First Depature competed in Beyond the Submmit, a global Dota 2 tournament, where regional qualifiers are played online with the winner of each region invited to the Los Angeles studio to compete in a Local Area Network(LAN) finals against the winners of other regions in the world. The tournament starts with a base price pool of a $100,000 dollar with 25% of all in game sales contributing to it. At this time of writing, the total prize pool stands at $310,242!!!!
The reasons that prevented the team from participating shows how backwards and inflexible our national system really is. While there isn't a strong ground of debate for Mercale who has military duties to fulfill, I believe that more could have been done for him. Back in July 2015, we had some guy who wanted to sing in The Voice of China and was able to reschedule his enlistment date in order to faciliate his participation in the show.
So why wasn't First Depature provided that same flexibility? I came up with a list of possible reasons:
Allowing Miracle to go would make it unfair for the rest who are serving their national service diligently.
Yes, it would be unfair to the rest but if that guy has a shot at national glory who actually cares if it is going to be fair. It you've not figured this out by now, the world is unfair so we should just accept that fact and live with it.
Gaming is a waste of time
For those mountain tortoises in Singapore, Gaming is NOT A WASTE OF TIME. Addictive gaming is bad but so is anything that isn't done in moderation, so lets get this argument out of the way. In fact, I would even dare say that being addicted to a particular skill is how one becomes a professional in anything. Whenever someone tells me gaming is a waste of time, I've always wondered how they came about with that statement. How is trying to kick a ball into a net, throw a ball through a hoop, hit a ball to hit another ball into a hole not a waste of time then? In fact, Gaming/E-Sports like the World Wide Web provides an equal playing ground where our physical frame do not put us at a disadvantage unlike in sports like kick a ball into a net, throw a ball through a hoop and hit a ball to hit another ball into a hole.
He would be moonlighting if the army allows him to try and bring glory for Singapore
This is kind of sad but this just demonstrates how inflexible our military system can be. Quoting John F. Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" Is baring arms the only thing I can do for my country? I think that Singaporeans can do more but there is a lack of support in areas where the government does not believe will benefit country. Could there be a system where we review things on a case by case basis instead of generalizing on the sectors which are good? A least First Departure isn't asking their maids to play Dota 2 for them right?
Now lets move on to education. "When you are in school, you are supposed to focus on your studies and not personal interest" ~ Ngee Ann Polytechnic.
To those who have applied or are going to apply for Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I'm sorry that your ambitions are not going to come through if it is not related to studies. However, you're still able to support others in their pursuit of gaming by designing their games through a course offered by Ngee Ann. I'm not trying to slam trying to say that whoever that made the decision obviously isn't align with the vision of Ngee Ann Polytechnic and has a wrong view towards education. Education is all about finding your personal interest.
Can gaming be an alternative route to career success? We've already seen Scythe Gaming coming in third at Dota 2 The Internationals in 2011 with each player taking home USD$30,000 from a single tournament which rougly translates to a monthly income of USD$2,500. In 2014, Dota 2 The Internationals had a total prize pool of USD$10,000,000 with the top team bringing home USD$5,000,000.
The future of ESports is huge.