Underage Age Rage - Esports

So yesterday I read an article on Lazygamer where they reported on a Call Of Duty LAN that was hosted by MWeb GameZone this past weekend. The significance of it was that it got some time on the news and so has made eSports just that little more visible in South Africa, with the news spot even stating that there is a possibility or at least a push for gaming to be recognised in schools as a sport where kids could even get colors for their blazers.

This is great but it brought about an interesting topic in the comments section about underage players according to the game's age restrictions. This is what I want to tackle a bit today.

The controversial conversation started with some of us asking about underage kids and whether they are allowed, or even should be allowed to take part in these tournaments.

The answer from Mweb was that any kid seen as "underage" has to have signed, parental consent to participate. Now this is all good and well and perfectly acceptable but is it really O.K? Before anyone asks, no I am not going to attack or berate MWeb Gaming for their acceptance of players with parental consent. I am simply talking about whether underage gaming should be alowed or not. 

You see, games such as CoD have age restrictions of 18+ for specific reasons. They are violent in nature and very graphical. Now I am not one of those that run around screaming "Gaming causes violence!". Far from it. I believe it can potentially have quite the opposite effect. However what does worry me is the effects it can have on younger, more impressionable gamers. 

You see, all gamers want eSports to be taken seriously and seen as a real sport. The problem with this is that in this regard the public eye is critical to the development of eSports in our society. The public already has a gross misunderstanding of what gaming is. There is still a stigma that it causes reclusive, unsocial and violent behavior and the general media does not help this image along any further.

Now imagine the general public see organisers such as MWeb Gaming or the MSSA allowing a 13 year old to partake in a Call Of Duty tournament. The public's first impression is going to be "But that's completely irresponsible." Secondly they aren't going to blame the parents for signing the consent forms. They are simply going to stop the buck at the organisers and blame them. Then happily get back on the gaming causes violence bandwagon and BAM. eSports take another knock that it doesn't need.

In this case however, I'd have to kind of agree with the general public view. These games are violent. There's no way of getting around that fact. Violence in any media can be a negative impact on younger viewers (Whether it's gaming, movies or even music). Kids below a certain age are far more impressionable and susceptible to peer-pressure and implied behavior. It's not because they are stupid or incapable of being adult but more a thing of they shouldn't be adults yet. 

They need to still be kids.

Now yes, I can actually feel many of you glaring at my post already and preparing your knuckles and fingers for the rage you are about to type at me (If you haven't started already and skipped most of my post) and I can understand it. But I am not here to say underage kids may not partake in eSports at all. On the contrary. I am simply here to indicate how I think it should be handled. By no means will my views be perfect or the be all and end all of what eSports should be. So bear with me here and let's start.

First an example. A terrible one because gaming is vastly different from most sports but I'd like to get the base of how some other sports work down first. 

Let's take rugby as the example. A tough contact sport. Risk of injury is high but kids from a young age want to start playing as early as possible to get exposure to playing against other teams and getting that competitive edge in for when they hit the big time. However there are rules in place around all this.

A 13 year old kid is allowed to play rugby however the rules are slightly different. There are rules such as no lifting while contesting a lineout, no lifting of players on kick-off, tackles have to be lower than in standard rugby, shorter games, etc;

This is all to ensure the safety of a younger child and yes I know gaming isn't dangerous to a kids body. But are we really willing to risk the mental stability of our younger players? Therefore I would suggest similar kinds of rules for a kid who wants to partake in gaming as a sport.

There could be different divisions or classes of the sport where only certain games are allowed for certain age groups. Games like DoTA I see no issue being allowed across the age groups. Counter Strike should be allowed as well as the graphical representation of shooting another player is nowhere near the realism of games such as Call of Duty or Battlefield. Then as you progress through the age groups you get access to the "big league games" when you are at an acceptable age. Just like rugby where the physical strain becomes bigger and more challenging as you enter in to different age groups. 

Now I know games like CoD and Battlefield often have an 18+ restriction and that a majority of gamers in school would be under that age limit. This could potentially drop interest in taking gaming as a sport in schools. So the solution? Obviously parental consent with strict rules on when this is O.K. Let's you have a kid of 16 and let's say the parents give consent for their 16 year old to play in the 18 age group (or at least that type of tournament) then that should be ok as a 16 year old is far more mentally developed than a 13 year old (well generally speaking anyway). But schools and eSports organisers need to make sure that no one under the age of 16 is allowed in the 18yo age group even if parental consent is given because it would be irresponsible to willingly expose that child to such an environment. Very high competitiveness, violence and some flavorful language will all be part of this kind of tournament and really isn't suited for a younger crowd. 

This gives the kid something to work towards. If he or she wants in earlier then they need to work at it and show responsibility first. By this point the parents would know whether their child is capable of setting boundaries in regards to gaming as a sport and whether it's affecting him or her negatively (whether it be academically or emotionally) and if they then choose, they can give permission. 

Yes, it sounds counter productive to limit age groups to certain games but the fact of the matter is the general public expect organisations and schools to put the well-being of kids first. It is far more important to ensure the safety of a kid in any given sport than it is to actually have the sport itself. 

Yeah, LAN's this size exist

Therefore, to be seen as a serious thing, eSports in schools and at provincial/national/etc; levels need to be kept to specific codes of conduct and rules. We, as gamers, cannot expect to be taken seriously and have our hobby seen as a real sport if we aren't also willing to accept that rules will need to be put in place to protect our younger gamers. Not from physical harm, but mental harm and like any sport there will need to be regulations.

When websites report that a kid went on a killing spree and that he or she was an avid gamer playing games like GTA, CoD, BF etc; we as gamers are the first to jump up and shout "Where were the parents!? Why did they allow their kid to play such inappropriate games at such a young age!?" but then we kind of turn a blind eye when even younger players than that enter tournaments for those exact games? It's a bit of double standards there don't you think?

eSports could become a real thing in schools. Kids could potentially proudly wear their colors on their blazers and receive awards for taking gaming seriously as a sport. It really can. I want to see that happen. I want to see the sport grow to a point where people have favorite teams. Meet at a pub for a broadcast of a match and shout and jeer at others who are wearing the opposite team's colors. 

But it cannot happen if we are not all willing to take it seriously and make sure that the general public take us seriously as well.

For those who are interested, the results of the Mweb LAN can be found on their website.

I for one am very excited to see tournaments like this getting serious media attention and cannot wait to see eSports grow even stronger than it already is. 

I'd also like to congratulate MWeb for organising such a well put together competition and for their professionalism in answering the community when they reached out and asked about the age limit issue.