Content.

I want to discuss the popular perception around “content” and pro players in Smite.



Being a pro player is a full-time job. This is true for every game, esport, sport, all of them. It is a full-time job and in none of these instances is a player ever expected to make content besides general media appearances. Like for advertisements and the like. And players have done that. DiG had tons of twitter ads all last year, Mike and Twig were in some for Rival, I even interviewed some people with Synapse for Armada as SML player. And being a streamer is also a fulltime job. One does not stream and work another job if you want to be a fulltime streamer as one does not become a pro player and have a fulltime job to be a fulltime pro. The idea that Smite pro players should be expected to work two fulltime jobs or half ass both is odd. I would say absurd.



Next, the idea that pros streaming would bring in more players is, in my opinion, ignorant. Pros could bring in more players potentially but not really. When someone goes to watch a game, they either watch for the personality, game, community, or a combination. In Smite’s case most people watch Smite because it is Smite. No one that doesn’t already watch, and play Smite is going to start watching Smite because insert pro here started streaming. And when we think of pro’s streaming, we think of the successful ones. Because the one’s that weren’t successful quit. Countless pros have streamed and then they end up getting a steady 15 viewers for months after they got a nice little bump when they came back. They quit because it didn’t work. Because they didn’t magically bring new people into the scene. The Smite community is small and there is only so many people that can watch a stream. It is just such an absurd notion to suggest that insert random pro here is just the impetus we need to bring new people to Smite when in reality the only way that people even know of that person is if they are already very involved in the game. The Smite community is very insular and very passionate about Smite. We maintain oddly high sub counts for the viewers in the community and if you see a Smite chatter in one Smite twitch chat, you’ll see them in another Smite twitch chat.



The “real” reasons Smite’s scene has been “odd” are a lot and not definite. I can say moving to mixer for the entire competitive scene was certainly not good. But there were very good reasons for it, and I get that. Also Smite has a very large casual player base. Much of this casual player base does not interact with conquest which is most of Smite’s streaming community. And one can argue a lot about specific things HiRez did and if they make a difference or whatever. But a lot of it is just luck. With any success in life luck is a pretty big part of it. Smite maybe just got unlucky and that’s ok. There are good games that get great reviews and they fail or aren’t that big. Its not necessarily an indictment on the game or HiRez life is just is full of chance.



I also hear a lot of arguments about how pro Smite doesn’t bring “value”. HiRez got millions of dollars almost entirely off the pro scene and the production of Smite esports. Sure, Paladins was some of it too but even splitting halfway that’s still millions of dollars. That is “value”. Also, I feel like people miss the point of esports. Many times, esports do not make money themselves. But they are a loss leader. A form of advertising. By making a game have better esports scene people are more involved and they spend more money on the game etc. This is expected. The SPL is in some ways an ad. And with any advertisement one spends money initially to hopefully make more back in the long term. I have no idea if Smite esports are a good investment in that regard but that is what HiRez has chose to do for over 7 years and I am going to assume they are okay with that if they are going to do this for 7 years.



I also wanted to address who I hear these criticisms from. I hear them almost entirely from Matty and Taco. Now I believe this is obvious that none of these people I would call “neutral”. And I don’t think one could call me neutral either. But its important to consider who is saying these arguments and the context around them. Taco has always had a history of preaching about content but there was a distinct point when it got amped up. It was after Matty ran it down mid in SML and then he acted as if we should be grateful that he would even be in the SML because of all the content and value they bring to Smite. After this for whatever reason Taco and Matty have been mercilessly parroting and arguing about how content is all that matters and how no one brings value. All these people stream, one got kicked out of the SML, and the other left the company that promotes smite esports. There is a bias here. I also wanted to address Taco and what she considers content. She did not once make content for the SPL. She only made content for herself and her self-interest. Every other caster made content with pros but Taco.



And to further address the idea behind “grinding” for content and the like. Another common preaching from them. Let’s look at some of their histories in terms of this. Matty view botted when he came back to Smite and freeloaded off the COG teams as a “coach” while leaking each team each other’s strats. And Taco has continued to endorse him and his behavior and the “grind” while turning a complete blind eye to how Matty didn’t really grind. He cheated. Taco also had favorable path in terms of content creation. She was Suntouch’s girlfriend and she was his team’s 6th. She got to meet people at HiRez because of this and even I believe limited deskwork. This is a ton of exposure and a great networking opportunity and she used it very well. She has a very successful stream and turned it into a job at HiRez. Again, more power to her. But let us consider the context. When one preaches about the grind to a nauseating degree, they must also be able to take a step back and consider how circumstances for them may have made it a little bit easier. And I don’t think Taco an NA player is going to be an EU team’s 6th unless she is Suntouch’s girlfriend. And I do not mean she was just using him and angling for power etc etc. No. I am sure Taco has had completely genuine intentions in all these interactions. But that is still a nice leg up on nearly everyone else in the community. And when one constantly preaches about the grind or content or all these things projecting such a self-made image it is needed to take a step back and understand how one got to where one is. The circumstances for you that are different for others, general luck, and much more. And I don’t mean to belittle what Taco (matty viewbotted who cares) has done. She has worked very hard and she has truly grinded. She is entirely responsible for her own success. But all I ask is just have a little more perspective.



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