From a Decent Proposal to doing, acting and being what we want Last year I asked this community to dream. I asked this community to look within themselves for a place to light a fire and help cultivate and grow our community in ways I felt were very important. Those requests and musings can be read here: http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?id=287965
How did we grade out?
I read over that blog and remember the excitement I had when I wrote it. I was putting down on "paper" my thoughts on what I felt was the beginning of something absolutely amazing. I was not wrong, but I was overly optimistic (and I make no apology for that optimism. In fact that gets discussed in the blog as well). We don't have 30k audiences in ESPN sponsored events with gameday expert panels.. but we have gotten closer.
I see IPL finding it's place as a multi-platformed league that can put on a show. They came out with a splash in 2011 and felt on their face in early 2012 only to rise again and show us what they are capable of in Vegas. I watched the NASL go from a garage level production to something we can all count on to provide us with consistent, strong and fun media on a daily basis all the while growing their sponsor list and streamlining their performance. DH will go to new locations in 2013, MLG has been humbled with their arena not working out but has found it's place doing other things to supplement their fantastic offline experience etc etc..
I see players focusing on the entire package. Streaming, twitter, facebook etc.. I see fans circling around their favorite players and forming mini cultures/communities. It's fantastic.
I won't go point by point but I think the idea here is that this community IS in fact dreaming and acting. I really feel like people are doing what they can (and in many cases ABOVE what could ever be expected) to make this work.
Peruse that year old blog entry and let me know what you think of our development. In short, I am happy. Obviously there is more to be done but that should always be the case.
Something about the Empire striking back
It's undeniable that 2011 and 2012 are very different years (I know, thank you captain obvious). What I mean by this is 2011 was the year we were awed by SC2. Tourneys grew leaps and bounds to accommodate the flood of new fans/interested patrons teams signed 5-10 players that year.. more progamers were getting paid than probably ever before etc etc.. SC2 in my opinion is deservedly credited for being THE game that truly made eSports and professional gaming something we can look to as a realistic option amongst young men's lives and their pursuit for financial stability but also being happy. That was a year where anything was possible and often what we didn't think possible happened.
2012 was a bit different. It was the year reality set in. SC2 was no long the only big kid on the block. DotA2 and LoL took center stage and commanded our attention. Shootmania/CS:GO flaired up (a bit) and gave people diversity. The growth and development we experienced in 2011 was no longer solely focused on SC2 but was split and redirected at times. This was odd.. we hadn't seen the ceiling for SC2 and had it run it's course.. instead it simply jump started a world that was willing to give games their REAL chance at being main stream and big. People started switching to moba games, tourneys had bigger viewership for MOBA and people began to wonder/worry.
With organizations splitting their interests/assets now between 2/3 games as opposed to just the one we saw stagnation or slowed growth. We began to doubt. This wasn't the experience we had had the year before and a lot of chicken dolittles began to cry that the sky was falling. It wasn't, it was merely being shared now but nonetheless it was a different year.
This is the part where I caress you and whisper sweet nothings in your ear. We are fine fellow SC2 fans. In fact, we are so fine we are charged with the duty of being accommodating to those new games and their new found success. I know, I know.. I too am one of those that mocked and made light of the other games but you will notice that was awhile ago and my most recent song for the last half year or so is that of love. LoL and Dota2 don't directly benefit SC2 but this scene was never going to be a one game scene.. for professional gaming to rise we need a multitude of communities/games to rise up and take their brands/people to the highest levels of professionalism/appeal. We need GAMING to be considered a real outlet of creativity, mental prowess and commitment.. not a single game. There will always be fewer games that have the ability to be played at the highest competitive levels and achieve a success of attracting fans, onlookers, players and developers alike.. but that too is fine. We just need to honor those few.
