BY TOM JOHNSON
Joseph Akerson of U’s Glitch Gaming club — a video game org based at the University of Minnesota that strives to promote a strong sense of community through fun programs and events.” — answered a few questions about their upcoming League of Legends (LoL) viewing party and how Glitch helps promote video game culture on campus.
What: Leage of Legends World Finals viewing
Where: Buffalo Wild Wings (2001 University Ave SE #100)
When: Friday, October 4 9:00 p.m. – 1:30 a.m.
What the heck is LoL and why the heck would anyone want to watch it?
League of Legends (LoL) is a fast-paced, competitive online game where two teams of powerful champions, each with a unique design and playstyle, battle head-to-head across multiple battlefields and game modes. It is currently the most popular competitive gaming title with over 70 million registered users and is still growing.
Like with any traditional sport, people will always have their favorite players and teams. There’s absolutely no difference when it comes to LoL. With such a vast player base and competitive landscape, fans cheer on their favorite teams and tune in every week to watch Riot Games’ League Championship Series (LCS) similar to watching the NFL or MLB.
What makes a good LoL team?
Trust. You may wonder, “how does trust make a good League of Legends team?”, but trust is what makes all the difference. If you take a look at Glitch’s collegiate League of Legends team, we encourage our players to become close friends by doing team exercises and have casual outings in order to build a certain level of trust.
Being able to give and receive constructive feedback in a positive manner is incredibly important in a learning environment, and trusting your teammates is how you accomplish goals as a cohesive unit.
In the description of your event, you mention that "making new friends" one of the appeals of joining your club.Do you think that conception of video games as “loner” activity is changing?
Glitch’s primary focus is promoting video game culture through community development. All of our events and programs are aimed towards creating a supportive atmosphere for learning, collaboration and social interaction. While our members are generally a bit more shy and definitely nerdy, we’re just as friendly and social as everybody else.
What's your prediction for the future of competitive gaming as a spectator sport? Do you think it will be as big as football?
I believe that competitive gaming is still a growing community, and rapidly at that. Comparing Twitch.TV (the largest live stream site for gaming) averages about 500,000 concurrent viewers versus ESPN’s 750,000 average concurrent viewers. Numbers are continually growing with expanding prize pools, creating a larger draw to view and participate in competitive gaming. In last week’s League of Legends World Championships semi-final match the broadcast reached 900,000 concurrent viewers. In some nations such as Korea, Germany and the U.K., eSports programs are broadcasted on television. With numbers reaching this high and the rising popularity of competitive gaming, I believe that the United States will soon follow suit. (I hope.)
How might someone learn more about LoL and Glitch? What else does Glitch do besides organize LoL-watching parties.
Glitch is home to hundreds of students with diverse backgrounds who participate in numerous video gaming events throughout the school year. We provide extensive programming, hands-on experience and networking opportunities in the field. We focus on promoting video gaming culture and all aspect of games as a career path for our community. Our programs open doors for students looking to jump-start their journey into the video games industry.
To find out more about Glitch, check us out at www.glitch.mn, like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GlitchMN, or follow us on Twitter @GlitchMN.
To learn more about League of Legends, they can check out leagueoflegends.com to play the game, or lolesports.com to follow the competitive League of Legends scene.