In the digital creative section of the 2020 Yangtze River Delta Cultural Fair, e-sports racing attracts players’ experience. Photo by Chen Yuyu/Bright Picture
E-sports players are at the competition site. Bright picture
[narrating]
editorial comment/note
On November 30th, entrusted by occupational skill testing authority, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the China Cultural Management Association held the final meeting of the national vocational skills standards for "e-sportsmen" in Beijing, and the national vocational skills standards for "e-sportsmen" came to the fore.
In recent years, numerous e-sports among young people have gradually developed into a mass movement. In 2019, e-sports operators and e-sports players entered new occupations. In 2020, China will surpass North America for the first time and become the most commercially valuable e-sports market.
On the one hand, the market calls for more e-sports professionals; On the other hand, how to keep the boundary between "participating in e-sports" and "indulging in games" still puzzles many parents, teachers and students. The standardized development of e-sports industry is timely. Bright Think Tank presents all kinds of people in this emerging industry from different angles, feels the love, struggle and dreams of young people, and also faces the understanding, worries and expectations of all sectors of society on the e-sports industry.
Let the e-sports industry "stand out" and not "walk alone"
Narrator: Zhu Qinqin, Secretary General of Shanghai E-sports Association
In 2016, I changed from an e-sports bystander to an e-sports participant and operator and joined the Shanghai E-sports Association. Shanghai is the birthplace of e-sports in China, and it is also the first city in China to establish a local e-sports association. When I joined, the association had been established for 9 years. Compared with my predecessors, I caught up with a good time — — Five golden years of e-sports development. E-sports in China has experienced nearly 20 years of development, only then has it transitioned from "grassroots" stage to semi-professional stage, and then entered the "golden stage" of systematization and standardization.
Before engaging in e-sports, I was an organizer and operator of traditional sports events. It took me a year to spend the initial confusion period and corrected the idea of changing the development of e-sports with the traditional model. I realized that e-sports was born with a unique rule system and language model, which took time to accumulate and gradually formed the general rules like traditional sports.
After contacting the e-sports circle, I found that e-sports players are generally eager to be accepted and afraid of being misunderstood. For example, a young player with a rich annual income once said to me, "I always dare not look up and say hello to my neighbors when I go in and out of the community with my teammates every day, for fear that they will regard me as a bad teenager."
Professional e-sports is a more cruel subdivision than traditional professional sports. The maintenance period of players’ careers is shorter and the competitors’ groups are larger. Especially for those relatively young professional e-sports players, their minds are still in the development stage, but they must accept the social pressure, workplace pressure and professional pressure that many adults will face in advance. In order to improve this situation, we have formulated and issued the "Administrative Measures for the Registration of E-sports Athletes in Shanghai (Trial)" to give children a more formal and extensive recognition, so that their self-worth can be more completely realized. Like the whole e-sports industry, these children are "maverick" rather than "independent". They are fighting for their dreams and making due efforts for their love.
Shanghai has abundant e-sports soil, intensive e-sports related enterprises, advanced e-sports supporting technology, high-quality school education resources, and a huge audience and e-sports enthusiasts. However, with the rapid development of the industry, the phenomenon of talent gap and unequal supply is becoming prominent. It is expected that Shanghai will continue to expand its advantages and attract the attention of the global e-sports community.
E-sports education is not just "teaching people to play games"
Narrator: Visiting Professor, School of Animation and Digital Art, Communication University of China, co-founder and COO of Hero Sports VSPN Zheng Duo.
In 2018, I was hired as a visiting professor at the School of Animation and Digital Art of Communication University of China, and offered compulsory courses such as e-sports event planning and production, e-sports event broadcast and execution, and e-sports introduction for students majoring in digital media art in digital entertainment and e-sports.
Compared with the prosperity of e-sports in China, there is a serious shortage of personnel in the e-sports industry. E-sports education in China has not yet formed a unified standard and a complete theoretical system, and practice and teaching are not unified. Many people have a great misunderstanding about e-sports education, and think that e-sports education only teaches people to play games. In fact, e-sports professional player training is only a very small part of it, and e-sports education also includes many contents, such as commercialization, copyright, production and broadcasting of e-sports operation management. At present, there are few universities offering e-sports related majors, especially double-class universities, and there is a serious fault in undergraduate and above education.
