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Calgary25954 Posts
On May 28 2010 02:24 tree.hugger wrote:Show nested quote +On May 28 2010 02:02 Chill wrote:On May 28 2010 01:53 Milkis wrote:On May 28 2010 01:43 Chill wrote:On May 28 2010 01:38 Milkis wrote: but it seems to me if someone is profiting from something you created, not only do they owe you money, but you need to be in agreement with them doing it. And what is your rationale behind that? You seem to make no exceptions to this rule, so I'm wondering how you back up the rationale and what you believe to be the purpose of that rule. Because what they're doing may not agree with how you brand your creation. You should be in control of what you created. Maybe Blizzard doesn't want Starcraft to be Korea-dominated and have the connotation of slaves training for 16 hours a day? I don't know what they want, I just know it's logical that they protect their brand. I see that logic, but I think the biggest difference is that people don't like the restrictions that may come with it. The reason why proleagues developed was because of the lack of restrictions, and people are afraid that this will happen at this point. I also believe that logic is too suffocating. I'm not too sure if you're willing to let me stretch your logic, but there's often many cases your creation being branded like that (see: ideas). it's like saying "If you read this book, you can only interpret it this way, the authorial intent" rather than allowing people to derive their own meanings from it because of control. But that's how books, doctrines, ideas, and I believe, Starcraft as a game, can grow. There is a lot of benefits that we have been reaping from Blizzard not being able to control Starcraft for so long and that's why I believe sticking to that rock solid logic may not be the best plan of action if we're looking forward to e-Sports improving. That's probably why there's a lot of disagreement with what you're saying right now -- you're looking at what you believe to be fundamental, and a lot of other people (including me) are looking at the benefits that can come from it. That's fair, I'm looking at it like it's not Blizzard and Starcraft. I feel a lot of people start at "This will change things for the worse" and then work backwards to justify it. I think it's perfectly just and I'm just along for the ride to see how it changes things. Exactly. If there's no change in the situation until August, then this'll be a huge loss. Hopefully this move forces a deal that will keep Blizzard in the money and out of esports, which is easily the best-case scenario right now. But as a fan of esports, Chill, I can't see how you're content to just watch this happen and not feel strongly one way or another.
I feel a huge flaw of the gaming community is pessimism and resistance to change. See: any patch ever in any game. So as a result I guess this forces me to take the opposite position. I don't think things will improve but I'm still optimistic and willing to give it a chance. I think another big part of it is that I'm a fan of the game first and of progaming second.
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5003 Posts
What has Kespa ever done to make you put faith in its ability to run things?
Start the leagues? No - OGN started that.
Broadcast the leagues? No - the OGN/MBCgame started that.
Get the original sponsorships? No - teams and players did it on their own.
Extinguish the match fixing scandal? No - was the cops that did this.
KeSPA is simply the governing body that attempts to put structure into this. It's made up of the people who is sponsoring the teams and broadcasting the teams.
Basically, the businesses that started eSports joined/started KeSPA. Fun.
The conditions are ridiculous because it's pretty much saying "We don't care about your little council, we, Blizzard, is the one who makes the decisions"
1. Set the contract term for using its games to 1 year
- The idea is to re-negotiate new terms every year. Blizzard is not saying "After a year, no more esports!" What they are saying is "after each year we will establish a new esports agreement with the party of our choosing." It is not different from the CBAs that major sports leagues all over the world use.
No one likes uncertainty in businesses. If there is uncertainty about getting the contract again after one year, then why would you invest in such an infrastructure? If Blizzard owned the Arenas, and many of the sunk costs involved, I wouldn't have a problem. But they don't.
2. Prior approvals about all league operations such as contracting sponsorship, marketing materials, broadcasting plan
- This is entirely reasonable. SC is a brand associated with Blizzard - especially with SC2 coming out. Blizzard has the right to claim that their brand is used in the way they wish. For example, the YOU ARE THE GOLF KING MSL. Blizzard is going to let the SC brand be associated with another game company? No sir.
