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Kristi Leskinen " No gamer in the world deserves an X-games Gold Medal"

Pop

Member
What you need to ask yourself is this.

What does it hurt? Who the hell cares if some gamers get a gold license plate.
 

Overside

Banned
The only thing more stupid about those god awful medals, is someone complaining about people 'not deserving them'.

The gamers won their gamer tournament. They earned their medals. Looks like a perfect match to boot.
 

jabuseika

Member
hey remember when the x-games used to get laughed at by real athletes for like decades because they were basically a bunch of venice beach rejects

So true.

Bullshit. There is no comparison between gaming and skateboarding when it comes to a physical endeavor. I'm all for eSports, no issues there -- but don't make ludicrous analogies. What's next for the X-games? Mathletes?

Exact same arguments people used to use back then. Exact.


I'm sure people are intelligent enough to tell the difference between a gold medal won for a video game competition or a skate boarding competition. There's no need to put them at the same level. Did they win their competition? then they deserve it.
 
Those medals are garbage, first off. Second, sitting and using an interface is not death defying and does not merit being called extreme.

When we get to the "you die in the VR you die in real life" sure we can classify that as extreme e-sports, but Halo 3 is a regular e-sport.
 

Dryk

Member
So does operating a forklift or decorating a cake. Everything can be considered a sport.
If you can formulate a competitive ruleset for forklift operation or cake decoration then yes, they would be considered sports.

E sports is never going to be taken seriously if people keep trying to do the "WE ARE A REAL SPORT" argument. It comes across as insecure and needy.
Correct, it doesn't really matter.

You dont see pro poker or chess people trying to defend their competition like that.
Those aren't sports under the common definitions though :p
 
I've been surfing since I was a child. I'm well aware of the athleticism involved but it didn't stop Skate/Surf/Snowboarding to be aggressively criticized in it's infancy from traditionalists for asinine reasons/people who don't understand the sport OR because it doesn't fit their usual ideas of what a 'sport' should be.

You're not being smart about your argument. It's not about defining what a sport is but understanding there's varying dangers in different sports. Gaming is a sport but it's more mental than physical and x-games are more physical than mental. It's hard to see the line when you compare average skateboarding to extreme versions of it because any hit on the head can lead to death, but when you're in a chair playing Halo the only reasonable way of harm is if your opponent comes and punches you or there's an earthquake. There's supposed to be inherent danger in extreme sports something gaming does not have.
 

MisterR

Member
If you can formulate a competitive ruleset for forklift operation or cake decoration then yes, they would be considered sports.
Just because anything can be competed at, that doesn't make it a sport. It's a competition
 
If you can formulate a competitive ruleset for forklift operation or cake decoration then yes, they would be considered sports.

They already do that on Food Network with shows like Cake Wars, Cupcake Wars, and Food Network Championship

cakeahowd.png
 

Zomba13

Member

I had no clue who she was when I entered this topic. From the quote in the title I assumed she was some kind of sporting person and upon checking the sole link in the OP it confirmed my assumption.

It was much quicker to click the one single twitter link (which again, you would assume go to the tweet made by the person quoted in the title) to check who that person is rather than posting dismissively in the topic "Who?" and waiting for a reply you may or may not get.

So you could take the second to click the link and find out "who is Kristi whateverthefuck?" or you could ask "who?" like so many others who are trying to be dismissive of peoples opinions and then wait for a reply you might not get.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
E sports is never going to be taken seriously if people keep trying to do the "WE ARE A REAL SPORT" argument. It comes across as insecure and needy.

You dont see pro poker or chess people trying to defend their competition like that.



Its its own thing. Its not a athletic completion and shouldn't be put side by side with athletic completions.

This is what I'm saying too. When the X Games started they didn't whine (well maybe a little) from constant rejection from traditional sports, they made their own event and it grew into a big business.

E-sports is not a good word at all, and I know quite a few people who really hate that word for everything that it means because everything that it means is wrong to their field of competitive gaming. It's a needy word like looking for acceptance from other sports when competitive gaming can be its own thing like extreme sports have to traditional sports. Corporations have also latched onto the word too, even Disney with their stupid show and it feels like a losing battle to be their own thing.
 

CoLaN

Member
She is right. I love videogames, but they are completely out of place there.

