MLG - What's your view on this?

[Shu]

MLG: Major League Gaming

Well I thought since the heat has died down about the issue, I wanted to hear people's thoughts on this subject. Again this I am not slandering these folks, I actually have a few friends in it, but do block out their convos when they assume they are better than another person. A game will remain a game in my mind till the day I die, and is only a form of entertainment. Now please, don't turn this into a big ole flame ball.. but please do express your views. I'm very interested.

--
Here are only some of mine...

I have been a gamer since I was an early kiddo and I think it is very healthy to an extent to be competitive towards gaming. Especially Football/Soccer/Basketball..sports...etc.. games.. I mean what's the point otherwise.

From Real Time Strategy (RTS) games to First Person Shooters (FPS) people actually make better money competing at these events, than you will in any job you will work at. Dream job right?

The thing that concerns me though, is going back to what I've said earlier is we might be turning into the Wall-E generation. Even interviews with notorious gamer Fat1lity he says competitive gaming is a sport...

A sport requires physical activity aside from the picking up a potato chip or a soda, or running your fingers over a console controller or mouse/keyboard combo, in my honest opinion.

MLG the title itself has become more of a term people throw around to make them self sound better than all the rest. In their talk ... they would say "I'm MLG better than the rest of the N00b Scrubs" - They are also the ones who spawn "L33t Speak".

- To me personally I'm tired of hearing "I'm MLG" - in public. Well you sir deserve the nobel peace prize over Obama any day of the week, is what my mind thinks... (sarcasm of course)

Do you consider these gamers to have a quality lifestyle? I have seen the good and the bad, people going to college and doing whatever, but then on weekends they turn to the MLG circuit. Also seen the people drop out of school to become pro-gamers, in which when they fail they ride on their parents tailcoats till they are able to land a job at McDonalds.

 

[Abstract Debauchery]

I, like yourself, have been a gamer since I was young. My first video game being Zelda, which was quickly followed by Mario. Competitive gaming to me is playing Halo with a group of buds and laughing when you own them all. That's where it should stop in my opinion. Having fun, and bragging about it with your friends.

This MLG thing is annoying. Just because you go to a tournament and win, doesn't instantly make you better than anyone else. There is ALWAYS going to be someone better. Just because you have "thumbs of steel" doesn't mean you can be considered as some sort of athlete. Will your "thumbs of steel" ever run a mile in 3-4 minutes? I don't think so.

Hey, if you can make money off of it, that's great. However, don't sit there and believe that you don't have to have some kind of back up plan. When you build your ego up that high and get whooped up on by some 13 year old who likes the game more than you, you're going to fall, and you're going to fall hard.

If your in college and you do this on the weekend for fun, that's fanfuckingtastic. Just don't let it go to your head. It's a game, and only a game. Not a source of income.

The thing that concerns me though, is going back to what I've said earlier is we might be turning into the Wall-E generation.

Could you explain that to me? I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to mean. (Although I have a pretty good idea.)

 

[Rey]

Mlg to me is a very very very gay thing. It kills KILLS KILLS peoples lives! It is a competition for fucking no lifer noobs who do not fucking give of shit about anything else! MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING EQUALS MY LIFE GONE. I play Halo 3 alot but im not a fucking noob who says oh my god what the fuck your br is shit. MLG is all about the br but I like ther br but I dont give of fuck if I lose cause I have a life unlike some People. MLG can go fuck itself forever because too many people are playing for money and sometimes it becomes suicide. OH MY GOD IM MLG IM SO GOOD!! WELL FUCK OFF DOUCHEBAG! It repeats brs brs brs no FUCKING ARS! Also apparently you suck if you can use a sniper on halo 3. ACCORDING TO MLG PEOPLE.

