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For the people saying that SC2 will be big for esports globally regardless of what korea does, you need to understand that the esports scene anywhere outside of korea has never been consistent.
CS1.6 was probably the most consistent game outside of korea and even that is dying off.
E-sports outside of korea has always been about short term hype and trying to make a quick buck. Whether it be some random lan boasting big prize pools, or leagues like CGS who try to bombard you with hype but have nothing of substance to actually offer. You could say MLG is still going strong, but that's because of it's console game section and sadly console games tend to require less skill than pc games due to the lack of precision needed when using a console controller compared to a keyboard and mouse.
Esports still has a long way to go for development, but if korea isn't on board at this point, all you are going to see is a couple years of forced attempts at perpetuating the notion that sc2 is an esport, and then it will eventually dwindle.
In BW you never see foreign players threaten a top korean pro because they are so dedicated to mastering the game. Even if someone outside of korea spends 12hours a day trying to master SC2 the conditions still won't be the same, so you aren't going to see that kind of mastery or evolution in SC2 unless it becomes a korean esport.
I mean people can throw themselves at a game for hours, but look at how the koreans do it. They have practice partners from every race, they are sitting there lanned with a coach analyzing their games and giving them feedback, they are in an environment that encourages, so not only are they playing a lot but they have all these tools that maximize their learning.
Where are you going to consistently get that in the US or europe?
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I lold so hard at the "shit i left my social security # at home" everyone in my house gave me a look. Nice write up I hope blizz tries to make the game more accessable
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On August 08 2010 15:40 heyoka wrote:
One thing I don't necessarily agree with though is GOM's money. I don't care if GOM is the bastard stepchild of e-sports, they are willing to pump ~5 times as much money into this tournament as an OSL. History will show you that people go to the money regardless of event. The popular sports in America are the ones where the money is, we don't have good soccer players because it pays jack shit, if you're an athlete you choose the sport that gives bling.
First, the prize pool is not the only expense for a tournament. Production values and cost of distribution often greatly exceeds the cost of the prizes being offered, and GomTV is clearly spent less on both with the past BW tournaments.
And I think you are drastically oversimplifying things with the statement "history will show you that people go to the money regardless of event". Unless someone is taking a loss leader to finance something they hope will succeed and make money later, the amount of money available for salaries, production, and more depends on the amount of sponsorship money available, which depends on the quality and quantity of the audience. The audience really comes first. For your soccer example, for whatever reason (culture, I would say), soccer is far less popular than many other sports in the States, which leads to less money available to pay players, etc. It's not the other way around - all sports started off with low paid players, it's only as the sports became popular that enabled the athletes involved to start getting paid well.
Also, I completely agree with Rekrul that if it becomes a successful spectator sport outside of South Korea then interest in South Korea will pick up as there's a strong competitive scene already. But I don't think it'll be easy to make it successful outside of South Korea.
Another point is that Blizzard's PC bang fee for SC2, if I'm not mistaken, was very hefty per-hour charge unlike most other games - so it's a tremendous disincentive for PC bang owners and managers to encourage players at the PC bang to play SC2.
I do think Korean Air is one of the sponsors who are trying to make SC2 successful though.
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you know what they should have done? they should have given away the game for free, then take a hefty cut from the TV advertising dollars. It would only work in Korea cuz they're the only ones that have TV advertising dollars to give. I'm willing to bet this sort of revenue model would have been more profitable if you factor in money saved from not having to do PR. Of course, such a model would have required a partnership with Kespa, but that was not meant to be.
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Can someone tell me what exactly is the sales number of SC2 in Skorea? How are some people determining that SC2 is failing in Skorea? Do you have numbers?
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On August 09 2010 08:09 kaisen wrote:
Can someone tell me what exactly is the sales number of SC2 in Skorea? How are some people determining that SC2 is failing in Skorea? Do you have numbers?
From what I remember, there is an open beta going on right now in Korea. Also, Koreans who have an active WoW subscription are getting the game for free. I don't think sale numbers right now don't mean a whole lot.
On the other hand, great write up btw. I'm not surprised that it turned out this way since it's still early. I like to think optimistically that SC2 will grow over time to where BW is.
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It's a different game, not BW. Maybe Korea just isn't digging the new design in general. I think SC2 is great, but if you look at it objectively it's a fairly anti-climatic sequel.
Give it time though, when people make SC2 look exciting, korea may follow.
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wtf
mrhoon's artworks are what should be discussed not sc2 or blizzard ...
seriously ...
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Hate on Sudden Attack, its a awesome game. All the hate should be directed on Special Force.
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rekrul u know korea much better than most dumb expats living in korea do
but u still dont know jack about it compared to the natives
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Korea (South)17174 Posts
i know korea far better than all the natives
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On August 09 2010 07:54 d_so wrote:
you know what they should have done? they should have given away the game for free, then take a hefty cut from the TV advertising dollars. It would only work in Korea cuz they're the only ones that have TV advertising dollars to give. I'm willing to bet this sort of revenue model would have been more profitable if you factor in money saved from not having to do PR. Of course, such a model would have required a partnership with Kespa, but that was not meant to be.
Acitivision-Blizzard and FREE doesn't go well with each other. Blizzard would be a different story though.
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How in the world do people not memorize their SSN? That's a bit strange...
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Hopefully Blizzard will get its act together in time, we just probably need to make our collective voices even louder than what they already are.
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On August 09 2010 14:02 Rekrul wrote:
i know korea far better than all the natives
Just like how some foreigners know more about america than most americans.
But that's besides the point.
If I'm not mistaken, original starcraft didn't make an impact; it was the expansion, Broodwar.
So who knows? Maybe by the time the Protoss one comes out, koreans would be playing sc2.
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On August 09 2010 12:24 eMbrace wrote:
It's a different game, not BW. Maybe Korea just isn't digging the new design in general. I think SC2 is great, but if you look at it objectively it's a fairly anti-climatic sequel.
Love it when people use the word "objectively" to follow it up with the most subjective thing you can say.
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On August 09 2010 19:24 don_kyuhote wrote:Show nested quote +On August 09 2010 14:02 Rekrul wrote:
i know korea far better than all the natives Just like how some foreigners know more about america than most americans. But that's besides the point. If I'm not mistaken, original starcraft didn't make an impact; it was the expansion, Broodwar. So who knows? Maybe by the time the Protoss one comes out, koreans would be playing sc2.
Original Starcraft didn't make a huge impact, yes, but it was the game that my friends preferred to play when I was back in Kindergarden/1st Grade before BroodWar.
And yes, I lived in South Korea if you want to question on that matter.
(Sidenote: When my friend first got Starcraft, I was amazed by the idea of battlenet. I tried going online, but his internet connection was bad. At least PC Bangs had something called a LAN where we could play each other ^^* (although I was more of Rainbow Six fanatic back then))
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This was a really good read, thanks hoon.
how come it got un-featured from the main page? everyone should read this.
Also I want to know more about how well pcbang-ratings represent the success of a game on Korea. Do most koreans games still go to pcbangs for most of their gaming, or only once in a while to meet friends there or something? By 2010, don't most Korean gamers have their own computer that can run BW?
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EPT
