E-Sports - Persuasive Essay

They are in the last moments of their game. They are about to face off and the victor will take home $50,000. The whole weekend has come down to one point, who will win? A 16 year old Korean boy sits at one end, hoping to win the money and buy his mom the car that he promised her, while on the other end sits a 21 year old Swedish man who has trained a long time for this moment. After a few tense moments, the victor is clear. Lee “Leenock” Dong Nyung has won Starcraft 2, Major League Gaming(MLG), Providence. A 16 year old boy reached his dream of winning a competition set on a global scale and broad-casted to thousands of people worldwide. He will take home the money and the pride that comes in beating many of the world’s best at the game. This is something that can only happen in video games.

E-sports is simply professional video gaming. Starcraft 2 is one of the games that is played by progamers. They play competitive video games against each other and compete for cash prizes or computer parts at events around the world. These events are widely watched and enjoyed by people, just like football and tennis are. The players also usually belong to teams, which give them a place to stay and provide food for them, while maintaining a healthy practice environment.Professional gaming has been looked down upon for a long time due to many false prejudices. People have said that progamers are unhealthy, violent and that video games are boring to watch. None of these beliefs are correct.

Progamers practice the games that they play for up to 14 hours a day so that they can improve and become better at their game. How can the possibly stay healthy if they practice so much? This is one of the reasons that it is so looked down upon. The typical stereotype of a programer is someone who is usually overweight. But this is not the case in real professional gaming. The teams that programers belong to usually have training regimes that the players have to follow if they want to remain on the team. It is also not possible to work at the high mental and even physical level required to play at the top of the game. All the top players are healthy and physically fit because of this.

Another reason that pro-gaming is looked down upon is because of the behavioral aspects of it. Many parents suggest that their kids become increasingly violent because they play video games.  Even though it is true that many e-sports games involve armies fighting or creatures killing each other, studies at Harvard and other respected research have shown no conclusive evidence of this link. The violence is also usually not very graphic or even ‘cartoony’ in a way. But it also comes down to parents and parental guidance. Games are given a rating so that parents understand what types of things happen in them if they know nothing else about them.

The main reason that e-sports is so controversial is because people believe that there is no spectator aspect to it and therefore no reason to watch it. But my only question to these people is, have you ever tried? Have you ever tried watching someone professionally play a video game? There are thousands of people who watch the games that don’t even own them. I have personally watched many e-sports events and watch Starcraft games almost daily if I feel like it. Of course I play it as well so I understand more than some other people and can learn from watching them, but I can see why people would watch it. The adrenaline rushes that come when something amazing or never before seen happens, are just like the ones that I get when watching soccer or another sport and a goal is scored. You get to know all the personalities even through cultural divides when you watch them play and hear them in interviews. 1.7 million different people watched a Swedish e-sports tournament over a weekend in December 2011, which proves that it was no small event.

I believe that e-sports should be given a chance and that any preconceived beliefs about it should be cast aside so that it has a chance to grow and spread joy. I'm sure that many people would actually enjoy it if they tried watching it. There is no reason for e-sports to be completely discarded without even getting a look at it in the first place.

My Reflection on "Why Don't We Complain" and "On Compassion"

The essays "Why Don't We Complain" by William F. Buckley Jr. and "On Compassion" by Barbara Lazear Ascher put forth two different ideas in two very different ways. Buckley talks about the fact that people don't dare to complain about even the smallest things due to pressures from many different sources. At first he describes somewhat trivial things such as feeling too hot and not daring to ask for the temperature to be turned down but then goes on to describe how this can effect huge life decisions if it becomes a habit. He suggests that if people aren't brave enough to stand up for trivial matters, they won't be able to stand up for their political ideas either. The way that this is presented is very personal as each example is taking from his own life. This allows the reader to connect to what is happening through him and through other similar experiences that they might have had. My experiences at restaurants where I am not always brave enough to send back my food through fear of being rude came to my mind while reading this essay. There is not a clear mood created by the author for the piece but it is clear that he wants to encourage people to speak their mind more than they usually do.


The other piece written by Ascher approached it's subject in a completely different way. It talked about the idea of why people give money to homeless people and pondered whether it was through true compassion or fear or just a need to get rid of the person. But rather than try directly persuade the reader down a certain path, it asked the reader rhetorical questions to make them think about the subject instead. It also created a clear mood of sympathy and sometimes fear or tension which helped to liven up the reading. Like Buckley's piece, Ascher used her personal experiences to tell the story which made it more relatable as many of the experiences were things that I and i'm sure many others have gone through as well. She also related her ideas to well known ideas such as the Greek Tragedy, which she said related to the homeless people in that it inspired empathy in the audience. These examples helped to make her point strongly and left the reader thinking about why it is that we show compassion to the homeless. Both pieces were very strong in what they wanted to accomplish. "Why Don't We Complain" was able to convince me to try and speak up my mind more and "On Compassion" left me thinking about what it truly means to be compassionate. It was interesting to see these two extremely different styles to writing an essay and it helped me to figure out how to make my own essays more interesting.