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Lately, I've been getting a bit frustrated with people in this community and their feeling of entitlement. It's been brewing a lot inside me for probably a few months, and to be honest it's really annoying me to the point of just ignoring the things which in theory should be cool, like stream chats. I have been pushed further into writing this by the recent WCS KR stream which is why I'm writing this.
People seem to think that quality products should be given to them without them giving anything back. The 240p stream from GOM for the WCS is a prime example. People have been whining for a while that they don't like GOM player (personally, I think its a great programme, VLC is better, but GOM just gives me more as I live in Korea) so they have started streaming these games on twitch to help combat the reluctance to download GOMplayer. I enter the channel and of course, my laptop is being a right shit and I can only watch the twitch stream with the chat window on the side. So I start reading the chat.......
'OMFG GUIZ, 240p what is this shit'
'wtf, 240p is so 2003'
'JEJUZ CHRITI, WHAT IS THIS SHIT....OTHER WCS OFFER HIGHER RES'
Seriously? I can understand wanting a better stream.....but to bitch and whine like it should be given to you is something which seriously shows your immaturity. Yes, other WCS tournaments are given in higher def, but thats because the quality of games is expected to be lower...or that's just the model they use to get people to watch. Gom doesn't need to do that....they showcase the higher echelons of the game, the gosu's, the people who we in the west idolise for their amazing play. That is Goms product. They don't need to give you the stream quality for free....they don't need that to draw in viewers. They draw in viewers because you know damn well that your going to be watching some quality shit. They're a company, that have single handedly supported the Korean sc2 scene, have invested a fuck tonne of money into the game...and in return expect something out of it. If someone gave you a shitty pair of shoes...would you demand a pair of nikes from them? No you fucking well shouldn't. They gave you what they feel comfortable giving you. Yes they recieved money from blizzard, but all that stipulates is that they give a free stream. that is your shitty pair of shoes.
You can of course, pay for the product that you want. The same way that all businesses work. You want those fucking Nikes? Go out and pay for it. Don't sit there complaining that you got a lesser quality brand, if your not willing to pay for the higher quality. You not entitled to 720p, most tournaments do that as a draw for you to watch the tournament. Gom doesn't need that, so they probably won't upgrade the stream anytime soon becuase that's how their business model works.
But optimus, Korean's get the HD stream for free, for WCS and for the GSL....why can't we get the same? Simple. Foreign investors have still yet to get behind the GSL. The ad's are not there, they aren't TV quality ad's that you will see. The Korean stream has movie trailers, adverts for the hot shit that's in Korea, the same adverts they get for the TV over here. They also get the same ammount of money to show those ads.....the company recieves this money not only to pump ads on the GSL, but also their multitude of other channels you can watch on GOM. They recieve big bucks from Korean companies in order to make this stream free for Koreans. You want the GSL and WCS free....go out and get movie companies to support it (the recent ad is for total recall for example), get Nike and Coca cola to support their ads. But they won't because the scope of GOM in the west is purely SC related. There are no drama streams, no TV streams, no MV streams that we use GOM for. That is why Korea gets it for free, and the English stream is paid for.
Stop with the entitlement. You are only entitled to what YOU work for or pay for. If you get something for free, don't complain. Instead applaud the company for giving you something for free. Yes they have a forced hand, but they are still putting out quality games for free.
 
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I wont say I disagree with your logic. Still though the 240p still feels a bit salty in my eyes. I'd be interested to know how upgrading the quality to say, 360 would effect ticket sales. I feel most people who purchase tickets now would still do so to up the quality from 360. It's possible that maybe even more people would watch on a regular basis, though this number is probably relatively insubstantial. Idk, I could be wrong. Maybe ticket sales would fall off dramatically, its possible but seems unlikely. But in 360, at least we'd be able to read the supplies.
Like I said though, I agree in that I understand I am not entitled to a better quality stream. That doesn't mean I wouldn't love if GOM Please keep in mind not everyone has the money to buy tickets for all of GOMs events. If I had the cash I'd gladly purchase a ticket.
