CPL Gaming League Will Begin Drug Testing in 2007
CPL Gaming League Will Begin Drug Testing in 2007
December 9, 2006
Those looking to enhance their performance in the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) next year had best read the entry rules very carefully.There will be a new clause in player contracts which allows the CPL to test participants for drugs, reports Tom's Hardware. Of the new testing program, CPL found Angel Munoz (left) said:
The potential for (drugs) being an issue absolutely concerns me, It should concern anybody in eSports, because as the stakes get larger, as in any sport, people will look for an edge... In 2007, we are going to have the right to drug test someone. It's going to have to be this way.
Munoz told Tom's Hardware that the tests will not be random, and not all competitors will be required to provide a sample.
Drugs said to be commonly used at some LAN gatherings include crystal meth and Ritalin. Both apparently increase stamina, reflexes and concentration, at least in the short-term. Those attributes match up quite well with the demands of the action games played on the pro circuit. When the CPL starts testing, all illegal drugs and certain prescription items will be checked.
Those who enjoy a swift Red Bull to calm their nerves before a deathmatch need not worry, though, as the league has no plans to regulate those, partially because it wouldn't be practical, and partially because Munoz is "not sure that caffeine is the right drug for gaming."
Guess it's back to the practicing for the rest of us, then...
-reporting from the U.K., GamePolitics Euro-spondent Mark Kelly
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
If leagues like the CPL keep growing, this could turn interesting, and not necessarily for the better (see MLB for reference).
At least they're not banning caffiene though. Thats always a bonus.
Whether or not it's a physical contest is irrelevant. The principle of using a drug to gain an unfair advantage in competition is the issue here. And don't think it's easy to compete, pretty much all the vets in those online fragfests are freakin' GOOD.
"Pro" leagues get off their cry horses, stop whining about their bruised egos, and start testing just like everyone else?
@Daniel
"performance enhancing" is relative to the sport. Hockey players don't usually use steroids, because just being strong doesn't help. For them, drug of choice is usually something related to reflex or reaction enhancement, or something to give them an energy boost like a stimulant. I imagine drugs that improve concentration, coordination, and help you stay up for 48 hrs is probably something CPL players would be looking at.
I have never been to a game tournament, but does it really take 48 hours? That's ridiculous to have a contest for 48 hours straight. Why does it have to last that long? Most sporting events take 3 hours.
The CPL has been out of the news for a while now, well positive news anyway, and this is likely more of a political statement. A "see we support keeping kids from using [enter current trendy drug to hate here]" kind of thing.
As for taking drugs at a LAN center, I've competed, and I have friends who are admittedly way.... way.... better than me who compete for money and I've never heard of the use of "concentration enhancers" before. While I could almost see Ritalin being tried, I doubt anyone would make a habit of it. And Myth?! Oh please, if you need to play a game requiring concentration, swift reaction, and clarity of strategic movement, you're not going to bust out the Myth card, that's just stupid.
As for the people saying that its not hard to play a video game, if you were to put the top cyber athletes in a test with regular people you'll most likely find that the reaction time, coordination, and logistic reasoning to be faster and more precise than a normal person. It may not be 100% physical but these players are well beyond the norm when it comes to abilities. They utilize strategies and with games like CS they utilize combat scenarios that would put many military tacticians to shame.
If you want a good example of what I'm talking about watch your friend play CS sometime and then watch footage of tournaments with cyber athletes, you'll see a huge difference.
idiots....
As a competitor myself, let me clarify.
Competitions tend to take up to 3 days, and sometimes as long as a week. However, obviously they are played out with a schedule in which there's obviously various times for players and teams to eat, sleep, and do whatever they need to do to make sure their bodies and minds remain healthy for the competition. Otherwise only the first 8 hours of the competition would be actually based on skill, then the rest of it would be pure endurance to see who's still awake enough to frag.
Also, in confidence, I do know a few gamers (whose names I'll never tell) who attempted to use Meth as an indirect enhancement, during the off-season, in order to stay awake and get in an extra few hours of practice and training. It proved to be a moot point, however, as none of them have broken the mediocre level of online competition and poor results on LAN.
As for the thread itself, there's all kinds of things that could be considered "enhancers" for gamers given the circumstances. One example being beta blockers being used for stress reduction and such. Anyway, I've said enough.