If only I were smarter... I cannot explain it at all. It's like asking why your grandparents are racist and homophobic and why... and why, even today, we make generalisations frequently in conversation (just like I did just there by saying that, as a general rule, old people are racist/homophobic, therefore there is a high chance that YOUR grandparents follow the same trend. Yes, that's a string of fallacies and generalisations, but people often do it. I'm being careful right now not to say "people do it all the time", as that is yet another generalisation). Yes it's ignorant, yes it's close-minded and, for the most part, flat out wrong. But although we are used to the phenomenon and are (for the most part, but myself excluded) open-minded about competitive gaming, what about the general public? Remember, we're still nerds to them. That's right, even though everyone and their mother (just ignore my generalisations from now on...) has a Wii or a 360 or a PS3 or a PS2 or a dusty old Nintendo in their shed or whatever or has, at some point or another, played a game, and most likely tried to beat a score on said game, and therefore played the game competitively, very few members of the general public will accept MLG as a sport, I can guarantee it. But why can't I? Yes, you're right, it has a much right to be a sport as racing, which I do, in fact, consider a sport. Yes, I am considered a nerd or whatever, because I'm interested in the depth of gaming, and small parts of games (such as forge). So if I'm this far into the realm of where MLG should be accepted as a sport, why do I still not accept it? Am I an anomaly? I honestly think I'm dumb. How can I have possibly found a flaw in my own logic? I don't even know why I don't like MLG, I just know, somehow, that it is not a sport. I've never been so damn close-minded in all my life, and I try to accept it, but I just can't. It's not the people, it's not the event, it's not other people swaying my opinion. I really just don't know. Hopefully in time I will learn to accept it, because right now I feel less mature than the stereotypical MLG tryhard screaming callouts and insults down his mic on his second account on Halo 3. [br][/br]Edited by merge: Ah, I've been thinking about it a lot, and I've come up with a good definition of what a sport is: A sport is something that requires more skill than luck to excel at. It's vague, but it fits IMO
Hey! Who're you calling dumb?! That's my namesake you're throwing out there and I'd appreciate it if you didn't use it so lightly! (obviously jk, thought I would poke fun at people who take games too seriously Kidding aside, I see your point. I also do not consider MLG a sport, but there is definitely skill and talent involved. Semantics aside, I consider a "SPORT" to be one that involves not only skill and talent, but superior athletic ability. This would limit sports to the normal ones such as football, basketball, hockey, etc. I personally do not consider NASCAR a sport, but damn is it super fun to watch and follow. This doesn not take anything away from the activity, I'm simply giving it a clearer definition. (blah blah about how you have to sit in a super hot car for hours while going in circles; that's "endurance" and not necessarily superior athletic ability. Reference all the old guys who still race; if it took superior athletic ability then the young guys should have a clear advantage, yet they are still beaten by the old timers). Anyway, on the topic at hand. I liken MLG to sewing, art, and singing. Damn are those people who do those activities talented and skilled, but they are not athletes. We should reserve "athlete" for those who partake in the sports I mentioned above. I like MLG and feel it deserves a place in our gaming community, but it is definitely not a sport. Just my $0.02. Cheers.
All i can say is, is that at least its not as bad as Call of Duty. Where almost everyone trash talks.
How do you define "athletic ability" exactly. I would especially like to know since you don't think endurance isn't on that "list". Speaking of which what would you call long distance Track or Cross Country, are all the other things that are "endurance-centric"
The problem of children on XBL is one that sadly won't go away. Unfortunately lazy parents don't care enough to censor what games their kids play and what games they don't. Me? I either mute or strike up a regular conversation (if I actually feel like putting on my headset). I was able to convince a British kid that I was a Thai guy form Wales by using bad Cockney accent.