Lastly, never take a stream chat serious. Well modded stream chats are still "cool" and can be fun. Onemoregame.tv's mod team for example is great, and most of the time discussion sways between friendly jokes and serious discussion about the direction esports is headed in. However when you're talking about big live events where numbers of viewers easily overshadow 10k+ the hive mind sort of takes over. And as you say the chat becomes unreadable. 9/10 people just restate whatever everybody else is talking about. You see this all the time. Things can become overblown in this way. Suddenly the shitty quality stream people get for free becomes the end of the world to a few thousand people whom know nothing about managing business, cause and effect, marketing, or most broadly put, thinking on their own.
TL:DR: Watching the free stream sober makes me feel like i'm 11 beers deep, and that's okay cause i'm too poor to buy a pass and it's within GOM's rights as a company. However i'd love an increase in stream quality, that doesn't mean I think GOM owes me one. I think your perceived sense of community entitlement is overblown because you read some brainless words in an overcrowded chat room. I think the one notable thing you mentioned is the lack of intelligent discussion that exists in larger chat rooms. As with the topic of game balance, chat rooms are a volatile measure of community sentiments.
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I understand your frustration. Realize that a lot of these complaints are likely coming from people who have what is sometimes referred to as "First World Problems". Being from the United States, I hear a lot of this on a regular basis across many facets of life. There are those that understand, and then there are those that are just annoyed because dammit, it says in the (religious text or political document) that they are special and deserve to be treated as such, showered with praise and golden butterflies. We should humbly acknowledge that their station requires something more than the mere plebians around them. (Of course, this is a BIT tongue in cheek. But not too much. I doubt most people in the West, even those that are considered "poor", have a firm grasp on exactly how much the universe cares about them as individuals. Some do, as they have come face to cement curb stomp with it at least once in their lives.)
On the other hand, I think a lot of this stems from the very low quality the GOM free stream offers (good for my phone, but I can't get the GOM player on my phone) in addition to the immediate comparison that will be raised to other content providers, like NASL, IPL, MLG, Dreamhack, etc. Most of the free streams there are in the 480 range. Of course, they probably are sponsored differently (as you point out, GOM is an actual network with a lot of different kind of content - the others are specialty markets) and operate under different models.
I prefer VLC to GOM, but then the only content I have to use GOM for is GSL/GSTL. (Also, I don't know if GOM player can handle the vast clusterfsck of encoders in my AMV collection.) If I was in Korea, it may be different - as you say, there is a lot of content for that local audience that I'm just not seeing. Another thing, of course, is that GOM's bandwidth costs (especially out of the peninsula and across the Pacific) are being largely born by GOM - they don't offload to server farms in regional areas like I believe Twitch/Own3d does. (And when they do, they're still paying Twitch/Own3d. Just because I don't pay if I stream, doesn't mean corporations are treated differently.)
We, as consumers, have to just face it - they're not out to make us happy, they are out to make money from us without bleeding us dry. They can be nice about it, and the vast majority are, but you only get what you pay for - and if you really have to watch something 24/7, IGN ProLeague seems to cover that with their novel approach of "STREAM ALL TIMES!"
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An update of the stream would be nice I agree, or even if they had some way of making the supplys stand out whilst the rest doesnt...like have the big numbers under the names.
I don't take stream chat seriously....it's just so many whiners make me agree with tastless when he says the community is venomous.
I still think they should update their HD stream, as it is paid for and if I remember correctly (I haven't watched the english stream in HD for a long time) it's still 720p. Those people are entitled to ask for more, as their paying customers. I don't know, I feel like it's not only with the stream, I use that more as an example. It seems everywhere in life people want more for free. People want more from companies which may just not be possible. We all want the best, but sometimes understanding is needed in order to make society work. For example I worked in a bingo hall in England. People demanded the highest service that just wasn't possible at times due to low staffing numbers due to unforseen events. One time, there were over 500 customers, and only 4 people working. It's not the workers fault if service is slow that night, but they made it seem as though it was ours. We ran around all night and in the end we were exhausted, and people still complained saying that the people who worked were slow and rude. They expected a full service, even though physically it was impossible. Employers are no worse. They pay people, admittedly, but they dump way more work than is physically possible for you to do, and if you have a problem then it is your fault, even though everyone struggles with the extra work load.
