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[kirblar]

You could reasonably make an argument that a parallel women's division would be a better approach in some gaming genres. But this isn't remotely close to a parallel division, and Hearthstone is clearly not a game where there's any sort of reasonable logic to segregate participants. It is definitely incredibly dumb.

(The two viable lines of argument I can see-a) increasing exposure for female players b) acknowledging the reaction speed gap in genres where it's relevant. This is neither.)

 

[The Blackrose]

That's so inane. EVO allows female players to play in the male tournament if they opt out of the female one.

Except there hasn't been a women's invitational since 2010. Everyone's in the same bracket.

 

[LiK]

This is pretty dumb. Excluding genders on both sides based on the games. What year are we living in?

 

[wrowa]

I can see where they're coming from, but a gender division in eSports is just so silly. There's no physical reason why a woman would be "inferior" to a male in a PC game (or vice versa). I'm not sure if this shows how weird some eSports regulation can be or how backwards professional sports in general are, though.

 

[anonymous_abc]

So who do we petition to get e-sports to be gender neutral in general?
So ridiculous.

 

[Fred-87]

Its dumb, but now im reminded that things like darts are also seperated for no reason

 

[Menome]

I have no idea, but if there are female only tournaments then it's not as bad as what I thought when I read the thread title, i.e. females being excluded all together.

There's only a female-segregated set of rounds at the base knockout-level by the looks of things. There isn't even the option of a female main tournament to progress up to.

 

[bluepolicebox]

Also requesting clarification on what the hell this means.
"It'd be a problem if a girl beat a boy" is all that I'm getting.

That's exactly what they're saying.

 

[BananasWithGuns]

"The decision to divide male and female competitions was made in accordance with international sports authorities, as part of our effort to promote e-Sports as a legitimate sports."

That might be the dumbest reasoning for such a stupid course of action. Not that there ever would be a reasonable excuse for a decision like this.

Sadly enough it's just going to have the complete opposite effect of what they're intending. Segregating in e-sports is just going to have it be taken less seriously. It's already fighting an uphill battle in that regard so doing something that this is just purely idiotic.

 

[see5harp]

This is hella dumb because if they plan on streaming, they are limiting their Twitch audience.

 

[Kerned]

That's insane. Esports aren't sports in the traditional sense. Segregating players by gender is ludicrous.

 

[El Sloth]

Hahaha, would these fools actually look Scarlett in the face and say, "sorry, you can't play in the regular tournament?"

What nonsense. An effort to be seen as more legitimate? This is only delegitimizes their event and organization in my eyes.

esports is still a stupid term

 

[Mzo]

That difference in upper body strength leads to more clicks per minute.

But seriously, that's a weird decision.

 

[AkuMifune]

Real men can handle getting beat by a woman. In fact, it's usually part of my weekend plans.

This is lame. E-Sports is the one arena where everyone is equal.

 

[DrROBschiz]

Its dumb, but now im reminded that things like darts are also seperated for no reason

And Pool, Bowling etc..

Heck this precedent is persists all over sports regardless of the level of physical interaction

Oh well

 

[StuBurns]

And men from Tekken. The title has misogynistic implications I don't think the event has.

 

[MikeDown]

They are excluding males from Tekken, so it isn't exactly a one way street like the title suggests. The decision to do so baffles me, but I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with it per-say.

There's only a female-segregated set of rounds at the base knockout-level by the looks of things. There isn't even the option of a female main tournament to progress up to.

well that is just bullocks

 

[Salex_]

Being generous, the idea would be to create a division for women in order to encourage more women to participate and increase the pool of female players. This is why "legitimate sports" (whatever that means) have separate gender divisions. But it's as though someone somewhere (or multiple someones in many places) have twisted that well intentioned idea into an excuse for exclusion rather than an occasion for inclusion, proving yet again that e-sports have a long way to go before they can be treated as a "legitimate sport."

I'm pretty sure that's not why sports has separate divisions for men and women. A lot of it has to do with the sports rewarding the standard physical advantages that most men have over women. You wouldn't want men and women playing basketball and baseball in the same league.

