Esport Player (INTERVIEW)

1. Career path

1.1. After done with Competing

1.1.1. Coaching for teams that are still inexperienced (Player)

1.2. He used to consider playing e-sport for living but his family didn’t give him a support (due to the money that he get) and also his friends in the team didn’t have a long term plan on competitively play e-sport games. (ONLINE GAMER1)

1.3. He started playing games since his young age especially online game on PC. In gamer community and society, people are really interested in competition. The reason is the same thing as we like playing football as a kid. When we grow up, we want to learn more about professional football players. Even if we didn’t follow them as our career path, we are still football fan club. (Facebook admin 2)

1.4. During high school, he wanted to be a pro-player, but he didn’t get an opportunity. Eventhough, he is skillful,there was no team contacted him. It may be because he didn’t join any community or group. (Online gamer 2)

1.5. At first, I was just someone who love to play games. Two years ago, I started to see a few eSports competitions in Thailand and recognized that the reward is pretty high. So, I decided to join eSports community, which I later got a chance to work with Thailand eSports Club. (Facebook Admin 1)

2. Competitiveness

2.1. Within the eSports community, competitions that have high reward are more competitive than others. (Facebook admin 1)

2.1.1. But the competition between eSports and other regular sports are much more intense. After eSports become one of the sports, it is competitive to find the players, to be accepted, to find the sponsorship. (Facebook admin 1)

2.2. He thought that competitiveness in games depending on the popularity of the game. The more popular, the more competitive the game is because people get paid more. Similar to football which is one of the most popular sport, it’s very competitive. There are very big fan club base, large football field, many sponsors, and high pay for football players. Therefore, everyone wants to be a football player. Meanwhile, other sports like Sepak Takraw or Pétanque are less competitive because their popularities are less than football. (Facebook admin 2)

3. Community

3.1. He said that he had a chance to know many new friends which somehow turn into a big community( he had a chance to go to the League because his friend in the game invited him). (ONLINE GAMER1)

3.2. Mostly, community in the world of esports contact each other in online world. There are many ranges of age in our community depending on the games they play. Some games attract young people than others. Some attract middle age people than others. Similar to sports fan, basketball fan would have different characters from football ball fan. (Facebook Admin 2)

3.3. I feel like everyone in eSports community are trying to proof the society that eSports is a type of sports that should be accepted worldwide. (Facebook Admin 1)

4. Negative impacts on the gamers or players

4.1. It also affected his studying since when he came home, he need to practice the game first(others player are waiting) and then he would turn to his homework (since it is an individual work) (ONLINE GAMER1)

4.2. Somebody can't manage their time. Spend time playing so much that they forget to eat or do their job. Sometimes, he make too loud noise and annoy other people in the house. (Online Gamer 2)

5. Preparation

5.1. He said that each different games required totally different skills. For example MOBA game needs a lot of real-time strategies and each person in each team has to perform a very different task to serve the same objective, So he practiced a lot with his team online. (ONLINE GAMER1)

5.1.1. these skills can be used in the real world a lot regarding unexpected situation, plan, teamwork (we need to know more about teammates first).

5.2. Become a player because they like to play the game and he's interested in the competition so he so he decide to compete (Player)

5.2.1. Supported by parents and friends

5.2.2. Need determination, disciplined, follow the drills, and know their roles

6. Impact on the society

6.1. If the sports involve physical fitness, eSports also involve ability of planning and organizing. eSports players have to be trained and practice a lot similar to other sports. (Facebook Admin 1)

6.2. He believes that anything that causes movement will push the society forward. Esports help create new career opportunities. (Facebook admin 2)

6.3. He said that E-sport and tournaments that have reward help reduce insult and negative perception that games always make you waste time, money and negatively affects your health. Moreover, if you can get in to a team, you will receive monthly salary as well or even receive money from sponsors. (Online Gamer 2)

7. Lifestyle in general

7.1. Playing games during free time ex. ROV, Candy Crush (Facebook Admin 1)

7.2. Nothing much during the day practice in the evening 8pm-11pm. discussion and analysis until midnight. Later than that they can either rest or play games (Player)

7.2.1. Revenue from Salary and prize money

7.3. He dedicated a lot when it comes to the league. He may have to spend 6 hours more for practicing at home. Also, if it’s getting more intense, he would go to see his team offline to practice. (ONLINE GAMER1)

7.4. He started to play online games seriously since Grade 3, and joined competitions since M.1. He chose the game or tournament based on his interest and competence. In grade4, he went to see the tournament at Paragon hall, but after that he mostly watch video online instead because it’s more convenient. Currently, he doesn’t play much because he is bored and there are a lot of homework to do. (Online Gamer2)

8. How have eSports changed overtime?

8.1. People used to think of game players negatively as a Dek Tid Game. However, some of those Dek Tid Game has finally become an eSports player. Many adults are opened to games and give them an opportunity to proof themselves. (Facebook Admin 1)

8.2. In the advanced world of technology, every communities (movies, cartoon, sports, music) have changed through social media and online platform. Some may be affected differently but what they share in common is that they get larger fan club base. More people who share the same interest gather together as a community which create many new activities. However, the downside is that it is encouraging more cheating. There are many cases that commentators or esports players are deceived on their pay. In severe cases, some didn’t get pay at all but they couldn’t do anything because it was very hard to track people in the online world (Facebook admin 2)

9. By Group 8 : Amm Book Mine Nan Bee