DISCLAIMER: There are spoilers from Proleague on 22 Sept
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If you guys know me or have talked to me at an event before, you would know that I am an avid BW enthusiast, possibly elitist, if you will. I remember playing this game against my floor mates in 1999 via dial-up at my university dorms and watching games on TV in 2004. I remember watching BW live when they still had the studio at COEX mall and attending several Proleague/OSL/MSL Finals while being among thousands (sometimes tens of thousands!) of screaming fans.
I'm pretty sure I had more, must have misplaced them. Sadface.
Last night, I watched the last casted Broodwar Proleague Final EVER.
Thanks to Slog, I got some great seats.
The crowd was meager, at best.
But still, dedicated fans came out to the 3rd floor convention hall at COEX to watch their teams and favorite players on stages. The fanclubs with their mascots and cheerleaders and drums were present, still furiously waving their thundersticks and chanting names. It was a BO3 for Broodwar, followed by a BO3 in SC2. I planned to only watch the first half and then cry myself home (Ok, maybe not literally but you know what I mean).
exchanged some friendly banter, then went to their respective sides as the games began. A wave of nostalgia came over me as I once again heard the familiar sounds of the starting screen and the beeping of the countdown. 3. 2. 1.
Shine vs Snow in the 2nd game, with the casters/commentators from MBC Game below the screen.
Unfortunately, CJ won both of their games, robbing me of a third casted BW game. I was all ready to leave when all of a sudden I was told that Stork was going to be playing SC2 for the next match. Stork was the first player I ever officially translated for, back in 2007 at a WCG. Because of that, he holds a special place in my heart, so I felt that I needed to stay and watch him play. Soon, Roro came up on the stage for the second game and then for the third line up, it was Jangbi vs Effort.
My Broodwar boys playing SC2?? Something strange and bittersweet about this.
I felt confused and conflicted. In hopes to get me to open up some more to SC2, Doa sat next to me the whole time, giving me play by plays and explaining SC2 units in terms of BW units. "See, this is basically like a corsair opening..."
Then it was all over.
All in all, I know that I will never love SC2 as much as I loved BW. But it's a new era and I understand that. BW had it's run and now it's time for another game to rise. It's the game that will make eSports even greater and it's just the beginning.
Still, Broodwar will always live on in my memories, pictures and VODs....
For me seeing CJ win was a very bittersweet feeling. I got into BW pretty late in the end of 2010 when Sc2 was already released, and I only started cheering for CJ mid way past the 10-11 proleague season. Our boys had gone through some tough times. The match fixing left both CJ and Hite with less players, and when they decided to merge and reform, it kindof to me reflected the stage that BW was at that time, beaten up from that scandal, but still alive and still trying to make a comeback. Even when August 2011 came around, I still had faith that BW would at least have another good 2 years. It's sad that I'll never see a BW game live, but I'm thankful that I got to experience the last 2 years of BW.
But seeing Horang2 turn that almost one-sided TvP around, and not give up even down to his last remaining expansions, it told me that CJ still maintains that attitude of never giving up. Horang2 could have gg'd anytime, but I think Horang2 wanted to savor that last game of his, even if it meant him losing. And when I saw Snow put down that robotics facility, I knew that the last BW game would at least be good. Snow's reavers was what made me a CJ fan, watching him harass vs JD during that MSL. Shine didn't give out too much of a fight though.
In the final game, EffOrt vs Jangbi, I already knew that EffOrt was going to win. EffOrt is a pretty smart player in general, and really knows how to figure things out. I just hope that Hydra is able to catch up sometime soon. And BByong man, that guy has a special place in my heart too just because of his teamliquid shoutout. I wish we could've seen his BW play more instead of just his awesome dream league runs. Rush as well, with his baller games vs Mini, which might've inspired a rivalry had BW stayed on. I'm glad that rookies like hero[join] are shining in SC2, and are having their moments. I really hope that Leta is able to show something entertaining soon though, and become the miracle boy that he is...
