Do you classify League of Legends as a competitive game?

[Nakura Chambers]

I've always been big on eSports, but I find it hard to classify League of Legends as an eSports game. In my eyes, the game simply lacks the depth and balance needed to be a true eSports game, especially when compared to Dota. By no means am I saying League of Legends is a bad game, because it's a fun casual game to play when you're bored, but to call it a competitive game just seems like a stretch.

I've spoken with pro-gamers and other eSports enthusiasts about this and they all agree, but I'm interested in what you guys think. Should League of Legends be lumped in with longstanding competitive games, such as Counter-Strike, Dota and StarCraft?

[Erolian]

Anything that can be practiced and perfected can be competitive imo. So it isn't really a stretch at all. Is it the most skillful game ever though? No, it isn't even on the radar in that respect. Seems like you're adding extra meaning to the word competitive that doesn't really exist in your example.

Besides the reality of eSports is that the games balance and skill based nature or lack of comes second to the games popularity. There is a reason Quake isn't the primary FPS or that CoD is played over Halo on console or hell even the fact that console competition exists at all.

[Deleted]

Even pro players acknowledge that LoL lacks depth compared to Dota.

Should that stop it from being an E-Sport? I don't think so.

[Deleted]

Chess is a competitive sport, so I'd go ahead and call LoL a competitive sport as well.

[Itisamuh]

I've got mixed feelings about it. Compared to many games, I don't believe this game (and this genre in general) requires enough skill to be justified as a tournament game. I'm not going to claim that it doesn't take any, but let's be serious, mechanical skill isn't that important here. I also think it's bad because unless you're a player of that game, and know all the characters and their abilities, it's very hard to follow. Regardless of all that though, it's got the audience required to be successful as a tournament game. That's what counts the most, in the end.

[Milkyz]

It can be competitive without as much complexity as Dota2, this is the only needed argument. For the sake of comparison to the world of "regular" sports, it's clear that some sports are more complex than others, but this don't take the merit of either.

Saying it is unbalanced to the point of not being competitive would require a lot of data to backup such claim, so I wouldn't even dig on that.

[Vespian]

Some good points against LoL as Esports, although on the other hand, it feels more like a complaint how 'that other game' could have been such a far better Esports game. I guess in the end it still boils down to the organization that supports it. There's money, it's reasonably professional, it reaches audiences and while other games might be more about making those intelligent choices, there's still a significant difference between really 'getting it' and 'meh somewhat getting it'. Yes I'm describing it as vaguely as possible. There's no real reason why C9 beat TSM 3-0 in the Playoff finals yesterday, except better instincts. That's it, better instincts.

I do agree with the overall idea that games are virtually over once the snowball gets going and I am not aware of the internals of DOTA, so I can't compare those two. It's the main issue with LoL for me as well. Perhaps if they took out level-scaling entirely and just made it gear dependent..it would give the winner less of a benefit, since winning equals more levels and that currently equals even more comparative power.

Also, soccer is a competitive sport and arguably the simplest game in the world.

[Blueobelisk]

Even pro players acknowledge that LoL lacks depth compared to Dota.

Should that stop it from being an E-Sport? I don't think so.

That was a cool link. Thanks for that.

But yeah LoL is an E-Sport.

[Deleted]

Call me whatever you want but, this game has a infamous unbalanced poor interface.

I can't stand playing in the purple camps; they could fix this shit with a simple interface customisation update, but devs are crap ( hi GC ).

[Deleted]

Chess is a competitive sport, so I'd go ahead and call LoL a competitive sport as well.

You could not have missed the point any harder, did you even read what the OP said?

[Vespian]

You could not have missed the point any harder, did you even read what the OP said?

So enlighten us, what is his point?

Obviously you are referring to the intelligence part of it and granted, chess has it all, but if the only requirement for a sports game was intelligence, there would be empty fields. Anything that is played between two or more parties, in which a side can win and people can develop and showcase more skill than others, is a competitive game. Film it and put it on TV and it's a sport. Although popularity i still one of the factors that decide whether it's actually a sport or not, but LoL has that one checked.

[Jester Joe]

I do agree with the overall idea that games are virtually over once the snowball gets going and I am not aware of the internals of DOTA, so I can't compare those two. It's the main issue with LoL for me as well. Perhaps if they took out level-scaling entirely and just made it gear dependent..it would give the winner less of a benefit, since winning equals more levels and that currently equals even more comparative power.

Gear dependent is more of how Dota operates. You can be level 25 (Which is the max in Dota), but get facestomped if you don't have the right items. Level does matter, but items matter a lot more in Dota compared to LoL, at least from what I hear, I haven't played LoL yet.

But yes, even as a Dota player, I would agree that LoL can be a Esport, since you know, there are tournaments already are there not? Kind of hard to argue against it.

