EPTBut before we start with that I'd like to address something silly. IGN's proleague is slowly being overshadowed by IGN's owner - Newscorp. Newscorp is run by a guy by the name of Rupert Murdoch. The guy the internet loves to hate. I'm not going to comment on Mr. Murdoch personally or the various opinions of him but what I will say is this - tarnishing IGN's good name or the upcoming proleague's name is ridiculous, naive and, at the core, nonsensical.
To start, Rupert Murdoch has nothing to do with Starcraft II. He has no interest other than the monetary value of it (same as NASL and GOM). Without this profit motive esports in its current state could not and would not function. Rupert Murdoch may not even know about it. This could be the decision of someone lower (but still, admittedly, high up on the food-chain) appropriating funds for a tournament.
Second, Rupert Murdoch's corporation "Newcorp" has an environmental initiative. To reduce their carbon footprint and protect the planet's vital ecosystems. Does this mean the environmental movement is bunk? Is it contaminated with Murdoch's "filth"? Absolutely not. To say so would be juvenile. This also should be readily applicable to IGN and IGN's proleague.
Fair enough?
Back to the main point - decentralization. America is big, really big. Where is our esports Mecca going to be? In Korea, it makes sense for Seoul to be the heart of esports because A) the country is tiny (in relative terms) and B) its the largest city in Korea. The location of our western Mecca must be carefully thought out.
With decentralization comes the associated problems but most importantly comes casting from replays. I haven't followed the NASL as closely as I should have but if the teams and players aren't playing from within some sort of studio I'm not interested. After watching the GSL for six seasons and the team league for two I have grown tired of YouTube casting. Maybe its Artosis and Tasteless that make me love the GSL, maybe its the look of victory/defeat, maybe its the story-lines that are built from being in such close proximity or maybe its that delicious CocaCola and Sony Ericson phone that keeps drawing me back in. I just don't know.
What I do know is this: an online tournament will fail. It doesn't matter if my two foreign heartthrobs QXC and WhiteRa duke it out in a best of 7 for $1 million. I just can't watch it anymore. The GSL gets more and more exciting and, yet, everything else Starcraft seems to get duller and duller (a notable exception being the TSL, which is fantastic btw).
And with that I move onto my final, final point. The location of our Mecca. It can't be Los Angeles or New York. Despite their massive populations the living expenses are too high, the tax burden is too great for a fledgling industry and they're on completely opposite sides of a continent. How about Kansas or some other midwestern state? No, despite their desirable location the population in the midwest is far too small.
We need a location with low living expenses and a low tax burden but that is also in a desirable location. Ladies and gentlemen, I nominate Nashville, TN as the American esports Mecca. Nashville is a "hub-city". It has three major interstates that run through the downtown area alone making it incredibly convenient to get to. It boasts one of the lowest living expenses in the country, a stable climate and a ridiculously low tax burden (no state or city income tax). This isn't a desirable location for our west coast TLer's but it is the most convenient, reasonable choice for all Americans in general.
I don't know if the NASL or IGN have named a location for their respective tournaments but they should deeply consider Nashville (so I say). If they have already found the appropriate locations or plan to handle their tournaments through the internet then I wish them the best of luck. But if this is still an issue that needs to be resolved then we need to push this through.
Am I crazy on this? Do I have a good point? I apologize in advance if I've stepped on any toes in this post.
