The Ways eSports Borrows from Other Competition
Yuriy SheremetDespite being a new form of entertainment on a global scale, eSports aren't unique in how they operate. On a competitive level, many of the same concepts and practices that have held for centuries in more traditional sports often come out to play. Taking a look at a few of these and how they relate to high-level eSports competition, it becomes possible to draw some strong parallels. From improving your gameplay to more accurately judging the results of others, these components can be well worth a look.
Team Communication
Most major eSports games like CS: GO and Dota 2 are team sports, so it makes sense that communication plays such a strong part. While perhaps obvious from the outside, this part of the game can also be one of the most difficult to understand for many gamers. As a base, gamers often rise to the upper echelons through their individual skill, letting the communication aspect of the game atrophy.
For a better illustration of this idea in action consider something like football. Individual skill plays a naturally huge part, but those who really pay attention to professional games notice much more than this. In the background, the coach is also guiding, and the captain is always using their skill to relay tactics and commands to the team. No player is an island, and only by developing the skill of communication will players become able to rise above similarly skilled individuals to find ultimate victory.
Automatic Calculation
As much as tactics and long-term game-plan matter in a competitive environment, the core of a person's ability always comes from reflex. This is the ability to assess a situation without draining mental resources, to conclude without distracting from the bigger picture. Concepts along these lines are what lead to clutch moments, and as inspired as they can appear in the moment, they're almost always the result of lessons being drilled into competitors through long hours of play.
Direct examples of this in action are often illustrated in the casino world, such as with the games on the https://www.casinos.co.za/ websites. While initially attracting players with offers like free spins and deposit bonuses, the games on these websites rely on an in-depth understanding of multiple active systems. Getting started on games like poker can be tricky at first, with each move requiring slow calculating of the odds, but eventually, the mathematics become second nature. When this occurs, the focus can then shift onto other elements of the game.
Understanding the Metagame
Just as nobody can carry a team on their own, it’s also true that nobody can understand all facets of a game on their own. Even the simplest old games like Super Mario Bros have new tricks discovered regularly, and this level of discovery happens much more often on newer and larger titles like what Overwatch experienced at https://egamersworld.com/. For this reason, as in traditional sports, staying active within communities to learn new and developing tactics is paramount.
One of the more illustrative examples of this idea in action comes from basketball, where for decades the game depended on which team had the tallest and strongest players. Over time, especially post-2000, basketball shifted to being more focussed on three-pointers and free-throws. In this case, as in video games, players who stuck to older paradigms were only setting themselves up for failure. Making changes on this front can be challenging, but it’s also a necessity for keeping pace with how a meta evolves.
Balance is Key
To be the best you need a lot of practice, that much is undeniable. More confusing is in what proportions practice should be engaged in. No two people are born the same, and because of this, it's important to realise that the right balance of practice will be different for every player. Some might need to work more on their communication skills than others, others might need to work on not cracking under pressure.
As with traditional sports, finding a personal balance point is key. While general practice is fine, just as important is addressing your own shortcomings. From here, players also need to ensure they don't over-commit and hurt themselves in the act. For football players, this could mean a torn achilles, where for a gamer it could be RSI. While hardly identical, both have the result of stopping a player from performing.
Looking at the elements together reveals one unavoidable truth – competing at the highest level of eSports is not easy. Whether addressing communication skills, drilling complex manoeuvres to become second nature, researching the metagame, or adjusting your overall strategy, everything has to be considered carefully. Like traditional sports, success only comes with major effort and attention to detail, and this only becomes truer every day. It's no cakewalk for the best players out there, and for those who want to get involved, these concepts need to be kept in mind.
Yuriy Sheremet – Expert in mobile gaming and esports among shooters and MOBA games.
At EGamersWorld, Yuriy, as in 2020 when he joined the portal, works with content, albeit with adjustments to his area of responsibility.