I don't think this is a big deal, but the potential that "Oh SC2 isn't doing so well, let's get SC fans over to SC2", then they can just end it in a snap. I don't think anything, other than the fans should decide something like this, not Blizzard's whim (which there seems to be a lot of those nowadays)
3. License fee for running of league and all license fee of sponsorship inducement
- Considering that without Blizz' implicit approval none of the leagues are possible to exist, this is fair. Like it or not, there is money to be made through esports. Blizz has a rightful claim to a piece of the pie.
Taxation is bad. Especially if the taxed money does not go back into the infrastructure.
Secondly, Taxation on corporations who already don't make money from eSports? Oh boy.
4. Ownership of all broadcasted programs, program videos
- This is the hardest to stomach, but hey, EULA. Though I do believe that Blizzard will probably be willing to share these rights with any of its broadcast partners.
I believe this was pretty much one of the biggest fighting points. No businesses would want this.
5. Right to audit KeSPA.
- Oh god someone please audit that incompetent organization.
lol? someone sounds angry
The point is that if KeSPA agrees to this, KeSPA is one worthless organization. It's like working for Blizzard (making all the good decisions, bringing it up to Blizzard), without getting any support from them.
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It's not that I trust KeSPA to run things, it's that I'm trusting Blizzard to run things less and less, and GOM organization never struck me as all that great either.
It's not that I trust KeSPA to run things, but they're the closest thing to representing Korean esports that there is right now, no matter how they got there.
"Sure, whatever KeSPA, keep doing your thing," isn't a great option.
"KeSPA, we demand you meet all these requirements to keep doing your thing," isn't a great option either, imo.
In the abstract, of course Blizzard has the rights to demand that certain conditions be met, but in this case we've got precedent - 10 years or so - of Blizzard acknowledge that leagues independent of the game developer is cool. We've known all along that OGN/MBC/KeSPA/possibly the teams should probably be paying royalties, but Blizzard never pushed the point - and now they're demanding basically total control and supervision of any leagues using their games. It's not that Blizzard is legally in the wrong to do this, but the huge break with precedent doesn't feel right, either.
[That said, if this all succeeds and we get the same quality of play and broadcasts, and KeSPA actually breaks, I may turn out to be a fan in retrospect. I'm more complaining about Blizzard than trying to justify KeSPA here.]
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On May 28 2010 02:02 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On May 28 2010 02:01 Boblion wrote:On May 28 2010 01:43 Chill wrote:On May 28 2010 01:38 Milkis wrote: but it seems to me if someone is profiting from something you created, not only do they owe you money, but you need to be in agreement with them doing it. And what is your rationale behind that? You seem to make no exceptions to this rule, so I'm wondering how you back up the rationale and what you believe to be the purpose of that rule. Because what they're doing may not agree with how you brand your creation. You should be in control of what you created. Maybe Blizzard doesn't want Starcraft to be Korea-dominated and have the connotation of slaves training for 16 hours a day? I don't know what they want, I just know it's logical that they protect their brand. I'm sure that Diablo and WoW nerds running/raiding 24/24 7/7 and spending money to get their l33t gear are a way better connotation indeed  That "moral" argument is ridiculous. Blizzard doesn't care about slaves or people nerding. What moral argument? You put words in my mouth and then chastised me for them. Don't call me a racist!
I only have a few corporate law classes under my belt so take this for what it's worth. I believe the issue most people have with Blizzard's man-handling is not whether they have the right to control their product. That is obviously a given. The issue players have is on ethical grounds.
The guy saying that blizzard is all greed is just trying to say that they have a larger interest in profit than they do in customer satisfaction. Which is undeniable as of 01/16/2007. 07/09/2008 was the last nail in the coffin.
