What e-sports taught me about teamwork
The importance of cooperation to achieve the best results
If you are not a gamer, you probably don’t know, but the e-sports community can be very, very toxic. Generally speaking, internet users are hidden behind a screen and a keyboard. When you use internet in social media or to play games, you don’t go face-to-face with anybody.
In the internet, you can be anonymous. You can just create an account, put an anime picture in your avatar, pick a random nickname, and voilà, you can start calling names, cursing, and preying on the others. I have the feeling that many people use the internet only for that.
Of course, it is an issue of resentment, unhappiness, a void in the soul. But let us not go psychological. Point here is: E-sports, typically, do not have a friendly and welcoming environment. And that is a big problem when the games you play are not solo, but in a team.
As if it were not enough, even if the gamers you are playing with are not toxic, most of them act in an egoistic manner. They think first in their ranks and levels, not in the best outcome for the team they are playing for. It is hard to find someone with a “team mentality”.
For the average gamer, it is quite common to blame the others for their own mistakes. If their opponent is playing really well, winning almost every fight against them and succeeding in some difficult tasks, the most common thing you hear is: “he is cheating”.
Obviously, the person in question can be cheating. It happens too often, actually. However, if your opponent is too good, it doesn’t mean necessarily that he is cheating.
Another common complain you see in the gamer world is the one directed to the teammates. If the gamer fails at something, they will blame their partners. In the First Person Shooter that I play, CS:GO, for example, you always hear something like “You are a baiter!”, “you’ve let me die!” and so on.
Again, of course it can also happen. There are baiters and there are bad players. But if you die in the game, maybe it’s your fault, not your teammate’s.
On the other hand, when our gamer is the one who makes the mistakes, they never apologize. Even if they know it was their fault.
So that’s the environment of e-sports.
You might be thinking: If this is unfriendly like that, how could I learn something useful from it?
Well… the answer is quite simple.
When you do your job, work together with your team, and everyone shares the same spirit, you will certainly do very fine and will probably win the game.
To achieve the best results, the most important thing to do is to cooperate with your teammates and avoid selfish actions. The success of your team is your success. It doesn’t matter if you are the best, if your statistics are the best, or if you have more points. If your team loses the game, it’s also a loss for you.
That means that if you make a mistake, tell your teammates, and apologize. Pay attention and avoid that to happen again. If your teammate makes a mistake, don’t shame them and scream at them. Wait for them to say sorry, and excuse them. In case he doesn’t apologize or doesn’t recognize the mistake, give them a piece of advice, so they can realize what they did wrong. Always respect the ones you are playing with.
Finally, I must say that good communication is the key for success. Don’t turn a blind eye to unresolved things. Don’t let them accumulate. If you have to say something, say it rather sooner than later. Try to fix small mistakes before they grow bigger.
In my experience, what makes the most difference is when everyone is performing together, sharing the same spirit. When one or two overperforms, but there is no teamplay, it makes it more difficult to get the victory.
Playing for yourself may do good for you in the short-term. Nonetheless, if you keep it self-centered, there is no way you can fully seize the opportunities and improve your game in the long run. Play with the others, learn with the others, grow with the others and, in the end, be victorious with the others.
That’s what e-sports taught me about teamwork.
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