And I guess imbatoss or someone will probably say something like BW isn't dead really soon or something like that. Yeah ofc it's not dead. But these are the pros that I learnt BW alongside. This is the game that I spent watching through some of my toughest times at uni. To pretend that these pros don't exist anymore is like an insult to BW itself imo. They shaped the game as you know it, and the strats that you are playing now are the ones that they made, refined, and practiced over and over again for that one televised game. I would daresay that most of us would not even be playing BW if it weren't for the Korean scene.
For the last year or so everytime there's been a big BW finals I keep telling to myself that "Man, I guess this is the last..." and then every time it marks the end of my "childhood"...
This one was no exception. I actually woke up randomly at 4 AM and then i saw it was on and so I watched the BW games :p
So jealous you got to go to a live event, especially something like this T_T
Sad to see my childhood curiousity turned obsession end. It almost feels like my brain refuses to acknowledge that there isn't going to be any more pro BW. Heck, my feeling when reading all of this is "Well, maybe next season...", and I think that hurts the most.
I kind of feel bad about not going now, I was in the area but in the end decided to just watch it at home. I didn't realise so many TLers were actually going...
@Scarecrow: dude you should have come to the last OSL, that was the real "end"
Something just feels so depressing knowing i'll never see Bisu play an amazing BvZ, or a JvF korean pro starcraft was just the most amazing thing ever all my idols my hopes were from bw, Bisu being my biggest love, his looks his control with sairs his usage of Dts everything was so amazing. I'll never see leta mass wraiths and show up amazing control i'll never see flash demolish lurker lines with his split control, and bests never ending stream of units in a PvT. Theres soo much that i'm never gonna see again. Doesnt feel right...bw was my first computer game ever! Doesnt seem fair its ending even tho everyone still loves it
my heart sunk at jamsil that day. couldn't even get back up to cherish the terribleness that was the hybrid proleague, even though my favourite team won.
I remember meeting you at COEX for the first time :D You got me Jangbi's autograph. I never would've thought that only a few months later I'd be doing photo shoots with the progamers. Weird how it works out
Great blog, I was never big into BW and only got into it a few months before SC2 came out (to have that much more of an advantage), I can still respect the rich history of the game and be thankful that its created such a scene and its sad to see it actually end. Lets hope that in the end, SC2 lives up to the reputation.
On September 24 2012 00:34 heyoka wrote: Truly a sad day, but at least we get to kill off that abomination of a league that is the hybrid proleague.
AMEN.
I just couldn't really get into it this season... I figured I'd watch as many matches as I could while BW was still on but I'd always feel annoyed when the BW matches were over (especially after a quick 2-0) that I just couldn't anymore.
aw I know that feeling, Susie! You were one of the most involved people in bringing BW to the foreign community. Hang onto those memories. Maybe you can go see the SOSPA finals and give us some English coverage
On September 24 2012 01:07 Cambium wrote: susie, you were doing some live cast during the power outage MSL right?
I remember watching it live in a super delirious state (being tired and drunk), and it was freaking awesome
I dont remember... Haha As for the abomination league, I think it was a good stepping stone for Korean fans to get more invested into sc2. As strange as it was. Like for me, seeing my old fav bw players play sc2 was a bit weird but good transition into easing my interest towards this new game.
All in all, I know that I will never love SC2 as much as I loved BW. But it's a new era and I understand that. BW had it's run and now it's time for another game to rise. It's the game that will make eSports even greater and it's just the beginning.
Still, Broodwar will always live on in my memories, pictures and VODs....
Anytime I ever had a discussion about multiplayer balance I always brought BW up, it was a game balanced by imbalances which is crazy if you think about it. The players themselves funneled this through their plays, I loved the Boxer era the most because he showed gaming can be an art.
On September 24 2012 01:07 Cambium wrote: susie, you were doing some live cast during the power outage MSL right?
I remember watching it live in a super delirious state (being tired and drunk), and it was freaking awesome
I dont remember... Haha As for the abomination league, I think it was a good stepping stone for Korean fans to get more invested into sc2. As strange as it was. Like for me, seeing my old fav bw players play sc2 was a bit weird but good transition into easing my interest towards this new game.
