at this point. Its not easy, but its possible. I just need to find out what is expected of me quicker and quicker. So I guess that's academics.
Socially: I did great. I think, in the end, the Honors Living Learning Community was kinda a bust. Ultimately I'm not even sure if I technically “completed” the program as I didn't attend the final LLC dinner or complete any sort of community service that semester. I could care less. I joined the LLC in an attempt to make sure I got to know some of the smarter people on campus (yes, I had a fear that I would be surrounded by idiots who didn't know how to work. This was of course proven completely wrong, as even my non-honors friends are at least competent) and well... I dunno, I was like “why not?” It wasn't a bad idea, but it might have been unnecessary. The best thing thatcame out of it was a few decent friends and the fact that I got garunteed a room from day one in what is probably the best Dorm on Campus (Hunt is expensive and not fun socially. Nothing ever happens at BMH, Teresa and East are old and smell funny). Sure, I'm biased, but meh... a lot of awesome stuff happened at Dujarie these two years, I gotta say.
My biggest social issue was my roommate. I've held back ranting about him because I wanted to respect him because... he's my roommate. But the bottom line was, by the end of the semester, it just go to the point where it was not worth talking to him. He started talking, I felt the need to tell him to Shut Up and go away. Like, okay, there were some points where saying hi, talking a little about your day, that was okay. But when I was packing to leave, for instance, I didn't want to talk to him and he had pull me over to watch silly videos of guys shooting paint-ball guns. Like I care?
It wasn't just that, it was also his constant “trolling” as he called it. He once explained it to another guy, saying he likes to pull pranks on people and stuff, and he thinks its especially funny if they don't realize he's just messing with him. That's just being a jerk, my friend said, and I agree. The first time someone tells you that listening to Metal means that you listened to * insert generic deathcore here * that sings about killing babies and blowing up innocent civilians in times of war its annoying, but meh, he's messing with me. The second time is just annoying. The third time its down-right rude. I pretty much hated about 95% of the music Mohammad played. ESPECIALLY that stupid Black and Yellow song he seemed to really like. I told him, but I wasn't rude about it. Mohammad never once directly told me he didn't like my music, he just made fun of it or lied about it, calling it stuff that it wasn't. For the record I don't listen to Deathcore and I don't, knowingly, listen to music about baby-murderers.
The other thing that bothered me about him was just... how much he lied in general. It took me about the entire first semester to realize this. At first I thought he was just being lazy and had figured out how to get eighteen hours into his schedule and that involved what, for lack of a better word (and pardon my language) “bullshitting” on his papers and perhaps in class discussion. However, it eventually became apparent to me and, I think to others, that this was his entire attitude. He'd pretend to think whatever you're saying is interesting or really important, then he'd turn around and say its stupid or silly or something. He told our professor that his week Volunteering in NYC with some other St. Eds kids was “life changing” which I know for a fact was not the words he would have ever described it to me. I forget what he said to me though.
I could go on, but I think I'll end it there. I think the bottom line was that I didn't have a good roommate. Now, I'll be honest, it could have been worse. I didn't have a guy who demanded I leave every 2nd or 3rd Weekend so he could sleep with his girlfriend (the main issue here being I suddenly have to find somewhere else to sleep). I didn't have a roommate who kept hard drugs in his room. (I don't agree with hard drugs like Coke or Heroin, that's why. Keep all the alcohol you want in my room, whatever. Just keep it out of site and/or in a locked box) Those two would have been worse, I feel like.
Academically: Ah yes, it was mostly good. I had a few messups and a few “oh.... they actually care about this,” moments. Fall Semester my Algebra Class was stupid and had several issues. Additionally I didn't put the time into it necessary to get an A. I messed up my Midterm in Political Controversies and got a B in the class instead of an A. This semester I had a hard time in Text and Discourse Analysis, but that's okay because I'm going to get a B I think, barely a B, but a B. I wanted a 4.0 this semester, but it didn't happen, (that class being a major reason why, honestly). For the most part I did good.
Last semester I think there were clear accomplishments. I survived the first semester of College. I came in and I didn't fail anything, I succeeded and did just about as good as expected. I saw a marked improvement in my writing, in the sense that I was able to transition into the University style of writing easily. This semester, I don't think I learned much more than a little bit more in terms of writing and staying focused and doing more grammar stuff. I know grammar, I just need to remember to use it. I was challenged to improve my writing, and I saw an improvement, but that was really just 1 class. My other four classes? Not much actually learned in terms of information. I got a big picture of the Religious Studies Program, which is my current major, and I think that will help me. Not much else though, really.
Hmm... what else? I dunno. I played a lot of League of Legends, I formed an actual team and I've started working in a team with 2 other people (we need 2 more regulars, but we're working on it). Right now I'm happy to say that I think I have 2 good friends (as much as you can be friends on the internet) and I'm enjoying myself. Now I just need to regularly play at 1400 elo instead of 1300 and I'll be somewhat more satisfied.
Yes. I finished my first year of college. I'm on track to graduate in four years. I still don't have a driver's license, I still don't have any real work experience to my name, and I still don't have even very definite plans for my summer vacation happening right now, but I know that I'm done with college for at least three months.
In all honesty, right now, I wish I didn't have to deal with summer. Last summer was glorious because I was kept busy. I had my family with me and we did a lot of stuff. Summers before that, especially the ones in Bangladesh were amazing because it meant that I was home with friends, especially friends that went to Boarding school or Universities overseas. I probably won't see a single one of my college friends till August. Which... meh, its not too fun.
