Does Melee: Battlegrounds have Esports potential?

[Tomas_Miles_again]

And if so, will the donkey crew capitalise on it?

[_GTX_]

I don't believe it has, even though that would be amazing. I just dont see it collecting a big enough playerbase to actually support a decent competitive scene. I do however believe that the very game, as a concept has potential, because i expect the skill roof to be pretty high.

[Teeth]

The game can probably get a strong competitive scene if it is designed right, but it is probably going to be small. I have no clue where the distinction between an 'E-sport' and a competitive games lies, but the game caters to somewhat of a niche audience and won't be super accessible.

[Tomas_Miles_again]

What do the most popular esports have in common? Koreans!

[[ptx]]

As i see it, whatever is super popular is an e-sport. Unless this gets steam top-played game, i doubt it will get e-sport status :/

[Tomas_Miles_again]

I would say some important points would be skill floor for entry, and also either matchmaking, or some other way of getting people who are crap to play other crap people and not get stomped repeatedly. People get put off by being stomped all the time. Inb4 "that compromises the depth of the gameplay", yes, I considered that. But look at the popularity of DTV when it first came out. Inb4 "twas broken"... errr... nope I've got nothing.

Anyhow, I think there is a chance the game could become an esport due to the following features present so far in cRPG:

Melee system is "Easy to learn, hard to master"

So far there is a wave of melee system games, yet none have had the same impact as Warband, so I believe there is still a niche for someone to add to the formula of melee+multiplayer = success. Could be melee + multiplayer + ranking + matchmaking + steam + workshop + twitch + global dedicated servers + localisation = success. (Wouldn't be very expensive at all either )

Lots of vanity and cosmetic variety

Edit: basically have your core competitive modes, and a couple of fun modes, allow community input and assets for those fun modes, and make it free to play, with an optional singleplayer campaign that people can buy.
Simples!

[[ptx]]

No, really, "e-sports" are all about popularity, not skill. Popularity = big money involved. That's about it. That's how CoD becomes an e-sport.

[Tomas_Miles_again]

Good point. I think Melee: Battlegrounds has the the potential to become popular though. Assuming a solid game achieving chadz's expections of the gameplay, the right people just needed to be directed to the game. Tonnes of games reviewers make their living by reviewing games, and tonnes of people buy games based on their opinions. They can be contacted. I think you are right about the popularity aspect. I just think it's entirely possible for Melee: Battlegrounds to be up there.

[Osiris]

it might get a decent competitive scene like native but i dont think it will be massive.

[Grumbs]

Games need to be casual first and foremost in order to work at a competitive level. Sounds contradictory but games like M&B won't get enough players for there to be a vibrant competitive scene.

Either you have ranking systems that put players of a similar skill together or you have low skill ceilings, which kind of defeats the object of having a competitive game. Otherwise you just don't get enough people playing because the top 20% drive the rest of the playerbase away as they can't compete and have fun

[Tore]

What do the most popular esports have in common? Koreans!

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[cmp]

Games need to be casual first and foremost in order to work at a competitive level.

Not at all, or there wouldn't be games like Starcraft high in the list of esports.

[Grumbs]

Not at all, or there wouldn't be games like Starcraft high in the list of esports.

Starcraft matches you by rank right? It puts bad players against bad players etc

What I should say is that that is the current trend anyway. LoL is super casual but is the world leader atm, and the majority who play it are low ranked. They wouldn't even play if they had to compete against top ranked players, like will happen in Battlegrounds. The best players will make the game hard to play for the average players

[Jarlek]

Not at all, or there wouldn't be games like Starcraft high in the list of esports.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooJOgo-8bToEW-PRePfc0q2P8RqbTpev

[cmp]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLooJOgo-8bToEW-PRePfc0q2P8RqbTpev

Your point being? Starcraft is a casual game because it's also played by non-pro players? Does that mean every game is casual?