GuitarBizarre

I'd rather continue with the debate, if I'm honest. I still believe that eSports qualify as sports. As would all the silly things people have been suggesting in order to appeal to ridicule, if they were given the framework of a sport. The fact they don't have such frameworks is the reason they are not currently sports.

Of course, whether they're respectable sports or large sports or sports with depth is up for debate, but they would be sports.

As far as stracraft is concerned, I think it is a respectable sport, it is a sport with depth, and I think given current growth, it will very shortly be a large sport in the west. It already very much is in Korea, large enough in fact to have a longstanding history of live TV broadcast and mainstream acceptance.

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DoctorSoft

if ya ain't sweatin, i ain't bettin

Key

If eSports are considered a sport, than we should just consider foruming and online gaming a sport as well.

GuitarBizarre

Again, no competitive framework for those activities, so they aren't sports. I know i'm sort of singling you out here dude, but come, on, this is like the 4th post where I've said the same thing, can you provide some sort of argument for why eSports aren't sports, rather than listing examples of activities that aren't sports because they lack qualifying aspects that eSports already has?

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Key

Well, first I would have to decide what you are defining "sports" as. And I didn't read the whole thread so I don't know if you have done that already.

So, i'll put it this way. If you are talking about the competitive / brain teasing / adrenaline increasing activities type of sports, than yes...I would agree that eSports is considered a sport.

If however you're going by the traditional definition of a sport where people need to be running around inside of a gym or outside and sweating and having aching muscles, than no...I would not count eSports a sport. Same as I wouldn't count competitive gaming a real sport.

Paedantic Basterd

I know you desire me to fuck off, but on a genuine note, what I see people (and myself) doing here is offering activities comparable to esports, meeting the factor of competition you described, and seeing whether or not you will draw the line yourself on what you will call a sport.

Ultimately, if you think our suggestions are valid, (and the three I previously proposed do take place in competition/tournament formats) then I can't object to your argument. If you're not willing to see Scrabble as a sport when it's been offered to you in tournament format, then it's a hypocritical opinion, and it loses weight.

GuitarBizarre

We did cover that, yes. Interestingly, we uncovered that no definition of sport or athleticism decrees a strenuous activity, and most definitions denote skill as a sporting element. Also, even the original Latin root of athleticism makes reference to skill and dexterity as one of the qualities which can define a sport, so to say traditional meaning colours it might not be a great way to remove eSports from a pool of traditionally defined sports.

We also mentioned that there are plenty of sports like darts, chess, and snooker, that are less taxing physically than eSports can be, that are commonly accepted as legitimate sports.

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GuitarBizarre

Ok, that makes a lot of sense. I don't think there is an activity that could break that limit though. At the end of the day, any activity taken to extremes can be as physically or mentally demanding as the toughest sports. That fact is exactly why a lot of sports drive technological progress as the teams seek every advantage.

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Key

Well i'll be damned. That's what I get for having an opinion before reading the thread. Oh well.

I'm not going to completely agree with your side because I am not really entirely sure what you would classify eSports as. Is it something along the lines of being like Wii Sports? Or is it completely different. Because I know with Wii Sports, you can be brought to as much exhaustion as the actual sports would cause. Not all the sports on their are like that, but things like running in place, kicking soccer balls, etc are using the same muscles as you would if you were using them in a real life scenario. However, reading the OP, I see that it's nothing along the lines of that. We're talking about online gaming, though I think you could factor those into a sort of online gaming competition.

However, if eSports aren't anywhere near what i'm thinking, my argument will change dramatically.

GuitarBizarre

eSports is a collective term for videogames played professionally in a tournament format. Street fighter, Starcraft, Soul Calibur, Counterstrike, that kind of thing.

In terms of sheer physical exertion the impact in eSports is minimal, but the demands on skill, practice, and dexterity can be astronomical. In a professional Starcraft match players will frequently be putting in new commands at a rate of 6-800 per minute. Professional level street fighter relies on practice and dexterity sufficient to respond to stimuli as precise as 14-17ms and choose the correct action. Counterstrike players such as Heaton and Fatal1ty take the idea of precision control to an utterly absurd level and couple that with map knowledge and tactics.

None of those things demand large muscles or excellent body tone, but keeping that sort of effort up for the duration of a match is tremendously strenuous and legitimately exhausting. And that's when one match might take 45 minutes for a long game. These players are capable of doing this in practice sessions for upwards of 12 hours a day, approaching 16 in some cases.

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