It's also pretty embarassing to read the replies on twitter:"your stupid" or "they make more money than you, you are salty". They come off as 12 years old.
 

Dryk

Member
Just because anything can be competed at, that doesn't make it a sport. It's a competition

As time goes on you will understand "sport" is just an inclusive term for competition.
I would disagree on both counts. Under most definitions a "sport" is a subset of "competition" that requires some amount of physical exertion and skill. Basically as a rule-of-thumb anything where a brain in a jar with an aide moving the pieces for it could perform as well as a normal human doesn't count.

The place where the arguments really start is when scoring rubrics get involved
 

fr0st

Banned
I loved watching the tourney at X-Games and the publicity it must have given to competitive Halo and eSports in general is awesome.

However video games don't belong at X-Games. It'd be like streaming a chess match during EVO...
Now i wanna see this...all the meme spam in chat and possibly Yipes and combofiend commentary. Make it happen.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
If you can formulate a competitive ruleset for forklift operation or cake decoration then yes, they would be considered sports.

A sport is an athletic activity. There's nothing athletic about those things. Adding a rule set can create a competition, but it's still not a sport.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
Sadly, we could say the world has turned their eye on X Games. It's for a selected, younger audience, and it doesn't really add up to sports like basketball, baseball, or football.

To be honest gaming has made itself a larger organization than it was just a bunch of people carrying their TV's to a pool hall or at an arcade where you sorta group around other people playing games.

In all honesty I don't see why people discredit the best of the best in multiplayer games. It's not right that gamers get the hit by this, "oh that's not a real sport, grow up!". I have a hard time because I do remember when it was still about VHS recorders and you'd never know who the best was at any video game. Now it's very much a demographic or whenever people feel like it's fun again. I'm sorta lost because I'll support it when it's getting downplayed like this, but I have really nothing to do with it at all as a gamer my age.

You could ask that person about X Games period. Where have they been since the mid to late 90's?
 
Yes, shame on Microsoft for thinking Halo has any place at X-Games.



E-sports sooner belong at the Olympics than at the X-Games. And by that I mean actual e-sports like SC and CS, not fucking Halo 5.

What's wrong with Halo 5? It's certainly more entertaining to watch than SC that's for sure. Hell FGs like Tekken and SF are much more entertaining than any FPS to watch really.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
What's wrong with Halo 5? It's certainly more entertaining to watch than SC that's for sure. Hell FGs like Tekken and SF are much more entertaining than any FPS to watch really.

If you aren't familiar with the game then you sorta have to be introduced to it. On a larger level that may or may not work. When ESPN comments on a video game play do they go into detail about which button combination is pressed? Should it even matter? If you take it outside of the screen, you don't really get much out of it. You get the most out of it by knowing how the game plays and then watching people play it. It's gonna be somewhat hard if someone doesn't know what's going on. That's sorta been an issue for years. If the person is even interested then they'll know what they're doing, but chances are they'll walk away confused.

Im not really big into SC, so if everyone cheers for something than its not really that great for me. Same with LoL and HotS. It's kinda weird because I've played these games before and I get a headache watching everyone with their large neon tubes screaming at guys who are younger than me walking in with their jerseys.

I really enjoy gaming, but I feel like self destructing when I see some of that stuff because it makes me feel nonexistent to the game I grew up buying for myself.

I'm out of college now and I almost hate this huge emphasis by Blizzard for HotS because I feel old. I was there playing Diablo 1-3, but this stuff is just generating a demographic. It sucks to finally see your age when you're use to everything being so universal and acceptive.

That's what I really can't stand, but I wasn't into those games initially, so I really don't care. I can't stand the YouTube MineCraft players or these multi million dollar tournaments for MOBAs. I hate it and I don't need to hate it. It shouldn't bother me, but it's not something I really care to defend either. Oh well.. I guess being supportive wouldn't help anyone in this case.
 

Zomba13

Member
What defines a sport. Is it measured in sweat?

The way I look at things there are competitions (competitive things) then there are athletic competitions (sports) where people compete either in teams or alone to be the best judged on score awarded from either "goals" or by judges. Then things like chess and similar intellect based competitions and then things like games which are skill/intellect/dexterity focussed but don't require physical exertion outside of moving fingers/thumbs.