 

[Shu]

Mlg to me is a very very very gay thing. It kills KILLS KILLS peoples lives! It is a competition for fucking no lifer noobs who do not fucking give of shit about anything else! MAJOR LEAGUE GAMING EQUALS MY LIFE GONE. I play Halo 3 alot but im not a fucking noob who says oh my god what the fuck your br is shit. MLG is all about the br but I like ther br but I dont give of fuck if I lose cause I have a life unlike some People. MLG can go fuck itself forever because too many people are playing for money and sometimes it becomes suicide. OH MY GOD IM MLG IM SO GOOD!! WELL FUCK OFF DOUCHEBAG! It repeats brs brs brs no FUCKING ARS! Also apparently you suck if you can use a sniper on halo 3. ACCORDING TO MLG PEOPLE.

Eh calm down Adriano, I said express your views but wow, I didn't know you felt so adamant about it.

Yea, but I will say my fiance and I were stopped in Home Depot the other day by a guy who gets tatoo'd at the same tatooer as L. Well he basically singled her out like I wasn't there. He went ahead and showed us his gears of war tatoos and then right after.. he said he was MLG.

I think a few brain cells died in me right there, but this dude was lost. He was MLG - but he was number 300+ in the nation by his record. I'm thinking I wonder what the top 10 people say in Gears of War. Are they that bad?

 

[blakstang98]

I too have played games since I was very young. I started playing on the Intellivision and the old Atari systems. Then the magical Nintendo Entertainment System came out.

I think it's very possible that the issue with MLG people being assholes stems from something a little more in-depth than just the fact that they play video games very well. When I was in high school, there wasn't a such thing as MLG, and if there was competitive gaming, it was still on a very small level. So back in this time, being a kid who spent most of their free time playing video games, you weren't exactly classified as a "cool" kid. Admittidly, I was also one of these kids, still am really, though I'm not a kid anymore.

I guess the point I'm making is, the less cool kids like gamers never had a way to show their video gaming prowess and as a result were basically outcasts. The jocks and the preppies were always accepted and always a part of some sort of social group, whereas gamers were not. And I think the rise of MLG gave a form of acceptance to those who enjoyed and were good at playing games. I think on some level these same people weren't accepted at places like school at some point in their lifetime and now can rub everyone's face in the fact that they are considered really "cool" in other social circles. So I think they feel they have the right to be this way now, similarly to how a cool jock will pick on kids that aren't as cool as them. But anyone who thinks that just because they are good at something that they should rub others faces in it, still show me that they have a weak mind, even if these gamer type kids are a little brighter than the generalized jock.

Maybe I'm pulling at psychological strings that make no sense, but this seems to make perfect sense to me. Telling them they're good at games can lead to them taking more from it than they should (give them an inch and they take a foot).

Even interviews with notorious gamer Fat1lity he says competitive gaming is a sport...

A sport requires physical activity aside from the picking up a potato chip or a soda, or running your fingers over a console controller or mouse/keyboard combo, in my honest opinion.

Oh man, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time. It's like race car drivers saying they have to be in peak physical condition to drive a car. But again, being a notorious gamer, his head has inflated so large that he just can't help but to toot his own horn. But that's classic, good stuff there.

 

[Ayumi Hamasaki]

It gets on my nerves to be honest. It's like, oh you can play a game, really, that's amazing, I can do the exact same thing as you. I mean, I don't consider video gaming a sport, and I certainly didn't put it on my college applications. So, why brag about it to everyone? It makes you look like buttface.

Oh, and I think it proves people right about Video Games, that they're people who do nothing but constantly play them, which leads to false sterotypes about all gamers. I don't play video games all the time, I do sometimes, and I'm really good at some, but I would never think about going "pro".

So, to conclude, it pretty much sucks to me.

 

[niesl2]

From one side, it is pretty nice to do something you enjoy/are good at for a living. Personally, I don't really see the difference between holding a world record on the 100 meter sprint or on the highscore of some video game. Both things don't really matter in real life anyways. At least pro gamers aren't as tempted to take a lot of dangerous and weird drugs to improve their performance. (Caffiene will probably do.) But if you are good at running or gaming, why not try to make a living out of it if other people are willing to pump money in your sport/'sport'?

