The argument lies in you can say that any sport is a form of leisure to dumb your brain down a bit, and on that note using that phrase to describe a lot of professional gaming is outright false. I use basketball as an example to prove the above point, not because of any preference to it except my own. Chess is officially recognized as a sport by the Olympic committee. Now imagine chess with 5 players each controlling a single unique piece on the board in real-time, having to communicate strategy and make split-second decisions when engaging the enemy. It's mentally exhausting and requires a tightly knit team to play on a professional level, and the spread of characters used means adaptation for literally everyone. Because Player A chose to play B instead of C, the rest of his teammates must come up with an updated battle plan to best incorporate B's special abilities. Item builds may need to be changed. Maybe they can find a mismatch in one of the lanes. The other team must also think of the same thing. And they have to KNOW all of this as the game is loading. http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Heroes The above is a list of all the heroes a player can select in DOTA 2. Each character has 4 unique abilities with a variety of effects, ranges, and cooldowns on TOP of the hero's native stats. All of this must be taken into account in a match. So you must be ready to recall 20 different abilities you'll have to possibly face in the time it takes to load a game. http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Items These are a list of items characters can buy. There are recommended builds wherein you should buy specific items, but you must also use all of the above information and realtime analysis of the battle to choose the best course of action for your purchasing decisions. Gameplans may need to be modified because of how mid lane is faring, or the team's strategy on when they want to push for a tower. Now take note this is from someone who altogether hates MOBAs with a passion. But even I can admit that there is a lot of thinking and literal physical stress involved with playing the game. I can't imagine how that is on the professional level. TL;DR Chess is recognized by the Olympic Committee as being a sport, all of your arguments are invalid.
I like how instead of attempting to have a rational discussion about things, you're brushing off entire structured arguments and counterpoints to be a smart-ass.
I agree with ColdPlay. And I've learned quite well that having rational discussions/debate/arguments with some people is just impossible.
I'm not having an argument in the first place. Reed asked for my opinion and I provided it. Every post of mine was simply an opinion. I didn't aim for a logical structured argument debate to begin with. That's fine that you hold those opinions (or facts, as some psychological effect your upbringing has had on you will lead you to believe), but that is mine. I am not brushing off your argument, I simply do not agree with it. Regardless of what technicality in structure and form gaming is similar to basketball/football/soccer/etc., my personal opinion still stands that it's not something I find sensible to be deemed a sport. I don't consider using thumbs and trigger fingers to be on the same level as having incredible athleticism, first of all. Secondly, I still think sports as a source of revenue itself is laughable. Entertaining, yes. The multi-million dollar economy it is, no. Reed asked for everyone's thoughts, and those are mine. They were not set up to trigger a debate or have you come here as you do with yours self-entitled knower-of-all-things attitude and tell me my opinion is wrong. I'm quite aware of your personality and mannerisms here, Kacy, but that doesn't mean I ignored your structured argument in favor of standing by my opinion that doesn't have anything to do with technicalities but rather my personal preference. As for you, Jesse, even when you've been on my ignore list for a year plus now, I still find you making your remarks and your witty little jabs at me in posts and the shoutbox. You've got to get out more, man, because this obsession is starting to worry me.
I want personal opinions. Edit: I just went back and read the thread again. I believe I can sum it all up in one smily C'mon guys, it's just video games. No need to be up in arms about it.