The Leet king is backFollow

He got banned for harassment. I'm not quick to judge--that's a pretty delayed reaction actually. I don't really need to know anything else. The only thing that would matter is if he actually wasn't harassing anyone. But since they would have had the chat logs to prove it, that's not the case.

Athene was meh. Swifty I've only heard of because some of the music I listen to was used in some of his videos and his fanboys spilled out all over the YouTube music videos with "zomg thumbs up if u herd dis at swifty1!!!" comments.

His videos seem decent, but bloated. He spends a long time talking about strategies, all while he's being filmed doing something else (softball, fitness, you name it), followed by a few in-game shots of his character executing the strategies.

Meh, I really haven't watched enough of them to form a true opinion. I'll join the 'who cares?' crowd.

Yeah, I went back to university so I went on hiatus for a while. I passed my first year, so I managed to get a scholarship for year two!

Anyway, I find myself pottering about on my alts, and made a worgen, which hasn't even hit 80 yet. I am such a slacker.

I would have to agree with Mazra here. Not a big fan of personality that Athene portrays in his video. -shrug- Not holding it against him though. Can't please everyone and all that. A better question Rawdeal is why do you feel the need to defend Athene? He's a big boy who can handle a bit of criticism, especially if his real life personality is anything like his youtube personality.

I just don't know where to start, Raw.
I see that pretty much anything you ever post gets blasted into sub-default ignominy, and sometimes, well, you really deserve it. Other times, I think your reputation precedes you, and your posts get smooshed to sub-default unfairly.

But this thread?

Who the fu** plays a video game for a living? Does he actually get PAID to do so? Yeah, I didn't think so.
In this particular case, I think your devout adulation of this guy borders on the insane. Get a fricken' life.

As to defending some stranger "for fun"?
You really need some counseling to help you diversify your field of leisure activities.
Have fun playing WoW.
Forget having fun by being a leet douchebag.

Jeezus, I'm almost sorry I ever up-rated any of your posts.
Strike that. This thread definitely makes me sorry I ever up-rated any of your posts.

I know I can be a real **** sometimes but dang Capcanuk, that was a bit harsh. I certainly agree with this part.

After that though your argument goes downhill quickly.

Anyone who has a fairly large base of people who watch their youtube clips (or other forms of entertainment) do make a living off of playing a video games. Mind you, they certainly are not making a lot of money but they are earning a living. Also while Rawdeal did feel the need to try to compare e-peen it is hardly what I would consider "insane".

Not going to touch "get a fricken' life" or "You really need some counseling", just going to end on this last statement. The only douchebag I see in this thread is the person who wrote this.

What Digg said.

Wizard's Third Rule, Raw... Passion rules reason.* I wasn't bashing Athene's playing, I'm sure he's a better Paladin than I'll ever be, I was simply saying his products - his videos - were meh. Too much 'look at me!' and not enough 'here's some advice'. In short, he seems to be very full of himself, which others seem to think as well.


*Yeah, I'm a dork who cites fantasy novels.

Professional gamers can make a remarkable amount of cash, actually. The other side of that, though, is that there isn't much room in the industry for them. And they can quickly fade into obscurity (which takes their living with them).

But if you are able to consistently get 500,000 views on your videos, then it makes a company think.

A. For gaming-related companies, those viewers are almost completely in their target demographic.
B. These gamers are typically those interested in learning how to get ahead, which is even better.
C. By having your brand associated with high-end gaming, it ends

So, it's not surprising that they'd sponsor him.

Think about the specific PVP environment. Advice suggesting you get a precision mouse that has buttons for multiple keybinds is quite sound. If the sponsored player mentions they are using an <insert brand> <insert model> because he likes <insert features>, that's unbeatable advertising for the price for that company. What you get paid will depend on how many viewers your reliably get, what demographics they fall into, how actively you can advertise their wares, how long they expect you to be able to advertise reliably, whether or not you'd have an exclusive deal with them, etc.

Another pro is that they'll often provide the gaming system on top of everything, or at least a lot of parts. So you'll see professional gamers with a high-end system that's using the top CPUs, is water-cooled, overclocked, has multiple graphics cards, etc. So it's quite good for the gamer, since those setups cost thousands of dollars. And because the company gets their logo on everything, it pays for itself.

Doing some research, professional gamers (who are successful enough to have a company) earn a median of $30,000 a year. A lot of money? Hell no. But considering what you get it for... And you can make much more if you consistently win at tournaments and have good sponsors.

Also note that a LOT of pro-gaming stuff happens outside of the states. South Korea, for example, actually televises pro-gaming tournaments (Starcraft being the most note-worthy).

And this is only considering competitive gaming. There are plenty of professional game-testers, as well. Which is more than just playing free games.

That's true.

Realistically, the professional gaming field is now in two distinct positions.

On the one hand, there are the people who attract sponsors because of things like their YouTube channel.

On the other, there are the people who are on salary at a competition and/or living off of competition rewards.

Sometimes these overlap, but more often they don't. Competitors don't have time to make videos for YouTube, because they spend all their time practicing.

They also make less right now. On the other hand, there has been a slow but steady towards getting professional gaming televised in the US (in a non-gimmicky fashion, as in sports television like Tennis or BMX). Once that happens, they might start seeing much higher pay rates.

Once relevant companies realise that gamers are a big, big crowd, they'll try to market their product towards that crowd, so competetive gamers will probably get more money when this happens. For instance, I'm fairly sure that some of the top Starcraft 2 players in S.Korea are treated like Celebrities, somewhat and receive salaries that allow them to live in relative comfort. Although, It's also known that Professional SC2 players play for something like 8 hours a day minimum. It's only a matter of time before the west catches on.