On the other hand, proffesionalism often takes the fun out of hobby's. I can't imagine it is fun to play a game 24/7 to train or get better at it. Imagine playing Final Fantasy 24/7 for a really long time...probably isn't as much fun as it used to be after a few weeks.

 

[Apparent Amarant]

Only responding to the OP.

Major League Gaming is something I've never heard of. Is it negative sum, zero sum or positive sum? I think it's perfectly fine. There are thousands if not more people doing exactly the same thing with online poker. They are making more then most people do at there normal jobs. Nothing wrong with it in my opinion. There are also professional backgammon players. It's not that unusual for a game to lead to the possibility of a career it's just unusual for it to actually happen for an individual.

The fact that it isn't healthy to only play video games is important. Same with working in an office. You really need to make sure you don't let anything one thing control your entire life and keep it balanced in all areas or at least most of them. If you can maintain balance then any career will be fine.

If you can do something you love and make money at it then that is great as long as you still enjoy it. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply hating. Don't be a hater(not to OP). I do understand what you mean about people thinking they are better then other people, but if people really think they are better then me as a person because they make more money then me playing video games then I will remind them about important things in life like friends, and real world accomplishments; not to mention love and relationships that most people devoting that much time to games will be lacking.

Oh man, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time. It's like race car drivers saying they have to be in peak physical condition to drive a car. But again, being a notorious gamer, his head has inflated so large that he just can't help but to toot his own horn. But that's classic, good stuff there.

Maybe they think they have to be in peak physical shape to keep their reaction times as fast as possible and there mental alertness as good as possible? Both things that being in peak physical shape enhances. I think maybe you are just laughing at things because you don't understand them. When you are competing in something every little edge helps. Until you do what they do you basically have no idea what it requires. Sure you've drive a car but not like they have so your opinion on the matter(just like mine) is relatively worthless when the matter is what will and what won't help their performance. It's a proven fact however that being in shape enhances brain function and reaction time. So I would think it would help in both the areas of video game and racing more then you think.


The line between sports and games is very thin. I agree gaming is not a sport and neither are things like poker or backgammon. I do not really think it matters though. Being a professional gamer would be almost as cool except for less beautiful women would throw themselves at you.

Dropping out of school to become a professional anything is a pretty bad idea if it doesn't involve a contract that guarantees your future. So I have to say people who drop out to become pro gamers then fail have made terrible life decisions. Those who succeed did as well even though it worked.

 

[bequiaboit]

Professionally? I think it's quite sad when someone abandons everything else because gaming has become both entertainment and work.
I do not dissent those who do it to get some extra money and I think it's quite interesting that gaming competition are held.

 

[blakstang98]

Maybe they think they have to be in peak physical shape to keep their reaction times as fast as possible and there mental alertness as good as possible? Both things that being in peak physical shape enhances. I think maybe you are just laughing at things because you don't understand them. When you are competing in something every little edge helps. Until you do what they do you basically have no idea what it requires. Sure you've drive a car but not like they have so your opinion on the matter(just like mine) is relatively worthless when the matter is what will and what won't help their performance. It's a proven fact however that being in shape enhances brain function and reaction time. So I would think it would help in both the areas of video game and racing more then you think.

Being in peak physical condition will never, under any circumstances, help your reaction time. A steriod freak would never have a higher reaction time than I, granted they are in much better physical condition. This goes for reaction time of gaming and driving. I may not have driven a car to a racing extent, but I can assure you that physical condition has nothing to do with it. Your saying of mental sharpness is valid, but you still never have to be in peak physical condition to race a car or to play a game well.

 

[Shu]

It's a proven fact however that being in shape enhances brain function and reaction time. So I would think it would help in both the areas of video game and racing more then you think.

I'd like to see the proof on that. Physical shape has nothing to do with mental shape, hence we have the dumb jocks and then the skinny/fat dorks stereotypes.

