The gaming community has long been stereotyped as your average fair skinned nerd, keeping strange sleeping patterns and gaming in a dark dungeon for lengthy hours. The past couple of years have seen an insurgence of gaming popularity. With an unprecedented amount of mainstream media attention, players have seen themselves thrust into the spotlight. Such a rapid rise to fame sees many of today’s players still struggling to come to grips with their new found stardom as they adjust to their new professional roles.

There is no doubt that many players today can be considered ‘Professional Gamers” as per the dictionary definition, “a professional in relation to games/sport is someone who is ‘playing for money’ (cricketer, golfer etc.). As you can see a Professional gamer in these terms would simply be someone who plays computer games and earns money from it. The move from the bedroom to the TV stage has been hard for some to comprehend, taken from your couch and thrown in front of video cameras, although a dream for most can be a daunting experience.

Australian eSports communities are rife with arrogance, abuse and banter. Player’s egos tend to be well fed in the comfort and security of their own homes. Although over the years members of the respective communities have come accustomed to the type of exchange consistent with many gaming community websites. It remains a language that is very hard for outsiders to understand and interpret correctly. What is harmless banter for some can quite easily be considered abuse by many readers. The ability for gamers to now quickly elevate themselves as professionals leaves them with one major hurdle, how quickly and effectively can they bring their attitude and behavior in line with this new found label.

Of all the gamers I know, only a small percentage fit the physical stereotype that people outside of eSports have portrayed upon our communities. However the mentality and arrogance of some lead to a negative and somewhat closed community. Traditionally new members are not welcomed in Aussie eSports communities and the main purpose of community websites seems to be the public embarrassment of fellow players, spectators and management. Although for those fluent in the language spoken on gaming forums a lot of the user content can be seen as friendly banter or light hearted fun it is all too often the offensive or negative nature of user content that degrades the community’s social acceptance.

For most the step is easy and a logical progression along their personal path to professionalism; however for others breaking old habits is not so easily achieved. Players need to realize that they are not only representing themselves and their personal goals and endeavors, but also those of their respective teams, team mates, organizations and Australian eSports. The answer isn’t for players to attempt to adjust their personalities or to become stoic in public interaction, player’s individuality and personalities are a very important asset moving into a future dominated by mainstream media attention.

The purpose of this article isn’t to point out the short coming of players around the world or to call for professional players to adjust their attitudes. More so it’s time for some of Australia’s elite to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves; “Are my actions detrimental to a community and an industry that supports me?” Taking the next step forward for eSports in this country is not a chore or a job for a select few but rather an opportunity for us all.

Efficiently directing current player and management contributions in a positive manner can only be a big step in the right direction for Aussie eSports. No longer are our communities secluded but rather are becoming exposed to greater amounts of outside scrutiny and attention. Players and those in management positions need to focus on developing professional and mature attitudes to gaming and conduct in order to secure a viable future for Aussie eSports.