Now, Heroes of the Storm on the other hand...from how that's shaping up, I don't think it will be a big esport, unless it's really fun to watch.

[stellvia]

I think the problem with pushing LoL as an eSport, is it equates a certain amount of implied skill / having "pros" compete etc. And all that does is drag down the perception of what it takes to be "pro" or have skill in general IMHO. I mean heck, now they're pushing Hearthstone as an eSport even...

It's part of the reason the current generation of gamers seem to be such thin-skinned pansies in games. They can't take constructive criticism, they're quick to cry cheater, they don't want to learn/get better, they just want the quick-out with whatever is imbalanced/braindead easy, etc.

[Yousend]

I hate LoL, but its undeniably a competitive game in nature. The game is to defeat your opponent and crush their base. I also think esports is a dumb term, but that's for another discussion. Should LoL be one? Yes, just like WoW arena is a competitive game.

[Deleted]

So enlighten us, what is his point?

Obviously you are referring to the intelligence part of it.

Why do you ask me a question if the answer is so obvious? And no that's not it.

Lemposs basically defended eSports as a whole when it comes to competitive sports, this is not what the OP was trying to say. This thread is about LoL being a complex enough game to be considered a competitive eSport alongside Starcraft, Dota and Counter-Strike.

This is not about the legitimacy of videogames as sports, which nobody here doubts.

[Boricha]

Is it balanced? no

Is it competitive? yes

It has tournaments with huge prize pools and hundreds of thousands of viewers. How well the game plays doesn't matter.

[Vespian]

I think the problem with pushing LoL as an eSport, is it equates a certain amount of implied skill / having "pros" compete etc. And all that does is drag down the perception of what it takes to be "pro" or have skill in general IMHO. I mean heck, now they're pushing Hearthstone as an eSport even...

It's part of the reason the current generation of gamers seem to be such thin-skinned pansies in games. They can't take constructive criticism, they're quick to cry cheater, they don't want to learn/get better, they just want the quick-out with whatever is imbalanced/braindead easy, etc.

Your first and second part are like the opposite sides of a black hole. If it wouldn't require skill, I would be sitting in a chair at the LOL Esports right now. Making it sound as if no skill is involved is ridiculous. That's an opinion you can't possibly support with facts, because facts point in the opposite direction.

New-Age gamers being pantsies has nothing to do with it, back in the days (yes I'm going all-out hipster on you) gamers were still gamers. Nerds with glasses and an inferiority complex. Including me (thank god it turns out I'm actually quite good looking *cough*). It has everything to do with the fact that games are for everyone now. And everyone wants their rewards right fucking now. They're consumers. They pay, they want to receive. RIGHT NOAW. These elements have nothing to do with the display of skill in a video-game, because the people that make it on TV with any game, are not those people.

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Why do you ask me a question if the answer is so obvious? And no that's not it.

Lemposs basically defended eSports as a whole when it comes to competitive sports, this is not what the OP was trying to say. This thread is about LoL being a complex enough game to be considered a competitive eSport alongside Starcraft, Dota and Counter-Strike.

This is not about the legitimacy of videogames as sports, which nobody here doubts.

Irrelevant.

[Deleted]

You could not have missed the point any harder, did you even read what the OP said?

To answer it in a more descriptive manner, since my example was a little short and not entirely on the topic. I consider anything to be equally valid no matter the difficulty, depth etc. when it comes to sports and e-sports. Is Dota 1/2 a more fleshed out and deep game, yes. Does that somehow give it more validation as a e-sport, no.

[Deleted]

Irrelevant.

Holy shit dude if your intent was to piss me off good job because I'm getting there.

I simply paraphrased what the OP said and why Lempboss' answer had nothing to do with it. You should apologize for mis-interpreting my words and making random assumptions and not give me one word answers about something that I DID NOT ASK in the first place.

Unless you mean that the topic of the thread is irrelevant to the thread itself, which I doubt.

To answer it in a more descriptive manner, since my example was a little short and not entirely on the topic. I consider anything to be equally valid no matter the difficulty, depth etc. when it comes to sports and e-sports. Is Dota 1/2 a more fleshed out and deep game, yes. Does that somehow give it more validation as a e-sport, no.

I see, I always see that comparison when people are defending the legitimacy of eSports, you should have probably put it differently as it really seems like you're comparing real sport vs esport and not just sports in general

[Rixis]

Why do you ask me a question if the answer is so obvious? And no that's not it.

Lemposs basically defended eSports as a whole when it comes to competitive sports, this is not what the OP was trying to say. This thread is about LoL being a complex enough game to be considered a competitive eSport alongside Starcraft, Dota and Counter-Strike.

This is not about the legitimacy of videogames as sports, which nobody here doubts.

That's like saying football can't be considered a sport because the rules of rugby are more complex.