Wanna go pro in Melee

[SWTOROF2099]

Hi my name is swtorof2099 and I just recently picked up this game and been playing it for about a few weeks now. I've wanted to be a pro gamer and so I was just wondering if me being 16 is a good age to dedicate my time in Melee and try to go pro.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[bboss]

You're never too young. Go get em... sixteen is a great age to start.

 

[Rogstar]

You don't have to make a decision about being a "professional". That word, strictly speaking, means making your living at melee. I'm guessing at this stage in your life, making your living is not something you have to think about much. I think its an important distinction to make, because if, down the line, you became a "professional", just playing the game would only be part of what you do. Right now, the people making a living off of smash (and that's a very small number) have to stream, travel, practice constantly (I assume), do very detailed analysis, etc... There's a lot of things you would have to give up. There's not just a threshold of skill you achieve and then suddenly you become a professional.

However, if you enjoy playing and improving, then making a commitment to smash can be an awesome thing. I think its good to really delve into something (music, sports, art, smash, anything really) and really try to be excellent, the best you can be. That is something that most people never achieve, because they never really try.

All that to say: I think you should go for it, cause its a really beautiful game.

 

[JonathantheMeSa]

I'm gonna straight up say at 16 you should be dedicating yourself to school first and foremost, and then if you still are committed/serious use the rest of your time to play smash. I mean, let's just say you are incredibly exceptional and become a god at smash (very low % of people). Now your life is playing a game for 8+ hours a day whether ya wanna or not. You need to spend more time also watching/analyzing replays.

What is the end payoff? If you are Armada you've made 200k in winnings and have been playing for 10 years or so (7 or so when he really started making money) and maybe you make 30kish a year from sponsorships. If you get an education you can easily get a decent job making 40-50k starting out with room for pay raise. You also have far more job security and don't have to worry about how long you can stay at that pinnacle or how long melee will last as a sponsored e-sports game. You also generally get benefits from a real job that smash doesn't offer (401k/insurance)

If you've listened to everything I've said and still wanna go for it. But in general I think people have fantastic delusions of pro gaming being some kinda dream job that is easily obtainable, and absurdly rewarding.

 

[SS4E]

Doing something at a "pro-level" certainly is rewarding though, just not always in terms of revenue I technically qualify as a "pro-artist", but I still work another job on the side to help pay the bills. If I focused all my time into a full-time job I might be able to make more than what I do now, but I could never give up art. Cartooning is my passion c:

I think jumping into something like pro-gaming as a passion is a great thing to aim at achieving, but it should never be your only goal. Not everyone gets the privilege of making a living off of their passion, so it's always good to prepare a backup plan just in case it doesn't work out. You don't want to end up ALMOST making it pro, only to realize that you haven't prepaired to take ANY other job besides "pro-gamer".

Still, don't be discouraged by preparing other options for yourself. If gaming is something you love to do, then do it, and who knows how far you can go =)

 

[JFB (JurgaBurgaFlintines)]

You can do it, but it's going to large, large amounts of work if you want to be a top 10 player, lets say. Also, you play Marth which makes things easier.