Doping Is Rampant In eSports?

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I guess we are going to have to start drug testing professional gamers now.

A consultant and marketer formerly with one of the world's largest esports companies publicly declared that doping in esports is rampant. In a lengthy blog post, Franzen wrote that gaming firms and the media are turning a blind eye to the substance use right under their noses.
 
lols didnt even know that was an option when i was playing in competitions for Team Warchild in BF1942-BF2
 
So what? Most gamers look like they're on drugs anyway.
 
It would be impossible if it weren't, as it would go against human nature. Stimulants provide an advantage, and of course many that are competitive are going to take every advantage they can get away with.

Hell, we know they work, that's why US military pilots are even REQUIRED to take "go" pills on long flights because of the combat edge it provides.
 
I actually remember there was some specific company marketing uppers and downers for gaming; uppers for pre-match and downers to ease you back into it. Seemed like a terrible idea to me, who knows what some random firm is putting into those pills...can't recall what they were called.
 
Cocaine and Adderal are abused big time in pro Counter-Strike. I have witnessed it first hand.
 
Equating playing video games to a sport and taking drugs to doping to be better at it is only the justification that these losers are using as a reason for being substance abusing dumb-heads. They're just drug-addicted people looking for something marginally more acceptable than being slobbering, yucky, addicts.
 
Pre-Game Darude - Sandstorm abuse is at an all time high.

Also, I have plenty of old friends from high school that get stoned and play video games. They are innovators.
 
This has been a thing since the Quake tournament days. Caffeine and quickly trying out heavier stuff, ending in substance abuse, things they should not get into, all for faster reaction times which help when it's a timing critical moment in a game.

If an action game has map design that allows me to outsmart these living aimbots, or just gameplay that gives the advantage to the more intelligent knowledgable player, then that's a good action game I won't mind playing online.
 
Does it matter? I mean, eSports don't require any skill/endurance/performance so doping shouldn't have any effect on the outcomes :)
 
Does it matter? I mean, eSports don't require any skill/endurance/performance so doping shouldn't have any effect on the outcomes :)

Ya, requires no skill...:rolleyes: hand / eye, reflexes, twitch thinking..dam fast motor skills.

Love to see you join a FPS and kick everyone's ass...since it takes no skill....
 
Does caffeine really count? lol anyone who drinks a bawls or red bull?

As far as drug use, yes IMO drug use is often high amoung up and coming sports because there is not enough money or care for people to try to stop it. The UFC had and still has lots of problems and I am not just talking about steroids. Watch someone like Hoyas Gracie get put in an arm bar that is near breaking his arm and not tap out when he is clearly beat and you will know he has taken some pain killer or something. That's why if they don't tap out you should break it all the way.

The same goes for cheating, as someone who has been active in anti cheat I have noticed that a lot of times small games no one even pays attention too have rampant cheating because the developers don't even care to do very simple things to stop it and the community is often naïve.
 
"esports"...can't we just call playing a video game for money playing a video game for money?
 
"esports"...can't we just call playing a video game for money playing a video game for money?

If they call it that then it is harder for them to enter the very lucrative world of licensing and merchandising :p
 
i can totally see this being a legit story, no reason why gamers wouldnt take drugs to get an advantage.. caffeine does nothing but make me jittery when gaming
 
And hey, playing games for money (whether field, board, electronic, etc) sounds good to me all around :)
 
Only if they can do the same for golf, chess, football, tennis, etc. People love their labels :)

Now now.

If you can loose weight and get fit directly doing an activity, and that activity is naturally a competition with an objective means of determining a winner, it is a sport.

Thus:
Tennis=sport
NASCAR=not sport
Futbol=sport
gymnastics/diving=not sport
chess=not sport
100yd dash=sport
long jump=sport


*golf/football...well I've only heard of people getting a spare tire doing both of these, so not-sport ;)

Last I checked, there are no "Do nothing but play video games and get fit!" weight loss campaigns.
 
Hell, we know they work, that's why US military pilots are even REQUIRED to take "go" pills on long flights because of the combat edge it provides.

This is incorrect. They are NEVER required. They are made available under certain situations by the flight surgeon and are very tightly controlled. The most common use is long haul flights or being new to theater to help with jetlag issues. You are usually only given one dose and you have to report if you use it or return it back to FS, anything over a single dose is highly unusual. Also, the dose is low enough to where it keeps you awake, any cognitive advantages other than that aren't really recognized. How do I know? I spent a significant amount of my (former) military career as aircrew.
 
It's really not that big of a secret.

Lot of these guys have legit scripts for adderall and or take it anyways.
 
Oh no! I have propanolol because I have a high pressure job! I must be doping now when smashing br in league. Oops.
 
Can you overdose on BAWLS?.....before your bladder explodes?
 
Can you overdose on BAWLS?.....before your bladder explodes?

