Which eSports are you following?

[FireBeaver]

- Which esports are you interested in?
Mostly Smash but I watch a lot of other fighting games and Overwatch sometimes.
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Both, even though I suck at them all. There's not many tournaments in my area so I mostly play online through netplay and such.
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
I usually watch whatever events come up if I have time to. For games I'm super interested in like Melee and Guilty Gear I tune into pools, and for other games I stick to top 32 or top 8.
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
Nope.
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Kind of? There was a tournament at PAX that I attended that had a lot of top players in it. I got absolutely destroyed but it was a really fun time. Unfortunately with how far away most good events are from where I live, I can't really attend my tournaments.
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
Yep, as long as they're still there and still interesting.

 

[MrMephistoX]

I like watching fighting games that's about it...Japanese girls playing FPS on twitch in bat costumes isn't really an esport is it?

 

[Kripton]

I follow league and CSGO

 

[Falcon511]

- Which esports are you interested in?

Halo 5
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?

Sometimes yes I do
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?

The smaller events since they have an affect on the bigger ones.
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)

Yes my XBL buddies
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?

Nope sadly.
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?

Maybe if 343 doesnt fuck up halo 6.

 

[パンダさん]

- Which esports are you interested in?
Super Smash Bros. Melee, Dota 2, Fighting games in general

- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Melee: I play Melee casually and watch it.
Dota: I've played it for 2 years, but I don't play it anymore, I've given up on PC gaming because of wrist pains. So I'm stuck watching.
Fighting games: I try different fighting games (SFV, GG Xrd, Skullgirls, etc.) from time to time, but I don't stick with them, I'm just too bad. So I just watch them when Evo comes arround.

- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
Melee: I mostly watch Majors and then mostly just top 8, 16 or 32.
Dota: I just watch the International, but just the whole Bracket phase, no group phase.
Fighting games: Only top 8.

- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
Yes, I have a friend thats watches and plays Dota. He also plays Melee with me.
We talk occasionally about both games and it's esports scene.

- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Yes, ESL One Frankfurt to watch some Dota.

- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
I think so, Melee and Dota keep growing and fighting games are always around.

 

[Steiner]

AoE2, if it's count.

 

[VincentMatts]

Halo5

 

[TheDanimal]

I really love watching Melee (despite the fact that I never get to play it). I try to watch as much of a tournament as I can whenever there is one.
I also follow Smash 4 pretty closely, followed by Rocket League.
I play Smash 4 very casually with my friends, but I play Rocket League at a much higher level (even though its not that high, I'm currently Diamond III in Doubles)
I kinda pay attention to Overwatch I guess? I don't even play Overwatch anymore though.

 

[Tenck]

Right now Quake Champions. I plan on finishing up some side projects by the end of the year and building a new PC just to come back for Quake. I played Quake Live religiously and played a couple tournaments. I want to give Quake Champions a shot and see how far I can get in the competitive ladder.

 

[Umbra_Witcher]

- Which esports are you interested in? Fighting games, mostly SF V, and sometimes Rocket League
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both? Yes to both
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too? I watch nearly every SF V tourney I can and Rocket League I tend to only watch the major championships.
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?) I have some friends who do the same things as me, watching all the SF V tournies and then only watching the RL championships, so we talk about the results.
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event? No, but I'd like to attend EVO next year.
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now? Yes, for sure fighting games.

 

[BlackManLovesKUF]

- Which esports are you interested in?
Gears of War is my primary one by far, but I also follow Madden, Halo, Tetris and Call of Duty (probably less likely now if they're moving CoD back to boots-on-ground).

- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Generally both, definitely for Gears.

- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
I try to watch a good chunk of the events throughout the year, at least Regionals on up.

- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
Yep.

- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
No, maybe one day though.

- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
As long as Microsoft releases Gears of War games then yes.

 

[Drelkag]

- Which esports are you interested in?
Street Fighter V. Follow other fighting games casually.

- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Both.

- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
Schedule around big events but check on the Twitch page to see if any smaller ones are going on whenever I can.

- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
My friend is the one who got me into it. He's the only friend that plays SF remotely serious.

- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Nope. Would love to go though. Alex players are lacking.

- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
Of course. Street Fighter/FGC is a way of life.

 

[7thFloor]

I keep up with FGC happenings, not much else, though I do watch a bit of competitive Quake sometimes.

 

[QuixoticNeutral]

1. Regularly, all I follow is StarCraft II. In the past I've put on streams for some other games like SSB4, Hearthstone, and more recently the fledgling scene for Arms. I know enough of the names and personalities in StarCraft to follow a bit of Korean Brood War, but I don't know the game very well, so I've just watched a few big finals and show matches. Speed-running events like AGDQ interest me on some level, but I don't follow the streams or races on a consistent basis; I followed the scene more closely in the 2000s before the rise of live streaming.

