[NvJazBas]

Hi guys.

As some of you may know (or may not), I'm a high school teacher now. As it's that age where students do love computer gaming, I was hoping to promote "healthy gaming" at my school next year as I obviously have passion for esports and gaming.

So I'm wondering, apart from the obvious answers that research/media provides us with the "good sides" of gaming such as development of multitasking skills etc, what are some of the "good effects" you've experienced as a gamer (or even a casual gamer)? It'd be awesome to get some replies from full/part-time pros, but even if you are a casual gamer who just loves to play, please reply whatever comes to your mind

Thanks all and happy/healthy gaming!

Quick Comments

Satu:

Im sure you'll be an amazing teacher!

[Eddie]

Some of the positives i've experienced first hand, or seen others do:

1- Opportunities to travel
2- Meet new people
3- Make lasting friendships
4- Set goals and achieve them
5- Accept defeat, and build from your loses/mistakes
6- Have a hobby/some avenue to put your passion into
7- Win $'s, possibly make a career

[fray`Eros]

As someone who graduated High School last year I thought it would be decent to add my two cents.

The first thing I always loved about Gaming and Esports to an extent was the new people I got to meet through it, I now have friends all over the country and a couple of oversea's homies who I never would have had the opportunity of meeting without Starcraft 2. I'm also a very shy person but like a lot of people I know found it a lot easier to talk with people online, so it can be a bit easier for people like me too make friends through online gaming.

The other main aspect of esports I loved is the competition, throughout school I played a lot of sports but I was naturally pretty short and not the fastest so I found that a lot of the time even if I put the hours of practice in other kids just had a natural advantage over me. Whereas in games like Starcraft I would call it very pure competition, when you sit down at lan across from someone the winner will always be the better player. At the end of the day it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from, if you put the hours in you can become one of the best. Not because of anything else but pure skill alone and I guess thats alway appealed to me a lot.

Sorry if this is a little incoherent but I only just recently woke up, but I hope I can help in some ways.

Quick Comments

	syfRize:	Solid post.
	syfMightyKiwi:	This^ People i've met through SC2 are some of my best friends

[Blysk]

-Marketing/branding (yourself), learning how sponsorships work/ what sponsors expect/approaching them, learning about contracts, seeing through scams.
-Meeting new people from all walks of life with the common passion.
-Analysis of basics, how to practice games-> how to practice other things in life.
-Strategic understanding in Games relating to Life tactics.
-Being thickskinned to get opportunities.
-Streaming basics
- Learning how to Troll
-Learning how to circle jerk
-Learning how to blend into inside jokes such as "S A F E"

-Learning more about yourself through the struggles of practice, grinding. (Especially since SC2 is a solo game, imo we learn so much from handling the pressure that's on us)

i'm pretty sure there's a shit ton more but hey here's a starter

[ROOTProbe]

Meeting people who have the same passion as you and becoming friends with them. Esports has provided me with so much joy and fun because of this reason.
Another good thing is that when you achieve whatever goal you are aiming for, all your effort becomes worth it. Perhaps this teaches that in life if you want to do something you must work hard and in a smart manner to reach it.

[NvJazBas]

Getting great responses guys Keep them coming! I want to use these responses to maybe even start like an esports club at the school and try promote healthy gaming where students can benefit from both playing the games where they can take out their stresses, and approach parents in healthier way with "gaming"

Quick Comments

syfRize:

the esports generation of teachers is here boiz

[x5.Crescendo]

I think there is a definite value in the shared sense of community and passion that exists in eSports. The best benefits I think are in the social aspect.

Since returning to starcraft in 2014, on a whim of nostalgia, I've met a lot of awesome people I'd have otherwise never have met - both online and in person.

In an age where the mainstream media can still fall back on the old and inaccurate cliche of 'stay at home gaming nerds', eSports events - from global events such as Blizzcon/Dreamhack/IEM down to localised events such as Respawn, ACL, Redflag, Barcrafts etc - are proving that gaming is very much a socialising phenomena.

Gamers get together based on a shared passion for competition, even when physical distance would otherwise prevent it: there is little to no difference between people who get together to watch a football or cricket match on tv, and people in different states/countries who hop into a skype call or google hangout while watching an eSports event. (If anyone hasn't done this, it's a bloody good time.)

At the same time, I think eSports communities are very good for learning to deal with conflict. Gamers are opinionated, competitive, and generally have the kind of strong ego needed to survive competitive play - and this is very much a positive thing in my opinion.

I think, in an era where you often see younger folks becoming a bit too 'precious' and developing an overblown and grandiose sense of entitlement, gamers are in a place where people have their claims and viewpoints challenged frequently. In eSports, nobody is a special snowflake - anyone who succeeds has done so through their own sweat, and those who don't succeed have had the satisfaction of knowing they gave it a bloody good shot.

eSports encourage people to take pride in their passion, in embracing the spirit of competition, and to share their interests with others. I have found it to be, in general, a very welcoming and inclusive community.

This is, I believe, a very important part of learning to live in the modern world. And this is a stark contrast to some other online communities I've seen, such as certain areas of tumblr, where they primarily seem to form echo chambers where people get together in order to agree with each other and shield themselves from opposing viewpoints.


