Stunted Growth of SC2 - Page 6

Well, Stephano out, interest out.

On April 21 2012 11:11 Talin wrote:
I think the reality of it has more to do with player's skill and display of skill than anything else, actually.

I would say that in the 99% of all Starcraft 2 pro games ever played, the winner simply does not impress - he does not have a very good showing, and the kind of play that can really blow people's minds seems to happen only several times a year if we're being honest. The consequence is that it's extremely difficult for great players to express themselves and show who they are and what exactly are they good at by playing the game - which, in turn, causes people who watch the game to cling to players that stand out in some other way.

I still feel like it has absolutely nothing to do with a player's nationality. When unknown Korean players actually SHOW glimpses of brilliance and perfection in play, they gain a massive following on the foreign scene. MMA was the people's champion and one of the most popular players in the world WAY before he even made it into Code S, let alone won it. So were DRG, HerO, Bomber - and even some players who didn't make it (Sage comes to mind).

In fact if you look at it, at least half the most popular Korean players all became popular before they even qualified for Code A. By all standards, they too should have been "faceless". They didn't give interviews, they didn't travel to foreign events, in fact they didn't show up anywhere except for a couple of GSTL matches. Hell, DRG was becoming popular when he was just a streamer with zero competitive showings (pre-MVP era), based on his play alone. But when they played the game, they showed how good they are, and it just set them apart from every other GSTL player, Code A player, and even the current top players and mvp/NesTea duo that dominated back then.

On the other hand, you have a tremendous number of players who just happen to win games and stick around. It's very much the Squirtle/Lucky archetype. They get results, especially so in foreign events, but they simply don't impress, which is an expectation that people have of their champions, and it's a very reasonable expectation to have. Players can absolutely become popular by playing good and showing off their skill - without ever showing their face on camera or interacting with fans or creating "storylines" or speaking english.

But showing results is absolutely not the same as showing skill, and very few players (Korean or otherwise) have done the latter often enough to become known for it. Those that did have overwhelming support and interest of the foreign scene, and not just on TL forums, but in front of a live crowd at events (MMA at MLG and Blizzcon, HerO at Dreamhack, MKP who got sponsored by fans to travel to an MLG, etc). In fact they continue to be more popular and more known in casual circles than current Code S players even if they struggle and fail to get results for months, and they're very unlikely to fall into obscurity in the foreseeable future.

EDIT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcLFrElfjBM

I can't imagine the same amount of passion and excitement for a Squirtle vs aLive final if it happened anywhere in the world.

On April 21 2012 10:10 Zeller wrote:
I just don't think there's as many foreign players who can compete because they don't have the same environment. There is no other scene like Korea anywhere else. The countless cyber cafes, the pro houses, Korea breathes gaming, specifically Starcraft. So naturally it's going to breed more high level players, and they tend to win tournaments by sheer numbers.

Where else in the world can you eat, shit, and sleep Starcraft like Korea?


I tune out of every tournament when there's no foreigners left. It's true, casual fans like myself just aren't interested in the "robots" dominating more tournaments.

On April 21 2012 14:24 mrafaeldie12 wrote:
This is a great blog Plexa! I enjoyed it a lot

But I disagree on two points, I think the Blizzard World Championship won't change anything, I know Naniwa's win over both Nestea and MVP caused quite a stir, but I think they were starting to spiral down to their current form, and its highly unlikely we'll see any of them on the finals again.

To me IPL4 was a great tournament tournament-wise (wat) but I didn't get attached to it, I didn't watch the finals, and couldn't seriously care less for any of the players on the finals, there were some glaring things that made it unwatchable at some points like heavily foreign biased casting (STQ. Bomber vs EG. Idra) or really bland casting (HD + PainUser), It really left no taste in my mouth for some odd reason.

But hey, Mint 13 is coming , Ubuntu will have to remove unity at some point.

On April 21 2012 14:39 MonkSEA wrote:


?
NesTea showed a great showing at IPL 4, but ended up losing to fatigue moreso then Squirtle.
MVP is in the round of 8 in GSL even though his having a lot of health issues. I think it's farfetched to call NesTea and MVP on the verge of washing up.

The finals were great. I follow the GSL pretty fiercely so I knew of Squirtle and Alive. You know, Alive being rated as one of the best TvT'ers in this years first season?

Squirtle has always been a puff of smoke in the GSL, nobody wants to liquibet on him, but sometimes nobody wants to liquibet against him.

On April 21 2012 11:11 Talin wrote:
I think the reality of it has more to do with player's skill and display of skill than anything else, actually.

I would say that in the 99% of all Starcraft 2 pro games ever played, the winner simply does not impress - he does not have a very good showing, and the kind of play that can really blow people's minds seems to happen only several times a year if we're being honest. The consequence is that it's extremely difficult for great players to express themselves and show who they are and what exactly are they good at by playing the game - which, in turn, causes people who watch the game to cling to players that stand out in some other way.

I still feel like it has absolutely nothing to do with a player's nationality. When unknown Korean players actually SHOW glimpses of brilliance and perfection in play, they gain a massive following on the foreign scene. MMA was the people's champion and one of the most popular players in the world WAY before he even made it into Code S, let alone won it. So were DRG, HerO, Bomber - and even some players who didn't make it (Sage comes to mind).

In fact if you look at it, at least half the most popular Korean players all became popular before they even qualified for Code A. By all standards, they too should have been "faceless". They didn't give interviews, they didn't travel to foreign events, in fact they didn't show up anywhere except for a couple of GSTL matches. Hell, DRG was becoming popular when he was just a streamer with zero competitive showings (pre-MVP era), based on his play alone. But when they played the game, they showed how good they are, and it just set them apart from every other GSTL player, Code A player, and even the current top players and mvp/NesTea duo that dominated back then.

On the other hand, you have a tremendous number of players who just happen to win games and stick around. It's very much the Squirtle/Lucky archetype. They get results, especially so in foreign events, but they simply don't impress, which is an expectation that people have of their champions, and it's a very reasonable expectation to have. Players can absolutely become popular by playing good and showing off their skill - without ever showing their face on camera or interacting with fans or creating "storylines" or speaking english.

But showing results is absolutely not the same as showing skill, and very few players (Korean or otherwise) have done the latter often enough to become known for it. Those that did have overwhelming support and interest of the foreign scene, and not just on TL forums, but in front of a live crowd at events (MMA at MLG and Blizzcon, HerO at Dreamhack, MKP who got sponsored by fans to travel to an MLG, etc). In fact they continue to be more popular and more known in casual circles than current Code S players even if they struggle and fail to get results for months, and they're very unlikely to fall into obscurity in the foreseeable future.

EDIT:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcLFrElfjBM

I can't imagine the same amount of passion and excitement for a Squirtle vs aLive final if it happened anywhere in the world.