Why do you write [sic] after football? I do not see anything strange or wrong about it and I don't understand the need for an emphasis on the word "football". Please clarify.

TrippSC2

United States209 Posts

June 16 2012 12:40 GMT

#22

On June 16 2012 12:36 vindKtiv wrote:

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It seems to me as if you haven't been following e-sports for a while.

What sounds to you like "rhetoric" is actually steeped in history. CPL, WSVG, CGS, and many others were "legitimate business." What survived? Events based on "guys in a basement" like TSL, Evo, DH, and ESL/IEM, tournaments who are willing to run games because of the community and not because of the money. The whole reason why people are afraid of an "esports" bubble is because it has happened before and it can definitely happen again. Read up on your history, then you'll understand why a good number of people who know their shit are afraid of a possible bubble with all the "legitimate businesses" trying to get their share of the pie.

If the OP's goal is bring awareness to this type of problem, then to be effective in that goal, this needs to be brought up.

You could also make the argument the other way and say that the reason that the bubble popped on all of the events that you mentioned is that they really weren't legitimate business models and/or that the community made a stink about making the sacrifices needed (as we've seen with MLG PPV) to actually make it a successful business model. I don't have anything to back that up because I wasn't around at that time. I'd like to learn more about those events though. If someone who knows more about it would like to educate me, I'd appreciate it.

Either way, my main point remains that the article on its own doesn't state anything that convinces me of anything. It just looks like irrational fear of "the greedy corporations" without examples from the past to back it up.

DerNebel

Denmark648 Posts

June 16 2012 16:59 GMT

#23

What the scene really doesn't need is a bubble. That is all. We should want all the sponsors, all the coverage and all the tournaments that we can reasonably saturate at this point in time. Is the SC2 scene really big enough to go on public TV without tanking horribly compared to other sports? We live in an internet age. The scene is what it is not because of the public TV, but because of the passion of the community and the big money sponsors they attracted. The sponsors didn't give Boxer money to play Brood War until he became as good as he was, he played for hours every day and then joined a lousy, dark, underpaid teamhouse, where he played for 10 hours every day, and only after that came the sponsors, and the big TV.

We don't want to bubble, that is all. Of course the scene should grow, of course the players should get paid, of course we should have quality entertainment. What we don't want is big money contracts getting blown to bits by a scene that still hasn't fully matured, doesn't have a big enough following or simply backlashes against the way television will be handling our game. We don't want another bubble, we just want to grow.

Lotsa_Spaghetti

Germany50 Posts

June 16 2012 23:01 GMT

#24

On June 16 2012 07:20 [Silverflame] wrote:

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And keep in mind that sports can not be "professional" without any sponsorship, because you have no product which could make all the money for you... Entertainment alone is nothing that could support a living for all competitors.

Sponsors themselves are not the problem. I do like sponsors, I stated that in the text even. What I don't like is e-sports, that just serves as an instrument to make money for some people at the top.

However, it was already proven that eSports dont exist, just some grand delusion

Check out my definition of e-sports HERE.

You seem to make it out that eSports will completely fall apart because all these businesses are only out to make money, and will ruin our organizations because they will somehow "own" us. please explain how they will own us? The Starcraft community has already shown how vicious we can be to sponsors.

First: I don't think e-sports will ever fall apart. In my previous entry, I even made the claim that e-sports is invincible. I am just under the impression that the face of the scene might change so drastically that it becomes an abomination. Second: How were the community vicious to sponsors? If I understood it correctly, then people write sponsors complaints about people that are sponsored by them. Like sponsors are some kind of judicial entity. Wouldn't that indicate that their role is pretty big? Sponsors may not own us, but they might own the events and the teams. Maybe not now but in the future. Strict rules could follow and we might end up with "no fun allowed". Just look at how KeSPA treats its players....

Why do you write [sic] after football? I do not see anything strange or wrong about it and I don't understand the need for an emphasis on the word "football". Please clarify.

Because Americans need to be taught the right term

That is fine. I do not want to convert anyone. I just want to ignite a discussion, because what you might feel is irrational may not be so irrational to others. Take the CBS deal. Read about it if you haven't already. What do you think would happen to the scene if that thing really takes off? I do not want to state what it will look like. I just want people to think about the consequences, that might happen. I love e-sports. I really do. I love it because it thrives on the hearts and souls of its players and fans. I like sponsors, too. But I don't want to sacrifice the heart and soul of e-sports to cater to them.

In some of the next episodes, I will talk about the Fighting Game Community. The inner conflict is much easier to grasp there. I just want to throw in the term "political correctness" for now.

Thanks everyone for your feedback!