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So, I'm watching tonight's OSL RO16, and the first game is a cross map TvT on yet another huge map (the like of which I was bemoaning last night). And while I still think that TvT is frequently more interesting on maps with more moderate architecture (it was pointed out previously that these are still 128 x 128 maps), tonight's games on maps with more open architecture -- that is fewer choke points, and wider engagement areas (people underestimate the effectiveness of Terran Siege lines in open territory engagements; a lot of people think Tanks are only effective in narrow choke points, or are most effective in narrow choke points, however this not necessarily true).
Anyway, this is a prodigious game b/w Flash and his opponent. While it seems like Flash is sort of bankrupt at least at the beginning of the game, he really begins shoveling coal into the furnace and a glimpse of his true power level emerges. The game is an excellent early-late game TvT -- I won't spoil the results.
Seeing this excellent performance, even in a blurry rendition of 1997 graphics, recalled to mind the true glory that is Starcraft.
If you can market baseball, if you can market golf, if you can market soccer, if you can market poker, then selling Starcraft should be easier than selling crack to rich kids looking to score women (eh?). Well anyway, baseball, golf, soccer, football, and a bunch of activities that are a lot less fast-paced and a lot less engaging than true high-level real time strategy game play (read top KeSPA Starcraft) pull in revenue streams of tens of billions of USD each year, or hundreds of billions if you look at the global market where competitive, athletic sports are concerned.
And yet, these markets are probably not populated heavily by those who enjoy video games (at least in my experience in the Southern United States, these are two very different fields). So, there is a wealth of people who enjoy video games and who would probably love to see high-quality production of competitive video game leagues. Starcraft is the obvious choice carrying the torch of competitive video games. While there is great appeal in other game genres, it's clear that Starcraft: Brood War set the standard with video games being competitive spectator sports.
 
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A note on the current map pool with Starcraft: Brood War. What's the deal? These maps look like they're custom tailored to non-innovative mechanics driven play. This seems to confirm my suspicions that there is a serious problem with amphetamine abuse in E-Sports. Where are the innovative maps of the past? These 'cookie-cutter' maps are just not how the game is meant to be played
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Did you follow the last Proleague? There where quite some maps that where designed for non-standard play. And it was more or less not such a good idea, that's why those maps aren't in the OSL mappool anymore.
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Hope you just watched Mini vs Rush :D
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On June 05 2012 20:42 blubbdavid wrote:
Did you follow the last Proleague? There where quite some maps that where designed for non-standard play. And it was more or less not such a good idea, that's why those maps aren't in the OSL mappool anymore.
non-standard maps favor protoss. that's probably why you don't see them. there just aren't enough protoss pushing the limits
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On June 05 2012 21:39 Failsafe wrote:Show nested quote +On June 05 2012 20:42 blubbdavid wrote:
Did you follow the last Proleague? There where quite some maps that where designed for non-standard play. And it was more or less not such a good idea, that's why those maps aren't in the OSL mappool anymore. non-standard maps favor protoss. that's probably why you don't see them. there just aren't enough protoss pushing the limits
Are you serious?
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On June 05 2012 20:15 Failsafe wrote:
If you can market baseball, if you can market golf, if you can market soccer, if you can market poker, then selling Starcraft should be easier than selling crack to rich kids looking to score women (eh?). Well anyway, baseball, golf, soccer, football, and a bunch of activities that are a lot less fast-paced and a lot less engaging than true high-level real time strategy game play (read top KeSPA Starcraft) pull in revenue streams of tens of billions of USD each year, or hundreds of billions if you look at the global market where competitive, athletic sports are concerned.
The thing about the sports that you mentioned, and poker, hell even pool darts.....is that millions and millions of people play these games, grew up playing these games, have kids that play these games etc. SC2Gears says that there are 657,447 active accounts worldwide of SC2. Some of these are multiples, some play very seldom, some don't follow the scene at all.
The problem with marketing the game isn't about advertising or the financial model. The problem is that the market share is too small to begin with, you need to grow the number of players before you can do anything else, and Blizzard has already moved on to the next cash cow, and pocketing tournament fees without re-investment.
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EPT