Whether they do a good job with esports or whatever remains to be seen. I think it's a bit early to judge their efforts. My opinion is that it's interesting to look at the Blizzard of early 2000 with the blizzard now. I no longer see any efforts to make a really solid game to please the community. I see a carbon copy of SC1 in 3d with shitty non-gameplay features and a company who isn't even worried about their game succeeding but on how they can milk the "esport" of it before it even releases. This is as ass backwards as it gets. I have a feeling I won't be the only one laughing if SC2 does not turn out to be Blizzard's shining star.
Rant
+ Show Spoiler +
I'll just say that WC3 really innovated on WC2 and pre-existing RTS games and that SC2 is a safe play with no innovation which is clearly designed to milk money.
The Blizzard we grew up with and loved is gone. Make room for the corporate behemoth next to all great names of shitty fucking companies: Activision, EA, Sony. I'm not going to predict doom and gloom, but with the little innovation coming from SC2, WoW and what we know so far of D3 (D2 in 3d with only 5 classes.... 5 classes), I will not be surprised to see Blizzard lose a significant portion of their "fanbase". Who knows? their next MMO might be baller and D3 might rock.
Not holding my breath.
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I should also say, just so we're clear: I think esports is too big at this point for any stupid decisions to kill off. I don't think Blizzard or KeSPA or any amount of retarded decisions will manage to end the scene, because there's a huge fanbase, for SC especially. So I'm complaining, but I'm not panicking and I am assuming it will all work out eventually anyway. Like Kim Carrier said, what's it going to be like looking back on 100 years of esports instead of just ten?
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This is really interesting from a legal perspective, with IP and all that, plus the international laws. There's probably parallels (at least on the US side of things) with all the major pro sport leagues, their contracts with the media and all that stuff.
Obviously, the legal ruling will have a major impact for those of you who like to watch the pros. However, all this talk about greed and ethics... I don't get it. That shit has absolutely nothing to do with Blizzards moves and demands being legal or not, but it has been brought up in about 95% of the posts in these threads like it is some how relevant.
Chill, as much as he is clearly a fan of esports, is just about the only one approaching this rationally
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
On May 28 2010 02:43 Musoeun wrote:
It's not that I trust KeSPA to run things, it's that I'm trusting Blizzard to run things less and less, and GOM organization never struck me as all that great either.
It's not that I trust KeSPA to run things, but they're the closest thing to representing Korean esports that there is right now, no matter how they got there.
"Sure, whatever KeSPA, keep doing your thing," isn't a great option.
"KeSPA, we demand you meet all these requirements to keep doing your thing," isn't a great option either, imo.
In the abstract, of course Blizzard has the rights to demand that certain conditions be met, but in this case we've got precedent - 10 years or so - of Blizzard acknowledge that leagues independent of the game developer is cool. We've known all along that OGN/MBC/KeSPA/possibly the teams should probably be paying royalties, but Blizzard never pushed the point - and now they're demanding basically total control and supervision of any leagues using their games. It's not that Blizzard is legally in the wrong to do this, but the huge break with precedent doesn't feel right, either.
[That said, if this all succeeds and we get the same quality of play and broadcasts, and KeSPA actually breaks, I may turn out to be a fan in retrospect. I'm more complaining about Blizzard than trying to justify KeSPA here.]
I feel like we both agree about the legal issues here, but it's just a matter of who we believe is "right."
My point of view is that Kespa is a notoriously unreliable organization that doesn't do anything that Blizzard (or anyone else for that matter) couldn't do much better. I'd gladly take away the keys to esports from Kespa at the first opportunity.
Yes, I do believe that Blizzard would do a better job running things. I think their influence would improve many aspects of esports. Their standards and demands would be good for the scene (for example, they are quite aware of player conditions and from what I hear none too happy with them)
My worry, as is yours, is putting all that control to one entity - particularly an entity that has such an obvious commerical interest. But then I realize, Kespa already is that one entity with all the control. It's not like Kespa as currently constructed has any checks and balances that stop it from running a one-man show. Kespa ALREADY runs a one-man show, and a very, very poor one at that. A list of all the mistakes and errors that Kespa has done would be too long for this post.