In consumerism, we expect more than the basic package, EVERY time. 1 year warranty? Sign of a shitty company. My product has broken, it must be the manufacturers fault even though I have used it everyday for the last 3 years. Yes, I would be pissed, however I don't go and whine to others about how the manufacturer is shit for not offering a potentially business breaking extended warranty free of charge. We should be happy that we got 3 years of use out of it, and then either change or get it repaired. I don't want to feel like a mug, and when something goes wrong, disastorously wrong, then I will blame the people in charge but being an ass about it is not the best way to go about it.
Another customer service example comes from a place me and my mom worked at a long time ago. Some guys PS2 broke, after a few months of use. Cool, theres a free home repair service where an engineer will come out, look at it and sort it out or give you a new one. Most people would be happy with that, that's a service which is perfectly acceptable, after all the retailer is not responsible for the product breaking the company is. This one guy however though opposite. He was increasingly difficult and demanded that we give him a new one there and then (this happened alot). We politely say that we will get an engineer on the job from sony, gave him the number to call and all that jazz. Instead of being content, the guy still kicked up a fuss for us to replace it, which in our eyes just isn't possible as thats a way we lose money, as sony won't refund us for a broken ps2 which could have been repaired in home. The guy then decides....to fuck everything and throw the playstation at my mom, who dodged and politely told him that theres no need for a repair anymore, as excessive physical damage has been proven and that he should vacate the store before the police come. He left the store, minus the playstation that would have been repaired or replaced, and also got a permanent ban from all stores in the area. Like really? A home repair service is worth freaking about? He felt entitled to his replacement, but it was in vain.
I don't know...the human condition often suprises me.
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You definitely have a note-worthy observation there. I've experienced this sense of entitlement myself, we all have. When my laptop stopped working I contacted the companies tech support and they basically told me they'd do nothing since it was off warranty. The customer service person basically told me to take it to geek squad or whatever. For a good ten minutes I felt as if I had been royally screwed by Gateway. I could have bought the extended warranty though. And despite my anger logically and legally I had no right to free maintenance. This is all clear to me in hindsight, but I blamed the company.
In a way I think interacting with customer service or employees at any given establishment heightens the expectancy of getting your way as the customer. A lot of the time businesses are accommodating and understanding of most issues. Then when you consider forms of additional reimbursement from businesses, people become even more angry when they dont get what they ask for. I had an experience with Logitech. I had emailed logitech about replacing the mouse feet on my mx518 and they responded by giving me a 50% of coupon for a new mouse because they did not sell replacements. Any sort of complaint/inquiry I make toward a business will never be as agreeable as that deal.
I learned from this a little friendliness toward the people helping you can go a long way. In my email to logitech I explained I loved the mouse and I used it long passed it's shelf life but I just needed to replace the bottom. Instead of berating the company with an email of BM and accusations I expressed myself as a happy customer and reasonable person.
The biggest factor of all when dealing with entitlement or just peoples assumption they are somehow owed something is patience. For instance in the United States when I call any sort of phone line the person who answers my call is almost always at least slightly perturbed to be talking to me. Like you said, the employers don't do much to help the situation. My sister answers customer service calls for a health insurance company and she says most people have no idea what they're doing with a computer, are very rude and impolite, or they blame the person on the phone for an issue caused by the business and not her. Anyway point being, I understand that customer service reps have it tough and that's why they always sound mad to be talking to me. I've noticed when I calmly answer the reps questions and explain anything I need help with in detail they are usually much happier to help and in turn easier to get help from.
In terms of the human condition, I'd describe entitlement as a lapse in thinking in which a person forgets that they are either bound to rules, an agreement, or just common social courtesies. When someone's ego lets the idea slip their mind, that they are just like everybody else.
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Yes!
25 years ago, society got an idea that most personality traits that caused detestable behavior were derived from low self-esteem, so they started giving everyone a participation trophy and telling them that everything they do is the most wonderful thing in the world. Fast forward 25 years and you have people that legitimately believe they deserve everything that hard-working people have minus the hard work.