I can understand genetics, I can understand the ability of pattern recognition like most games have these days. Most MLG players play with the lowest of sensitivities in order to accumulate mass head shots. They are key on communication and have constant eye strain from staring at the tv screen for hours on end. When I helped run a gaming cafe we noticed we had to have a can of AXE body spray because these players didn't take care of themselves hygienically.

MLG in my book is a tax right off for some (metaphorically). You can have fun at doing it, but seriously when you come to the end of your life, what exactly can you say for yourself? Games to me are meant to be games, gambling on some I would say, is not too bad. Online poker in my opinion with real money is a bit over my head to be honest, since I've heard of pretty much every horror story in the book now. (worst case scenario, husband gambled away life savings while he was married and had 2 kids).

MLG is a different circuit though. You have your "I'm pro people" then you have your "I'm MLG". Countless hours of the day spent training with only maybe 10 people who genetically probably are better because of pattern recognition and communication and learning to use Console movements as opposed to PC movements and vise versa.

Quake 3 players for me take 20,000 times more skill than halo players. Since all Halo is is Aiming and using the redical for head shots and learning to blind fire with a sniper rifle. Same thing with Gears of War.. You become good with one gun, and that gun becomes your baby. But I won't derail this thread, because I would go into First Person Shooters are becoming easier and easier these days.

Gaming competition is fine, being good at a game is fine, but throwing away your life to be a major league gamer is not fine. I understand it to be a fun hobby, but leave it at that and have a life please.

 

[Apparent Amarant]

Being in peak physical condition will never, under any circumstances, help your reaction time. A steriod freak would never have a higher reaction time than I, granted they are in much better physical condition. This goes for reaction time of gaming and driving. I may not have driven a car to a racing extent, but I can assure you that physical condition has nothing to do with it. Your saying of mental sharpness is valid, but you still never have to be in peak physical condition to race a car or to play a game well.

Sorry dude, you're reaching a little too far here. Being a steroid freak is not what the Drivers are talking about when they say peak physical condition. Peak physical condition doesn't mean insanely strong it just mean being in good cardiovascular shape . If I'm right about mental alertness then I HAVE to be right about reaction time because mental alertness effects reaction time. Am I saying that someone has to be in great cardiovascular shape to beat a video game? No of course not. Am I saying that being in great cardiovascular shape probably gives a racer a tiny edge over one who isn't? Yes I am.

Steroid freaks wouldn't be able to beat NBA players at basketball. Are you saying that NBA players aren't in peak physical shape?

For the record I know being in shape is barely going to have an effect in the field racing compared to other factors, but it doesn't mean it doesn't have any effect. When you are competing on that level you have to start compounding the most minute edges because when you are better then someone it's going to be just barely better. Word class champions have to beat other world class champions when they are usually fairly evenly matched.

I'd like to see the proof on that. Physical shape has nothing to do with mental shape, hence we have the dumb jocks and then the skinny/fat dorks stereotypes.

I can understand genetics, I can understand the ability of pattern recognition like most games have these days. Most MLG players play with the lowest of sensitivities in order to accumulate mass head shots. They are key on communication and have constant eye strain from staring at the tv screen for hours on end. When I helped run a gaming cafe we noticed we had to have a can of AXE body spray because these players didn't take care of themselves hygienically.

MLG in my book is a tax right off for some (metaphorically). You can have fun at doing it, but seriously when you come to the end of your life, what exactly can you say for yourself? Games to me are meant to be games, gambling on some I would say, is not too bad. Online poker in my opinion with real money is a bit over my head to be honest, since I've heard of pretty much every horror story in the book now. (worst case scenario, husband gambled away life savings while he was married and had 2 kids).

MLG is a different circuit though. You have your "I'm pro people" then you have your "I'm MLG". Countless hours of the day spent training with only maybe 10 people who genetically probably are better because of pattern recognition and communication and learning to use Console movements as opposed to PC movements and vise versa.