I don't know for sure, but when Bawls first came out, it was pretty damn potent.
I passed out a case at work and one of the guys (big coffee drinker) wound up going to the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack.
Pretty sure they dialed back the caffine since then.

Seriously though, I just can't bring myself to calling these guys "athletes" no matter what arguments I hear.
Until I see some of them kyaking a river or climbing a mountain or carrying a football it just ain't happening.
They can dope all they want as far as I'm concerned, I'm dying to see some scrawny little caffeinated nerd strung out on coke attack someone because they're pissed off they lost a round and security gives them the beatdown of a lifetime....
It'd be as good as seeing a pitcher rush the mound or a 6 man fight at a Bluejackets game!
 
Now now.

If you can loose weight and get fit directly doing an activity, and that activity is naturally a competition with an objective means of determining a winner, it is a sport.

Thus:
Tennis=sport
NASCAR=not sport
Futbol=sport
gymnastics/diving=not sport
chess=not sport
100yd dash=sport
long jump=sport


*golf/football...well I've only heard of people getting a spare tire doing both of these, so not-sport ;)

Last I checked, there are no "Do nothing but play video games and get fit!" weight loss campaigns.

I fail to see how gymnastics doesn't make the cut as a sport. Same goes for golf and football (though I realize there is a fair amount of sarcasm there).
 
It would be impossible if it weren't, as it would go against human nature. Stimulants provide an advantage, and of course many that are competitive are going to take every advantage they can get away with.

Hell, we know they work, that's why US military pilots are even REQUIRED to take "go" pills on long flights because of the combat edge it provides.

Any "edge" stimulants provide will fade away after long-term use.
 
I fail to see how gymnastics doesn't make the cut as a sport. Same goes for golf and football (though I realize there is a fair amount of sarcasm there).

Gymnastics, diving, ice dancing...none of these activities are native competitions. They're (very) athletic art forms at their basics.

Shoehorning them into being "sports" where someone is "best" cheapens the activity. In my book, an easy litmus test-if you have to hold up 0-10 score cards (or the equivalent nowadays) to determine who is a "winner" then it probably isn't a sport. Gymnastics keeps getting more and more ridiculously arcane in their assignment of numerical values to be more "objective" in a completely and utterly subjective field of who is "best".

AAMOF, it is common knowledge and accepted that the jury is corrupt in such events. Which is why the highest/lowest scores are always dropped. And after all is said and done, everyone feels jilted by the jury apart from the top podium place.

Something doesn't have to be a "sport" to be very worthwhile, physically demanding, and damn hard.
 
Not that its drugs but I there is a significant incrase in my KDR as I drink more beers. At some point it levels off though. And even further it plummets again, haha.
 
In a lengthy blog post, Franzen wrote that gaming firms and the media are turning a blind eye to the substance use right under their noses.

There is no need to pay any attention to it... drugs aren't going to make people better at games. They will only make 'em worse.
 
I don't know for sure, but when Bawls first came out, it was pretty damn potent.
I passed out a case at work and one of the guys (big coffee drinker) wound up going to the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack.
Pretty sure they dialed back the caffine since then.

Seriously though, I just can't bring myself to calling these guys "athletes" no matter what arguments I hear.
Until I see some of them kyaking a river or climbing a mountain or carrying a football it just ain't happening.
They can dope all they want as far as I'm concerned, I'm dying to see some scrawny little caffeinated nerd strung out on coke attack someone because they're pissed off they lost a round and security gives them the beatdown of a lifetime....
It'd be as good as seeing a pitcher rush the mound or a 6 man fight at a Bluejackets game!

I almost went on a rant about this until i realized you used the word athlete and not sport. They do not refer to themselves as Athletes as video gaming is clearly not athletic. eSports are like many other "Non-Athletic" sports that are already accepted and in time it will be as well. In eSports though they are simply refer to them as "competitors, pro-gamers etc".
 
I don't understand how stimulants, save for possibly 4-Fluoromethamphetamine could possibly provide an advantage.

On 400mg Caffeine I lose enough coordination to fail miserably at FPS games.
 
I don't understand how stimulants, save for possibly 4-Fluoromethamphetamine could possibly provide an advantage.

On 400mg Caffeine I lose enough coordination to fail miserably at FPS games.

Doping constitutes a whole raft of compounds depending on the activity. In competitive shooting beta-blockers (that lower your heart rate and make your body relax under pressure) are banned, for example.
 
half the gaming industry fuels half the mountain dew, energy drink and doritos competition that the doping community fuels the remaining half, combined they are a super power to be re-conned with. the only way to reduce these competitions is to stop having 72 hour marathons lol
 
This is really no surprise. Caffeine and other stimulants have been shown in many studies to improve concentration, athletic performance and even memory retention. I can certainly attest to a couple of strong cups of coffee helping sharpen my focus at work before a presentation, or tough assignment to work through. I'll also do the same sometimes for long weekend gaming sessions, down an energy drink and I feel like I can get 'in the zone' easier.
 
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