5/5 for using your brain outside of a video game
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I've always felt entitled to get quality blogs... I finally got one :D
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Probably one of the best house of commons committee meetings ever:
During two hours of testimony, Dingwall used the word "entitlement" 27 times.
When asked if he raised the issue of severance when he told McCallum he was quitting, Dingwall said, "I believe I raised the issue of entitlements, yes."
When asked if he thought he was owed a severance for a job he quit, again Dingwall opted to use the E-word. "I believe I have entitlements as a result of the performance I provided at the Royal Canadian Mint."
The frustrated MPs on the committee spent almost an hour with Dingwall trying to get him to say he thought he was owed a severance deal for a job he quit.
NDP MP Ed Broadbent, who perhaps was the best performer in the committee that day in Parliament all year, cornered him and asked, "Do you think you're ethically entitled to severance pay?"
Again Dingwall stonewalled and said it was a legal question, not an ethical question.
Broadbent pressed and what emerged was the moment that seemed to sum up all critics see as wrong with the party that has been in power for 12 years.
"You're trying to say that I'm not entitled to my entitlements," Dingwall angrily shot back to Broadbent.
"I am entitled to my entitlements!"
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I don't feel entitled to a non-shitty stream, I just want it, and express that want. Just because someone complains about something doesn't mean you can assume they feel entitled.
Complaining is useful information for a company, it tells them "you are fucking up in some way which your competitors are not so you better improve it."
I sometimes stream. If someone started bitching at me that the sound was all messed up, I wouldn't respond by calling them an entitled brat because it's a free stream and to gtfo. I'd respond by trying to fix the messed up sound, because that is a reasonable expectation.
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I read a part of the OP and I will agree with you on principle; I too hate entitlement.
But when you watch any sport you should be able to see the score... I mean that's a given. Every sport on TV there is an overlay with the score.
Supply counts and resources are near impossible to divine on the GOM streams. I don't care for the quality, the commentators do a good job but I should be able to see the score.
It's not even about entitlement, it is common sense.
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On August 11 2012 04:26 jdseemoreglass wrote:
I sometimes stream. If someone started bitching at me that the sound was all messed up, I wouldn't respond by calling them an entitled brat because it's a free stream and to gtfo. I'd respond by trying to fix the messed up sound, because that is a reasonable expectation.
It is reasonable, but then again your not running a business at all. Your running a stream that your primary goal is to just show games to other people and try to entertain.
On August 11 2012 06:12 Mattson wrote:
But when you watch any sport you should be able to see the score... I mean that's a given. Every sport on TV there is an overlay with the score.
I agree with this statement, but I have watched many streams of football games where I cannot see the score because the quality is poor. I just check on my phone or on a different site to see the score and watch the game. This usually comes from illegal streams so it's a little different, but still the same.
What they need to do is have the big numbers under the names so you can see the score as it's bigger....makes sense to me. Either that or do what BW used to have, and not show supply at all and have a box in the bottom corner showing supplies mineral intakes and shit every now and then.
IT is a problem that you can't see, but does it really detract from the value of the game? If you're a spectator you should only see whats going on on the playing field. My football team, wolverhampton, have no screen to display the scores during the game or even one to show the time anymore, doesn't mean the game is any less enjoyable
On August 10 2012 23:32 KING CHARLIE :D wrote:
Yes!
25 years ago, society got an idea that most personality traits that caused detestable behavior were derived from low self-esteem, so they started giving everyone a participation trophy and telling them that everything they do is the most wonderful thing in the world. Fast forward 25 years and you have people that legitimately believe they deserve everything that hard-working people have minus the hard work.
5/5 for using your brain outside of a video game
I'm 24....what's your beef  and thanks for giving me a 5/5 for using my brain outside a video game...I tend to do that 90% of my day ^^
On August 11 2012 01:00 .Sic. wrote:
I've always felt entitled to get quality blogs... I finally got one :D
GOD DAMN IT!
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EPT
