Do you think Adderall or its variants give an unfair advantage?

[roosTakk]

Yes.

Souce: have taken Adderall and played video gamrs6

 

[Peckapowa]

I'm not wanting to discuss regulations or such. I'm specifically asking if taking Adderall or anything like it REMOVES THE SKILL GAP.

If I were to take like 100MG of Adderall, would I suddenly be able to beat the likes of Sonic Fox, A F0xy Grampa (I spelled it right, @PND_Ketchup ), etc? I say the answer is no.

maybe if they put doomsday in the game you could

 

[IrishMantis]

less combo drops
more consistent play
better reactions
crack less under pressure
sharp reads

Sounds like an advantage but i would not go as far to say every player must be drug tested before tourneys lol

 

[scarsunseen]

I have. Took it to cram, but instead I ended up chewing through half a pack of gum and spending 4 hours alphabetising my library. Don't do drugs, kids.

I took Adderall and wrote a 60-page paper for my final project in college in 2 weeks. I don't even have any reading comprehension WHATSOEVER. How am I typing this??

Seriously, kids, drugs ARE bad. Don't do them, unless you're at a party with a bunch of really cute people. ^_^

(JK, that's bad advice.)

 

[Doctor Rektangle]

If Gum can be cited as :: "Chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer on tasks that require continuous monitoring. Previous research has shown that chewing gum can improve concentration in visual memory tasks. This study focused on the potential benefits of chewing gum during an audio memory task." via here.

Then should we ban gum too? After all it can even distract/detract from your opponents ability to focus if they didn't bring a headset or something. And Adderall is something some people just can't function without it. It helps those with narcolepsy as well. Also screening players would be pretty tough seeing as how there's not an obligation for average joe to show up. As long as you have money, you can play at a major tournament. Barring tournaments with qualifiers and set up with bigger leagues. Which isn't too common in the FGC outside of Capcom Cup & the ESL finals... which... you only qualify for by showing up and placing well to those non-screened events... Not sure you can screen for this "fairly" across the board.

In Sports, you are permitted to use steroids for "returning from injury faster" and "doctors orders" etc. However if you are doing it recreationally for an edge with unsanctioned by the league/association/federation/series' medical staff that's where the issue comes in with the punishment whether it be suspension/ban etc. So I guess people would have to bring their medical history to every major for this to become a thing to have standardized? Which is a cumbersome issue because one major has nothing to do with another major, especially when they're not hosted by the same staff. Weird stuff

 

[Tundra81]

I can tell you what doesn't work boys, Jim Beam!! Especially a whole fifth. Slows the reaction time way down.

 

[JerzeyReign]

This has me thinking now. How many players are taking this for the advantage? With big money on the line, I can really see this being used. I can see the fighting and first person shooter comp communities relying heavily on this.

 

[True Grave]

From someone who has taken drugs growing up, I say no. If someone wants to take Adderall to feel good, or fool themselves into thinking that they're playing better than why not? It's the same as if I wanted to smoke a nice bowl before gaming because I enjoy the game more as opposed to being sober. Yeah, both help you concentrate better, but IMO I can't help thinking that people just want something to cry about. That's like saying football players can't take ballet classes to become more limber is cheating.

 

[scarsunseen]

From someone who has taken drugs growing up, I say no. If someone wants to take Adderall to feel good, or fool themselves into thinking that they're playing better than why not? It's the same as if I wanted to smoke a nice bowl before gaming because I enjoy the game more as opposed to being sober. Yeah, both help you concentrate better, but IMO I can't help thinking that people just want something to cry about. That's like saying football players can't take ballet classes to become more limber is cheating.

Ballet isn't a mind-altering substance as far as I'm aware.

 

[Eldriken]

Ballet isn't a mind-altering substance as far as I'm aware.

I don't know why, but this made me laugh.

 

[True Grave]

Ballet isn't a mind-altering substance as far as I'm aware.

Put a man in front of a 24 hour ballet marathon and tell me that it won't cause a mind-alteration result lol. In all seriousness tho, yes, you're correct in saying that it's a mind-altering substance, but the same could be said for caffeine. Let's ban all the Monster and Redbull drinkers because their shakes are fucking with my high.

 

[IROC]

Iv done it a few times. But booze is what i play on. Makes ,me not respect your options and gives me the yolo offense. Adderall made me care and and lose...