Time for some hard words: LoL / DotA2 players are not as refined as SC2 players. Their streams are more casual, their sponsorship representation/love is taken less seriously/not cared for, their players have fewer twitter followers because they don't really care to work on advertising themselves or their media and in general the gaming industry finds them harder to deal with for these reasons but also quite frankly because they are less mature. BOOM.. now a lot of people will read this and think of 1-2 names that "prove" me wrong or they will take this as a biased generalization that is a subtle jab at a great many people.. I can assure you it isn't. I say these things because I speak on a regular basis with your Sundances, Ohlens and the many other people that run tourneys, sponsor players and fund our very livelihood.. and the consensus on this is pretty damn consistent. Now I say this on my blog that is mostly about SC2/on TL because it ties into my point: Show them. SC2 has the most committed and loyal community in gaming. We pay to support those we love. We follow on twitter those we care about and we read on multiple forums stories about our players, fans, leaders etc etc. We are the result of 15 years of gaming taken very serious and for most of those years played at a level worthy of television broadcast. Our players rep sponsors very well (some better than others) and money comes into our game/community because it (for the most part) can be trusted to be given a fair chance at doing something. I very much so expect people to take issue with what I say in this portion of the blog but trust me.. when compared to the LoLs, Dota, CoD, Halo etc... SC2 is head and shoulders better at this.
What does show them mean? It means we have a responsibility to act more reasonable. Don't hate on them on shows (me and my kind!) don't post on forums mocking those games (unless good natured) and check them out.. cross pollinate! As we enter the new year CHECK OUT DotA2/LoL.. go DL CS:GO etc.. and tell them about SC2 BUT ALSO be open to hearing about their game. I am getting a bit chicken noodle soup here on you: Even if you only do this ONCE to one friend GOOD FOR YOU.. it's something you may have not done in the past and who knows? Maybe that person becomes the next Slasher? Point is: Lets not be too elitist. Lets not be mean about it and lets not fight to put down other communities because we are the best (we are ). Separate we are weaker, together we are STRONK.
PS: Worth noting I only slightly mentioned "we are fine" when discussing SC2. We are. We definitely are in a stage much unlike that of 2011. It is not unending growth here. It is teams collapsing, leagues shrinking in some cases, sponsors pulling etc... but it's also NECESSARY. eSports is riddled with poorly ran teams and mismanagement of money, players, resources etc. There are the tragic stories of teams/people that tried as hard as they could and it didn't work out. Fine. The stronger will step forward OR the weak will adapt/evolve and become strong. We needed this. We cannot have a 10 headed dragon around when we get that big break and are given the mainstream spotlight.. we need the fighters, survivors and the strong who KNOW what works and have earned their place to be there to reap the reward. It's rather capitalistic in sensibility I know.. but I think it is a good approach as well.
Proleague is here and it has a very real chance of being the torch we need to win over more of korea. MLG, NASL and IPL have all evened out and grown in many respects. That is 3 big shows that we can count on blowing our minds each year. DH is consistent, hell even ESL has improved in their own way. SC2 is here and it's strong.. trust me. 2013 will be better than 2012 and in many ways different but BETTER than 2011.. do we get 200k on a stream? Maybe maybe not.. but if we do it won't be because it's the only thing to watch but rather it is the BEST produced BEST game to watch.
We were dreamers.. but what do action people look like? What do we do? Who are we?
We must grow as human beings within this community. I think the only way I can possibly hold a candle to this is to acknowledge that for all my words I TOO am someone that needs to grow and to remain committed to that.
1. I can be a dick. I was a bully to Avilo many months ago on that SOTG and I was rude. I can be like that. I am like that with friends and they accept that about me and talk over me or laugh me off. Avilo is not my friend and he didn't deserve to be treated that lightly/meanly. Since then I have apologized to him and he and I have made peace. It wasn't public and as a role-model / leader I should have done it that way.. people should know that I should always be ready to accept my wrong doings and make them right. Well know it now!