It makes sense from a marketing perspective but that doesn't necessarily determine a good sports concept.
sigh it's 137 am right now i have ogn on and wtf bw kids are playing sc2... it's sad to see bw go i had been falling asleep to it for so long.
funny story: the last year i have been working for a gaming company who's office was like.. 5 minutes away from fomos office, walking. i was at the gym one morning changing and right as i get butt naked the ceo of fomos goes hi and i say o shit haha. and as i hurriedly get dressed we talk about the old days of bw and how LoL and SC2 are now lined up to take bw's place.. this was back in february btw.
and it was sad, at least for me to see everyone was resigned to see bw go. =(
i dont get wtf is going on at sc2.. these announcers are talking really fast per usual but i ono.. it's not the same.
well, i think with this post i'll bid adieu to TL. but before i go, some things --
i know last year i caused a ruckus for about a week or so -- that was interesting, to say the least. no hard feelings on my part though, mostly because i think i learned a lot from that experience. especially this: WHAT you say is as important as HOW you say it, but maybe nothing is more important than WHEN you say it. seems like a trite old lesson but it's something that, when i look back on it now, is something i feel was vividly manifested with the maelstrom that ensued after the fomos article. since then, especially at work, i've found myself in similar situations where i felt passionately about my idea, but had to face the challenge of convincing my superiors to listen. And especially with the whole korean business culture, and with all communications occurring in korean, i found myself having to take a much more humble and conciliatory tone -- which is something that, if i could go back, i wish i could apply to the whole brouhaha that went down last year.
for those that were curious, i wasn't really working at fomos full time, it was a part time thing so i coud get some translating experience. i wasn't even working at the office, i just got sent articles to translate and i did it from home or at a pc bang after dotaing.
and it was fun for a bit, but fomos soon realized that the global site wasnt gonna work and (i think) superdanielman said peace and left for a diff company. at the same time, my teaching contract was ending (i was an esl teacher, had two months left) so i was out interviewing like mad, either for translating firms or gaming firms since i felt those were my two best strengths (sup untz!).
and then i got lucky and got accepted at a gaming company, so i went to work there.
and now... i'm 29 in korean years, feeling like way older with my gimp ankle, people pressuring me to get married -- gf's friend got married and VERY conspicuously threw the bouquet to her 3 times (cuz of the photographer) -- and fuk. i was hoping to have at least bw around always so when i had sleepless nights like i have right now, i could just vegetate peacefully to the action and knock out. now it's gone.. what else is gonna go? was watching clinton speak on the daily show yesterday, and that once-ageless philanderer looks so old now -- he's got what ten more years? and dota's gonna go on to dota2... sigh. waxing nostalgic at 2am -- excuse me.
aite take care peoples it was fun while it lasted but pro bw is dead -- but hey, even now when you go to pc bangs after 10 pm, you'll see a lot of drunken younger people playing bw together, reliving the fun of old days. so it's not completely dead =)
i know this is a lilsusie thread but i have to give thanks to both you and nevergg for all the things youve brought us from korea truly the end of an era
I always considered the last SPL finals to be the end of PL. This hybrid league just didnt feel like a real proleague at all. It just felt like "hey here are 2 random crappy BW matches and then some crappy SC2 matches too." I stopped following it after like 3 weeks in. I didn't even know the finals happened until after they happened lol.
This whole thing was just a reminder that the only cool esports scene ever turned super dumb this year. esports is dumb
I always wished I could have gone to a live BW match before it all ended too
Sad to see two of the biggest online games I played when I was young are dying but, I can be happy with the fact that they both had very long successful runs. RIP BW.
Thanks for all the swag lilsusie. Didn't watch the finals but if I lived in Korea I would have gone live too. Proleague used to be what got me through the week. Waiting to see Hwaseung and SKT to play. Then watching those players in the individual leagues. I sincerely hope Blizzard ruins HOTS and Korea switches back to Brood War.
EDIT: I got the SKT uniform you sent me autographed by boxer and bisu.
