Esports Events Struggle With Lag While Moving Online
By Riley Fink
By Riley Fink
With COVID-19 related lockdowns invading every aspect of day to day life, it’s no wonder that it hurts the esport scene just as it has with traditional sports recently. Even Evo, the superbowl of fighting games, had to be cancelled. Esports do have an edge over traditional sports in that regard, however, as they can be played online. Several esports communities, including Evo, have been working together to continue hosting tournaments through online entry, though with variable degrees of success.
The Quarantine Series, hosted by online personalities Alpharad and Cr1tikal, has seen incredible entry amounts, totalling up to over 9,500 entrants in its first four open tournaments, though several technical issues throughout the tournaments like players randomly disconnecting, or huge spikes of input lag due to several games having poor netcode, have called into question its competitive integrity and feasibility for future tournaments.
Several members from Pioneer’s own Smash Club have also joined together to continue their weekly tournaments, now online. Matthew Trin, 12, talks about how online tournaments differ from local ones.
“Online tourneys, I think they have the advantage of being easier to set up and way more convenient for people. But I don’t like them, and tend to stay away from them. As for Smash Ultimate at least, there’s a considerable amount of delay,” said Trin. “I definitely think that viewership might take a hit, as for at least me personally I feel like the hype with online tourneys aren’t completely there as you know that some of these top players aren’t playing at their best.”
Most developers see very little incentive to make good online play in their games, as tournaments will usually be done in person. Competitors end up having to restrict their tournaments quite a bit, with certain tournaments requiring participants to all be in the same region, or requiring a wired connection to join. Thankfully Smash Club’s weekly Smash Melee tournaments have people all in the same region with decent connections, so this problem is mainly avoided, though technical issues in the middle of an important match seems inevitable. Another member of the club, Trevor La Russa, 11, laments about being forced online.
“I feel that I play significantly worse offline as certain combos and techniques don’t work because of delay and lag,” said La Russa. “I think that quarantine is certainly not a great thing for the Smash community and the (fighting game community) but hopefully the lack of competitiveness within online tournaments and community outcry will encourage developers to beef up their netcode.”
The situation isn’t all bad, however, as general interest in esports has increased because people are stuck at home. And of course there still are several games with very good netcode, like Mortal Kombat 11 and Skullgirls, games that are headlining this year’s Evo Online. Other esports like CSGO and Rocket League are also jumping in popularity. Even with the restrictions of a lockdown, esports communities will continue on competing, while still staying safe and healthy.
The Quarantine Series, hosted by online personalities Alpharad and Cr1tikal, has seen incredible entry amounts, totalling up to over 9,500 entrants in its first four open tournaments, though several technical issues throughout the tournaments like players randomly disconnecting, or huge spikes of input lag due to several games having poor netcode, have called into question its competitive integrity and feasibility for future tournaments.
Several members from Pioneer’s own Smash Club have also joined together to continue their weekly tournaments, now online. Matthew Trin, 12, talks about how online tournaments differ from local ones.
“Online tourneys, I think they have the advantage of being easier to set up and way more convenient for people. But I don’t like them, and tend to stay away from them. As for Smash Ultimate at least, there’s a considerable amount of delay,” said Trin. “I definitely think that viewership might take a hit, as for at least me personally I feel like the hype with online tourneys aren’t completely there as you know that some of these top players aren’t playing at their best.”
Most developers see very little incentive to make good online play in their games, as tournaments will usually be done in person. Competitors end up having to restrict their tournaments quite a bit, with certain tournaments requiring participants to all be in the same region, or requiring a wired connection to join. Thankfully Smash Club’s weekly Smash Melee tournaments have people all in the same region with decent connections, so this problem is mainly avoided, though technical issues in the middle of an important match seems inevitable. Another member of the club, Trevor La Russa, 11, laments about being forced online.
“I feel that I play significantly worse offline as certain combos and techniques don’t work because of delay and lag,” said La Russa. “I think that quarantine is certainly not a great thing for the Smash community and the (fighting game community) but hopefully the lack of competitiveness within online tournaments and community outcry will encourage developers to beef up their netcode.”
The situation isn’t all bad, however, as general interest in esports has increased because people are stuck at home. And of course there still are several games with very good netcode, like Mortal Kombat 11 and Skullgirls, games that are headlining this year’s Evo Online. Other esports like CSGO and Rocket League are also jumping in popularity. Even with the restrictions of a lockdown, esports communities will continue on competing, while still staying safe and healthy.