Do you watch E-sports?

[Tradu]

Watching e-sports is the worst. Aside from the fact that people insist on calling it a sport...which it's not.

Why watch people play when I could play. This is exactly why I don't watch football, I play football with the community team.

Nobody is calling it a sport, it's called an eSport. You know, to differentiate it from traditional sports. Totalbiscuit made a pretty good video about it the other day(apart from the beginning where he suggests that the ESPN dumbass should shoot himself like he said he would)

OT: I watch a lot of different eSports. Mostly LoL, but sometimes I watch SC2/CS:GO/Dota2/Hearthstone as well. I just prefer it to watching traditional sports because it's something I like doing as well(so I have some understanding for the games and how much skill goes into the stuff they do), just like I know lots of people who watch traditional sports do so because they play(ed) that sport themselves.

[ItachiZaku]

You need to set up routing on the first "I do not watch E-Sports" choice to exit the survey, instead of having to pick that choice for another 3 questions and further invalidate your data with worthless choices from those of us that to not watch.

[Loganess]

I have slightly amended the survey from the feedback received. For those saying I need routing and logic in the survey, if you are willing to pay the £229 annual fee for me to use these features then I will do that for you guys. But as a student doing a piece of research I probably won't even do well in, that's the best I can do!

[ItachiZaku]

Ah, I was not aware that Surveymonkey required a paid account to have those features. The survey tool I administer has all of these features (but it is a corporate account). Apologies!

[FobManX]

I'll occasionally watch Hearthstone tournaments if the players in them are good(or at least big enough personalities to endure the wrath that is Twitch chat).

[Santti]

Only one I casually enjoy watching is Starcraft 2.

[Spraxle]

I like the comment in the League honest trailer about it being the video game that "...took esports out of Asia and into the mainstream.... then straight back to Asia..."

Hah... yeah. Though that's mostly because of the training regimes they do in the Asian markets. In Korea for example they don't let them date and they practice/play just about every hour they're awake. The US and EU teams are a lot laxer on stuff like that and it shows.

- - - Updated - - -

Ah, I was not aware that Surveymonkey required a paid account to have those features. The survey tool I administer has all of these features (but it is a corporate account). Apologies!

Yeah SurveyMonkey lets you do a 10 question survey with zero bells and whistles for free. It's always recommended as a tool to use by professors, but you have to be able to ask all your questions in 10 questions.

[Kathandira]

I'm still a believer that e-sports is a terrible name for Gaming Competitions. Since there is no physical exertion, I don't feel it should be called a Sport.

However!!! If things like Oculus Rift and the Omni come to be mainstream, I would then call competitions using those a Sport as you actually need to move around, not just sit in a chair hitting keys on a keyboard.

sport
spôrt
noun
an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

[Muzjhath]

Considering the dexterity needed for high level SC2 and some other games. For some it's false there is no physical exertion.
Would say it's more in intense games than in say Curling. (Which is a great sport).

[Tradu]

I'm still a believer that e-sports is a terrible name for Gaming Competitions. Since there is no physical exertion, I don't feel it should be called a Sport.

However!!! If things like Oculus Rift and the Omni come to be mainstream, I would then call competitions using those a Sport as you actually need to move around, not just sit in a chair hitting keys on a keyboard.

sport
spôrt
noun
an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

I wish people would stop acting as if anybody was actually calling it a sport. It's eSports, you know, electronic sports? To differentiate it from traditional sports? I haven't seen anybody claim it's the same thing as traditional sports, only that it deserves access to similar visas and such, to allow competitors to get to their tournaments and participate.
Also, linking definitions means nothing, because they differ a lot, and the only thing they all have in common is the competitive aspect. Oh, and definitions change over time. And also... chess, darts etc are considered sports by a great many people.

[Loganess]

If anyone who already filled out the first survey can be arsed to fill a new similar one out again, I have amended it with feedback received.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SCDBB6S

[Charmanderp]

Filled it out.

The reaction to this thread is unsurprising coming for a forum of WoW Players. Wow PvP is probably the most boring thing to watch ever.

[Haywire5714]

Why watch people play when I could play

It's entertaining to watch people that are really good at something.

[Ergar]

Yeah i watch them. It's usually mobas like LoL, Smite or HotS, but i don't mind watching something like starcraft or counter strike from time to time (even though i have no idea what's going on).

I've never been a huge fan of real life sports, so E-sports combines my love for videogames with the exciting casting and good players.

[zEmini]

I watch Starcraft 2 matches all the time.

[ComputerNerd]

I watch a game I find entertaining or informative to watch.
Whether it is technically e-sports or not is irrelevant.

[Deleted]

Watching e-sports is the worst. Aside from the fact that people insist on calling it a sport...which it's not.

Why watch people play when I could play. This is exactly why I don't watch football, I play football with the community team.

Who's calling it a sport? Uneducated tools but there's a reason there is a distinction between "Sports" and "Esports". It's the same reason as to why chess and poker players aren't called athletes.

Personally I prefer competitive gaming but the connotation of esports is hard to rub off right now.

To the OP: I watch StarCraft, FPS like CS and Natural Selection 2 and for the most part, I enjoy them but can't stand watching MOBAs.

[Dilbon]

Watching Hearthstone can be more fun that playing it myself.

[Axelond]

I used to be super into SC2 but that game has kinda died down. Now I just browse hearthstone section of twitch and some streamers I like or if there is a tournament on I'll watch that.

[Xargoth6634]

You mean people playing video games who wish they were actual athletes? Nope.