{"id":226,"date":"2017-02-06T09:43:45","date_gmt":"2017-02-05T23:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/?page_id=226"},"modified":"2022-11-07T22:48:42","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T03:48:42","slug":"ethics-and-sportsmanship","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esportbet.com\/ethics-and-sportsmanship\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethics and sportsmanship in eSports"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ethics

As with every sport played competitively or for fun, eSports and professional gaming have a set of unwritten rules of which players are expected to follow. They follow more than just your standard procedural elements of a match or game lobby, and breakout into standard etiquette. Think about how opponents shake hands before and after a match of football, and how it is considered unsportsmanlike in a lopsided game of basketball to run a fast break with time winding down. Gaming is really no different to the expectations and standards we expect from professional athletes in other sports.<\/p>\n

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Ethical expectations of eSports stars<\/h2>\n

eSports is certainly in the midst of somewhat of a growth period, a consistent evolution of the sport in which celebrities, sports stars and corporations are all looking to get involved. While on the outside, eSports presents a very clean and organised look, it is actually had quite a number of growing pains in trying to establish itself as a legitimate and respect professional sport.<\/p>\n

While there have certainly been improvements in this area, the generally unregulated nature of the virtual sports field means there is the occasional unethical act which compromises the competitive nature of eSports tournaments. These acts generally refer to the taking of illicit drugs, generally in the form of speed and other ADHD medications. <\/p>\n

In the world of eSports, these drugs are equivalent to performance enhancing substances in other pro sports, due to the effect they have on the brain and the enhanced sense of awareness and responsiveness they produce for the player. This has generally been stamped out on a large scale, although it is difficult to truly gauge whether it is still an issue. It may take a big scandal to break before the issue is really brought to the forefront.<\/p>\n

Professional Halo player Tyler Mozingo revealed in early 2016 that performance enhancing drugs were rife in eSports, and that Adderall was being used by players to boost their awareness and responsiveness. In response to the report, the Electronic Sports League (ESL) started drug testing players before tournaments. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur main goal is and always will be to maintain the fair play spirit and the integrity of our competitions and we\u2019re confident that the anti-doping policy is important improvements that will help us advance as a sport,\u201d the Electronic Sports League said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

\"PUBG\"

Curse NA and Team Dignitas, two teams that used to compete in MLG\u2019s League of Legends Summer Championship, were disqualified after being found to have colluded in the final match of a tournament. The intention was to draw the final match, and then split the prize money. There were disagreements as to the nature of the disqualification, but both teams apologised and accepted the penalty. Another well-known issue involved a Russian player named Aleksey \u201cSolo\u201d Berezin bet against his own Dota 2 team back in 2013, and won 2013 out of the scandal. He was found out and banned, and “322” has now become synonymous with bad players, and is a nickname given to players found to have match fixed.<\/p>\n

In an effort to stamp out match fixing, Valve has been aggressive alongside governments in shutting down illegal websites that invite the use of and betting off in-game items and money on eSports. Further, players found to have fixed a match are automatically disqualified and banned from competing at future events.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, these issues are not widespread. If eSports has only one thing going for it, it is just the general nature of sportsmanship expected of competing players. This keeps the matches grounded in respect, as the unwritten rules of gaming are considered sacrosanct in gaming circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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