In the course of teaching, I found that young people have great interest in e-sports. Many college students have taken e-sports courses one after another, and they can always ask sharp and unique questions in class. I appreciate their active thinking and encourage them to practice in e-sports related industries.
Students always ask me: how to judge whether I am suitable for employment in the field of e-sports? In my opinion, at least two questions should be considered: first, is it based on a high degree of love and interest? Although e-sports is a sunrise industry, it will encounter many tests of physical fitness and professional ability. When it is painful, doubtful and shaken, it needs heartfelt love to support it. Secondly, do you know enough about the industry prospects? Although the benefits of e-sports are high, it may not be suitable for everyone. We should rationally choose our specific position in the industry. For example, it is a good choice to work in an event operation company or a game company, but most students should not aim at professional players.
I am deeply touched that e-sports is valuable because of its positive attitude, fighting spirit and positive values. While developing professional e-sports, we are also cooperating with relevant organizations to improve a series of systems to prevent teenagers from indulging in games and guide them to develop their personal hobbies correctly.
Hold on! For the dream of sports competition
Narrator: TS Adou, champion of E-sports Beijing 2020 the glory of the king World Champions Cup.
In 2017, I worked in a restaurant run by my parents and played games in my spare time. It happened that the glory of the king City Competition was held in Hangzhou. I teamed up with several good friends to try, but I didn’t expect to win the third place. I realized that I had some potential in e-sports, so I took part in the club trial.
In training, I found that I was good at playing the auxiliary position (protective hero), so I decided my task was "with rhythm" — — Constantly help and cooperate with teammates, and tell them what to do, and help them adjust their mentality when the team is in a bad state.
Although the training pressure is great, I think professional e-sports is very attractive — — We can fight for collective honor with our teammates, and there are many fans who support us and get the dream and passion of competitive sports from us.
The game that impressed me the most was the World Cup in 2020. The previous lineup of the rival DYG team was very fierce, and we almost collapsed.
In the third game, we adjusted our tactics and replaced them with a strong offensive lineup. Everyone cheered each other up and gritted their teeth, and finally turned defeat into victory after losing three games in a row, defeating their opponents with a record of 4: 3. Now that I think about it, my heart is still surging.
Professional e-sports is very different from playing games, and its elimination mechanism is cruel. I haven’t had a chance to play a game for a long time, and I have a lot of worries about the future. I only persisted with confidence. Every time we hold a players’ meeting, we will replace about 20% of the players compared with the last one. The cruelty of competition is self-evident. Sedentary, less exercise, staying up late, and irregular work and rest are the normal life of e-sports players, so the physical discomfort and vision problems brought by them also plague every e-sports player.
E-sports is a veritable "youth meal". I was born in 1998 and I am about to retire. I have thought about how to arrange my life in a few years. Dropping out of school is my biggest regret all the time, so I want to go to college and study literature after I retire. I want to be a poet since I was a child.
E-sports career commentary: laughter, tears and growth
Narrator: KPL professional league commentator/host linger
At the end of 2017, I was a sophomore majoring in broadcasting and hosting in China Communication University. Because I usually like watching e-sports competitions, I participated in the selection of e-sports commentary.
Compared with professional hosts, e-sports commentary is an unknown "blue ocean". The e-sports industry emphasizes its own growth and efforts. An e-sports team will face the risk of dissolution if it doesn’t win the championship. Even the star players who have won five FMVP (Finals Most Valuable Player Award) often face the pressure of being rotated as substitutes. E-sports commentary is also facing a similar severe test — — Exam once every six months, ranking with multi-dimensional scores every month, and start the mechanism of elimination or decentralization.
The teacher told me: "E-sports commentary is like being a tour guide. You should explain the competition in a fascinating way." In order to avoid the serious "academic" hosting style, I keep watching videos, adjusting my language style, and often send explanatory videos to my parents, who will give me a lot of useful advice from the perspective of ordinary audiences.