 

[Blade4693]

Based on personal experience I have to say no. I used to take it and it doesn't make you superhuman or anything, it (for me anyway) just made me concentrate and focus a bit more and feel blah/zombie-ish. I haven't taken it in years though, plus the mg I was prescribed could have been low or something.

 

[Tony at Home]

If it was prescribed by a Doctor: no.

If it was not prescribed: wtf, do we even need a rule? It's illegal use of a controlled substance.



I was on Adderall for a decade for the innatentive type of ADHD ( just "ADD", no H). I replaced it with a drug I call "run 7 miles a day". Adderall is intense. Don't use it if you don't need it. If you need it ask your doctor for a half dose instead.

 

[scarsunseen]

Put a man in front of a 24 hour ballet marathon and tell me that it won't cause a mind-alteration result lol. In all seriousness tho, yes, you're correct in saying that it's a mind-altering substance, but the same could be said for caffeine. Let's ban all the Monster and Redbull drinkers because their shakes are fucking with my high.

My argument isn't about banning substances. I'm just calling them out for what they are. Caffeine is also mind-altering. I always have one or two coffees before a performance.

 

[True Grave]

My argument isn't about banning substances. I'm just calling them out for what they are. Caffeine is also mind-altering. I always have one or two coffees before a performance.

I wasn't implying that you were. I smoke marijuana, but I admit to abusing it.

 

[usedcarsalesmang]

then DQ people who drink alcohol and play fighting games too

 

[TheGoldenJew]

Maybe in a game like DOTA but not mk

 

[Cossner]

I use Aderall when I play online.

 

[BLACKRENEGADE]

I knew a guy in high school that would drop 3-4 Adderall pills at the same time, take a physics test, ace that sh*t. So... I'm not sure how effective these substances are cause I've never used any. But I have seen results.

 

[Zoidberg747]

Does it give an advantage? Yes.

SHould people use it? Hell no. Its an extremely strong drug that can possible have negative side effects.

Is it possible to ban the drug from tournaments? Hell no, not unless you want to use drug screening which would end pretty badly.

If people want to risk their health to maybe do a little bit better at a fighting game tournament, that's on them.

 

[Wetdoba]

If a bunch of grown men are traveling to play video games I would consider it weird for them to not be on drugs

 

[IDYLEHANDZ]

I say yes, and asked my roommates that have experience with this drug. Also what are you gonna do about that skill gap when someone like sonicfox is taking it?
I must also add, it is impossible for almost all of the tournaments to enforce any drug screening... But as a community we should shun the people who would seek out this unfair advantage.
...for shame.

 

[God Confirm]

Wow. ONLY this community would have this debate.

I saw this thread on EventHubs (http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2016/jan/09/are-performance-enhancing-drugs-killing-integrity-fgc-tournaments/) and it got me thinking: Does Adderall or any type of AD(H)D medication give the player an unfair advantage over those who don't use it?

Yes, it gives them a better level of focus, but does that necessarily translate to them being able to outplay their opponent? Does it remove the skill gap? I don't think that it does. I don't really feel that a higher level of focus > overall skill.

Discuss.

I'm not wanting to discuss regulations or such. I'm specifically asking if taking Adderall or anything like it REMOVES THE SKILL GAP.

If I were to take like 100MG of Adderall, would I suddenly be able to beat the likes of Sonic Fox, A F0xy Grampa (I spelled it right, @PND_Ketchup ), etc? I say the answer is no.

Just because it doesn't let you beat SonicFox doesn't mean that it's not an unfair advantage. If I wore flippers in an olypmic swimming event I know I'd still lose, that doesn't mean it wasn't an unfair advantage, it means they outclassed my scrubby ass heavily.

Yes, these drugs DO give you an advantage, that much is pure fact. These professional gamers aren't risking their careers and sponsorships over a placebo. They might have different levels of effectiveness on different people, and different competitors will see different returns for taking it, but at the end of the day it's undeniably an advantage. The only real question left is "is it an unfair one?". And I think if you have to resort to finding a means to access prescription drugs to match the advantages another player is stepping in the ring with, than that question is pretty self-explanatory.




EDIT: just voted on the poll. Holy shit I'm done. Not even half of you said yes. This fucking community man

 

[Lin Kuei Assassin]

I would say there's more to it than just the drug itself: other variables like personality, diet, general intelligence, and reflexes come into play.

Though, I did have a few beers last night, and blasted through UMK3 with ZERO effort somehow, lol.