Written By Daniel "Berzerk" Chlebowczyk
12 November, 2008 06:54 PM

Article courtesy of www.thecgs.com

One of the stereotypes that gamers are painted with is that they are isolated. Gamers are antisocial, hermit-like creatures spending long periods of time cut off from other people, zoning out and escaping into the worlds of video games. Right?

A great effect of eSports is that it explodes this myth by expanding on the most social aspects of gaming -- gatherings and the fun of competing with other people. The extremely social side of gaming culture is the root of eSports. CGS in particular, with its strong team dynamic, displays how effective and exciting the combined efforts of players can be.

Yet for Australian gamers and Pro players, isolation is a good catch-all for the major challenges still to be overcome before our teams are a major force on the world stage.

In the CGS, the SYDNEY UNDERGROUND has been a surprising success, truly punching above its weight to become Pan Asia Champions in 2008 compared to the rest of Asia, to Europe and to the USA. Attaining that success required the team to overcome some rather large obstacles.
berzerk

Ben Thomas looks on as the author competes in Wuhan.

Australia's population is only 20 million, whereas New York City, home to the 3D.NY franchise, has just shy of 20 million all on its own. Berlin Allianz, who knocked Sydney Underground out of the World Finals this year, draws players from Europe's 720 million people. Areas like these (and Asia) are also more densely populated, meaning travel for players to events is a more viable proposition.

This is a tough reality for Australian eSports organizers and players as we look at ways of bringing the best players to local events, qualifier events, and majors that may be distant from where individuals live. The two most populated cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are a 12-hour drive apart, making flying a must, and the associated costs are high. Spare a thought for players from Perth (on the West Coast) who need to deal with four hour flights just to get to another major city!

Being so spread out, it’s no surprise that Australian gamers seeking competition rely heavily on their internet connections. The expansion of high speed broadband has been frustratingly slow, but as even regional areas start to be more connected to the ADSL2 standard, the opportunity for more players to take part in competitive scenes is growing.

In fact, many LAN operations and local events are making way for more online competitions, causing some controversy among local eSports scenes. Is online play alone, and the lag that comes with it, acceptable for competitive play, or is it good enough that more people have an easy way to access competition, thus growing the community of players interested in eSports?

I asked Sydney Underground General Manager, Ben Thomas, to weigh in on the challenges for Australian gamers, and he was quick to acknowledge the ability of our players: “I have always maintained that Aussies have the natural talent to match it with the international superstars in a number of games, but lack the experience to come out on top in the big matchups.”

Ben certainly agreed that Oceania’s physical distance from the rest of the world is a high wall for Australian players to climb, commenting that “looking at the global scene, Australian and New Zealand players are extremely isolated, so international practice over the internet is not a viable option. This, more than anything else, makes it hard for local players to reach an international level of play.”