What you don’t understand is that watching it and doing it are different activities. Watching is not an inferior version of doing it - after all, you watch streams right? Why do that when you could use that time to play then? Because watching is it’s own activity, fun in it’s own right.
Comparing watching games to playing games is actually pretty strange, they’re nothing alike.
Saying fighting games have such a low barrier is mostly false too - most places on earth don’t have good fighting game communities and people to fight. While most sports are readily accessible through local clubs almost everywhere.
(online and single player sucks, and will also not deliver the experience you see on streams)
I don’t watch streams very often… but when I do, as a competitor, it’s a different activity than watching streams, and NOT playing at all.
If I’m watching a stream, it’s because I couldn’t get to the tournament… or I want to watch the way my fellow competitors are playing the game. I truly don’t understand the motivation behind watching the streams for entertainment value. I don’t see the entertainment in watching something, that I don’t have the drive to actually do.
I don’t understand it, and you’re not really offering any kind of insight… you’re just expressing your incredulity to the fact that I have questions about your standpoint.
And most places have a local scene. The barrier to entry into the tournament scene is very low.
But yeah… you say watching and playing are totally different, with neither being better than the other… I don’t see it. Again… if I have the choice of fucking or watching a porno, it’s a pretty simple choice.
The thing is though, this is a community of players and not watchers, so naturally there’s a bit of a cold shoulder attitude. I’m not saying that’s fair, but at least it’s understandable. You kind of think about why the guy doesn’t just get into the games since the barrier to entry is like nil (in terms of finding competition, entering tournaments, not getting good at mechanical stuff) and he enjoys the community. This isn’t like pro sports where you can’t have a reasonable aspiration of actually joining that elite even if you watch, enjoy and understand the game. It’s true that there are a lot of places in the world where this may not be that easy, but there are ways… there’s GGPO, there are country specific threads on SRK etc.
Also can I just say how goddamn fucking cute your avatar is? I really really hate the stupid anime girl avatars a lot of SRKers like to use (with some tasteful exceptions), but this Adventure Time vampire chick avatar is super kawaii desu yo ne?
I don’t get the appeal of spectating but I imagine spectating and watching is the difference between authoring and reading. One is about making elaborate lies and the other passive enjoyment wondering what happens next.
The part that loses me is spectating seems more like watching an author work at his desk and less like reading the finished book. The part that does feel like reading the finished book are amazing matches like MvC2 Evo Grand finals. That stuff feels like watching art.
Seth Killian has basically admitted ultras were meant to be eye candy, not to benefit the gameplay.
He also gave the example of the crowd imitating Rufus’ ultra 1 to show that this idea was indeed a success.(it making it more fun for the average viewer)
True, but as e-sports gets bigger, that might change. It already seems pretty hard to join the ranks of korean pro gamers in Starcraft, though some westerners have proven it possible.
All I was saying was, watching sports is entertainment. It’s not just a substitute for actually playing, it’s entertainment in it’s own right. And some people choose to only watch certain things.
I mean, let’s take Starcraft 2 again. With their online play and leaderboards and stuff, and with LAN joints and Dreamhack around… I’d easily be able to practice Starcraft and be part of all that if I wanted to. But I don’t, it’s not my kind of game. I still enjoy watching the matches.
But, you’re right that since SRK is about playing the games, a cold shoulder might be expected and I didn’t think about that. :xeye:
Marceline is mai waifu
I’ve really come to appreciate western animation these last few years. And Adventure Time is just… The best.
I have a friend who is preordering UMvC3. Currently, he plays no fighting games outside the Smash series, but he loves watching Marvel vs. Capcom 3 matches, to the point that it’s all he likes to talk about when we talk video games. I actually am glad the fighting game community is awesome enough to capture the interest of someone who barely even plays fighting games.
I don’t believe this is something the fighting game community should aspire towards. What we have is better than professional StarCraft. Unless you are a spectator or a progamer.
While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, it’s also a bad sign of things to come if this trend continues.
The reason fgs are so awesome is because of the community at events and in real life gatherings. If you just watch online… you’re seriously missing out
Where I am in my life right now I don’t really have the time or the energy to play. I still follow the FGC because I’ve been invested in it for a few years now, I’ve got friends in it which I keep up with, and despite not having the means to play, I still like to keep abreast of the happenings within the community.
Actually, I believe it would be a really GOOD sign if the trend continued. More exposure is always good. Plus, if events can build up more and more spectators that’s more potential money to bring in once the FGC figures out how to deal with all these things. Then hopefully payouts can be bigger and that sort of thing. I mean, do you think the NFL would generate the amount of money it does if it were just the players that were competing/watching events?
Also, I never said I wouldn’t go to gatherings. I will hopefully be going to EVO next year if I can get the money saved up.
If we replaced alot viewers for tournament players I feel like our community would be better off. If you get hype watching on your computer then theres no reason you shouldnt come join us in tournaments.
I dunno, If I spent most of my FG related time on forums and streams bitching about balance and talking shit about pro players, I wouldn’t want anyone to put a face to it.
Not saying that you do this, but alot of stream monsters do.
You know, the people not playing now and watching are the people who weren’t playing and weren’t watching before. I would hope they keep on watching and increase the numbers on stream so TO’s can get some legit sponsors and make their lives easier. I would also hope that all of them would SHUT THE FUCK UP.
I hate how much more input uninformed people have over the players. But then again, I don’t exactly trust the opinion of many people in this community; and by trust I mean that I’d club many of the people here if they were in a position to influence the way a game developed.
Not everyone has the time/money to go to tournaments though.Also, if someone feels like they haven’t achieved a certain level of competence in the game, it will be harder to justify spending money on the tournament. For example, I would get absolutely crushed in any tournament I enter. It happens constantly when I do play some online. So, dropping a few hundred dollars to go to a tournament to get smashed is not really worth it, especially if I don’t know anyone in the scene. If I had friends from around the country showing up, then yeah, it’d be a little different and I might try to go. And going to big events, like Canada Cup, would be out of the question as it would be even MORE money to throw away. At least with Evo I can go experience Las Vegas once I get stomped.
But watching the streams, I can still enjoy the games.
Understandable but if a tournament is within reasonable driving distance you should at least make an effort. But it is much understood that some people dont have the resources to make it out to tournaments, no hate cause truth is times are rough.