2. I play SC2 on a semi-regular basis, but mostly casual content like the co-op mode, and not so much the 1v1 ladder anymore. I'll usually play my qualification matches for each race in a given season but haven't committed to the ladder or in-game automated tournaments in well over a year. I did play very regularly back in WoL and early HotS.

3. I used to follow every match in the GSL and big events like DreamHack and the old MLG, but these days it's just GSL finals (maybe Ro4 if there's a good matchup) and BlizzCon only. I don't even really have the time for the big weekend foreign (NA/EU) tournaments anymore, even though in their prime they delivered some incredible storylines in a tight package of a few sittings over two or three days.

4. Back when the game was at its peak of popularity I watched it with a group in a pub (Barcraft), and I separately know a handful of people that I occasionally play with and who also follow the pro scene in about the same limited basis I do. Not many.

5. I've attended a major WCS season championship as well as a relatively obscure regional qualifier. I'd certainly be interested in attending more events if I could, while the game is still alive and kicking.

6. Hard to tell what kind of state SC2 will be in five years from now, now that the Korean pro team and sponsorship system has collapsed and there isn't any new blood coming in, just a lot of veteran players making all the championship runs they can squeeze in before they run off to military service or succumb to strain injuries. As a game, it remains interesting and there seems to be a commitment to shake up the meta every year, though I expect it will taper off with time. SC2 is still the definitive and pure e-sport in my mind, and I doubt anything will take its place until Blizzard rolls out a major successor RTS like WC4. For me it will be an RTS or nothing; I don't get anything out of watching MOBAs or shooters, even the ones I like to play.

 

[CountAntonio]

Which esports are you interested in?
Rocket League
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Both
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
Most events
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
Some
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Fighting game tournament.
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
For as long as Rocket League exists yes.

 

[Sei]

Anything Quake, CS, or StarCraft, since the beginning.

I don't play Quake or CS anymore, but I'll do the occasional SC2 game.

I tend to only watch the players or teams I know more.

In college I had friends to watch tournaments with, but outside of that, not really.

Blizzcon is the only one.

If any of those are still around I'll keep watching.

 

[Silent]

1. Which esports are you interested in?

- I watch League of Legends eSports.​

2. Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?

- I play casually and watch it as well.​

3. If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?

- I mostly watch LCK (Korean League) and Worlds.​

4. Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)

- No, it's really only me who follows the scene.​

5. Have you ever physically been to an esport event?

- Nope.​

6. Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?

- I would lean toward no. A lot of my attachment to League of Legends comes from watching my favorite players. I'm not sure if I would continue watching once they retire.
​

I kinda want to tell the story about how I got into League of Legends eSports. I'm just going to type whatever comes to mind, so I apologize if it gets really lengthy from here. I was never really interested in eSports and could have never imagined I would like it as much as I do now. I wouldn't say I follow each game religiously like many sports fans do, but I'm definitely enamored by the culture of the competition. In League of Legends, the World Championships have been dominated by a team known as SK Telecom. Faker is the star player and is regarded as the best player to have ever played the game. In 2015, SK Telecom made the finals as expected. Their opponent was the KOO Tigers, a team that had just formed by players who had basically been rejected by other teams. I was instantly inspired by the KOO Tigers and wanted to root for them as the underdog. They seemed to have so much fun playing, so I grew to really like them. This was the first time I watched a professional League of Legends game.

The Tigers lost, but they were back next year as ROX Tigers, and again, I rooted for them. They lost to SK Telecom again, this time in the semi-finals. After that, the Tigers split up. The members joined different teams, and today I still root for whatever team they are playing on. I like them that much. I spoke earlier about the culture of the competitive scene, and history has a lot to do with it. Every year, players move to different teams, and it's a delight to see former teammates battling it out. As a MOBA, League of Legends features "roles" for each member on a five-man team. This way, specific players will go directly head to head, so it's really cool to dream up the different match-ups between say, the support player of your favorite team versus another team's support.

I also like each player's alias. For years I've tried to come up with a name for myself. After getting into the competitive scene, becoming a pro League player became somewhat of a pipe dream of mine. I still imagine myself wearing a team shirt with my name on the back like all these players. It's rather childish of me, but I picture it all the time haha.

I also love all the content that comes with League eSports. They always make these promotional videos during tournaments, and I fell in love with the cinematography and music of these productions. They come up with a Worlds song every year and I listen to them every year. They make video teasers of the semi-finals and finals and I just get this really epic vibe from them. It encourages me to be the best I can be at doing something I really like. I dream of being on the stage like that and winning.