Basically the tournament prize of advancing to the National stage can only be given to males. So a female winning would theoretically eliminate advancing anyone. Of course, the easy solution is to just give the prize to the top eligible people and allow women to compete.

Not sure how anyone can come up with these rules. Why would someone prevent a female from advancing if they won?

 

[buy teh haloz]

Bullshit

 

[vazel]

"The decision to divide male and female competitions was made in accordance with international sports authorities, as part of our effort to promote e-Sports as a legitimate sports."

So this is their chance to be different! So stupid.

 

[Tamanon]

Also requesting clarification on what the hell this means.
"It'd be a problem if a girl beat a boy" is all that I'm getting.

Basically the tournament prize of advancing to the National stage can only be given to males. So a female winning would theoretically eliminate advancing anyone. Of course, the easy solution is to just give the prize to the top eligible people and allow women to compete.

 

[Avallon]

Does this also mean that males are excluded from Tekken Tag Tournament 2?

What an odd thing to do (split the genders).

 

[chrishackwood]

I think it's mostly men not wanting to have their arse handed to them by a woman!

 

[Kane1345]

 

[wildfire]

I don't have enough time to investigate this but this already stands out to me as bullshit by the IESF

Under their general statutes regulations:
http://ie-sf.com/en/regulation/regulation1.php

Article 5: Non-discrimination and Promoting Female Participation

The Practice of e-Sport is a fundamental right for all.
All parties related to IeSF’s events including its Members and partners shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women, and to promote and elevate the participation of female players in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of women and men, the same rights, in particular, to participate in recreation, leisure and sports activities and all aspects of cultural life.
Discrimination of any kind against lineage, gender, religion, politics, individual, organization or any reason is strictly prohibited and punishable by suspension or expulsion.
​

Under their competition regulations:
http://ie-sf.com/en/regulation/regulation3.php

Article 10 Official Title

The Official Titles of “The World Championship” are as follows :
Four Official Titles for the “The Tournament” shall be designated by “IeSF”:
▶ Male Division: Two Titles (regardless of team or individual match)
▶ Female Division: Two Titles (regardless of team or individual match)​

Honestly the tournament organizers I believe are still given the lattitude to have mixed gender divisions because of.

The “OM” Shall have the right to recommend two additional Official Titles as regarding the preference of the host city/country.​

 

[Ivieto]

I AM NOT AGREEING OR ENDORSING THIS OPINION AND IT US REALLY DIMB AN SEXIST, but what they are trying to argue is that their finish tournament is a qualifier to the males only tournament in azerbaijan. Top 8 get a ticket and entry in the IESH finals, which does not allow women in the main tournament. (apparently, have not checked this part). So the finnish guys do not want a woman taking up a spot in the final 8 and participating in the obscure women's bracket, or having to chose a replacement.

 

[wrowa]

A men from Tekken. The title has misogynistic implications I don't think the event has.

Yeah, as silly as this is, I don't think it's meant to be sexist in any way. It's just an unfortunate and weird interpretation of what a professional "normal" sport is.

 

[injurai]

I thought that part of the world was leading is social policies.

 

[Mesoian]

Yeah, that's my expression as well. What's the thought process behind that? Even the FGC doesn't divide up brackets by gender.

You could reasonably make an argument that a parallel women's division would be a better approach in some gaming genres. But this isn't remotely close to a parallel division, and Hearthstone is clearly not a game where there's any sort of reasonable logic to segregate participants. It is definitely incredibly dumb.

(The two viable lines of argument I can see-a) increasing exposure for female players b) acknowledging the reaction speed gap in genres where it's relevant. This is neither.)

Like which ones?

 

[Man God]

Is there drug testing as well?

 

[leakey]

I mean, think of the shame if you got beaten by a girl. Right?

 

[Flachmatuch]

Basically the tournament prize of advancing to the National stage can only be given to males.

So it's not just this tournament's idiocy?

I AM NOT AGREEING OR ENDORSING THIS OPINION AND IT US REALLY DIMB AN SEXIST, but what they are trying to argue is that their finish tournament is a qualifier to the males only tournament in azerbaijan. Top 8 get a ticket and entry in the IESH finals, which does not allow women in the main tournament. (apparently, have not checked this part). So the finnish guys do not want a woman taking up a spot in the final 8 and participating in the obscure women's bracket, or having to chose a replacement.

