UM vs OSU League of Legends on BTN2GO February 27th

Submitted by austinnt on

I did a quick sweep of the board and didn't find any information pertaining to this so I thought I'd share.

I play League of Legends frequently, and an announment came up saying that a Big Ten tournament was going to be broadcast through BTN2GO and that Michigan vs. OSU was going to be on February 27th. For those that don't know, League of Legends is a fairly popular online game where teams compete for fun and/or money.

I know many people don't classify eSports as a real thing, but I thought it was cool for the Big Ten to embrace it and hand out scholarships to its participants. 

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huntmich

January 19th, 2017 at 3:37 PM ^

I'm 32, I like to play video games, but I... I just can't see myself watching someone else play them.

 

But... Go Blue...? Yeah?  Yeah, Go Blue.

Joined: 10/18/2015

MGoPoints: 18173

Michael From TC

January 19th, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^

U of M DOTA 2 Collegiate StarLeague club team finished 2nd in the nation last season.  Nearly pulled off the upset in the finals before falling to the repeat champions and heavy favorites to repeat this season as well.

 

dota 2 is similar to league of legends but more difficult and complex.

Joined: 02/16/2011

MGoPoints: 839

Lee Everett

January 20th, 2017 at 4:21 PM ^

Twitch is great.  I've watched it to learn from the best in SC2, put it on just to have some background noise to fall asleep to (the production value on some of those tournaments is impressive), or scratched a nostalgia itch during someone's playthrough of an oldschool game.  

The speedruns can be awesome; watching someone beat Mario 64 in like an hour and a half is worth the watch.

Joined: 07/07/2016

MGoPoints: 1596

CraigB

January 19th, 2017 at 4:07 PM ^

Also not really into watching e-sports as they take it way way too seriously, warranted in their case as there is now money on the line in these. However, there are some funny "Let's Play"ers on Twitch and YouTube. They don't take it very seriously, but they're also informative as they have usually worked in the industry in some capacity.

Joined: 02/20/2015

MGoPoints: 4995

Wolverine Devotee

January 19th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^

We can't even get streams on BTN+ ($) for Michigan Tennis but this gets BTN2Go with their better cameras.......



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Joined: 06/29/2009

MGoPoints: 31528

yvgeni

January 19th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^

I have an eSports Analytics startup focused first on League of Legends (which is this game they'll be playing)

                       

Go ahead... AMA (ask me anything)

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 2227

yvgeni

January 19th, 2017 at 4:06 PM ^

I understand this may be a snarky question but I'll answer it anyway:

League is an increidbly strategic game.  The purpose is obviously to win (your team of 5 beats the other team of 5), but the amount of work and training it takes to play at the highest level goes way beyond just hand eye coordination and mechanics.  

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 2227

Beat Rutgerland

January 19th, 2017 at 6:38 PM ^

It's a MOBA (Massively Online Battle Arena), each of the 10 players select one character out of a pool of about 100 or so, each character has a unique set of abilities and the abilities complement or oppose the other characters abilities. The map is always the same, and each team is attempting to capture several strategic points on the map, in the goal of capturing the other team's central capture point. The first team to manage to capture that final point wins. Most of these games also have essentially an unlimited skill cap.

Joined: 11/29/2015

MGoPoints: 4609

jfree77

January 19th, 2017 at 4:19 PM ^

Go post this thread on a Korean soccer board.  You won't have any comments about e-sports not being sports or "Heh, videogames are for kids!".  People there understand the skill and dedication involved in being a top LoL/DOTA player and respect it like we respect most professional athletes.  Until we're near that respect, we'll probably struggle.

 

But more importantly, it's infrastructure.  Our players don't get the same level of support and sponsorship and thus they don't develop the right habits and dedication.  If Koreans are Michael-Jordan-in-the-NBA, then US players are Michael-Jordan-in-the-MLB.  We're simply dabbling while they're commiting their lives.

Joined: 03/09/2011

MGoPoints: 705

MGoManBall

January 19th, 2017 at 5:07 PM ^

Bear in mind, "committing their lives" usually means from 16-17 years old to about 23-24 at the very oldest. That's the time when reaction times and apm deteriorates. 

Most professional gamers today make a lot more money streaming their gameplay than they do from winnings/endorsements. 

Joined: 10/27/2012

MGoPoints: 13029

Blerg

January 19th, 2017 at 3:43 PM ^

One of my college buddies makes his living writing about and following League of Legends and other esports.  It's taken him all over the world; Barcelona, Tokyo, San Francisco, Sydney. He shares a lot of pictures. The arenas (think Crisler, the palace, etc) are packed at these events.  eSports, not my thing, but appears to be a lot of people's thing.

cool story bro. 

 

Joined: 07/28/2010

MGoPoints: 10658

copacetic

January 19th, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^

I don't personally consider it a "sport" (probably shouldn't even open that can of worms), but I don't think that matters. Whatever you want to classify it as, I think it's pretty cool they're streaming this. Go Blue! Anything that involves beating the Buckeys I'm in favor of. 

Joined: 01/10/2013

MGoPoints: 13689

UM Fan from Sydney

January 19th, 2017 at 3:59 PM ^

E-sports is a real thing. I read a stat earlier today that the video game industry earned about $34B in 2016. That is a record. Anyone who puts down people who enjoy them is foolish. They're just another mode of entertainment in this world, just like watching television, reading books, etc.

Joined: 09/17/2015

MGoPoints: 58076