Gotta add my thanks for swag too. I got a Hwaseung shirt from you what seems like ages ago, and I finally got it autographed by the Dong. It is my most prized piece of clothing, and probably one of my most prized possessions!
Always grew up in my own little bubble away from my friends enjoying brood war, sucks the year i actually get into its competitive mulitplayer all of sudden its over! I guess i still have single player but all those years i wish i had internet!
I can't accuretely judge it, but I think there's still hope for brood war with the new Sospa scene etc Maybe not as high quality as the kespa scene, but it might get there some day?
On September 23 2012 23:08 seashield wrote: good bye brood war
<3 sea
goodbye, beautiful game; may I see you, back, stronger than ever
Wah, sea <3 I have stopped to have those kind of feelings by now, but I understand you. Thanks for everything you did, after all I do have a PL shirt thanks to you, and that means a lot =)
On September 24 2012 03:34 Ideas wrote: I always considered the last SPL finals to be the end of PL. This hybrid league just didnt feel like a real proleague at all. It just felt like "hey here are 2 random crappy BW matches and then some crappy SC2 matches too." I stopped following it after like 3 weeks in. I didn't even know the finals happened until after they happened lol.
This whole thing was just a reminder that the only cool esports scene ever turned super dumb this year. esports is dumb
I always wished I could have gone to a live BW match before it all ended too
Same here. I followed the hybrid league for a few weeks and then I stopped. BW games didn't feel the same anymore. The special atmosphere of BW seemed to be gone and both BW and SC2 games were crappy. I even stopped coming to TL...
Can't believe that I will never go to BW live event and that it all ended with such an anticlimactic league...
Susan, what a beautiful blog! Bittersweet is a good way to put it. Although things are changing, I'll never forget you BroodWar, the game that sparked my love for eSports. Until we meet again, I'll miss you BroodWar like an old friend.
wow, Susie, I'm pretty sure I walked right in the way of you trying to photograph the trophy without even realizing it(the little bit of that khan clapper you see on the left was me)
I wanted to thank you again for the proleague shirt you got me last year. Since I arrived in Seoul I have devoted time getting as many player signatures on it as possible(Zero, Soulkey, Jaedong, Effort, Leta, Sea, Stork, Stats and Kal so far, the SKT players I had sign the SKT jerseys I bought and Flash's fangirl bodyguard has been impenetrable). I've been really surprised at how easy it is to just go up and talk to them and how nice they've all been.
While I am definitely saddened by the loss of Korean Pro BW, I would've never dreamed when I started watching almost 12 years ago that it would've been around until this past weekend, I would've been able to experience matches in person, or have conversations with the players. It has been an amazing run and even though I cannot stand SC2, I will watch the KeSPA league simply because of the players.
It's so sad. It is not just losing the best game ever made. It's also the loss of the players, the fans, the good guys here at tl that has been disapearing little by little over the last year.
The hype is definitely over for me. SC2 has really not the same "magic" when I watch it and play it. I regret having started to watch the pro-scene in early 2008, I missed so many epic moment in live.
all I have to remember BW by is the memories! No paraphernalia, but alas it has a special place in my heart! I never get the same feeling from a starcraft 2 match that I used to from BW, be it playing or watching it's just not the same 5/5
On September 23 2012 22:38 lilsusie wrote: Last night, I watched the last casted Broodwar Proleague Final EVER.
You make me angry. An avid BW enthusiast? According to Liquipedia the last Broodwar Proleague Final was on 8th April 2012. This was an ugly hybrid.
Did you not catch the word CASTED in there? Yeah. And there was still BW, even if it was followed up by SC2. BW is still BW, no matter what company it keeps.
WOnderful pictures, it sucks, feels like I'm always commenting on these BW posts, but always for sad reasons. I'll always watch and rewatch my favorite vods for years to come.
On September 24 2012 02:44 a176 wrote: i know this is a lilsusie thread but i have to give thanks to both you and nevergg for all the things youve brought us from korea truly the end of an era
EPT
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