Label have received lots of comments on the recent article surrounding the NUS E-Sport motion passed this week. Loughborough Computer Society have written a response piece, as below.
I’m sure many of you have read the Label article “Bonkers NUS want PC gaming part of BUCS – Dan Leedham” and the comments that have been posted on Facebook and Twitter regarding the issue. This is an official response from the Computer Society at Loughborough, a society running events revolving around pc and console gaming.
The petition to BUCS itself is slightly overlooked and confused as to its intentions and goals in general. One of the biggest problems with eSports, is obtaining funding or backing to be able to grow the scene and the ability to run bigger events. The main goal for the petition is not to be recognised as a sport but more for the equal access to funding.
It could be considered that they are looking for the official infrastructure of BUCS to provide some stability and provide universities with a reason to get organised, creating a larger more welcoming environment.
The ESPN president describes eSports “not a sport but a competition” and that if it doesn’t constitute a sport it is a “waste of time”, (see here), where ESPN has increased coverage and from the Editor in Chief, Chad Millman in response to the question about ESPN president John Skipper’s comments:
“I would say that John Skipper knows everything that we’re doing, and so the fact that we are doing this now is representative of ESPN’s commitment to what this is, and the potential of this audience, and the quality of the coverage that we want to bring to it.”
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/12/league-of-legends-worlds-viewership-esports-world-series-nba-finals
Recent eSports events have gathered more viewership for the finals of the League of Legends World Championship than the World Series or NBA Finals. This shows the size of the audience, which continues to grow every year, and the potential money that can be made.
Quoting the VP: Societies as she took to Twitter after the motion:
“Still sad that a motion passed to petition @BUCSsport to include eSports, it’s virtual, not physical, missing the entire definition of sport”
Such comments generate greater misunderstanding and astigmatism about eSports in general, and consulting some of the responses to this, it becomes obvious that it is widespread. We don’t disagree with her in any way, however, we disagree in the spreading of this negative view without context to the Official Loughborough Fresher’s Facebook page, which served to only cause conflict.
For someone aiming to represent the societies and students of Loughborough, from the perspective of someone as part of a community of gamers, and part of the Computer Society; one of the biggest societies at the university with over 170 members, for our head representative to speak in this manner, makes us feel unwelcome as part of the societies community, going away the “Home Away From Home” motto.
The Computer Society is already affected by such misunderstandings and opinions with regular comments from peers not taking our general events and activities seriously, with little or no backing or evidence to support them.
We feel that the article is misunderstood as an original piece from the LSU, rather than what it is, a comment piece. The publicity of the article via public Facebook posts as well as Twitter in an official sense compounds this belief. However, the article does not open up debate on the issues but, offers a singular opinion that creates division rather than a discussion.
Whilst eSports within BUCS is debatable amongst students, it cannot be denied the growing size and investment in the market and new opportunities it provides for students. Loughborough competes at the highest sporting levels across the spectrum and this petition aims to be able to create the ground work for the same within eSports, rather than the satisfaction of been called a ‘sport’.
We would like to create debate around the topic, with equal opportunities for all with each side providing their argument to a larger audience. The original article serves not to offer this platform for discussion, with representatives taking sides without a counter-argument or opposition presented or even considered.
We always welcome visitors at our events and invite students as well as execs to attend our upcoming LAN event in James France form the 29th April to the 1st May. We are happy to involve everyone regardless of how interested they are in what we do and the events we run, as our goal is create a relationship between the Computer Society and societies as a whole, creating a welcoming and involving community.
Nick McKenna
Press and Publicity Representative of LSUCS.
(Loughborough Students’ Union Computer Society)
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