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I found this question: Why wasn't there a TSM vs RNG tiebreaker game?

It's a question about the results of the biggest annual League of Legends competition in the world. I wasn't sure if this is on-topic, since although the competition is obviously based on a video game, the question itself is not about the game directly. Just wondering what the consensus is on the topic.

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    This is probably going to be a contentious question, but I don't see why questions about esports formats and the like shouldn't be allowed. Questions about more transient things like specific rosters or players are probably off topic.
    – Invader Skoodge
    Oct 11, 2016 at 17:17
  • Agreed. If you remove the subjects of TSM and RNG, the question is still technically about the game.
    – nightsurfer
    Oct 12, 2016 at 12:46
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    @Kaizerwolf Is it, though? For the sake of playing devil's advocate, let's say there's some other tournament that follows this format. Soccer, billiards, racing, whatever. None of those are on topic... so why would this be on topic just because the tournament happens to be about a video game instead of something else?
    – Mage Xy
    Oct 12, 2016 at 14:07
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    I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at. Of course those other games/sports are off-topic, because they aren't videogames. But League is a videogame, and the question could even be rephrased as "Why wasn't there a tiebreaker on an E-Sports game?", and I think it would still be fine.
    – nightsurfer
    Oct 12, 2016 at 14:28
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    I see where Mage is standing on this issue and I somewhat agree as well. Even though it's a tournament around a game, it's still not "about" the game but about some rules outside of the game. There's other SE sites where asking about "what happened during" events are their fortie but Arqade's global rules seem to fall under the "topic is not related to gaming" side of things.
    – NBN-Alex
    Oct 12, 2016 at 20:24
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    That is to say, is our site the best place to break the news when the head of a company leaves a gaming studio? Or to answer "Who won the 1980's Nintendo World Championship? From my understanding, Arqade is about games, but we try to limit it down to just what's inside the program and not the fan reactions around it. (Since that's better suited for sites like reddit)
    – NBN-Alex
    Oct 12, 2016 at 20:29
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    Relevant
    – Jutschge
    Oct 14, 2016 at 14:29

2 Answers 2

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Taking the same tactic as Oak, let's look at the list of definitely on-topic things from the help center:

  • Gameplay strategies and tactics
  • Puzzle solving or obstacle clearing
  • Game mechanics and terminology
  • Plot and characters in games
  • Game-specific hardware and utilities

It's not clear that questions about esports tournaments would fall under any of these categories. That being said, this is not an exhaustive list. The lead up to the list is "If your question generally covers things such as". So this is just a list of the kind of things we want to cover.

Now, let's consider the list of definitely off-topic things:

  • Game and Mod Development (try the Game Development Stack Exchange instead)
  • Speculative questions about developer intent, with respect to both mechanics and narrative
  • Requests for game identification based on personal recollection alone
  • Catalogues (listing games that fit specific criteria or are like an existing game)
  • Shopping advice and recommendations
  • Speculation of the future of the industry and of upcoming releases
  • Piracy, and support with pirated games.

A question about esports tournaments is definitely not any of those things.

So, should it be on-topic?

Yeah, I think so.

It's a closely-related thing that gamers would tend to know about, even if it's not strictly part of the game. This seems as game-related as game hardware or terminology. We let people ask about those because they are required to play the game, or at least make playing the game easier. If you are playing an esports game, then understanding the tournament structure definitely helps.

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I feel like it should not be on-topic. Let's examine the Help Center:

  • Gameplay strategies and tactics

  • Puzzle solving or obstacle clearing

       If we're talking about the strategies that the teams use,
  then yes, it would be on-topic; other than that, it shouldn't be.           
 Likewise for puzzle solving.

    • Game mechanics and terminology

      Perhaps, but this would tie a bit with strategies (Splitpushing, Aggro, etc..)

Other than that, it's as @MageXy said:

Is it, though? For the sake of playing devil's advocate, let's say there's some other tournament that follows this format. Soccer, billiards, racing, whatever. None of those are on topic... so why would this be on topic just because the tournament happens to be about a video game instead of something else?

Arqade is a Q&A website about how to play games, rather than how to watch others play games, and as such it shouldn't be on-topic (then again there isn't a consensus, yet)

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  • I think the reason this would be off-topic is because the rules of the tournament are decided by whoever runs the tournament, NOT Riot Games. If the same thing happened in another tournament, the situation may have played out completely differently and therefore the information isn't useful on a long-term basis.
    – Chase Sandmann
    Oct 13, 2016 at 20:53
  • The case that the example raised was about Riot Games' World Championship 2016
    – Oak
    Oct 13, 2016 at 21:00
  • ^Redundancy, I meant the case the original poster raised
    – Oak
    Oct 13, 2016 at 21:26
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    Hmm... I guess the question could potentially be on-topic then. If this is the official tournament of the game, then rulings about it could be considered as an official part of the game itself.
    – Chase Sandmann
    Oct 13, 2016 at 21:44
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    @ChaseSandmann It's not about the game though, at least not as defined in the scope. It's not about strategy, nor mechanics, nor anything directly related to the game itself. The tournament is played on the game, and questions about strategies, and items that were used are on topic (as they are game-related). But questions like "Why did X not play? Was he injured?" are not about the game at all, even if they're regarding a tournament that happens to be about the game itself
    – Oak
    Oct 13, 2016 at 22:25

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