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Active: 1469 users

Of Royal Roads and StarCraft 2

Blogs > stormfoxSC
Post a Reply
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 07:09:30
May 30 2012 06:28 GMT
#1
NOTE: If you're just going to post to say how "Royal Road" is an OSL-only thing so you can show off your inner BW snob, please read this first:
+ Show Spoiler +
On May 30 2012 16:00 stormfoxSC wrote:
I'm just going off of Team Liquid's own coverage:

Show nested quote +
Squirtle continued his walk down the royal road by walking over Oz 2-0 and then the fourteen-year-old Code S rookie Maru with another 2-0 victory. Unlike Squirtle's first round opponents, Oz is very confident in his PvP, but Squirtle made him look weak in his strongest match-up. Maru showed good TvP in the round of thirty two, but Squirtle simply outmatched him.

Show nested quote +
It's been a long time coming for Squirtle, but he's finally here. His dream of being on the final stage has come true and with four more wins, he not only will become the first royal roader in Code S history, but also take over MC's spot as the Protoss President. He might not have the ceremonies or the over-pouring charisma that the last president had, but Squirtle wants to bring home the first championship to Auir in over 400 days and will do anything to make every Protoss' dream reality.

Show nested quote +
Either we will crown the first Code S Royal Roader and the first Protoss champion in over a year, or Mvp will capture his fourth GSL championship and put himself in history forever. This sets up for one of the best GSL finals we've ever seen, and if the past is any indication between these two, you will not be disappointed with the games you tune in to see tonight.

Tastosis also referred to royal roads a number of times during the finals. If you're going to be sensitive about the usage of the term, just prepend my use of "royal road" and "royal roader" with "SC2's equivalent of".


So, the 2012 GSL Season 2 finals saw (P)Squirtle hold the opportunity to become the first GSL Royal Roader.

... Wait, what?

How is this possible? Shouldn't that be stated as the opportunity to become the second GSL Royal Roader? To make my case, I present to you the history of the original Royal Road: winning the OSL on your first try.

(Wiki)Royal Road on Liquipedia

One might notice the Canadian Protoss player, (P)Grrrr... as being the first Royal Roader. If we look at the (Wiki)OSL history, we'll see that Grrrr... actually won the very first OSL against (Z)H.O.T-Forever to claim his title.

So, this means the first one to ever win is still considered a Royal Roader. I'm quite sure there's been a first person to win the GSL as well, so shouldn't he be considered GSL's first Royal Roader? If we answer that question with a "yes", then we have two candidates for the title:

First up, if we decide to count GSL Opens as legitimate GSL championships, then the title goes to (Z)FruitDealer. However, looking back at the OSL history, we see that the (Wiki)Tooniverse Progamer Korea Open is listed as a "Pre-Starleague Tournament".

Looking at it objectively, one could consider the GSL Opens as being the pre-qualifier tournaments for the first GSL Code S -- (Wiki)2011 Sony Ericsson Global StarCraft II League January. In other words, GSL's first and only Royal Roader is none other than (T)MVP.

As far as I'm concerned, what we watched in the MVP vs. Squirtle finals was more than just the first 4-time GSL champion being crowned, but also the first-and-only GSL Royal Roader denying a second from being born.

*
Twitter: @iamcaustic
BLinD-RawR
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
ALLEYCAT BLUES50530 Posts
May 30 2012 06:48 GMT
#2
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.
Brood War EICWoo Jung Ho, never forget.| Twitter: @BLinDRawR
NicksonReyes
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Philippines4431 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 06:53:47
May 30 2012 06:53 GMT
#3
Well, I never knew the term Royal Road was applied outside the OSL, because it shouldn't be. Even the MSL ones weren't referred as Royal Road, but just "same feat." It's ok. You can just say "Squirtle won the GSL the first time he qualifies" or "MVP was the first to win the tournament the first time he qualifies" without having the need to use an exclusive term or to make another one.
"Start yo" -FlaSh
endy
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Switzerland8970 Posts
May 30 2012 06:56 GMT
#4
On May 30 2012 15:48 BLinD-RawR wrote:
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.


They have to find a way to get more story lines to make it as epic as BW.
I guess the concept can translate pretty well to the GSL. But I agree they should call it another name, the Royal road is for OSLs. OGN should have made it a registered trademark.
ॐ
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 07:04:19
May 30 2012 07:00 GMT
#5
On May 30 2012 15:48 BLinD-RawR wrote:
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.

