{"id":143418,"date":"2018-11-06T08:01:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-06T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=143418"},"modified":"2023-06-27T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:03:48","slug":"student-esport-fans-gather-overwatch-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2018\/11\/student-esport-fans-gather-overwatch-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaming Gathering: Club Hosts Overwatch World Cup Viewing Party"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 3 was a big day for the UConn Gaming Club (UCGC), as students interested in esports gathered to watch the Overwatch World Cup. The \u201cviewing party\u201d is one of many events the club holds throughout the semester, in addition to regular weekly meetings.<\/p>\n

\"During<\/a>
During the event, host Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG) (offscreen) organized a 3v3 tournament for guests to participate in. Shown here is the first match of the night. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6737<\/div>
During the event, host Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG) (offscreen) organized a 3v3 tournament for guests to participate in. Shown here is the first match of the night. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"From<\/a>
From left, political science major Pete Reilly '19 (CLAS), Andrew Finelli, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, and Kim Daniels, an Overwatch World Cup volunteer, enjoy playing some casual matches. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6738<\/div>
From left, political science major Pete Reilly '19 (CLAS), Andrew Finelli, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, and Kim Daniels, an Overwatch World Cup volunteer, enjoy playing some casual matches. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Digital<\/a>
Digital media and design major Devyn Lowry '19 (SFA), vice president of UCGC, is responsible for helping to oversee the club and its executive board. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_7157<\/div>
Digital media and design major Devyn Lowry '19 (SFA), vice president of UCGC, is responsible for helping to oversee the club and its executive board. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Digital<\/a>
Digital media and design major Xinhai 'Toby' Wei '21 (SFA) helps out by designing informative signs for the event. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6724<\/div>
Digital media and design major Xinhai 'Toby' Wei '21 (SFA) helps out by designing informative signs for the event. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG), shown here setting up Toby\u2019s posters, was responsible for coordinating the event. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6749<\/div>
Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG), shown here setting up Toby\u2019s posters, was responsible for coordinating the event. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Ryan<\/a>
Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG) quizzes political science major Michael 'Mikey' Palacios-Baughman '20 (CLAS) about his knowledge of Overwatch. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_7017<\/div>
Ryan Marsh '20 (ENG) quizzes political science major Michael 'Mikey' Palacios-Baughman '20 (CLAS) about his knowledge of Overwatch. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Collegiate<\/a>
Collegiate esports sponsor Tespa provides door and raffle prizes, as well as sponsoring the collegiate esport leagues that UConn participates in. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6708<\/div>
Collegiate esports sponsor Tespa provides door and raffle prizes, as well as sponsoring the collegiate esport leagues that UConn participates in. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Juan<\/a>
Juan Torres '20 (CLAS) poses with his raffle prize \u2013 a World of Warcraft tumbler. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_7077<\/div>
Juan Torres '20 (CLAS) poses with his raffle prize \u2013 a World of Warcraft tumbler. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"It\u2019s<\/a>
It\u2019s not all about video games! Some members of UCGC also love to draw, as shown by molecular and cell biology major Xiaolin Huang '19 (CLAS). (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_6980<\/div>
It\u2019s not all about video games! Some members of UCGC also love to draw, as shown by molecular and cell biology major Xiaolin Huang '19 (CLAS). (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Michael<\/a>
Michael Palacios-Baughman '20 (CLAS), physics major Erik Sanders '21 (CLAS),, and computer science major Ryan King '20 (ENG) pose for a photo after winning 2nd place in the 3v3 tournament. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
Overwatch_IMG_7179<\/div>
Michael Palacios-Baughman '20 (CLAS), physics major Erik Sanders '21 (CLAS),, and computer science major Ryan King '20 (ENG) pose for a photo after winning 2nd place in the 3v3 tournament. (Lucas Voghell '20 (CLAS)\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Founded in the fall of 2012, the UConn Gaming Club boasts one of the largest populations of students for a student-run organization — estimated at more than 500. Most commonly, esports takes the form of organized,\u00a0multiplayer video game\u00a0competitions.<\/p>\n

Each week, students come to meetings with their laptops and desktops, or play on club-sponsored PCs. Within the club, individual students on the executive board run what are called \u201cdivisions,\u201d where players of the more popular games can gather for tournaments, activities, and meetings.<\/p>\n

\n

I’ve seen many new friendships formed through [the Overwatch] community. — Ryan Marsh<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ryan Marsh, a junior majoring in engineering, leads the Overwatch division \u2013 a massively popular first-person shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. Composed of teams of six players, each team selects specific characters to compete on various objectives on maps from around the world.<\/p>\n

The game is played at a professional level year-round, with teams from every continent competing against one another. This past weekend, \u201call-star\u201d teams were formed from players\u2019 home countries to compete in the Overwatch World Cup.<\/p>\n

At UConn, the Overwatch community, with 175 members, is one of the biggest gaming groups within the UConn Gaming Club. Events take place at weekly UCGC meetings, with some bigger events like the viewing party, five UConn teams compete every week in collegiate matches against other schools around the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve seen many new friendships formed through this community,\u201d says Marsh, \u201cand it’s always exciting to discuss the latest Overwatch news with our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marsh notes that the Overwatch World Cup and its franchised counterpart, Overwatch League, have taken steps over the years to make competitive Overwatch an enjoyable esport, even to those who may not know a lot about the game. Each match is viewed using a mix of player and overhead map perspectives to see everything that\u2019s happening. And teams are color-coded, so viewers can easily distinguish between the teams in the heat of the action.<\/p>\n

Many people enjoy supporting their home team, such as USA in the Overwatch World Cup, or New York Excelsior in the Overwatch League. Each team fosters and engages its own community through local pop-up shops, tournaments, meet-and-greets, and, of course, team rivalries \u2013 such as that between the Texas teams Dallas Fuel and Houston Outlaws.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere at UConn, fans of all teams get together and cheer their favorite team or players on during matches,\u201d Marsh says. \u201cIt really feels like a lively and passionate community.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Members of the UConn Gaming Club cheered on their favorite teams during the ‘viewing party’ Saturday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":143414,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,2225,2234],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-143418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-life","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 20:21:32","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143418"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":143442,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143418\/revisions\/143442"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/143414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143418"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=143418"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=143418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}