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> Perhaps the message is just that millions are delivered to those with a combination of luck and the freedom to pursue rationally unjustifiable interests. Whe

> Perhaps the message is just that millions are delivered to those with a combination of luck and the freedom to pursue rationally unjustifiable interests. Where do you see that message? No luck was involved in your example, just hard work on behalf of the good players and of the Dota developers, and pursuing a hobby with passion is perfectly rational.

glofish 7y ago
In my interpretation of the reply, they were "lucky" in that the field took off and became economically viable to be good at it. Frankly, back 20 years ago I would have never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment.
- lazyjones 7y ago
  > Frankly, back 20 years ago I would have never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment. Even after popular chess matches on TV in the 80's, 90's?
- Swizec 7y ago
  > never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment. Then what the hell are NFL, NBA, etc? People have been watching others play a game as a form of entertainment for as long as society can remember:
paulryanrogers 7y ago
> ...pursuing a hobby with passion is perfectly rational. To a point, yes. Though we may disagree on the threshold where it crosses over from rational to unhealthy obsession. And there is certainly luck involved when there are tens who found fortune out of millions participating.
barrkel 7y ago
The luck is that that game turned out to be lucrative.
- lazyjones 7y ago
  Which highly competitive endeavours, that millions of young people spend many hours per week on, aren't?
  - dx87 7y ago
    Tons of other games didn't become big esports, and most of the people who dedicated years to those games ended up wasting their time.
    - lazyjones 7y ago
      > ended up wasting their time. So, did they play these games in the hope to make millions, or because they liked them?
michaelbuckbee 7y ago
The luck comes in that they opted to play Dota at just the right time. If someone had instead opted into becoming a really good Heroes of the Storm player (only to have the developer stop work on it) they would be in a really different position.

glofish 7y ago

In my interpretation of the reply, they were "lucky" in that the field took off and became economically viable to be good at it. Frankly, back 20 years ago I would have never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment.

lazyjones 7y ago
> Frankly, back 20 years ago I would have never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment. Even after popular chess matches on TV in the 80's, 90's?
Swizec 7y ago
> never thought that watching someone play a game would become a form of entertainment. Then what the hell are NFL, NBA, etc? People have been watching others play a game as a form of entertainment for as long as society can remember:

paulryanrogers 7y ago

> ...pursuing a hobby with passion is perfectly rational. To a point, yes. Though we may disagree on the threshold where it crosses over from rational to unhealthy obsession. And there is certainly luck involved when there are tens who found fortune out of millions participating.

barrkel 7y ago

The luck is that that game turned out to be lucrative.

lazyjones 7y ago
Which highly competitive endeavours, that millions of young people spend many hours per week on, aren't?
- dx87 7y ago
  Tons of other games didn't become big esports, and most of the people who dedicated years to those games ended up wasting their time.
  - lazyjones 7y ago
    > ended up wasting their time. So, did they play these games in the hope to make millions, or because they liked them?

michaelbuckbee 7y ago

The luck comes in that they opted to play Dota at just the right time. If someone had instead opted into becoming a really good Heroes of the Storm player (only to have the developer stop work on it) they would be in a really different position.