Sport = movement/physical activity/requires some kind of physical training
eSport = can be done sitting in a booth and even though requires training to get good, doesn't require things like running laps
motorsports = closer to "real sports" due to the more physical nature of it (things like the physical effect of the vehicle on your body)
 
What you need to ask yourself is this.

What does it hurt? Who the hell cares if some gamers get a gold license plate.

Well giving a medal to people who are displaying no athleticism for something that takes athleticism just undermines what the athletes actually put themselves through to get that medal. I can definitely see why she would be upset at it.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
No it's not.
The lottery is a competition.
A raffle is a competition.
An auction is a competition.

None of these are sports.

Yep. And to quote Warpticon on Twitter right now.

"Atheltics is just one avenue of talent/skill. Not being an athlete shouldn't offend you any more than it does a painter or guitarist."
https://twitter.com/Warpticon/status/693974452997070849

Games aren't really a sport, the players aren't really athletes. That does not diminish what they do though, they are their own thing creating something new. And creating something new should also be a proud endevour. It's not something everyone will acknowledge or welcome either but the community can push forward and make this their own thing. It's different, it's new and something entertaining to a new audience.

The constant looking for acceptance from real sports could become a detriment in being its own thing and it should be acknowledged, unless they want to be called thumbthletes. I'm coining that term btw.
 

Pop

Member
Well giving a medal to people who are displaying no athleticism for something that takes athleticism just undermines what the athletes actually put themselves through to get that medal. I can definitely see why she would be upset at it.

Again, what does it hurt?
 

Zomba13

Member
Well giving a medal to people who are displaying no athleticism for something that takes athleticism just undermines what the athletes actually put themselves through to get that medal. I can definitely see why she would be upset at it.

This is another way I look at it. It's an athletic competition that gives medals for athletic feats and to have a bunch of gamers sit in a booth and play a game and get a gold medal, even if for the eSport category, kinda takes away from the spirit of the competition a bit.

I think it'd be much better for a gaming competition. Like EVO but incorporating a whole host of different games. You could have score based things like DMC or Bayonetta combo things, team based things like Mobas and FPS, speed runs etc. Like a whole olympics for gaming. That is what should be the goal I think, not latching on to more legitimate athletic competitions.
 
I had no clue who she was when I entered this topic. From the quote in the title I assumed she was some kind of sporting person and upon checking the sole link in the OP it confirmed my assumption.

It was much quicker to click the one single twitter link (which again, you would assume go to the tweet made by the person quoted in the title) to check who that person is rather than posting dismissively in the topic "Who?" and waiting for a reply you may or may not get.

So you could take the second to click the link and find out "who is Kristi whateverthefuck?" or you could ask "who?" like so many others who are trying to be dismissive of peoples opinions and then wait for a reply you might not get.
I clicked the link. Read the tweet, came back here to ask a question because I was curious. Now I'm reading paragraph after paragraph from you that could have been replaced by a single word: "skier"
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
Ehhh, I don't blame her.

If someone says they have a gold medal from the olympics, I know they put a lot of physical stress on their body, to become the best in the world.

You start introducing gold medals at the Olympics for Pie eating contests, then it devalues the whole thing.
 
A sport is an athletic activity. There's nothing athletic about those things. Adding a rule set can create a competition, but it's still not a sport.

The fact that many definitions claim that a sport must be athletic just shows how dated these definitions are, and the fact so many people clang to them shows a major problem in their mindset. There's nothing about the core idea of sport that really makes physical activity necessary.
end of definition relativism joke
 

Nanashrew

Banned
If we're talking race car driving, that's physically and mentally taxing. 500 laps, no air conditioning, slick tires than you even know, constantly having to be aware of every detail around them so they don't crash or faint. It is an endurance of the body and mind that they lose a lot of weight while racing.
 

Zomba13

Member
I clicked the link. Read the tweet, came back here to ask a question because I was curious. Now I'm reading paragraph after paragraph from you that could have been replaced by a single word: "skier"

So you clicked the link, learnt who she was then still asked "who?" even though you knew the answer? So it wasn't a genuine "I don't know who this person is or what she does, could someone enlighten me?" but a "lol who is this dumb skier?"
 
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