The year in hindsight though. I have to say, Spring Semester was harder than Fall. People tell me this is always the case, which I find funny. Having said that, I did fine. Grades are still coming in, but I'm confident to say that I have just over a 3.5 this semester (an increase of about .1 in my overall GPA. So I'm happy?). The honors program requires that I keep a 3.5 GPA, and I'm confident I can keep that, at least at this point. Its not easy, but its possible. I just need to find out what is expected of me quicker and quicker. So I guess that's academics.
Socially: I did great. I think, in the end, the Honors Living Learning Community was kinda a bust. Ultimately I'm not even sure if I technically “completed” the program as I didn't attend the final LLC dinner or complete any sort of community service that semester. I could care less. I joined the LLC in an attempt to make sure I got to know some of the smarter people on campus (yes, I had a fear that I would be surrounded by idiots who didn't know how to work. This was of course proven completely wrong, as even my non-honors friends are at least competent) and well... I dunno, I was like “why not?” It wasn't a bad idea, but it might have been unnecessary. The best thing thatcame out of it was a few decent friends and the fact that I got garunteed a room from day one in what is probably the best Dorm on Campus (Hunt is expensive and not fun socially. Nothing ever happens at BMH, Teresa and East are old and smell funny). Sure, I'm biased, but meh... a lot of awesome stuff happened at Dujarie these two years, I gotta say.
My biggest social issue was my roommate. I've held back ranting about him because I wanted to respect him because... he's my roommate. But the bottom line was, by the end of the semester, it just go to the point where it was not worth talking to him. He started talking, I felt the need to tell him to Shut Up and go away. Like, okay, there were some points where saying hi, talking a little about your day, that was okay. But when I was packing to leave, for instance, I didn't want to talk to him and he had pull me over to watch silly videos of guys shooting paint-ball guns. Like I care?
It wasn't just that, it was also his constant “trolling” as he called it. He once explained it to another guy, saying he likes to pull pranks on people and stuff, and he thinks its especially funny if they don't realize he's just messing with him. That's just being a jerk, my friend said, and I agree. The first time someone tells you that listening to Metal means that you listened to * insert generic deathcore here * that sings about killing babies and blowing up innocent civilians in times of war its annoying, but meh, he's messing with me. The second time is just annoying. The third time its down-right rude. I pretty much hated about 95% of the music Mohammad played. ESPECIALLY that stupid Black and Yellow song he seemed to really like. I told him, but I wasn't rude about it. Mohammad never once directly told me he didn't like my music, he just made fun of it or lied about it, calling it stuff that it wasn't. For the record I don't listen to Deathcore and I don't, knowingly, listen to music about baby-murderers.
The other thing that bothered me about him was just... how much he lied in general. It took me about the entire first semester to realize this. At first I thought he was just being lazy and had figured out how to get eighteen hours into his schedule and that involved what, for lack of a better word (and pardon my language) “bullshitting” on his papers and perhaps in class discussion. However, it eventually became apparent to me and, I think to others, that this was his entire attitude. He'd pretend to think whatever you're saying is interesting or really important, then he'd turn around and say its stupid or silly or something. He told our professor that his week Volunteering in NYC with some other St. Eds kids was “life changing” which I know for a fact was not the words he would have ever described it to me. I forget what he said to me though.
I could go on, but I think I'll end it there. I think the bottom line was that I didn't have a good roommate. Now, I'll be honest, it could have been worse. I didn't have a guy who demanded I leave every 2nd or 3rd Weekend so he could sleep with his girlfriend (the main issue here being I suddenly have to find somewhere else to sleep). I didn't have a roommate who kept hard drugs in his room. (I don't agree with hard drugs like Coke or Heroin, that's why. Keep all the alcohol you want in my room, whatever. Just keep it out of site and/or in a locked box) Those two would have been worse, I feel like.
Academically: Ah yes, it was mostly good. I had a few messups and a few “oh.... they actually care about this,” moments. Fall Semester my Algebra Class was stupid and had several issues. Additionally I didn't put the time into it necessary to get an A. I messed up my Midterm in Political Controversies and got a B in the class instead of an A. This semester I had a hard time in Text and Discourse Analysis, but that's okay because I'm going to get a B I think, barely a B, but a B. I wanted a 4.0 this semester, but it didn't happen, (that class being a major reason why, honestly). For the most part I did good.
Last semester I think there were clear accomplishments. I survived the first semester of College. I came in and I didn't fail anything, I succeeded and did just about as good as expected. I saw a marked improvement in my writing, in the sense that I was able to transition into the University style of writing easily. This semester, I don't think I learned much more than a little bit more in terms of writing and staying focused and doing more grammar stuff. I know grammar, I just need to remember to use it. I was challenged to improve my writing, and I saw an improvement, but that was really just 1 class. My other four classes? Not much actually learned in terms of information. I got a big picture of the Religious Studies Program, which is my current major, and I think that will help me. Not much else though, really.
Hmm... what else? I dunno. I played a lot of League of Legends, I formed an actual team and I've started working in a team with 2 other people (we need 2 more regulars, but we're working on it). Right now I'm happy to say that I think I have 2 good friends (as much as you can be friends on the internet) and I'm enjoying myself. Now I just need to regularly play at 1400 elo instead of 1300 and I'll be somewhat more satisfied.
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