[This rambling post brought to you by someone who couldn't TL;DR to save his own life]

[Elusory]

Are we just talking about eSports or gaming (single player) in general? I'll share about both

eSports / Online communities

I think one of the most overlooked area of online communities is people can actually find emotional support as long as you meet the correct people. Disregarding all the chances that you can get scammed / kidnapped / groomed etc., sometimes friends online give better advice than what your family or real friends can provide. It isn't just the homeless or disabled who need our care and concern, ordinary people like us also need a listening ear once in a while, and if we can't find them offline, someone online out there is always willing to give their time and help you. So for those who always generally have a shit day at school / work, games / community can be their "escape zone" to keep their well-being at a decent level.

Sometimes, in very rare cases, people learn manners / social skills online as well. I think I don't have to go into details for this one, quite straight-forward.

Gaming (in general)

Completing achievements / goals in a game can be very similar to studying. Some achievements require you to keep working at it until you eventually get it, some achievements require you to be of a certain "level" to get it. It encompasses the concept of progressive training. You can't just sit for an exam hoping that you're already at the level to take it without studying. You have to put in consistent effort to keep your grades high, and not just cram whatever you can at the end of the year. It actually also kinda applies to everything in life (running, building a relationship, blahblah).

I also agree with everything that has been said above, so I hope I didn't repeat anything in my post!

[syfSoundwave]

I'd second what people are saying about friendships. Considering I always have Skype open I probably talk to the ETL guys more than anybody else, and I absolutely treasure the time I spend at LANs talking with them and all my other StarCraft buddies. Hotel with the SYF boys and chats @ LAN are good times.



I this picture. The ETL guys at ACL Melbourne this year.

[Philosopher]

At least from the Administrative point of view, and Eddie can probably add to this, but outside of the Player-associated tasks of gaming:

1.Learning time management.
2.Learning how to respond quickly and appropriately to random events/circumstances that may arise.
3.Constructing a brand that people recognize
4. Communication Skills.

[syfChadMann]

Everything has already been said that I would add except touch typing. I can type proficiently mostly due to gaming and online communities.

Quick Comments

Pox:

http://asdfrace.com/

[syfRize]

Speaking from a high school perspective, as I was recently in high school and only got into sc2 midway through~ It worked wonders helping me open up to people and discuss something that I had a lot of passion for.

It helped me discover new communities, make new friends, even bond with my dad a lot more (he was an avid brood war player, casual though). Sc2's helped me in a lot of ways, but the best thing it's done is allowed me to meet what I now consider my second family.

[Legionnaire]

Slightly different.

For me, i was always told to stop wasting my time playing games. I'd never make anything out of it.

In the end i had a lot of fun playing a competitive game that i love. The strategy ability of it, where if you make the better moves you win really appealed to me. I was able to do a lot of travel. Korea for 3 years. China multiple times. USA twice. Italy. Singapore. Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Sydney.

Get to make lots of friends in lots of countries which i still talk to a decade later.

Learning how to improve. Learning self reflection about how retarded you are and how little you actually know. I remember that i was the #1 Aus seed and I was attending the WCG in Korea, and i saw giyom (the canadian broodwar player) playing, and he did something pretty basic with his move attack. I was dumbstruck. It was so obvious and clever, yet i'd never done it let alone thought of it.

Over that time i grew up a lot. Met a lot of interesting people. Learnt a lot of life lessons particularly in relation to good manners, professionalism and communicating with important people. Morphing from the gaming aspects of "always thank the sponsors" of events into, always thank the boss of the random xmas party that you were somehow invited to through a friend of a friend. You'd be amazed at what doors are opened just be being polite and thankful. Particularly in IT (where i now work). Its such a small industry and you always run into the same people again.

Also actually having the guts to walk up and talk to the head of multi million dollar companies and starting up a conversation gives great confidence in talking to any random person about anything. Most people are too scared to even talk to their boss in the elevator in the morning. People never remember the guy who didn't speak to them. But they often remember those that do. How do you think your pay review will go when you are in the room with the boss who you are on friendly terms with because you are the only one not scared of talking to him? Much better than if you don't.

Hmmm this morphed a bit away from where i was intending. But oh well. A bit of philosophical musings thrown in.

[Satu]

Biggest things for me is a better understanding of how to learn a skill and self improvement. I don't think I need to explain either, I have a feeling you all know why starcraft is a good game for that. You're pretty much forced to get these skills eventually or never progress in rank.

[deth]

-Meet Jazbas
-Idolise Jazbas
-Jazbas is god
-Jazbas420

thats all i got sorry man

[syfCabracan]

Echoing what other people have said a lot of my best irl friends have come from gaming. I got into exercise and weight lifting through starcraft. When I came to the few times in my life that I've had to work hard it was the experience of training at starcraft that had developed the skills needed to efficiently do that. The skill of learning new skills was clarified to me when coaching my various students and I am sure the mental endurance I have built through mammoth ladder sessions has aided me in many of the longer tests in my life including the UMAT. Most importantly gaming has helped me refine my trolling skills to the point I was able to get the perfect human being to promise to "bm the shit out of me".

[NvJazBas]

all these are great! Thank you so much! I have finished my first year as a teacher successfully (I think..?) and finally on a long holiday All these responses I shall use to develop a healthy gaming culture in my school. Thank you all so much!

Originally Posted by deth

-Meet Jazbas
-Idolise Jazbas
-Jazbas is god
-Jazbas420

thats all i got sorry man

Haha this guyy. How are you Dan! Hope to catch up with you soon (Maybe I'll visit an ACL when it lands during school holiday time!) hope you are well!