Women not allowed to play in Hearthstone tournament

Source: http://m.pcgamer.com/2014/07/02/hearthstone-tournament/

I have two opinions of this.

1. Why does gender even matter? I don't really get it. What ever reason they have, it isn't going to fly well with the media, and gamers in general. Back when I was a kid in the 80s, I played video games with my brothers and sisters. Nobody cared about gender, and there were no "boys are better than girls" and vice versa comments. We simply didn't care, and we STILL don't care to date. Why is there a need to separate the two?

2. No matter how absurd or ridiculous it is, the overseers of this tournament have the right to make any rules they want. As much as I don't like bringing race into this, I'm a non-white person, and if they said "whites only", I wouldn't really care since they (whether I/we believe it's racist or not) are entitled to their own space. Of course, I'll still boycott them and their services either way. Rather than getting into flame wars on twitter, a better idea is to vote with your foot and your wallet, then walk/opt out in masses. That will get their attention whether they like it or not. A business is dependent on it's customers/audience. Without them, they cannot exist.

Now, I know everyone has to have some sort of opinions on this. So please, share!

Shogun.

 

Supposedly the "International e-Sports Federation" is separating based on gender because that's what other sports do. Which is kinda silly, given that e-sports is (at least mostly) not a contact sport. I'm certain female competitive Hearthstone players could kick my ass in it in 3 turns (I don't play it, so maybe that's not possible).

 

I'm good with anything preventing the proliferation of "e-sports". The world is polluted enough with athletes who make more than the GDP of small countries, all because they can play with a ball, and think that they actually deserve it.

 

How about we keep both sports and simply pay them less?

 

Playing video games should not be a sport.

 

The Tournament is being boycotted. only 27 people are expected to attend.

 

This. We've already commercialized the hell out of gaming. When will it stop?

 

My opinions:

- "sports" use to design videogame is only an analogy that sounds cool to 300 pounds 15 years old kids drinking energy drinks in a basement. Videogaming is an activity that can be competitive or professional, but it sure ain't a sport.

- This sexual segregation is stupid, pointless and retrograde.

 

I hate the word "sport" all together, many participants have their heads so far up their own asses it's not funny. Along with them spitting the dummy every time they loose, mixed in with the amount of scandals you hear about and they think "I'll now train hard, and perform on the field better" will make everything go away.

Sorry if anyone follows a sport or if they love a certain sport, but I can't stand some of players in various sports, they shit me.

 

Good to hear. By "sport" I simply mean a test of skill using a video game. They're fun to watch for similar reasons people enjoy physical games.

Games can not completely escape marketing as they are made for profit (free games notwithstanding but those suffer from having no budget). I've seen many shameful practices involving games without them being made with tournaments in mind. Those that are however, tend to have higher skill ceilings and balance which is a big bonus to anyone who values sportsmanship.

 

inb4 Anita Sarkeesian has a field day with this

 

I'm francophone, so maybe there has been a drift in the usage of the word "sport" in English that I'm not aware of, but in French sports basically means "A physical activity involving rules or particular techniques". Doing bike is a sport, so is running, tennis, skateboard, golf if you're kinda serious, billiard/pool with a stretch. But not sitting on a chair, even if your heartbeat increases... What you seem to despise are douchebags and tools, but that's normal

I agree it can be fun to watch, even-though I'm really not into it, and can even be practiced on a professional level. But c'mon, if eAthletes are athletes then wrestlers are "fighters"?

Glad to see this board still is one of the rare place on the internet where women are respected and well-treated, female members themselves but also in general the opinion of most members.

FG

 

English allows the use of sport to describe gaming championships because it has a similar spirit as a physical competition. In regards to peoples' attitude towards women I think it has to do with three main issues.

Gamers can be socially awkward, and talking to women may be somewhat alien to them when all they have known is how to talk to men (which is often being a shithead to one another). The alternate cause might be that they think being rude is funny, and on the web there are few repercussions for being so.

Lastly, women have a large advantage on any place where they are few and men are many. Some abuse this leverage and may derail conversations or beg for free things etc. Not to say that they're all guilty of this, but if you flaunt the fact you're a gamer girl then you might get shit on.

 

I guess for the purposes of this topic we're talking professional sports, or spectator sports.

 

You can say that again. I was going to call it too...

Tbh, I've never been to a gaming/tech forum where women weren't respected as people (sometimes, they can get a little too extreme about it). If I do run into one, it will be a surprise.

EDIT: IMHO, reddit and 4chan don't really count.

True this. Sometimes it can be one extreme or the other. What I mean is that there are some who will totally freak out and get on the offensive (I haven't seen this type personally, but have heard more than enough stories of women being mistreated on Xbox Live during Halo matches), to the types that will completely put them on a pedistal and try to suck up to them. It's important to know that they are just people like us dudes.

Another good point, because since they are a protected class, they can use political correctness to their advantage if they see fit.

Lastly, this is an unpopular opinion, but I'm going to say it anyway. The term "Gamer Girl" has been used in a way to gain attention and/or distinction far too often, so I don't really like it. I don't care what your race, gender, religion, nationality, or even what your favourite flavoured ice cream is. You like games? I like games! That's cool with me, now let's blow stuff up! A day or two ago, I mentioned that I'm a (mostly) black game dev because I wanted to see if there were any more like myself, since I almost never see any IRL. I didn't do it because I wanted attention or distinction from the predominately white crowd. The fact that you aren't a straight white man doesn't necessarily make you special, but at the same time shouldn't make you a target either. We're all gamers, let's keep it that way.

Shogun.

 

There ain't enough smilies to sum up my feelings while reading this line but it's a mix of; :stupid::dejection::grief::disgust::suspicion:

Definitely one for @EverydaySexism

 

Maybe when video games stop being the most shallow form of entertainment around?

Well, chess is officially recognized as a sport by the IOC...then again, they are corrupt as shit so their opinion isn't worth much. Personally, I feel both video games and chess aren't sports.

The reason this is done seems really absurd: they're basically saying "Well, real sports segregate genders, so if e-Sports are to become real sports, we need to segregate them as well!" even though in video games gender is basically meaningless compared to physical sports. Also, now I need to throw up in my mouth a little for typing the word "e-Sports".

 

Try playing indie games. (8bit styled platformers don't count)

On XBL it is more about hazing than it is discrimination. If you are not female but a minority or gay they will use that instead. Occasionally people are simply smack talking and get too invested.

 

I haven't willingly played a game by EA or Activision since the 90s. Also, I pretty much gave up on AAA gaming in 2008.

This.

Of course, trash talking is an online gaming tradition. I've done my fair share, and received my fair share, but nothing too extreme. Sometimes they do get a bit carried away.

I've heard a story about a man who was playing Halo2 back in the mid-2000s under his girlfriend's gamertag, and he said he received some nasty messages along the lines of "This is a man's game bitch". That's just too much. Around the same time, I watched a youtube video of a gay gamer who gets lots of trash talk because he's gay. Although the gay man didn't sound too angry, he simply recorded a few of his matches where the other gamers would comment on his nickname saying "do you like to get it up the ass?" and other similar statements. I haven't seen any of this personally though, and I don't think it's as frequent as some people claim either.

Shogun.

 

Those people are awful, but what else could you do besides mute and report 'em? Getting you angry is what they want sometimes.

edit:They have repealed the gender ban.