The Purposelessness of Professionalism

[CSN NewsBot]

voodoo, a member of the Counter-Strike clan Echo 7, has contributed an elaborate article to the community as a GotFrag? Guest Writer. This piece addresses numerous issues, but mainly revolves around the following question: "Professional Counter-Strike may seem profitable, but is it all that it is cracked up to be?"

Even worse, there is another cap I have yet to explain that simply magnifies the entire process above. This cap is the age limit placed on competitive Counter-Strike. You have to be at least 17 years old in order to compete in the CPL. High school ends and college begins at the age of 18. This is a large change that many people have to face. Because college can be incredibly time consuming and can even change where you live, it can create a negative playing field for Counter-Strike. Many players have to give up on professional Counter-Strike because they commit to school and jobs. However, if they could make a living professionally playing Counter-Strike, everyone would be much more apt to stick with it.

This lengthy, yet well written article brings up a somewhat debatable proposition towards the end. However, you be the judge on this most excellent read (it should be noted this does not reflect the opinions of GotFrag? or their staff).

[Deletable_Man]

Hmm where have I seen THIS CSN news post before!? hmm lemme seee.. hmmm

[Buddah]

Edited by [user="51114"] @ [time="1087352388"]

Still.....



Even he says Counter Strike will never be a sport.



Though his is the opinion of a bitter person who thought he found a free ride early in his life. Then as he got further along he made the discovery that REAL LIFE isn't easy and it isn't fair.



Reason why I enjoy the PUB scene more than the competive BS. The fun factor is so much higher.

[^.j()$h.^]

I read it earlier, I agree with a lot of his points. He went over why there will never be any new god-like teams explode into the scene and I totally agree. A paid CAL league? Absolutely, I support that.

[itsMrHankey2u]

i read the whole thing. it comes down to him just wanting money himself. period.



i agree with a lot of the problems he brings up, but definately not with the solutions. no1 will put that money into cal. the money for the players shoudl come from sponsors, not other players. with cs: source, i definately think the money from the sponsors will come there. i dont disagree with a fee to league though. there should be a free league in addition, but the pay league having much more advantages. all of the money i pay should go to the bettering of the league though. as a "n00b" leaguer, im not going to pay 25 bucks for my team, even if only 5 will go to the top teams. i wont have a chance at that money. if you want players to put in for players, then every1 will want at least a chance. who cares if the top guys die off, people will want to come up always, especially with more money coming ala sponsors with cs: source. pros can go to hell.



cal-i should be made more important, i agree. not with my money though.



also, id like to note that this happens with everything like this. when a 15 year old boy comes to be really good at a game when he is going into the world, there is a strong attachment and yearning for that joy, excitement, and ways of old, but it cant meet todays needs. the phrasing is horrible, but im sure a few of you understand.

[Gameshot911]

Good points. I dont agree that a cal-m player can never become a cal-i player. Yes it is slow, but it can be done.



Also, the whole money thing. God idea, yeah. But will it ever happen, no!

[Shadow]

Play as a pubstar. Like MikeJ.

[Se7eN!]

I agreed with a lot of it, the biggest problem being how completely stupid the CAL-i community is right now. No CAL-i exp, no CAL-i team. No CAL-p exp, no CAL-p team. So what it gets down to is all that matters in counter-strike is WHO you know, not WHAT you know. Have a friend thats CAL-i and will let you scrim with him? Live near a LAN where good players actually play? You now actually have some sort of chance at actually being able to do something with CS.



Also I thought that he didn't criticize one of the main reasons that CAL and the general competition isn't moving up in america. You would technically have to play with the same team for 2 YEARS to move up through CAL legitimately, and only lose a few matches every season! So far there have been very few teams to even survive a season or two in CAL, let alone make it through cal-o to cal-i, and thats if they are quite talented, considering the extreme randomness of competition in lower leagues of CAL today. Now most teams simply use previous positions to get ahead, or "reform" with totally new rosters, often under different names. The teams that are breaking into CAL-p/i often have these SAME CAL-i PLAYERS, rotated, reformed into different teams.



Also, the fact that coL is still in CAL-im is basically all I need to say about the randomness of the competition in CAL, and the amount of admin control in terms of moving teams up. Does anyone doubt that coL will dominate 99% of all their matches, even if they were to play every freaking team. No, yet they spend a season destroying teams. There's no balance.



I agree with the 5-10 bucks. I'd submit it as long as it was going to go use, and what they spent it on was released publicly and we knew what it was going towards, straight up.



I also wanted to add that the article didn't have a focus on Valve at all, even though it said it would. When it comes to this sort of thing, I think the leagues just dont have some of the ambition and willing to take risks. CAL wasn't formed to really make profits and have these huge goals, their sights are quite low. Game developers are MILES behind esports right now, and they have been just staying right outside everyones attention. Who better to invest in esports then the game developers themselves, considering every game they sell they make profit off of, along with the business esports could become. Why the CPL can't pullout huge prizes is they get FREE money, from sponsors, they hardly make any money in direct sales or trade. If a game company like Valve ran these tournements, not only aren't they making whatever profit and publicity that entitles, but it's going to SELL MORE OF THEIR PRODUCT. Who better to develope games then people that host huge tournements and run leagues with players that professionally play their games. When all this is linked together, esports players would be the new game testers and ultimately could help the company in developement! Why is there a team sponsored by Subway, yet there's no "Team VALVe".



I challenge game publishers, what better then to ACTIVELY make leagueplay apart of the game. Instead of making a bunch of CS clones to try and cash out, why not realize the true success behind it, and recreate that themselves. Maybe we won't see that with CS as VALVe seems intent on cashing out and letting it go, and they seem to set an example that you can just let it ride and let the community do it for you, without spending the resources. With CS:source coming we might see an interest in VALVe and CS spark again as there will be money to be made, not just a bunch of old HL cd keys flying around on the net.

[DeSpiSe Me]

I didn't read the article ... but even if I could make a living off of playing cstrike, I'm not sure i want to. You can only get so good, and what happens when a new team with fresh talent comes in and kicks your ass? You quit and go to college right? WRONG! By then your too old/fat/lazy to go to college. Hah jk, but seriously - College > Pro CS for me.

[Polishnerd]

I only read some of the article, it doesent really interest me. So...

You Americans have an age limit on everything. :Þ lol

BTW, I dont think its possible to make a living playing proffesional games, including Counter Strike... Yet. Eventually it may.

Playing in pubs is so much more fun anyway, I think it would be a hassle to have to worry so badly about playing CS and winning, I'd rather play it for fun, it is just a game.

[-:Nighthawk:-]

I don't have a specific problem with others trying to play for pay, but even if I was that talented, it's simply not my thing. I've found that, unless my work has some specific purpose that is meaningful, my life feels empty and pointless. Sure, I may have fun doing other stuff, but when I'm looking back at how my time was spent... it feels empty.



So yeah, if there is enough interest by the public to watch online sports, then hey, why not pay the players? We pay actors and actresses to entertain us, after all.



But really, would you feel like you'd had a worthwhile life if you spent your time merely playing games? Just a thought...

[Supersonic^]

I might read it when I can be bothered.

[Smurfzilla]

man u guys suck..makin me wanna quit cs :x

[Donneskjold]

cstrike has become too much of a drug for people. Luckily I am easing off the scene of cstrike until hl2, which gives me sometime to focus on real life. I find it sad that people can stay indoors (for example) all summer, playing cs from when they wake up, (3pmish) to when they sleep (4-5ish am), not getting jobs and sun, and hold self-esteem.. probrecitos

[Taylor Hewitt]

oh yes live of counter-strike for the rest of ur life... that will give u a future