Stopping koreans from playing just because the majority of casual SC2 fans don't know them is silly. The more koreans come out to foreign events the more people that will know them. Who's to say koreans have no story to them? Master vs.Apprentice? Apprentice vs. Final Boss? How are those match-ups less exciting than Huk vs. Idra? And in terms of storyline vs watching exciting games? I'd rather marvel at near-perfect solid play than two newbies with egos and grudges.

Erik.TheRed

United States1655 Posts

August 02 2011 19:52 GMT

#62

I think most of these problems will get sorted out automatically over time. Personally, I believe that some of the foreigners will improve and give the Koreans some serious competition (naniwa, huk, thorzain,etc) and the MLG point system will eventually flush out the weaker players from the pool spots.

I would even argue that the system still favors NA pros. The Koreans that keep returning to the open brackets are investing a lot of travel time/money to build up MLG points for pretty low prize pools, so only the most dedicated of them will get a top seed. On the other hand, NA players don't have to invest as much to compete so it's much easier for the top NA players to collect points by placing in the top 20-30 at EVERY event and retaining a decent seed. It seems like MLG tries to mix up the 4 KR invites, so while these players are at a big advantage coming into the tournament, they are still going to have to invest in any return trips (unless they win the event). In the long run, this system acquaints the casual foreign fans to the Korean pros and globalizes the community. I don't think the criticism has to do with people being racist or hating Korean play, it's just a weird transitional period where Koreans are adapting to the international environment and are still a bit shy (and maybe a bit too Terran). Players like MC and Boxer are obviously quite popular with the MLG audiences because they have charismatic and individual personalities, which are traits that the casual fans (people who can't easily distinguish pro play from average play) tend to relate with.

Masterjareth

United States26 Posts

August 02 2011 20:08 GMT

#63

MLG has no reason to localize their tournaments unless they want to. They've already talked about being a global company by hosting tournaments around the world. I think they focus on having the strongest players in the world at their events, which is fine. You could compare it to the olympics of gaming.

The problem people have is that it doesn't make sense to just have an olympics. There has to be a place where people compete locally. Imagine playing little league baseball and the first game you play is in a tournament that the entire world participates in and it's bo1 with a losers bracket. That just doesn't make sense. You need to have local leagues that foster community, 'create stories', etc. This local starcraft scene doesn't exist I don't think. Maybe it does somewhere though, I'm pretty ignorant about a lot of the small tournaments.

Lastly I'll just say again that MLG doesn't care about small communities of starcraft players. MLG is the olympics. NASL on the other hand could be more restrictive: it is in their name...

Yew

United States940 Posts

August 02 2011 20:25 GMT

#64

It saddens me that MVP wasn't given any cheers. It's probably because he doesn't speak english + he's not as iconic as Boxer/MMA. Also, was it true that people were booing Cruncher? That's seriously pathetic.

gotyilk

United States34 Posts

August 02 2011 20:40 GMT

#65

Also what tarnished the experience was probably the multitude of TvT and then top 4 all-terran. You can only watch so much of any mirror matchup.

I went to Columbus and the final matches were amazing. Losira vs MC and then MMA vs Losira. They were truly some epic games that can't be captured in a mirror match. The epic games make the event, not story lines or who plays them (ala NASL finals).

I think this is a big reason why the enthusiasm was a little lower.

AsianEcksDragon

United States1036 Posts

August 02 2011 21:08 GMT

#66

This korean hate needs to stop. Why the hell does it matter what nationality players are to enjoy a good competitive game? These players are not representing you, they don't care about you. They are winning for themselves. Even the commentators tend to raise the voices whenever someone who is not korean performed a spectacular feat despite ultimately losing the game. If MLG or any foreign events put a limit to Koreans then I would just not watch it altogether, not because the players are foreigners but because the level of play wouldn't be the highest it can be.

StarStruck

25339 Posts

August 02 2011 21:09 GMT

#67

On August 02 2011 06:45 darmousseh wrote:

Show nested quote +

Actually I thought the exact same way you did until this weekend. Personally I love watching the koreans, but the majority of other fans didn't. I don't think removing koreans is the right idea, but giving them a headstart in pool play definitely isn't the right solution.

You know, the MLG staff might see this if you put it in their official feedback thread on these very forums?

Cue Justin Timberlake's Cry me a river.

The only ones the foreigner's have to blame is themselves.

It's amazing how times have changed. Speak for yourself then and not for the rest. You want it to grow, it has to grow naturally. You said lots of people had no idea who MVP was until today. Well, now they know.

If the Koreans decide to come back and they have enough points to make it to the group stages then they earned their spots just like the rest. MMA wasn't even going to return for Anaheim until they decided to give him one of the invites from the exchange program. Look at what happened to Alicia. He got eliminated very early and he wasn't in the groups. -_-

I want to see the best players regardless of who I'm rooting for.

Klonere

Ireland4123 Posts

August 02 2011 22:28 GMT

#68

I'm sure MLG are working on the seating problem.

As for the whole Korean thing, I'm sure mirrors had a lot to do with it.....but it kinda makes me worried that once again, Starcraft in the west isn't meant to be. Korean are going to get quite far ahead from the majority of foreigners. I can see a lot of people just not bothering with Starcraft 2 competitive scene if it approaches anything like BW esque domination by Koreans. I will stick around for sure, but people don't always want to see the very best games...they want to see players they can relate to.

It depresses me.

Klogon

MURICA15980 Posts

August 02 2011 22:45 GMT

#69

So I heard FIFA is talking about banning Brazilians from future World Cups. Nobody wants to watch Brazilians. Let's get some England vs Germany instead. After all, nobody knows the mysterious Brazilians. Oh wait, actually we do. Why? Because we've learned to appreciate them. And now we get to watch and appreciate the best of the best. The same will happen with the top level Koreans.

The reality is that no matter who makes the finals, there will be a a segment of fans that are no longer interested. If DRG, MMA, and Boxer all fighting desperately for a Code-S spot was not a good enough story for you guys, I'm not sure what you really want.

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