Quake 3 players for me take 20,000 times more skill than halo players. Since all Halo is is Aiming and using the redical for head shots and learning to blind fire with a sniper rifle. Same thing with Gears of War.. You become good with one gun, and that gun becomes your baby. But I won't derail this thread, because I would go into First Person Shooters are becoming easier and easier these days.

Gaming competition is fine, being good at a game is fine, but throwing away your life to be a major league gamer is not fine. I understand it to be a fun hobby, but leave it at that and have a life please.

Really this is all mute though. No one will argue that people who can't make a living at it should spend all their time doing it. If they make a good living at it great then. Why would you have something against people who make a living playing video games? You also say "throwing your life away to play video games" which shows you aren't really open minded on that topic at all. If they can make good money and want to put the time into it then let them. Maybe they don't have much to "throw away" to begin with. I would argue that any job that you spend more then eight hours a day at that doesn't make you super rich is a pretty big waste of life regardless of what it is. Unless of course it is for a righteous cause. Spending twelve hours a day on some other meaningless task that wont make you a millionaire so you can retire early and have all of your time back by gaining free time later is just as much of a waste of life as doing it with video games. Just because the other task is viewed as a "real job" doesn't mean it should be any more respectable then another if it doesn't bring about better rewards in some way.

I said in my post that I agreed quitting school for it was stupid, but you are making it seem like there aren't millions of people who throw their lives away on many other careers. No career where you spend as much time in front of a computer/ desk/ or basically not being physically active is any better if you spend the same amount of time doing it. If you make less money it's actually worse if you aren't building towards something.


Being in shape does have it benefits towards mental alertness. I'm not even going to justify it with a link. If you don't believe me google it. It's such a widely known fact. Just because people skip breakfast and are still smart doesn't mean having a good breakfast doesn't increase your brain function in the morning. Yes you can be fat and smart, and in shape and stupid, but that doesn't disprove anything. I'm not talking about intelligence I'm talking about the ability to access that intelligence as quickly as possible. A stupid person doesn't have much intelligence to access so even if they access it fast not much happens.

Anyway if someone makes more money then you(not you specifically) and doesn't spend more time working then you do and is able to balance their life then they really didn't throw their life away at all. If however they barely make enough to get by and use all of their time gaming then certainly they did. If they spend eight hours a day or more with no solid future in it then yes it's a waste.

You also say "at the end of your life what will you say for yourself?". Well then I ask you this question What will anyone who worked in any field that didnt better society and the human race say for themselves? What will programmers who didn't do any work that added to the human race overall say for themselves? Why is doing something else that adds to up to a whole lot of nothing when looking at the big picture more respectable then something else? What about day traders? Or any of the countless jobs that are perfectly legal where you make your money by conning people withing the law? All of which are fairly respectable jobs.

To end this I would be more proud to make a living doing something I love then something someone else views as respectable. Unless it was something that helped society or people.

 

[blakstang98]

Sorry dude, you're reaching a little too far here. Being a steroid freak is not what the Drivers are talking about when they say peak physical condition. Peak physical condition doesn't mean insanely strong it just mean being in good cardiovascular shape . If I'm right about mental alertness then I HAVE to be right about reaction time because mental alertness effects reaction time. Am I saying that someone has to be in great cardiovascular shape to beat a video game? No of course not. Am I saying that being in great cardiovascular shape probably gives a racer a tiny edge over one who isn't? Yes I am.

Steroid freaks wouldn't be able to beat NBA players at basketball. Are you saying that NBA players aren't in peak physical shape?

You're trying to find a relation between mental awareness and physical ability, and a connection still can't be made between the two. Yes, I agree with your view on mental awareness, but there still isn't a tie with it and being in peak physical condition, strenght, cardiovascular or otherwise. I used the example of steriod freaks, yes, but not all steroid freaks are highly muscular people. Even NBA players can be steriod freaks. I won't go further into steriods and how it can affect the body's growth because it is getting off topic, like Shu stated.

