Talk:Hearthstone in esports

Change in scope?

@Dissident93: I was wondering why you changed the scope from this article away from professional play in general? I was hoping to be able to expand the streaming section in partiular as it's the primary way in which professional Hearthston players make a living. The streaming and competition scenes also seems strongly related. ~Mable (chat) 09:13, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

It was done in order to have the article standardized with other similar ones. Are Twitch streamers considered "professional"? Is anybody who receives any amount of donation for playing a game also considered one? ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 19:27, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

Well, The Daily Dot seems to say so:

According to our data, only 15 out of 265 players earned above the US federal minimum wage. And while that may appear bleak, keep in mind that tournament winnings are not the only source of income for most Hearthstone players. Aside from those who have other jobs, many players make far more from streaming than they do from tournaments.

The Guardian says something similar:

So the more consistent way to make a living playing Hearthstone might not be to head for the top of the tournaments, but instead focus on building up an audience eager to watch you play. That’s what a number of Hearthstone professionals do, turning to the streaming platform Twitch to play games in front of adoring fans.

Obviously, tournament play is getting more coverage by news sources, but the streaming is definitely part of the scene. The professional Hearthstone scene seems to have always been a combination of competition and streaming. See what Forbes had to say back in 2013:

Blizzard’s PR campaign behind Hearthstone has targeted popular streamers such as Kripparrian, causing the title to skyrocket to top Twitch.tv billings. There are already Hearthstone “pros” beginning to appear, as Trump and Razer formed what is allegedly the first official Hearthstone sponsorship. While these may not seem that earthshattering, the title is still very much in closed beta and seeing that kind of viewership and response already is incredibly impressive. Beta keys continue to roll out in waves as things lead up to the massive “Innkeeper’s Invitational” featuring personalities like Day9 at BlizzCon this year.

As you see, Blizzard's very first official tournament featured popular streamers rather than highly ranked players. These are my conclusions from reading the sources, anyway. ~Mable (chat) 20:10, 3 September 2016 (UTC)

@Dissident93: No comment to that? ~Mable (chat) 12:17, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

I see, but this doesn't change the fact that the article should still be known under "competition" rather than play, in my opinion. ~ Dissident93 ^(talk) 17:39, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

I suppose it doesn't matter too much. I just hope this can fit under its scope as well. It's a bit weird to ignore. ~Mable (chat) 18:27, 10 September 2016 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Professional League of Legends competition which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 15:49, 12 October 2018 (UTC)