The first time I explained the competition was on April 29, 2018. In order to get ready, I didn’t sleep for almost three days and nights and printed a thick stack of materials. Commentary needs to be improvised, so be prepared for all possible situations in advance. In addition to professional knowledge, I also recorded which heroes each contestant had played, their winning percentage, team characteristics, tactical style and how many times they had played against opponents. In addition, I went to their Weibo and friends circle to learn about their daily training and personal characteristics, trying to make the explanation more vivid.
In the webcast, netizens can spit in the barrage at any time and express their ideas through various channels. It’s hard to adjust people’s opinions. I’ve also seen netizens’ comments and crying.
If you ask me why I like e-sports and choose to explain the industry, I want to tell a story: in 2017, I watched the third KPL professional league finals in my dormitory. Two teams, QGhappy and XQ, played against each other. In the end, the XQ team missed the championship. When they passed the championship trophy, Artest looked up at the trophy, his eyes were full of nostalgia, longing and indomitable spirit. This look touched me greatly. Now I have changed from an audience to a practitioner, and Artest has also turned to be a commentator, and I have become colleagues and friends. This kind of fate is the beauty of e-sports as I understand it.
Professional players never run away and will not choose to surrender.
Narrator: Agirl female professional team player Liu Liu
In 2019, when I was a freshman, I saw the recruitment poster of e-sports players in my circle of friends. The coach said that my strength can try to play professional league. So, with the support of my family and counselors, I dropped out of school to participate in training.
Judging from the situation in previous years, the development of female e-sports players is more limited than that of male players. The proportion of female players is not high, and there are few female team competitions. Most girls are relatively sensitive to emotions, more susceptible to the surrounding environment and more anxious about their age, so they should constantly adjust their state and overcome various difficulties in training. Fortunately, more and more attention has been paid to the selection and competition of women’s teams in recent years, which has given us more opportunities. In order to ensure the quality of training, everyone worked very hard, with the same intensity as the men’s team, and never lowered their requirements.
Playing games before was not only fun, but also a way for me to relieve my academic pressure. After becoming a professional player, I found that "playing games" became a boring and even frustrating thing. We train for more than 12 hours every day, so we have to sit on the e-sports chair, unlike lying on the sofa to play. Sometimes in training, I feel very painful when I meet my teammates who are negative, but the coach will seriously educate us: never click the surrender button. I deeply remember the coach’s words: professional players never run away and will not choose to surrender at any time.
I hope she can learn to grow and gain happiness in e-sports.
Narrator: mother Liu Liu
Liu Liu likes playing games since she was a child. After entering high school, her grades have declined a little. She plays games as soon as she comes home on weekends. We are opposed to this. Fortunately, Liu Liu did not lose control, and after adjusting her state, she was admitted to the university smoothly.
One day soon after entering the university, Liuliu suddenly told us that she planned to drop out of school for several years and go to the e-sports club for vocational training. For e-sports, we are not ignorant. We have also seen the development of the e-sports industry in recent years and basically agree with this profession. But we are still worried: can this choice give children a chance to grow up? Will playing professional games and doing live broadcasts have an impact on your health? But Liu Liu is an independent and independent child with enough execution; So, I said to her, "How lucky I am to take my hobby as a career! It is one thing to succeed, but if you think about it clearly, you can try it. "
This is the first time that Liu Liu entered the society. E-sports players all appear in the form of teams, and interpersonal skills are more important than personal achievements. Liu Liu often discusses with us who disagreed with her in the competition today and how she handled it. We don’t know professional skills, but we can discuss these problems with her and give her advice. We will watch the live broadcast of the competitions she participated in, and we are very happy to see her progress.
Now it seems that Liu Liu is not a three-minute fever. She really works hard. We see that she has become more mature and intelligent, and this kind of thinking ability and life training will be very beneficial for her to engage in other industries in the future, so we are very pleased. I support her to go on, hoping that she can satisfy her interest and gain happiness in this process. Of course, I also want to remind parents that the story of June 6th may not be universal, nor can it be simply copied. Every child has different talents and should be guided patiently according to the specific situation. E-sports is a promising road, but there are also various temptations on the roadside. We must help children who are interested in it to think rationally and choose carefully.