On May 30 2012 15:53 NicksonReyes wrote:
Well, I never knew the term Royal Road was applied outside the OSL, because it shouldn't be. Even the MSL ones weren't referred as Royal Road, but just "same feat." It's ok. You can just say "Squirtle won the GSL the first time he qualifies" or "MVP was the first to win the tournament the first time he qualifies" without having the need to use an exclusive term or to make another one.

Those are fair enough points, I guess. I'm just going off of Team Liquid's own coverage:

Squirtle continued his walk down the royal road by walking over Oz 2-0 and then the fourteen-year-old Code S rookie Maru with another 2-0 victory. Unlike Squirtle's first round opponents, Oz is very confident in his PvP, but Squirtle made him look weak in his strongest match-up. Maru showed good TvP in the round of thirty two, but Squirtle simply outmatched him.

It's been a long time coming for Squirtle, but he's finally here. His dream of being on the final stage has come true and with four more wins, he not only will become the first royal roader in Code S history, but also take over MC's spot as the Protoss President. He might not have the ceremonies or the over-pouring charisma that the last president had, but Squirtle wants to bring home the first championship to Auir in over 400 days and will do anything to make every Protoss' dream reality.

Either we will crown the first Code S Royal Roader and the first Protoss champion in over a year, or Mvp will capture his fourth GSL championship and put himself in history forever. This sets up for one of the best GSL finals we've ever seen, and if the past is any indication between these two, you will not be disappointed with the games you tune in to see tonight.

Tastosis also referred to royal roads a number of times during the finals. If you're going to be sensitive about the usage of the term, just prepend my use of "royal road" and "royal roader" with "SC2's equivalent of".
Twitter: @iamcaustic
endy
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Switzerland8970 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 07:23:18
May 30 2012 07:19 GMT
#6
On May 30 2012 16:00 stormfoxSC wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 30 2012 15:48 BLinD-RawR wrote:
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.

Show nested quote +
On May 30 2012 15:53 NicksonReyes wrote:
Well, I never knew the term Royal Road was applied outside the OSL, because it shouldn't be. Even the MSL ones weren't referred as Royal Road, but just "same feat." It's ok. You can just say "Squirtle won the GSL the first time he qualifies" or "MVP was the first to win the tournament the first time he qualifies" without having the need to use an exclusive term or to make another one.

Those are fair enough points, I guess. I'm just going off of Team Liquid's own coverage:

Show nested quote +
Squirtle continued his walk down the royal road by walking over Oz 2-0 and then the fourteen-year-old Code S rookie Maru with another 2-0 victory. Unlike Squirtle's first round opponents, Oz is very confident in his PvP, but Squirtle made him look weak in his strongest match-up. Maru showed good TvP in the round of thirty two, but Squirtle simply outmatched him.

Show nested quote +
It's been a long time coming for Squirtle, but he's finally here. His dream of being on the final stage has come true and with four more wins, he not only will become the first royal roader in Code S history, but also take over MC's spot as the Protoss President. He might not have the ceremonies or the over-pouring charisma that the last president had, but Squirtle wants to bring home the first championship to Auir in over 400 days and will do anything to make every Protoss' dream reality.

Show nested quote +
Either we will crown the first Code S Royal Roader and the first Protoss champion in over a year, or Mvp will capture his fourth GSL championship and put himself in history forever. This sets up for one of the best GSL finals we've ever seen, and if the past is any indication between these two, you will not be disappointed with the games you tune in to see tonight.

Tastosis also referred to royal roads a number of times during the finals. If you're going to be sensitive about the usage of the term, just prepend my use of "royal road" and "royal roader" with "SC2's equivalent of".


Oh we're not blaming you directly for using the term, don't worry ! It's just that even when MSL was still around (R.I.P.) we didn't use the term "Royal road", so you see how much it was an OSL thing, so seeing it used for the GSL does feel weird although it's understandable because the concept translates well. That's why I said OGN should have made it a registered trademark.

e:typo
ॐ
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
May 30 2012 07:27 GMT
#7
On May 30 2012 16:19 endy wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 30 2012 16:00 stormfoxSC wrote:
On May 30 2012 15:48 BLinD-RawR wrote:
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.

