Gaming at Exeter

The legitimacy of e-sports as a real “sport” has gradually become more and more universally accepted throughout the past few years. The moguls of online gaming such as Starcraft and League of Legends have risen as video games that have become so competitive as to start up a global e-sports arena where players can earn six-digit salaries, partake in nationally broadcasted events, and be sponsored by huge companies like Samsung.In July of 2013, the United States visa bureau declared that the massive online game League of Legends is a professional sport, and that professional gamers can obtain a visa to come to the United States for the sole reason of playing in a tournament.Furthermore, the perennial World Championship of League of Legends, attracted some 32 million viewers (to put that into perspective, only 18 million watched Game 6 of the 2013 World Series), including a sold-out Staples Center where the gamers were actually playing (along with extravagant performances of actors portraying in-game characters). Even members of my dorm, whose names I will leave anonymous, held a viewing party in one person’s room, staying up late into the night watching the championship games.Others frequently mention the popular soccer simulation game FIFA, and I’ve heard many stories around campus of funny moments, bets and the relative skills of various members among the student body.Video games here at Exeter, or at least within my dorm, seem to be a common use of the free time that people have on weekends or after classes. Those who don’t have away games for sports or some sort of club meetings spend many hours shooting aliens or blasting zombies, most frequently playing alongside their friends.It almost seems that video games have replaced some people’s social lives. Given the three S’s of Exeter of which you can supposedly only choose two (Sleep, Socializing, Studying), it seems some are choosing “Gaming” instead of “Socializing.” Of course, there are also those few that spend so much time playing games that they start losing sleep or failing academically, and friends have to remind them to get it together.But many are making new friends from gaming, and I know a few friends who recently put together a “League-fest” where students reserved a room in the Academy center, and around twelve people showed up to play against each other in League of Legends for a few hours.Although it may seem as if all gamers tend to be locked up in a room by themselves for 24 hours a day, this is clearly not the case. Gaming simply serves as another branch of socializing at Exeter for some people. As long as gaming does not replace the other 2 S’s, which gamers have to be aware of, gaming seems as harmless as watching movies or going to Stillwells for some ice cream with friends.Though, as often portrayed in stereotypes, most of the gamers that I encounter at the Academy are male, I do remember once sitting in Elm Street and overhearing a guy and a girl sitting across from me talking about professional League of Legends teams that had recently played in a tournament. It doesn’t take long to find female gamers that livestream their games on websites like Twitch.tv, which contributes the fourth largest amount of Internet traffic behind Netflix, Google and Apple.Though I am sure many advisors and parents will not be pleased with the fact that such a large community of gamers is arising at Exeter, gaming is simply another pastime that helps students struggle through the stressful school year.