Dude, you're a great forger, and in the (admittedly small) interaction we've had, I've come to like you. But please, don't go the way of the emo. I could dress that up in some longer explanation of what's going on, but in the vein of you being a up front guy I hope you understand why I don't, because that's what it is. Regardless of your choice to post on this forum or not, posts like this serve to show one thing: a desire for what you do to be noticed, perhaps even acted upon. Not by the staff, I don't think you're naive by any means, but acted upon to some extent. I've seen posts like this before, and they have a strong subtext of not just wanting to inform people of their views, but provoke a similarly strong expression of said views in others. But the fact is, you're gonna do what you're gonna do, and so are others. They don't need to be goaded in to standing up to any oppression or attitude from staff, and if they don't like it they'll leave, exactly as you seem to be doing, so why throw a post tantrum like this? No one needs to have your actions and decisions paraded in front of them, and tbh the only thing it does is reflect poorly on you in any perception of dispute between you and the staff. As someone largely unaware and, tbh, unconcerned with personal disputes like this (not because I don't have sympathy for you as an individual, but because I have little sympathy for the position you're putting yourself in, but that can wait a sec), this just makes me think 'whatever's going on, you can bet he's either hamming it up something rotten or provoking the **** out of people, even if they are being unfair'. Now, on to the actual root of your frustrations. This isn't going to be nearly as long (I hope, I never know when I start typing tbh - EDIT: oh hey it's almost the exact same length, whadaya know?) as the previous section, but I just want to focus on one part. Anytime I hear stuff like 'The Staff' in a situation like this, it makes me pretty much lose interest in anything the person may have been saying. I've been Staff, I've been Loyal and had a semi perspective on Staff, and I've been grey and had no real perspective on current Staff. If you have a problem with someone, address that person. If you have a problem with multiple individuals, address them. But creating this official sense of division is only a way to reinforce the validity of your position to yourself. I always took particular exception to someone having a dispute with one or two Staff members, then going on a 'Staff are unprofessional' tirade, to which I'd automatically think 'well what the hell did I do?' Not saying there isn't a degree of responsibility and conduct on all Staff members, one which extends to some kind of collective image, but comments like the one you're making always involve more assumption of what goes on in private than is sensible or even fair, because it's easier to feel you're being victimised than simply coming at odds with another individual because of your 'self admitted' abrasive nature at times. In short, posts like this always beg one question: if you were Staff, would you be any more 'professional' than you're accusing the current ones of not being? And it's universally hard to give any other answer than 'no'. EDIT: One thing I'd like to say to the person who locked the other thread with this response (notice how I address a person and not a group?): It's not helping. Looking at social history, it should be pretty easy to understand where that goes and what it says. Who is notorious for halting discussion for fear of what might be said? The good old communists. Now I know I'm dangerously close to Godwin's Law here, but bear with me. Without trying to overstep my bounds, or making any accusations associated to that comparison, I think it's one which holds weight. What's going to be said in a thread like that? What harm is it going to do? And frankly, does you jumping to the specific act of closing the thread and silencing any conversation before it happens do more damage? Yes, undeniably if you ask me. We've been here before, let it burn itself out and don't shoot yourself in the foot, seriously.
Funny enough, I had a message sent to me a few days ago that hit on pointless trash talk and the MLG thing. The message read: "typical gold play.. change your gamerpic [I have the MLG logo] your not mlg don't act like it" First, "typical gold play?" What does that even mean? I have a Gold rank this season but what does that mean? Second, I wasn't playing in the MLG list, just Arena Slayer, what does MLG have to do with anything? The point is, these pointless trash talkers are just looking for a response or want others to feel bad because they're making up for some shortcoming. Block Communications and move on. Also, the definition of sport "according to "The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language," here are the first two definitions for "sport": 1.) An active pastime; diversion; recreation. 2.) A specific diversion, usually involving physical exercise and having a set form and body of rules; a game." (Via Does Poker Qualify As A Sport? 1/15/2011 5:14 CST) Notice, in the second definition the use of "physical exercise" with the qualifier "usually involving". This implies that anything can qualify as a sport as long as it can be qualified as a hobby and having a body of rules but mostly includes activities that require physical exercise. Under this, Fishing, Poker (what the article I liked from talks about but parallels nearly identically with games as a sport) Darts, Bowling, Racing and many others, including Gaming (including MLG) can and are a sports. Everything else, Pagasi almost exactly mirrors my opinions.