The Estranged Indian Gamer

The 6 major factors

1. The Great Divide: There is/are no centralized body/bodies in India that organize(s) gaming events. These events are still resting on the shoulders of the handful scattered few who’ve refused to give up. However, each state or City is concerned with its own jig and is indifferent towards each other’s resource requirements. Despite knowing the fact that the gamers in India are on their own, they do not back each other up. This has something to do both with inflated egos as well as lack of understanding of the underlying paradigm that we cannot survive without each other’s help. The gamers are not united and have petty differences that plague the overall scene. No attempt has ever been made to bridge the gap. The gamers in smaller cities are dying for recognition and it hurts to see that they are eventually giving up on their dreams.

2. Gaming = Business: Gaming Cafe's have been sprawling all over India and have been quite instrumental in introducing the casual gamer to a competitive environment. However, no initiatives to coordinate zonal tournaments have come up from their side despite having the means (hardware and games) to do so. They have become mere money minting businesses which care about nothing but ROI.

3. Sponsors: Since those who have the means to make things happen are not backing up the ones who’re willing to take the initiatives, we witness things like the ESWC 2008 fiasco. A winning team gets some certificates and some prizes and the sponsors consider that to be it. Asia Pacific is a huge gaming market and is home to some of the most elite clans in each game genre. Sponsors have failed to realize that exposure is one of the key elements in putting the Indian gamer somewhere on the global circuit. Maybe they do realize but turn a blind eye to it altogether.

4. Professional Standards: Total mismanagement and chaos are something gamers have witnessed first-hand at numerous gaming tournaments. The potential of a professional crew that knows the tricks of the trade and has experience in organizing previous successful gaming events has not been tapped. Total schedule goof-ups, late starting tourneys and the likes are a huge turn off for those who travel all the way from another city/state to take part in a gaming event. This has to be the extreme case of roguish conduct one could ever be subjected to. WCG/ESWC rulebooks are treated more like optional formalities rather than a subject to be enforced religiously.

5. Greed: Utopia is a thinly veiled nightmare. The gamers currently seem to be satisfied with making money alone which is nothing but a cheap and short stint. Little do they realize that they've surrendered their own growth in the process. They’re in most of the cases sell outs who’ve stooped to the level of rigging an already drought of a competition using their connections and having a tournament the way they want it rather than having it laid out fair and square. Shameful and a disgrace. Period. No wonder why most of the bigger events have always had controversial endings. Robbing a fellow gamer of his chances to make it big is nothing new to the scene. This perennial loop of winning money and going home with absolutely no will to come out with contributions has been a trend off late.

6. Media Coverage : Most of the events held locally get little or no media coverage. Media is one of the most powerful means to reach the masses and make yourself heard. Sadly enough, little attention has been paid to this aspect.