So, unabashed sexism on multiple levels. Thanks for the clarification. But just to be sure: there's some international Hearthstone tournament that's male only and the winners of the one in question automatically qualify for that and the organisers of this tournament do not care enough to handle this issue. Seriously, why do gamers even accept the existence of this international tournament? Shouldn't it be simply boycotted?

 

[BumblebeeCody]

This is to avoid possible conflicts (e.g. a female player eliminating a male player during RO8) among other things."

Wait wait. Why exactly is this bad? I've read this over and over and I still don't see what the problem is.

 

[Akai__]

So what about SC2 Pro player Scarlett? She is one of the best, if not the best North American SC2 players, which can easily defeat any of the top male players...

I can't believe how stupid this is. I would understand, if this was a physical sport, but for e-sports? Just shaking my head...

Edit: Confused the region, my bad.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

So a possible outcome of competition = conflict that must be avoided?

Typical e-sports shit, all about the posturing. Gotta LOOK LIKE sports regardless of whether the reasoning applies or not to the situation.

 

[AtomskEater]

Basically the tournament prize of advancing to the National stage can only be given to males. So a female winning would theoretically eliminate advancing anyone. Of course, the easy solution is to just give the prize to the top eligible people and allow women to compete.

That is... so freaking weird. So even though there are competitions for women, they won't have the chance to advance to Nationals anyway?

 

[Menome]

Is there drug testing as well?

Yes, if your blood isn't composed of at least 50% energy drink, you're not allowed to play.

 

[Raticus79]

Step 1: Create separate male and female divisions for each game

Step 2: Remove divisions which don't have enough participants

Step 3: Try to defend the awkward mess that results from decisions that seemed reasonable at the time

 

[massoluk]

That's absurd.

There's Women World Chess Championship, but nothing stop women from entering World Chess Championship.

 

[BeatResetsTheWorld]

this is to avoid possible conflicts (e.g. a female player eliminating a male player during RO8) among other things."

What

 

[old]

Wtf! This straight bullshit! How the fuck is this even still a problem. Because they want be a real sport? I'd rather esports be revolutionary in not segregating men and women.

 

[tranciful]

They're scared of that overpowered women's intuition

 

[Laconic]

E-sports. Giggle-snorts.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

"In accordance with the International e-Sports Federation's (IeSF) tournament regulations, since the main tournament event is open to male players only. This is to avoid possible conflicts (e.g. a female player eliminating a male player during RO8) among other things."

Something is being lost in translation here, surely. How is a female beating a male player a "conflict"?

Edit: NVM, clarified above. So they're being "logically" sexist to avoid the nasty complications of a woman moving into a "truly" sexist tournament. This is brain poison.

 

[Linkark07]

I just... just can't believe this.

 

[USC-fan]

What does this even mean, where is the conflict?

For rankings and other reason this is a bad idea. If the governing body split by gender most of the time these tournaments feed into other tournaments.

 

[wrowa]

Wait wait. Why exactly is this bad? I've read this over and over and I still don't see what the problem is.

As said a few posts above, the problem is that there's no "main tournament" for females in Hearthstone. So, if a female player should happen to win this tournament, she couldn't actually advance to next round, which is why the organizers are excluding females altogether.

It's still super weird, though.

 

[marrec]

Hey guys, you know what'll make E-Sports more legitimate?

SEXISM!

Trust me, it works for traditional sports.

 

[Avallon]

IESF Response:

"1 - promoting female players. We know that e-Sports is largely dominated by male players and females players are actually a portion of the overall player base. By hosting a female-only competition, we strive to promote female gaming on a global scale.

"2 - International standards. IeSF is very close to get e-Sports recognized as a true sports like it should be. Part of that efforts is to comply with the international sports regulations. For example, chess is also divided into male / female leagues."

 

[WITHE1982]

I don't see the problem. Ron Burgundy and every pre-1980s man approves.