Well, that personal resolution of a “post a week” sure didn’t pan out, did it?
Last week was GDC. For the first time ever, there was an eSports summit present. I spent most of the day there and it was an amazing experience to be surrounded by passionate, talented people, in the field that I’m interested in. I met T.L. Taylor, a personal hero of mine, who penned the book Raising the Stakes, a thoroughly academic look at eSports and its growth. I met a host of fine women, all connected to eSports in a way, as they presented their views on the participation on women in eSports. I sat through a talk on college eSports, game balancing, and a design talk by Riot.
I’ve thought a lot about where I want to head in video games, what field I care about, and the eSports summit really solidified that eSports is somewhere I want to be. I care about its growth, its ability to be competitive for everyone, and the dynamic shift it represents in what people consider “sport.” I’m also wildly passionate about growing its diversity, particularly women. I want eSports to grow in the best way, and not the way that alienates, destroys, and disrespects the women and minorities that try to break into it. I want to be there, I want to be part of that.
I’m passionate about livestreaming, too, and while they’re not exactly the same thing, I feel that they go hand in hand. I’m intensely curious and interested in Twitch, its culture, and what it can do and how it can help. I’m interested in the challenges that women and minorities face on this media – and the ones that they don’t, and the ones that are talked about too often. I’m still wrestling with my views on entertainment vs fairness vs celebrity vs culture, and I don’t know if I’ll ever know where I stand on most of that.
In light of all of these things, this blog will change, somewhat. I intend to start playing DayZ again, so my journals will most likely be reappearing. I still play Smite almost every day, and I’ve thought about how to incorporate that into this blog. Maybe summaries of good matches? Maybe how I get better? I’m not sure yet. I also want to (except I really, really don’t want to) start playing other eSports, starting with League of Legends. Who knows? Maybe I’ll love it. I’m trying to stay optimistic!
Finally, my first contribution will be appearing on FemHype later this week (a summary of an eSports panel I attended last week at GDC, about women in eSports). I enjoy reading FemHype, and I feel that it’s accessible, encouraging, and smart. Sometime later this month, I’ll have more content posted on FemHype that I’m excited about, but don’t want to talk about just yet.
I feel that this is going to be a good year, and I’m terribly excited about it all.
Kim Correa 