In short, Yes, I do believe Blizzard would do a better job, and that its demands would be reasonable. I believe this because of what I have seen of Kespa from its birth to now, all through the lifespan of professional starcraft.
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
On May 28 2010 02:54 Hawk wrote:
This is really interesting from a legal perspective, with IP and all that, plus the international laws. There's probably parallels (at least on the US side of things) with all the major pro sport leagues, their contracts with the media and all that stuff.
Obviously, the legal ruling will have a major impact for those of you who like to watch the pros. However, all this talk about greed and ethics... I don't get it. That shit has absolutely nothing to do with Blizzards moves and demands being legal or not, but it has been brought up in about 95% of the posts in these threads like it is some how relevant.
Chill, as much as he is clearly a fan of esports, is just about the only one approaching this rationally
Us rational ones are quiet on this issue - in terms of a legal point of view, it's so black and white that there's nothing to say.
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5003 Posts
Us rational ones are quiet on this issue - in terms of a legal point of view, it's so black and white that there's nothing to say.
Of course in a legal point of view it's black and white. I don't think anyone talked about it in a legal perspective. It's more about what you posted before -- "Do you trust Blizzard more than KeSPA". Hanging over legalism and calling it "correct" is completely and utterly moot in this argument ,no matter how "rational" you claim to be.
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On May 28 2010 00:55 Musoeun wrote:
What I dislike is the "retro-active" part, the bid to take over stuff they had little to do with (beyond making the game in the first place). It's as if the guys who made the original Frisbee not only came out with a new-and-improved disk specifically designed for ultimate frisbee, and arranged that all leagues using it be licensed by them, but also started demanding that any league that ever used a frisbee and gave cash prizes (= making money or gambling, by most laws) start paying royalties beyond the cost of the frisbee, and submit application and league organization forms before you're allowed to play.
Before the Korean professional leagues, esports basically didn't exist. And Blizzard may have provided the game (and yes, a computer game takes way more work to make than a frisbee), but they didn't do anything to set up the league structure. Like I said, if Blizzard was just saying, "Hey guys, we've been nice so far, but please pay up on the royalties," I'd be find with it, and really not happy with KeSPA (or whoever) if they didn't. In fact, KeSPA should probably make an offer to start paying a reasonable royalty, on their own initiative, to save some face in this argument. But Blizzard is going way beyond that with what they're asking, and while that's fine for SC2 (a new game, specifically designed for esport play), trying to retro-actively take control of all SC esports like this just bugs me.
My sentiments exactly.
Plus this:
"What kind of business model and future do you have envisioned for Battle.net?
Paul Sams: Battle.net will be a hub for all of Blizzard's game, and help develop the community and e-sports. The specifics of our business and service model can change from game to game, and region to region.
And the fact that Battle.net 1.0 has been a terrible place to find games of even halfway reasonable quality (everybody who's any good at Starcraft fled East for ICCUP a long, long time ago) for a decade, and the state of Battle.net 2.0 convinces me that they are going to fuck it up horribly.
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Calgary25954 Posts
Why do people assume Blizzard can do no right?
They created the best RTS of all time.
They created the best MMORPG of all time.
They run a massive yearly convention.
If anyone can do it, Blizzard can. You can magnify their results and focus on the things that could be made better, but on a whole they are clearly massively in the black (in terms of design and execution, not dollars).
Also, you know before the Korean professional leagues, KeSPA didn't exist either, right?
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On May 27 2010 22:44 Musoeun wrote:Fortunately Blizzard hasn't said anything yet about all the tournaments that instantly happened when beta was released, but I'm starting to get worried about possible stuff like: - SC:BW getting a patch to port onto b.net 2.0 - Blizzard shutting down iCCup ( like this but for real) - TL having to pay exorbitant fees if we want to run TSL SC2. I think you have a good argument, minus that statement. I doubt Blizzard will make TL pay a fee to start a high profile tournament like TSL, which attracts more attention to SC2. Plus TSL does not represent competition to Blizzard's "Proleague". Even if it is a small fee, it would not make sense.
