MC Fall 2020

TECHNOLOGY
Relations… It’s been vacant for about a year
now and we took basically that entire center
component; around three thousand square
feet. It’ll have three sections. The main section
is a lab with a stage, a big wall graphic and
backdrop for our varsity teams so they can play
in a LAN match with another team. It’s set up
to handle six vs. six playing there and, as you’re
shooting it and streaming it, it’s got a cool view
with the graphic.
There are thirty-four computers throughout
the rest of the lab that can be used for
other gaming. Initially that space was intended
to open up all at once and be open to the
general student population during set hours
as an open gaming space. People could come
in, they could see where the varsity sports
players participate, but then they could also
play games themselves and jump in to do their
own thing. We didn’t want it to be hyper exclusive
to where it’s just a varsity esports space.
Additionally, there’s two smaller wing
spaces. One of those is going to be our
broadcast area. We’re going to be able to
do the live streams and broadcasts from the
space, which is going to be not only highly
entertaining, but it’s going to be a great
creative opportunity for a lot of students. There
are students that are interested in the casting
side of esports, and that space will also be
open to a select number of content creators
that want to do their own streams…
The other wing of the space is strictly for
console play. There’s going to be some couches
and some big TVs. Just a place for people to
chill, relax and hang out together and be more
communal…
I think we’ll be able to open right around the
time that students are leaving [for Thanksgiving]…
So, within the next six or seven weeks, I
think we’ll be able to get in and be operational.
How does esports work on the collegiate
level? Is that underneath the NCAA banner,
or is there something completely different?
Mr. Deppen: The NCAA has no contact
really with esports in any kind of way… At
the division one level like at ODU, players
within esports can win prize money, gifts,
scholarship funds and things like that. That’s
where there’s a big amateurism issue for the
NCAA at large schools. Because of that, the
NCAA has basically said we’re not going
to get involved with that at this point. So,
there is no NCAA contact with esports, but
there are several national governing bodies
that oversee esports. The biggest one
right now is the one that we’re a part of. It’s
called NACE, the National Association of
Collegiate Esports…
NACE runs internal tournaments, but
then also works with game developers in
running tournaments that those developers
have created. One of the big things about
esports that is not known, is that the game
developers that create the game… they
have complete authority over who can play
their games and in what settings, especially
when it comes to tournaments. Some of
those companies are stricter than others…
Blizzard and their subsidiary, Activision have
a group called Tespa who runs everything for
Overwatch, Hearthstone and Call of Duty,
but there are other game titles that are a little
more flexible…
There’s a relationship between a national
governing body and the game developers
to help bridge the gap. NACE has a pretty
good relationship with Tespa, so we’re able
to run a large-scale Overwatch tournament
and Blizzard isn’t going to be upset about
us doing that. If it was another organization
that didn’t have that connection, it might
be something completely different… The
power dynamic there is something that’s
different compared to what you would see in
traditional sports.
So under NACE there wouldn’t be a problem,
for instance, if one of your players was a
streamer and they promoted that they are a
part of Monarch Esports?
Mr. Deppen: NACE is a relatively open
organization and they’re not making rules
about what specific esport athletes can do
or not do. That would be up to us as an
institution. If students can and want to try
to make money doing streaming or signing
sponsorship deals, they’re more than
welcome to continue to participate with our
program. That’s good for them and it’s good
for us… We’re focused on the betterment of
students, and if it makes it easier for them to
pay to finish school by making some money
streaming then I’m all for it. There aren’t
really any restrictions. There could be if we
wanted to, but realistically there isn’t any point
for us to do anything like that.
Does that bring in a problem with potential
scholarships down the line?
Mr. Deppen: One of the things that I think is
misunderstood when people talk about scholarships
with esports is the size of those scholarships.
Right now, I think maybe five schools
in the United States offer a true full ride scholarship
for esports. Most other institutions are
offering smaller amounts. The scholarships
that people are getting are more likely to be
supplements rather than something that’s a
complete coverage of cost of attendance…
Based on the size of the program and where we
are right now… it’s difficult for us to offer scholarships
at this point in time. But, if we were able to,
I would imagine that we would have to start out
with smaller sums of money rather than going
directly into full scholarships.
What do you think about the growth of
gaming that has happened recently here at
the university?
Mr. Deppen: When we talk about esports,
a lot of it has to do with capitalizing
on the interest that students already have…
Young people are interested in games and
moving into that type of realm is a natural
progression that follows both the career interests
of students and also their leisure and
recreational activities as well…
It’s about being able to complete all of our
university goals and initiatives with esports
outside of just having high-quality teams and
good facilities. We want to be able to bring
students in that are already interested in
games so we can meet them halfway and say
‘You’re interested in games, and we have game
design majors that can prepare you to a career
in the gaming industry, or we have cybersecurity
inside the IT area’. We have computer science,
computer engineering and all these other
academic majors that can be the end point for
students. The middle ground where we meet
them is going to be gaming.
That’s how we see esports fitting into
the university mission. It’s not going to be
this standalone thing that doesn’t interact
or engage academically. It acts as this
direct pathway to all these other careers
and opportunities that students can have.
Maybe that’s something more creative, like
the game design component, or maybe
that’s a little more tangential like broadcasting
and media.
Follow ODU Varsity Esports
on Twitter at:
@ODU_Esports
“IT’S ABOUT
BEING ABLE TO
COMPLETE ALL OF
OUR UNIVERSITY
GOALS AND
INITIATIVES WITH
ESPORTS OUTSIDE
OF JUST HAVING
HIGH-QUALITY
TEAMS AND GOOD
FACILITIES ”
Images by: NICHOLAS CLARK
17 | maceandcrown.com Fall 2020 | 18