Science in the Triangle

Watch team E11even Bravo take a shot at going pro at the Major League Gaming tournament in Raleigh | Video by Ross Maloney

Splayed out on the floor of the Raleigh Convention Center exhibition hall, Dalton Smith stared up at the ceiling, defeated.

All around him, gamers hunched over flat-panel TVs on their quests to become champions of this weekend’s Major League Gaming tournament in Raleigh. But for Smith and his team of Halo 3 players, that quest was over after losing in Round 4.

“In my opinion, they just got lucky. They got very lucky,” Smith said.

Just two hours earlier, Smith’s crew “E11even Bravo” claimed victory in its first match of the day. They made the almost 500-mile trek from Nashville, Tenn., to compete with some of the best gamers in the world at MLG, which pits both pro and amateurs players in titles like Bungie’s Halo 3, Blizzard Entertainment’s Starcraft II and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

“We’re shooting for the top,” said E11even Bravo member Jonathan Miller, known by his screen name Valen. “The thing that we have an advantage over most of these teams is that we’re all really good friends. We live 10 minutes from each other.”

On a good day, Miller said his amateur team puts in about seven to eight hours of play together in the first-person shooter. Smith serves as the team’s coach, tracking when weapons appear on the map and advising the group on overall strategy. It’s a common role for the most elite teams.

“I would say it’s just as important as any other professional sports team,” Miller said. “There are a lot of the things in the game that we may not be focusing on, and he keeps our head in the game.”

The Raleigh debut
It was Miller’s sixth MLG tournament and Smith’s fourth, but the event was a first for Raleigh. Raymond Lau, MLG’s manager of player relations, says events on the east coast are often big for the league.

“Gamers are all over the world and all around the country,” Lau said. “Wherever we go, we draw a ton of people.”

But he said it hasn’t always been that way. MLG got its start about seven years ago when the concept of professional gaming was still nascent in the United States. In his five years and 35 tournaments with the league, he’s seen a lot of changes in how the public perceives “e-sports.”

“Three to four years ago, it was like, ‘What is this?’” Lau said. “But I think people understand why we’re here now.”

The competitors certainly do. The event in Raleigh, MLG’s 50th such tournament, attracted about 1,500 gamers in five different titles. Every one of them was out to battle through the brackets to claim one of the top-16 rankings, which earn them the title of “pro-gamer.” And it’s not just street cred they’re after – gamers get their shot at sponsorships and more than $700,000 in prizes over the six-month tournament season.

To get there, Lau said tournament organizers work to create the most fair and balanced games possible.

“We want to eliminate luck,” Lau said. “We want players who play the best to win.”

Like father, like son
But the tournament’s appeal doesn’t stop at hardcore gamers. Hundreds of spectators, like 45-year-old Scott Pearson and his 12-year-old son Brandt, showed up to watch the action too.

Once a fan of classic games like Pong and Pac-Man, Scott Pearson remembers when being a gamer wasn’t considered “cool.” But for his son, the pastime has become the social norm. Brandt said attending the tournament will likely earn him bragging rights.

“You can be like, ‘Hey, I thought you were a big gamer? I didn’t see you at MLG,’” he said with a laugh.

Scott Pearson said he thinks a big part of the change in perception can be attributed to the team play element standard in almost every game title.

“I hear people say, ‘Don’t play video games because you’re isolating yourselves from people.’ Really?” he said, gesturing to the Halo 3 teams centered in the room. “I’m not seeing that here.”

Even in commercial video game titles, he said players can learn a lot from connecting with teammates and opponents from all over the world. Brandt even had a conversation with a player from China in one Halo 3 match.

“You here them say, ‘Oh, it’s dinner time,’ and we’re eating breakfast,” Scott Pearson said.

But he said there are plenty of titles that aren’t yet appropriate for his son. Some games like Mafia II, rated for mature players 17 and up, aren’t allowed. What’s important, Scott Pearson said, is that he knows what his son is playing.

“The most dangerous thing is a kid playing alone,” he said. “There are good parents and there are bad parents. It really comes down to whether you’re paying attention.”

That sometimes means taking part in the fun. Father and son are both anticipating the release of Bungie’s newest title, Halo: Reach, due out Sept. 14.

“Is that a Saturday? I hope so. You may be missing school that day,” Scott Pearson said with a laugh.

“That’s when happiness comes to town,” Brandt Pearson said. “Screw Santa Claus – I’m ready for Halo: Reach.”

Even for those gunning for the pros, the new game represents another chance in the rapidly evolving world of e-sports. New titles mean new gameplay, new strategies and a whole new set of contenders.

And until Sept. 14, team E11even Bravo will be just like the Pearsons.

“From there, we’ll sit and wait,” Smith said.

Tyler Dukes is a freelance reporter and journalism adviser at N.C. State University. Follow him on Twitter as @mtdukes.

The sights and sounds of MLG

Video by Ross Maloney