When I think about all the things people say would be great "for esports" I notice a funny pattern.
Wouldn't it be great if...
...there was lan? ...games were on tv? ...teams had bigger sponsors? ...commentary was more professional? ...battles were more multi-dimensional? ...carriers didn't suck?
The conclusion always seems to be "buy more tshirts" or "wait for HotS," but hold on a minute- didn't we already have game with all of that stuff? Where were our esports champions when BW was struggling? They were cheering on its death "for esports."
If everyone cares so much about esports why didn't they lift a finger to try to save the game that made "esports" a serious thing? Because the graphics are too old? Because it doesn't have English commentary? People could have petitioned Blizzard for a HD remake. They could have tried to build up English-speaking community interest through twitter and youtube. But no, they were too busy throwing shitstorms because someone said "nigger" on the internet.
What if "esports" wasn't about gaming as a legitimate sport? What if it was about certain companies profiting off of easilly manipulated netizens? Then the situation would make a lot more sense. Let's go back to the "What if" questions. How often does the given answer involve buying something? Who really wants "esports" to take off?
Maybe you think this is crazy conspiracy theory, but when you're looking back 10 years from now you'll be sorry your build didn't include a tin foil armor timing.
esports isnt a legit sport. Sports last a long time. All sports stay around and have a long history. BW, the last chance of that failed (long history, good gameplay throughout time) died. It was also nice that BW had consistent contenders (some players consistently make ro8, some are dominant, etc)
We have to wait a lot longer for another change of getting a real esport. O well.
I'm sorry pal , but out there things and people arent like in TL
there is no Rekrul working inside Blizzard, no one who really cared about anything that we did while we were asking for mutalisk micro in star2, blizzard wasnt really willing to do, when we asked for LAN , Blizz's will was strong enough not to implement that~
now , everything dies with time my tl friend, even our universe is getting colder and is close to its 0 Kelvin move on, you can just leave TL and RTS, try playing indie games or something like that
Even though I don't like it, LoL is the biggest esport now. Why is that so? Free to play, simple gameplay. It is accessible to the masses. Why do certain sports like soccer (football) and basketball have a huge following too? The same reasons. BW has one of the most user-unfriendly gameplay features: 12 unit selection, worker rally etc. The only reason why BW didn't die sooner is because there's no other RTS which is actually balanced. In this modern day and age, things get outdated really quickly. BW has lived longer than any other game; you should take pride in that.
Pretty sure eSports doesn't only include Blizzard titles so, other than the fact that the only people who would be interested in saving BW would be avid BW fans themselves, I don't think anyone else really gives a shit about eSports. They only give a shit about their own games.
-edit-
Which is ironic I said that because I am a 'eSports enthusiast' hmm....
Well, the game has been played for over a decade. I mean, everyone must have at least wondered in the back of their heads, even when BW was still roaring strong pre-scandal, how long this game would last, right? Anyone who literally thought that "BW is forever!" just had to be delusional. Even more so for those people that say those things now... it actually puzzles me when some posters I don't recognize say those things. It must be figurative, but I wonder if some of those posts are actually earnest.
eSports is real because the community is real. There is fan support. There are fans who would make times available in their precious lives to spare a couple hours to watch live, on TV, or on stream, the valiant battles between passionate professionals that elevated the level of play to unprecedented levels.
eSports didn't save BW because the fans left, and the sponsors then found little reasons to continue pouring money into where the fans weren't at. Why did the fans leave? Maybe some got tired of watching the same game over and over. Some moved on to the new, shiny, and simple things. Many fans left after match-fixing scandal because they were disappointed and disgusted.
eSports is what the fans make out of it. It's exactly where the fans are. If the fans think words like nigger, faggot, and gook are acceptable because it's "the internet", then that's exactly what eSports stand for. If blatantly throwing a broadcast match is fine as long as the results didn't matter to the tournament standings, then that's what eSports is worth - nothing unless it matters for some tournament standings!
On May 03 2012 00:14 ZoW wrote: did you know the whole "ESPORTS" thing was originally used as a sarcastic and satirical joke? funny how things turn out eh
In capitals, maybe, but Korean Esports Association existed for a long time before 'esports' was made fun of. It was the sincere effort to make video games into sports, and BW was the one they experience the most success with (although kart rider and Sudden Fight still seems to be going on, I think they're pretty niche little productions; no idea what their players make).
eSports didn't save BW because the fans left
Didn't you translate interviews where sponsors said there was significant fanbase in korea still? I am confused on this point. I thought it wasn't that the korean fanbase got too small, it's that sponsors saw SC2 and said 'hey an international game' and thought international branding is more attractive. Maybe esports tv one season of proleague was supposed to be a too little too late effort to prove bw has a foreign audience. But streamers on TL were still king, I saw them with 2000 simultaneous viewers a lot, which might not have been calculated by any sponsors.
zz~ I think this point requires more careful thought.
EPT