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I edited the following into the OP, and I'm posting it here as well:
I still stand by everything I said below, but given some of the discussion (especially Chill's and HonestTea's points) I want to make the following things clear:
- I am not addressing not the legal issues here. As I understand it, and I believe the laws are fairly clear, Blizzard has clear legal rights to demand whatever they want of leagues and organizations using, and especially making a profit from, their games. I am not advocating a boycott or anything silly like that just because I don't like something they're perfectly entitled to do.
- I am not defending KeSPA as such, or any of their various decisions. In that I defend KeSPA I do so only given KeSPA's current state as the only existing governing body of a well-established esports league which specifically uses or may use Blizzard's games.
- My main concern here is that Blizzard is handling the current conflict, between their legal rights and the precedents they allowed to be established over the last ten to twelve years, poorly. My concern is actually inspired much more by battle.net 2.0 issues than by any negotiations Blizzard may be participating in in Korea, but the entire pattern I see from Blizzard gives me cause for concern. Again, not that they're doing anything illegal or legally questionable, but their perceived attitude I find concerning.
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Blizzard retaining that much control over SC is simply a terrible thing for eSports. It's really as basic as that. You might want to believe that this is 'in their rights' and that they're the victims here, but in reality you're not talking about strictly US laws which have a precedent set (Valve and CS). Because the issue is not black and white, and also because legality should always be discussed regarding it's supporting logic (not just the fact that this or that law exists and makes things 'right' ), you guys are being completely ridiculous when you just give blanket statements of 'Blizzard right, KeSPA wrong'.
When companies like Blizzard refuse to cater to their market, you know you have a problem. Blizzard knows a metric fuckton of people will buy SC2 no matter what, and thus they can make design decisions based on anti-piracy and anti-KeSPA concerns only. In a reasonable world, Blizzard would realize they need to include features like LAN support to satisfy the demand coming from nearly everyone who is following SC2 (as well as promote it's future playability as an eSport). However, they can weigh the options and easily decide that fucking us over is much preferred to having an eSports scene surrounding SC2 pop up in, say, China. You know, somewhere they fear that the draconian US copyright laws won't be in effect to force everyone to pay them even more money than they're already making off their products.
It should be plain to see that the restrictions placed on anything regarding SC2 that is 'beyond the game' (lol) are completely hazardous to the game's future playability. Custom content is limited to the point of being crippling, as posters like IskatuMesk have pointed out. Region-based play splits the community and badly hurts growth - what kind of community would TL be if we didn't play on iccup with people from around the world? Lack of LAN support makes any 'offline' events a shell of what they once were (this alone is disastrous for eSports). And now we have Blizzard wanting to shove their list of demands in anyone's face who dares try to make their game better than it started out. This is amazing hubris - to believe they're actually going to continue to succeed with this kind of philosophy. This is Blizzard in the post-WoW gaming world.
In the end though, what Blizzard is doing in Korea is a slap in the face to everyone involved. Not only is it complete and utter arrogance, it's also about the most dick way you could find to repay the people who have given you an unimaginable amount of free advertising and publicity over the years.
Hell, these are the people who made Starcraft into the only real eSport anywhere in the world. Yes, they made it that way - not Blizzard. They hacked the limited map editor and made maps that were actually balanced for high level play. They were able to obtain huge sponsors both for the leagues and for actual teams. They've gotten to the point where they can hold the Finals of a league in a fucking airplane hangar because they had the sponsorship of the largest airline in Korea. They've fought the exact kind of stereotypes about gaming that we have to face in the rest of the world - there was even a mention of this in the latest After Talk. And you know what? They've made huge strides. They have two TV stations who devote the majority of their airtime to SC, while we're happy in the US if fucking Halo gets a 30 minute spotlight on ESPN. What right does Blizzard have to come back - after largely leaving the game to die - and claim control? The eSport of SC is most certainly not 'owned' by Blizzard.