On May 30 2012 15:53 NicksonReyes wrote:
Well, I never knew the term Royal Road was applied outside the OSL, because it shouldn't be. Even the MSL ones weren't referred as Royal Road, but just "same feat." It's ok. You can just say "Squirtle won the GSL the first time he qualifies" or "MVP was the first to win the tournament the first time he qualifies" without having the need to use an exclusive term or to make another one.

Those are fair enough points, I guess. I'm just going off of Team Liquid's own coverage:

Squirtle continued his walk down the royal road by walking over Oz 2-0 and then the fourteen-year-old Code S rookie Maru with another 2-0 victory. Unlike Squirtle's first round opponents, Oz is very confident in his PvP, but Squirtle made him look weak in his strongest match-up. Maru showed good TvP in the round of thirty two, but Squirtle simply outmatched him.

It's been a long time coming for Squirtle, but he's finally here. His dream of being on the final stage has come true and with four more wins, he not only will become the first royal roader in Code S history, but also take over MC's spot as the Protoss President. He might not have the ceremonies or the over-pouring charisma that the last president had, but Squirtle wants to bring home the first championship to Auir in over 400 days and will do anything to make every Protoss' dream reality.

Either we will crown the first Code S Royal Roader and the first Protoss champion in over a year, or Mvp will capture his fourth GSL championship and put himself in history forever. This sets up for one of the best GSL finals we've ever seen, and if the past is any indication between these two, you will not be disappointed with the games you tune in to see tonight.

Tastosis also referred to royal roads a number of times during the finals. If you're going to be sensitive about the usage of the term, just prepend my use of "royal road" and "royal roader" with "SC2's equivalent of".


Oh we're not blaming you directly for using the term, don't worry ! It's just that even when MSL was still around (R.I.P.) we didn't use the term "Royal road", so you see how much is was an OSL thing, so seeing it used for the GSL does feel weird although it's understandable because the concept translates well. That's why I said OGN should have made it a registered trademark.

Yeah, I get that. I'd just note that the term wasn't used for MSL, but it's being used prolifically for GSL by GOM staff, TL itself, and plenty of random community members. In that regard, I'd say it's a different situation from the OSL/MSL relationship, where everyone respectfully agreed that the term applied to OSL, but not MSL.
Twitter: @iamcaustic
Sawamura
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Malaysia7602 Posts
May 30 2012 07:31 GMT
#8
On May 30 2012 15:48 BLinD-RawR wrote:
royal road is a term used for the OSL and only the OSL.


So many legends were born for those who walk the royal road . Terms stick with osl.
BW/KT Forever R.I.P KT.Violet dearly missed ..
Anomek
Profile Joined November 2010
Poland152 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 09:09:07
May 30 2012 08:32 GMT
#9
Nestea is 3 times GSL champion. MC is 2 times GSL champion. All that numbers count Open Season. So you can't ignore Open Seasons when talking about Royal Road.

I see it this way: GOM is changing format every year. 2010 we had Open Seasons. 2011 shorter Code S/A with some other GSL tournaments in between. 2012 longer Code S/A. So you should count all GSL Championships, no matter the format.

Btw, imho it would be more epic for Royal Roader to advance to Code S in his first Code A apperance and then proceed to win Championship next season. That's epic End pretty hard

Btw, for Royal Road purpose in OSL, which part of tornament is considered to count as "apperance in OSL"?
GTR
Profile Blog Joined September 2004
51489 Posts
May 30 2012 08:35 GMT
#10
round of 16
Commentator
corumjhaelen
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
France6884 Posts
May 30 2012 08:39 GMT
#11
On May 30 2012 17:35 GTR wrote:
round of 16

WHich is why sAviOr could a Royal Roader after being a three times MSL champion^^
‎numquam se plus agere quam nihil cum ageret, numquam minus solum esse quam cum solus esset
Kanil
Profile Joined April 2010
United States1713 Posts
May 30 2012 08:53 GMT
#12
FruitDealer is 'techincally' the first GSL rookie champion.

