EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/busHW.jpg)
First, let me give shout to the Skype StarLeague where we are watching a bunch of GOMtv games - those cool old games where Tasteless and Superdanielman do the casts of Korean progames - and talking about the games. It's very fun, so be sure to ch-ch-check that out, and find out wha-wha-what it's all about.
Watching those old games actually helped convince someone to stay with BroodWar, which is good, considering how many people are retiring. Since I'm a die-hard, I never will give up, despite the overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, some sad news is that BMW (formerly from gNs.I and iFU) retired unofficially, and I'm not sure about the status of Pucca. Needless to say, the BLITZ series may be quite short-lived, which, in my opinion, is quite disappointing. I really enjoyed the show, and Pucca has an amazing work-ethic. I directed and organized the
Yellow Starleague, and Pucca's dedication to his craft made it work. Still, notwithstanding Pucca's work, I personally invested a lot of time into the YSL. It start off in a very crappy fashion. The original thread is a horrible orgy of disorganized confusion and death. I learned quickly from my mistakes, and the rest of the tournament ran incredibly smoothly; there were ZERO walk-overs, 100$ added to the prize pool, and no drama. I personally made all the graphics, wrote all the threads, organized all the players, ran counter-abuse, and directed the tour by myself. There will not, however, be another YSL. It was kind of a crap-job to tell people that they couldn't compete for being "too good". Technically, the skill cap works for the D-rank leagues because those leagues are being run simply for fun. However, to say "May the best man win" and then have a skill-cap is kind of silly. WandS asked to be a part of the YSL, and I was forced to say no - and he won the ASL2 in a convincing fashion. Is that wrong? I wouldn't say so, but what I would say is that by hosting continuous C-rank leagues, there is no "incentive to improve", because people would just stay at the C level to win easy money, rather than trying to jump up to the Gambit Cup, which is way above B- rank. There is sort of a competitive void for B- and even some B rank players, because the Gambit Cup is above their skill ceiling (generally speaking) and the C leagues are below their skill level.
If I were to host an event, it would be shorter than the YSL, and would have no skill cap. Unfortunately, the Girls' Tour for BroodWar is not looking so hot right now - most of the girls are hesitant to play in a casted tournament. The skill gaps in the tournament are very uneven; most of the girls are D or D+ skill, then it jumps to Munkee (C+), then jumps again if Reclusive or Werdum play to B and B+.
BUT GOOD NEWS, SSL FINALS ARE ON!
Edit: Or are they?
Some great news in a drought of good news! Blizzard's Korea division's threat to shut down the afreeca stream during the SSL finals is outrageous and that mere threat should not be taken lightly. I have just as much outrage now as I did earlier today. Ironically, many many SC2 fans rushed to Blizzard's defense, which is like an irony cake with irony frosting, served with irony ice cream, as their ceaseless demands for Blizzard to make changes to SC2 have provoked many bans on TL.net over balance whining issues and general hostility among people. However, as I've already stated, I felt the hostility towards Blizzard was warranted. It wasn't over something arbitrary, like "I feel like Zerg is too strong", but something more tangible - a glimmer of hope for BroodWar almost being stomped out by a corporate iron boot. Imagine if Blizzard said "MLG is cancelled", or "NASL is won't be allowed to finish due to blah blah blah". I wouldn't wish that upon any SC2 fan, ever. However, I'm mostly bitching about people on reddit, which is a bit moot, since that place is an ugly cesspool of badness and raw human hatred being expressed in text-form.
In our non-korean leagues, there still is a nice little variety in the competitions available to participate in and watch, but I want to focus particularly on one: The Euro LAN event. As you may or may not know, the event's organizer, Eywa-, have had a rocky history of animosity, but I chose to set aside our differences (Only if he would agree, and he did) so as not to interfere with the success of the Euro LAN events. Most of the grudge's origins had to do with when Eywa and I were part of the iCCup admin team, but since that ship has long since sailed, I don't really feel a need to carry on any animosity towards him. Now, if the tournament goes well, it would have huge implications for the continuity of BroodWar, however, that's a metric fuckton of responsibility being carried by Eywa-. Although no organizer owes anything to the BroodWar community, it's important that organizers keep their word. He said the LAN tournaments would be carried out, and has an obligation to keep that promise. Not to say there is nothing in the pipeline, but I have no access to that kind of information, so I'm taking a neutral position on the issue and reserving judgment about the league until it pans out.
That being said, there is no easy or nice way to say this, so I apologize in advance: Eywa- seems to be stretching his ability as an organizer past it's limit. The conveyance of information seems absolutely paramount to this ambitious of a venture, but the updates are far and few in-between, and lack a certain gusto, and a tournament of this size requires much more exposure, which one person cannot do alone unless they are Biz Stone. There is a massive logistical complexity to organizing an international LAN party, and without a solid plan and well-regimented staff, I don't see how the Euro LAN will work out, because it's certainly not going to work itself out. For online organizing, its much simpler - just tell people to play, then they log onto battle.net and play. For offline, there are many more issues, including the venue, the housing (hotels), food, operational staff for making sure everything is orderly, technical staff for make sure things work, legal issues, transportation issues, press releases, updates, graphics, presentation, security and enforcement, and setting a date for this wedding! Can it be pulled off? My hope is 'yes', but not without overcoming a huge wall of adversity.
Long live BroodWar