I can't help but feel you guys are way too caught up in your 'fuck KeSPA' game to realize that this kind of thing is absolutely terrible for eSports. It's not KeSPA getting fucked over, it's all the old gamers who have worked incredibly hard to make eSports in Korea what is is - the guys who are either still playing (like Boxer) or who have moved on to commentary/coaching. All the organizers who have been mostly behind the scenes for the past 10 years. Hell, all fans of eSports as well. They thought the match-fixing scandal was damaging to the infrastructure, but now Blizzard wants them to throw it all away and start anew. Blizzard is saying to each and every one of them: 'We don't give a shit about what you've done for the game, or eSports, or anything'.
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
On May 28 2010 04:05 Musoeun wrote:
I edited the following into the OP, and I'm posting it here as well:
I still stand by everything I said below, but given some of the discussion (especially Chill's and HonestTea's points) I want to make the following things clear:
- I am not addressing not the legal issues here. As I understand it, and I believe the laws are fairly clear, Blizzard has clear legal rights to demand whatever they want of leagues and organizations using, and especially making a profit from, their games. I am not advocating a boycott or anything silly like that just because I don't like something they're perfectly entitled to do.
- I am not defending KeSPA as such, or any of their various decisions. In that I defend KeSPA I do so only given KeSPA's current state as the only existing governing body of a well-established esports league which specifically uses or may use Blizzard's games.
- My main concern here is that Blizzard is handling the current conflict, between their legal rights and the precedents they allowed to be established over the last ten to twelve years, poorly. My concern is actually inspired much more by battle.net 2.0 issues than by any negotiations Blizzard may be participating in in Korea, but the entire pattern I see from Blizzard gives me cause for concern. Again, not that they're doing anything illegal or legally questionable, but their perceived attitude I find concerning.
This is all fair, and again, we probably agree with most points, but if your concerns are based on what you percieve is Blizz's attitude, well, that's a matter of perception. Obviously I see the same things you do but my perception is that whole thing is a good thing.
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What's been pissing me off about this whole thing are all the misconceptions people have . They don't know what Blizzard will do. It cannot be assumed worse than what KEspa would do (which is pretty horrifically bad).
Do you guys REALLY want a magnified version of the BW pro-gaming scene for SC2? Really? Its a small, pretty stale niche in a marketing scheme. People are worried that this might destroy E-sports in Korea, and that's just silly. I highly doubt that all other organizations will refuse to profit from an easily profitable situation (just with a bit of compliance with Blizzard). Assuming that E-sports dies in Korea, what do you think all the players will do? they won't just sit there and not make money from the new E-sport goldmine.
Even if E-sports somehow dies in Korea, I really don't care that much. Yes it would be unfortunate but the scene will be SO much bigger then Korea.
It isn't like before when Korea has the only real professional scene in bw.
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Blizzard has every right to a "monopoly" over their own products that they made. What's more, Blizzard has employed a genius system to bypass most any international law or politicking. With BNet 2.0, Blizzard can stop any illegally broadcasted tournament dead in its tracks by banning the accounts playing or simply disconnecting their game. Whether you like Blizzard's approach to diplomacy in Korea or not, they already have physical control over SC2 and at this point are simply giving organizations like kespa a last chance before they hover their hand over the big red button. It might seem like a dirty move, but you have to remember that blizzard works hard on these games over many many years and they have to defend not only their rights as a company, but the rights of the many artists and programmers that they employ.
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Also isn't what sparked the actual aggression by Blizzard KEspa selling non existent broadcasting rights to IEG?
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Blizzard is not stupid enough to demand insane amounts of money.
