ESOC Throne Sponsorship?

[giveuanxiety]

Hey everyone, I'm curious what all of your opinions are on this matter. There is another recent wave of sponsorship opportunities. I have zero influence on esoc so ya. I'm just curious, if esoc did a sponsorship of a game that they streamed and added the money they made from the sponsorship to the next tournament would you want them to do it? Say if esoc had a $1,000 tournament planned and they decided to do a sponsorship but that meant the tournament would now have a $2,000 prize. Would you want them to do the sponsorship? Or dont do it and leave the tour at $1,000?

[iNcog]

You mean play AOE3? or another title?

[giveuanxiety]

I mean the sponsorship would be this game for example


Basically like that sponsorship I did for that Viking game a while back. Something real similar to what I did then. Would people want esoc to do something similar to that if it meant they could put another $1,000 at a tournament.

[n0el]

no

[princeofcarthage]

Uh, it's not called sponsorship though. Sponsorship would indicate esoc sponsoring or donating for the other game. What you are suggesting is paid promotion aka advertising other game for on esoc channels in exchange for payment

[giveuanxiety]

They use the phase sponsoring, it is run through stream elements and they do the sponsors, but that's besides the point.

[gibson]

No

[princeofcarthage]

Why no? Seems like a good idea.

Sponsorship = higher prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/content
= more sponsorships
= more prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/contents

[Kaiserklein]

!vikings

[gibson]

Why no? Seems like a good idea.

Sponsorship = higher prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/content
= more sponsorships
= more prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/contents

peddling predatory pay to win games =bad

[princeofcarthage]

Why no? Seems like a good idea.

Sponsorship = higher prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/content
= more sponsorships
= more prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/contents

peddling predatory pay to win games =bad

If not you then someone else. You are not doing morally good thing or anything. You are just passing your potential fortune to someone else. If its not illegal why should you care? Let the viewer decide.

[gibson]

Why no? Seems like a good idea.

Sponsorship = higher prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/content
= more sponsorships
= more prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/contents

peddling predatory pay to win games =bad

If not you then someone else. You are not doing morally good thing or anything. You are just passing your potential fortune to someone else. If its not illegal why should you care? Let the viewer decide.

Yea, it's fine to be as unethical as you want because other people are. Solid argument.

[Mitoe]

It depends on the sponsor. If they are trustworthy and respected, then I don't see what the harm would be.

Games that strive to foster addictive spending habits typically don't have a great reputation in this regard, though (I haven't watched the Throne video linked above, so not commenting on them specifically).

[princeofcarthage]

Show hidden quotes

Why no? Seems like a good idea.

Sponsorship = higher prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/content
= more sponsorships
= more prizepool
= more attention/players
= more viewers/contents

peddling predatory pay to win games =bad

If not you then someone else. You are not doing morally good thing or anything. You are just passing your potential fortune to someone else. If its not illegal why should you care? Let the viewer decide.

Yea, it's fine to be as unethical as you want because other people are. Solid argument.

Its not unethical. ESOC already has precedent of taking sponsorships.

[gibson]

It's unethical when you're taking sponsorships from a shitty predatory pay to win games which prey on children and people with addictive personalities. No different from doing sponsored gambling streams.

[Thrar]

Depends on what the sponsoring entails and who it's for.

Regarding streaming content, I think the ESOC channel should continue to bring gameplay, casts, and related content for the AoE series. If a sponsor wants to see their game or other product played/discussed on stream then I don't think that's the sort of content ESOC should go for. On the other hand, I wouldn't mind a small banner and a sponsor in the stream title with more info below the stream.

Regarding who to accept as a sponsor, I would consider accepting any money from an unethical or even questionable source as unethical myself. I would not be happy with ESOC accepting any kind of funding, regardless of how good the deal is, from companies promoting addictive, self-destructive, discriminatory, or legally dubious products. ESOC is not a business and I don't think its worth putting its credibility or integrity at stake for a bit of extra prize money.
For example I would be against accepting a gambling site, a game monetized through lootboxes, alcoholic beverages, or a key reseller as a sponsor. I would be fine with for example any game that doesn't base its business model on addictive or predatory behavior, an energy drink, or a gaming hardware manufacturer.

[Hazza54321]

#ad

[Mr_Bramboy]

We've worked with smaller partners in regards to sponsorships before, Takk Cafe for example. But objectively speaking, the number of viewers that watch the esoctv streams is staggeringly low compared to the other age titles. Companies will do the math and generally conclude that sponsorships are not worth it. We will not be working with predatory mobile gaming apps as a substitute.

[I_HaRRiiSoN_I]

or you know microsoft could just give us a very small donation to keep hosting tournaments and to keep another aoe game 'alive' instead having a franchise of so many games long and only 1 game still active

[Snuden]

I think it's a good idea, even 1-2 relevant ads on ESOC would be acceptable IMO.

An old CS news site in Denmark ran just like ESOC is run now - donations. The owners then decided to put a few ads on each page, that meant that the site now could afford 2-3 full time staff, live coverage from LANs, etc...

If the ads are of high quality, I don't see it is a big deal.

[Garja]

It's unethical when you're taking sponsorships from a shitty predatory pay to win games which prey on children and people with addictive personalities. No different from doing sponsored gambling streams.

The addictive personality is a weak argument imo. None is forcing you to play that stuff.
And by extension, something being unethical is totally subjective.

[_H2O]

A long time ago some people discussed banner adverts on the forums as well. I would rather have paid $1000 to keep the site feeling nice than have the revenue.

I agree with mitoe here. If there is a good sponsor that we believe in the product I would be all for it, but we don’t need to do things just for cash.

[gibson]

It's unethical when you're taking sponsorships from a shitty predatory pay to win games which prey on children and people with addictive personalities. No different from doing sponsored gambling streams.

The addictive personality is a weak argument imo. None is forcing you to play that stuff.
And by extension, something being unethical is totally subjective.

Ofc, ethics is inherently subjective, I don't feel the need to say "I think it's unethical" because that's implied. The point is these games are intentionally made to be predatory and promoting them for money is a shitty thing to do and not in line with what ESOC should want to be.

[SoldieR]

What is all this talk like people are hopeless to be a victims to certain video games? haha

[Pedrownage]

In some sense, they are. That's why casino have started hiring video game developers to "improve" on slot machines. The goal for video games and casinos alike is to physically hack your brain and make it depended on the colors, sounds, near-wins and other triggers that make an addict continue their addiction. The act of playing moves more and more down to your basal ganglia and brain stem, where it becomes and automated behavior and less thinking goes on. This is why it's considered relaxing to frag some noobs or to go a few rounds playing Gwent and whatnot.

But on topic, if ESOC doesn't need sponsoring then it's always better not to do it. Advertising is a cancer in our society. But if it can't be avoided, at least make sure you attract sponsors that have decent/ethical products. What ethical is I leave to the decision makers of ESOC!