I'm blathering on almost incoherently now about stuff I don't really expect many people to understand. But recently they released a semi-finals teaser for this year's Worlds and I seriously love the camera work, player lines, and music. It also makes so much more of an impact when you recognize those names on those jackets, when you know the history of these teams, where they're coming from, what they've accomplished before, and what they want to accomplish now.

 

[ishan]

After long discussions with friends and colleagues I get the impression that people tend to watch or play several esports at once. So I would like to hear your opinions on the matter. I like lists, so here is a list:

- Which esports are you interested in?
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?

I am defining esports as games that have regular tournaments with prize money. I hope that's fair enough.

Click to shrink...

Im interested in counter strike and dota.

I play and watch both. I used to play cs on a decent level and in a clan back in delhi. Nothing fancy or pro but we were second best in delhi way back in 2003. Quit didnt have time to put in more time but i I still play ranked although I am badly out of touch and way off skill nowadays. I play ranked dota but I suck at it have never been good at dota per say.

For dota I watch some of the games in grand finals / the playoffs for majors and some minors. For cs I watch almost every lan nip tournament. And even if they are eliminated I normally watch say the playoffs games for other teams.

As far as other friends go, some of my ex clan mates are still into it. Also many of the ppl I got to know from my clan and other clans from back in the day still follow the esports scene somewhat. Recently a friend I met couple years back me through random bars, we got to talking, turns out he was into competitive cs back in the day so yeah still follow with old friends and do run into new ppl into it time to time.

Physically nothing apart from the tournaments I used to take part in back in 2003-2004 (so Wcg qualifiers etc for Delhi region). If I move to a city with a major tournament happening I'll proabably swing by to watch but I have no current plans of travellling for it.

Long run probably will watch . I left cs after 1.6's decline but came back once csgo got good enough. So yeah can def see myself following them long run.

Also nice tread OP. ERA (/GAF) had a huge enthusiast crowd but I am definitely interested in how many are like me who like a couple of games a lot and their competive aspects but play very few others in general. (I buy like 1 game a year or less. Normally apart from cs or dota sometimes play fifa with buds otherwise essentially it would be something like a nd game or bioware game that piques my interest)

 

[lacinius]

I don't follow real sports so I'm certainly not going to follow eSports... ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[Helixx-gaf]

I like watching (and following) Street Fighter and Guilty Gear tournaments and series.

 

[Astorgh]

Occasionally watch Smash (Melee and 4) tourneys but I'm not fully invested. I don't really enjoy anything else outside of that.

 

[Natels]

- Which esports are you interested in?
Rocket League
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
Both. The fun part is that I often play with pros because I'm high ranked
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
I watch most LANs and sometimes other tournaments
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
I have a couple of friends who I talk about it and play with them
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Nope
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
Probably not, but I don't know.

 

[warheat]

None, used to be Dota

 

[tusharngf]

Clash Royale tourneys if that counts.

 

[Sybil]

1. Just League, but I used to dabble in Pokemon if that counts.
2. I used to play + watch League, just played Pokemon. I'm on-and-off with them, but right now I don't actively play either.
3. I watch some regional tournaments (NA LCS, LCK) for League.
4. No.
5. No.
6. Meh, probably not. I'm a pretty lazy bum so it's hard for me to keep up with this stuff for too long.

 

[Bhonar]

- Which esports are you interested in?
- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?

Click to shrink...

Nice topic!

-- DOTA 2 mainly. EVO. Little bit of Hearthstone.

-- Only watch those games, do not currently play them.

-- For DOTA 2, I try to watch as many real professional events as possible. I can watch pro DOTA 2 any day.

-- Sure, some friends also watch. Talk about it with them.

-- Not yet, but I would be open to attending an event.

-- Sure, if the devs are still supporting it in a quality way.

 

[Paertan]

- Which esports are you interested in?
CS:GO, Rocket League, Starcraft 2, SFV and any other fighting games really.

- Do you play the game, do you watch the game or both?
I do play Rocket League on occasion but otherwise no. Have played them all but not anymore.

- If you watch the game, do you only watch the Grand Finals or the smaller events throughout the year too?
Smaller events as well. But it is a matter of schedule.

- Are any of your friends actively following the same esport as you? (Do you talk about it, play together?)
No not really. Maybe talk a bit about FGC.

- Have you ever physically been to an esport event?
Oh yes. Lived in Jönköping where Dreamhack is held for many years. Went a few times and even played SSFIV one year.

- Do you see yourself following the same esports in 5 years from now?
In some iteration as long as they still exist. CS has been around for a long time. Depending on what Blizzard does with Starcraft there might be Starcraft 3 or who knows. There might be a SFVI then but yes. Will watch fighting games.