It's in THEIR best interest to make everyone earn good money making tournaments. Ideal case scenario for Blizzard: everyone making tournaments and giving a percentage to Blizzard. Basic logic tells them that if they push too hard, they will suffocate the whole market and THEY will be the ones losing the most.
All they need to do is find the golden-middle percentage they'll take, and everything will be ok.
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HonestTea
5007 Posts
On May 28 2010 04:15 QibingZero wrote:
Blizzard retaining that much control over SC is simply a terrible thing for eSports. It's really as basic as that. You might want to believe that this is 'in their rights' and that they're the victims here, but in reality you're not talking about strictly US laws which have a precedent set (Valve and CS). Because the issue is not black and white, and also because legality should always be discussed regarding it's supporting logic (not just the fact that this or that law exists and makes things 'right' ), you guys are being completely ridiculous when you just give blanket statements of 'Blizzard right, KeSPA wrong'.
When companies like Blizzard refuse to cater to their market, you know you have a problem. Blizzard knows a metric fuckton of people will buy SC2 no matter what, and thus they can make design decisions based on anti-piracy and anti-KeSPA concerns only. In a reasonable world, Blizzard would realize they need to include features like LAN support to satisfy the demand coming from nearly everyone who is following SC2 (as well as promote it's future playability as an eSport). However, they can weigh the options and easily decide that fucking us over is much preferred to having an eSports scene surrounding SC2 pop up in, say, China. You know, somewhere they fear that the draconian US copyright laws won't be in effect to force everyone to pay them even more money than they're already making off their products.
It should be plain to see that the restrictions placed on anything regarding SC2 that is 'beyond the game' (lol) are completely hazardous to the game's future playability. Custom content is limited to the point of being crippling, as posters like IskatuMesk have pointed out. Region-based play splits the community and badly hurts growth - what kind of community would TL be if we didn't play on iccup with people from around the world? Lack of LAN support makes any 'offline' events a shell of what they once were (this alone is disastrous for eSports). And now we have Blizzard wanting to shove their list of demands in anyone's face who dares try to make their game better than it started out. This is amazing hubris - to believe they're actually going to continue to succeed with this kind of philosophy. This is Blizzard in the post-WoW gaming world.
In the end though, what Blizzard is doing in Korea is a slap in the face to everyone involved. Not only is it complete and utter arrogance, it's also about the most dick way you could find to repay the people who have given you an unimaginable amount of free advertising and publicity over the years.
Hell, these are the people who made Starcraft into the only real eSport anywhere in the world. Yes, they made it that way - not Blizzard. They hacked the limited map editor and made maps that were actually balanced for high level play. They were able to obtain huge sponsors both for the leagues and for actual teams. They've gotten to the point where they can hold the Finals of a league in a fucking airplane hangar because they had the sponsorship of the largest airline in Korea. They've fought the exact kind of stereotypes about gaming that we have to face in the rest of the world - there was even a mention of this in the latest After Talk. And you know what? They've made huge strides. They have two TV stations who devote the majority of their airtime to SC, while we're happy in the US if fucking Halo gets a 30 minute spotlight on ESPN. What right does Blizzard have to come back - after largely leaving the game to die - and claim control? The eSport of SC is most certainly not 'owned' by Blizzard.
I can't help but feel you guys are way too caught up in your 'fuck KeSPA' game to realize that this kind of thing is absolutely terrible for eSports. It's not KeSPA getting fucked over, it's all the old gamers who have worked incredibly hard to make eSports in Korea what is is - the guys who are either still playing (like Boxer) or who have moved on to commentary/coaching. All the organizers who have been mostly behind the scenes for the past 10 years. Hell, all fans of eSports as well. They thought the match-fixing scandal was damaging to the infrastructure, but now Blizzard wants them to throw it all away and start anew. Blizzard is saying to each and every one of them: 'We don't give a shit about what you've done for the game, or eSports, or anything'.
KESPA does NOT equal the old gamers, does not equal the organizers, does not equal fans.
Kespa is Kespa.
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