But it was the first GSL, so the everyone was a rookie and the winner was automatically going to be a rookie champion. It doesn't count, because it's not interesting.
I used to have an Oz icon over here ---->
Black[CAT]
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Malaysia2589 Posts
May 30 2012 09:50 GMT
#13
Gom should make their own term. Royal road is way connected with the OSL, which in the future will be a SC2 league. Not even MSL 1st time winners are called that.
You mean ESPORTS isnt a synonym for SC2? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -Proud owner of a Filco Majestouch 2 with Cherry Blue Switches- BW or SC2? Why not both?
fabiano
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Brazil4644 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 12:34:28
May 30 2012 12:31 GMT
#14
Yea, sounds weird to use it outside of OSL.

It's not BW snob, it is cultural... people always call elitism and shit, but many things are culturally engrained in the scene, and Royal Road is one of them.

edit: meh, re-reading it as GSL royal roader seems okay though
"When the geyser died, a probe came out" - SirJolt
ShadeR
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
Australia7535 Posts
May 30 2012 13:12 GMT
#15
So many GSL's a year dilutes the term royal. Just call em Roaders lol.
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
May 30 2012 18:04 GMT
#16
On May 30 2012 17:32 Anomek wrote:
Nestea is 3 times GSL champion. MC is 2 times GSL champion. All that numbers count Open Season. So you can't ignore Open Seasons when talking about Royal Road.

I see it this way: GOM is changing format every year. 2010 we had Open Seasons. 2011 shorter Code S/A with some other GSL tournaments in between. 2012 longer Code S/A. So you should count all GSL Championships, no matter the format.

Btw, imho it would be more epic for Royal Roader to advance to Code S in his first Code A apperance and then proceed to win Championship next season. That's epic End pretty hard

Btw, for Royal Road purpose in OSL, which part of tornament is considered to count as "apperance in OSL"?

Hm, that's a pretty good point. GSL Opens do count toward the trophy numbers, but then again, special events like World Championship and Blizzard Cup also count toward trophy titles, but offered no opportunity for a GSL Royal Road. So, do we arbitrarily count the Opens and ignore the special events when considering a GSL Royal Road run?

IMO it's easier to simplify it to "winning a GSL Code S season on their first qualified appearance" and ignore all special events. It's for that reason I opt for MVP over FruitDealer in the blog -- FruitDealer never was crowned a Code S Champion.
Twitter: @iamcaustic
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
May 30 2012 18:18 GMT
#17
On May 30 2012 21:31 fabiano wrote:
Yea, sounds weird to use it outside of OSL.

It's not BW snob, it is cultural... people always call elitism and shit, but many things are culturally engrained in the scene, and Royal Road is one of them.

edit: meh, re-reading it as GSL royal roader seems okay though

Don't get me wrong, I fully understand why people might find it weird and even dislike it, but making a post with the sole purpose of declaring Royal Road OSL-only in the way the first couple of posters did -- and not even bothering to discuss the actual content/point of the blog -- is quite snobbish. Especially when you consider that this very site we're posting on used the term in their official GSL finals coverage.
Twitter: @iamcaustic
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
May 30 2012 18:19 GMT
#18
On May 30 2012 18:50 Black[CAT] wrote:
Gom should make their own term. Royal road is way connected with the OSL, which in the future will be a SC2 league. Not even MSL 1st time winners are called that.

I can agree with that, but for now, what's a guy to do? Everyone's using the Royal Road term.
Twitter: @iamcaustic
blubbdavid
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Switzerland2412 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 18:47:54
May 30 2012 18:31 GMT
#19
So the Royal Road will join the unholy trinity of the forbidden words. What are we gonna call them now? The four horsemen? The despicable quadriga?

Btw, Squirtle is really the first GSL royal roader. Why?
+ Show Spoiler +
cuz it says so in the article
What do you desire? Money? Glory? Power? Revenge? Or something that surpasses all other? Whatever you desire - that is here. Tower of God ¦¦Nutella, drink of the Gods
iamcaustic
Profile Blog Joined May 2011
Canada1509 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-05-30 19:42:41
May 30 2012 19:42 GMT
#20
On May 31 2012 03:31 blubbdavid wrote:
So the Royal Road will join the unholy trinity of the forbidden words. What are we gonna call them now? The four horsemen? The despicable quadriga?

Btw, Squirtle is really the first GSL royal roader. Why?
+ Show Spoiler +
cuz it says so in the article

What are the other forbidden words? :0

Also, Squirtle failed to become a GSL Royal Roader since MVP managed to win the finals.
Twitter: @iamcaustic
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