I'm just saying that mental and physical strength are not interchangeable. Remember, mind over matter.

 

[Apparent Amarant]

You're trying to find a relation between mental awareness and physical ability, and a connection still can't be made between the two. Yes, I agree with your view on mental awareness, but there still isn't a tie with it and being in peak physical condition, strenght, cardiovascular or otherwise. I used the example of steriod freaks, yes, but not all steroid freaks are highly muscular people. Even NBA players can be steriod freaks. I won't go further into steriods and how it can affect the body's growth because it is getting off topic, like Shu stated.

I'm just saying that mental and physical strength are not interchangeable. Remember, mind over matter.

Honestly if you think that being in shape doesn't effect mental alertness you should google it. There is a connection. Mental alertness does not = level of intelligence. It's more like your mental reaction time. You saying there isn't a tie is frustrating. Do a little research on it. It does have an effect. Just because you don't know about it doesn't mean it's not real. You shouldn't be telling me I'm wrong because you don't know something you should look it up yourself.

Also one having a minor effect on the other doesn't mean they are interchangeable. You are acting like I'm saying you can just run to train your brain which isn't what I'm saying. Like wise you can't learn to lose weight, but being in good cardiovascular shape does have an effect on mental alertness when compared to being in bad cardiovascular shape, but only up to a certain point. It is still there though.

 

[Shu]

Really this is all mute though. No one will argue that people who can't make a living at it should spend all their time doing it. If they make a good living at it great then. Why would you have something against people who make a living playing video games? You also say "throwing your life away to play video games" which shows you aren't really open minded on that topic at all.

What I meant by throwing your life away was the

I said in my post that I agreed quitting school and work(added by shu) for it was stupid

I really don't think you know what MLG and Pro gamers differences are. Pro gamers are those that actually have jobs.. and on weekends spend time with their families. MLG on the other hand is the demographic of 12-16 18-21 or so years of age who stays at home with the parents (nothing wrong with it) and play games all day because they are unemployed (nothing wrong with it) but then try to make a living out of it because they are more addicted to the actual competition than they know what to do with it. The constant eye strain, and the lack of activity and the amount of energy drinks consumed.. just to try to get the MLG status.. is a pathetic waste of time in my opinion unless of course you have a life outside of the gaming. I don't frown on someone who tries to get a job outside of it, or tries to maintain a relationship or what have you.. but honestly it's like a druggy when all they do is game, and show nothing for themselves and their family frowns on their ability to succeed in life, but not even attempting at it.

It's just like Pro Ball. I was good in High School in Football as a Linebacker, but when I was superseded by taller folks who had likely abilities as I, then I stepped down from my position. Trust me spending 3 a day practices when all my efforts would go unrewarded with me on the bench would of sucked.. and don't give me "if you didn't try then how do you know.. " Shpeel. It's why we have higher rates of suicides upon athletes who don't make it to the NFL, because they have tried their whole life to make it.. See Tony Fiene from Ole Miss for example. He walks on as a free agent, and then Jimi Hendrix'd himself when the team decides to cut him.

The big thing about this thread I guess is the difference of Philosophy. How one chooses to live his or her life doesn't bother me, but if it doesn't benefit others than I see no gain for them. Yes I went deep with it, because look at these folks they are selfish to the core. When I blatantly hear the word MLG said in public, it makes me cringe because I know this is just a sign of attention. It's like an Emo who makes a thread and says they are depressed or going to cut themself... it's a sign of attention.

We are all looking for approval, but Pro gaming and MLG is a totally different circuit. This is one issue I don't stand on the fence about.

 

[Apparent Amarant]

Well I think that I agreed with you on what you found important. I agreed that if they are throwing away school then they are dumb. I also agreed with a meaningful job would be better. However it seems we disagree on what jobs have meaning. To me for a job to have meaning it has to benefit people in need or society as a whole.

An author is just a bum until he has a bestseller.