More Than Just a High Score: The Impact of Online Gaming Communities | A.C. Williams | TEDxUGA

[Music] hey there gamers who's ready to plug in and play when I say gamer no I'm not talking about the people living in their mom's basement burning their tongue on pizza rolls that's a thing of the past I'm here today to talk about all the good gaming can bring to everyone sitting in this room recently I traveled to Oakland California to help run a gigantic videogame tournament this was the first major fighting event for the newly released game Super Smash Brothers ultimate with over 3,000 individual competitors spread across ten games a 50,000 square foot venue and a theater much like this one for the finals this tournament was a huge success I was in charge of one of the main games at the event and one of the treat our attendees - a little something out of the ordinary we decided to cater a midnight snack and since chicken nuggets are ten for a dollar naturally we bought 1,200 this wasn't the biggest surprise of all though one of the players parents reach out to us to see if she could bring a cake for the tournament's attendees I was a little worried she didn't realize how big or part of the event was but said sure why not as if on cue the minute the Nuggets show up the mom is there with not one but two 100-person cakes from her bakery business but this was just the beginning somehow all the attending players parents gravitated together to form a soccer mom like I felt like I was back at the YMCA for the parents are making sure the whole team had snacks and was constantly warming up now most of the players parents didn't know exactly how the game was played but guess what that doesn't matter what matters is these parents are out here supporting what makes their kids happy so what role do I play in these communities when asked what I do the easy answer is that I run video game tournaments but if you want to get a little more technical my team and I are responsible for the proposal process development preparation and execution of gaming events this includes managing efficiency with respect to timeliness budgets and expensives motivating staff and volunteers and putting out any number of fires currently I am a senior Event Director for end game TV a small startup I help a coorporate alongside four incredibly talented individuals to serve the growing Nintendo video game community over the past few years my team and I have worked to build up end game TV's reputation to be a top provider of quality events for Nintendo's colorful squid based shooter splatoon now what is splatoon think traditional shooting game but styled more like an old Disney cartoon instead of people there's squids they don't shoot guns they shoot ink it's weird but the best things often are take a look once each player presses start they are placed onto a team and have the goal of out painting another squad to secure different objectives because of this online community I've been able to host the first in person splatoon event in Chicago hosts our largest event to date in Wisconsin in this past summer serve as a travel manager for an international gaming summit in Tokyo Japan now I know the majority of you have never attended a video game tournament but level with me how many of you were playing words with friends or on your phone before this event come on or how many of you load up clash of plans every day to get that bonus Gaming has no age limit because everyone stands to benefit from it because at the end of the day it doesn't matter what game you play it matters what you learn along the way for me I've learned how to come into my own have a career running events I love and how people discover one of the most important things gaming can do find your passions I run an online forum for our events and about a year ago I was messaged by a player wanting to attend our water park tournament in Wisconsin he said hey I really want to go but I've never flown before and I'm afraid I'm not old enough to do so alone since you have to be 12 to fly by yourself last in my hole he was he said 23 I message back the player and I asked Emily if you got her done something like this before he told me this gaming event would be his first time leaving his hometown but he was so passionate about not wanting to let his team down in competition he finally had the courage and drive to go out of the only place he'd ever known for some gaming is the only time they feel confident enough to share new experiences and grow as a person I see playing games a lot like rec football or community theater it's a place for passionate people to find their voice now not many of you know the name Charles Whitehead for now this up-and-coming video game commentator practically fell in love with splatoon when he saw the game's initial release trailer alongside his roommate the duo pushed each other to practice and improve and soon formed a competitive team finally Charles felt ready enough to attend an end game TV tournament as a competitor he thought simply playing at the event would be enough for him when push came to shove I was low unavailable talent and thrust him onto the mic to commentate after that he was hungry Charles pushed himself to practice video game commentary anywhere he could he told me this feeling of performance and live enrollment made him feel fulfilled in a way he had never felt before and had no intention of letting this opportunity pass him by hard work pays off and Nintendo of America took notice not even two years later Charles is on stage commentating the 2018 and Tendo World Championships in front of I don't know a hundred thousand people because of gaming Charles found more than a career he found his voice well we can't all become the next ESPN commentator of tomorrow when you make the decision to attend a videogame tournament you're going as more than just a player your voice matters as a member of that community now when you look at everything gaming has to these communities are so strong because they give people the chance to learn valuable life lessons share dankmemes will aren't from casuals and pros alike and for more people than you would expect find love one of the sweetest people I've ever met poco is a splatoon player from Japan with unmatched paint roller squashing skills poco joined one of the top teams in the game with me a few years ago unfortunately a few months into playing we learned poco had been diagnosed with a brain tumor well this tumor never stopped her from enjoying life it did eventually become terminal but poco never gave up and neither did we in the face of this tragedy the splatoon community banded together like nothing he would ever seen from fan art to community created messages and poems everyone reached out to show their love and support for poco I don't know who started it but all of a sudden the most incredible thing began happening everyone and I mean everyone began adding two hearts to their username and pocos favorite colors green and purple these hearts flooded whitter in community timelines and it was impossible for poco to miss how loved she was as she went into that final surgery now this procedure was experimental at best with an under 10 percent success rate we all held our breath that last day but sometimes miracles aren't meant to be though she later passed away poco never stopped living gaming and the community rallied behind her every single person that reached out to poco was just that a real person just because a relationship is online doesn't make it any less meaningful it doesn't matter if your community spans the globe or a neighborhood the impact doesn't change gaming can and does breed a positive change if used to a fault of course it can be a time waster but so can anything else it's fun to pick up a controller but the magic really exists when you realize the valuable life lessons and opportunities gaming can bring because like it or not gaming is here to stay people aren't just playing games they're watching them - on a massive scale this video game tournament this isn't uncommon thousands upon thousands of spectators fill stadiums like Madison Square Garden to cheer on their favorite pro players as they battle for championship titles believe it or not counter strikes world championships peaked at more viewers than Sunday Night Football when they premiered in the same time slot and these are more than just Titleist fortnight which if you know any child under the age of 15 I'm sure you can agree is insanely popular right now pledged over a hundred million dollars to tournaments in 2018 and with all this money and publicity online gaming is only going to get bigger I mean the city of Atlanta just paid 30 million for their first sponsored gaming team the Atlanta rain this gaming team is already worth what almost half of what the city played for the Atlanta United soccer team two years ago think of what the future holds so why does this matter am i telling you to become the next gaming legend of tomorrow you can but gaming is about a lot more than a high score it's about appreciating what playing games does for so many of your peers it's fun to sit down and plug in but what you need to consider is what I challenge you with this make it your goal to support each other regardless of how different your interests may be there are whole other worlds waiting just outside of our comfort zones and whether the guy at last game you touched was Atari or if you've never played a video game at all when you see these communities that helped so many people find their passions find their voice I know you too will be ready to press Start thank you [Applause]

Channel: TEDx Talks

Views: 9,344

Keywords: TEDxTalks, English, Entertainment, Community, Gaming, Relationships

Id: Qmm4ufpfmgk

Length: 12min 6sec (726 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 26 2019