I was a dick to Destiny on SOTG. He is loud, intelligent and aggressive much like myself. I am friends with the guy and we have talked that way in the past but guess what? I sometimes loose track of the fact I have thousands of people listening to me and maybe people don't want me bringing up their worst times (dick pix) and making a joke of it only to then yell at them/interrupt them when they come to defend themselves from an opinion they feel strongly about (sky is falling). I don't regret joking with him. I don't apologize for giving him shit.. but I sure as shit do apologize for getting carried away and then being too proud to not immediately contact him and say "sorry" because I owe him that much. If I anger someone or hurt them publicly and I was obviously being rude I owe them something.. so this is me publicly saying it. By the time you have read this I will have also msg'd him.. but I hope when you see this you read this as me holding myself accountable publicly. I am proud, I am a dick but I will be damned if I let those things stop me from trying to do better.
Too often I focus on the negative. I ended up deleting my reddit account. Not because reddit is evil or a lost cause.. but because I read too much negativity and allowed it to paint for me the picture that was that side of the community. I also got countless positive messages and supportive stuff.. I am also not a perfect human being and I am in the public eye so I will ALWAYS have people that plain don't like me, hate me or whatever.. if I allow those people to deter me I am undeserved of my station. People, you have heard me discuss this before and you have seen me work on this.. know that I am constantly working on this. I believe not having a reddit account for the time being is the right thing for me. One day I hope to be more in control of myself and capable of having outreach to the community at large without allowing it depress me, anger me etc..
2. I need to work harder. I am not a pure player now.. so I am sorry if people read this and think I have given up or something.. it's not like that. I am married, I need to support my wife in every way and I need to think of other people than myself. I will always play SC2 and I will play it more than 99% of the people that read this but I can no longer say it's my top priority. That being said I have a lot to offer. My stream needs to be as crisp as possible and probably scheduled so people have the best opportunity to see it. I need to take vods from my stream and put them out there... which means I need to stream line MYSELF! That brings me to 2013 updates:
1a. I will begin working on an actual youtube. I am going to make this as professional as I possibly can. That means hiring people (sharing ad rev) to help me do video work, graphic work and in general make it as clean/amazing as possible. Content: replay / game analysis, vlog - personal, sc2, scene etc.. AND I am going to probably do some other stuff here as well.. I am debating on this but maybe a comedy video (standup kind of stuff) or gaming outside of SC2 (reviews, board games played at EG residence) etc..
Would love feedback on this
2a. My social media will be spruced up. I am fortunate enough to work with amazing people that volunteer their time in the name of helping me out. In the past that has been moderating my stream.. in the future that will be improving/maintaining my facebook fan page/tl fan page etc I want people to have 0 roadblocks in knowing everything about me and following me if they wish
3a. [this is subject to revision - may not happen] Sponsor a player. Honestly it's silly of me to include this because it's literally only at the planning stages but this BIG ass blog is kinda a tradition for me and this is something that I will do if I can and I want to include it here. I want to pay a salary, train, give twitter/streaming support (get them an overlay etc) and in general do everything I can to make a person a progamer. I want to find a committed, young masters level player who has aspirations of going pro and I want to help them along with the end result being they sign to a pro team. Those who can should.. and I can so I should. Again, this may not happen for a multitude of reasons but this is something I feel very strongly about. Totalbiscuit/GennaBain's sponsorship of Bling and eventual formation of Ax has inspired me to do more. I think they are amazingly giving and I want to get on their level. More of this to come but this is what I am working on.
I feel like 2013 is a special year. It's the year of truth for us in SC2. It's the year we show we are a 10 year legacy game that can stand the test of time. It's the year we show that through adversity (diverse games at top tier) we can still be leaders and grow. Personally, I am capable of more. It's time to do more.
Beyond my bullet points expect me to do better at casting. I want to research players before tourneys and not just piggyback off my knowledge from play / knowing the players. I want to vote with my wallet better and subscribe to the top leagues and vocalize my support so we can have discourse on who deserves it the most and what others can do to raise themselves up. I will be on ITG as usual but also I want to be on more shows.. I know I stepped down from SOTG as a consistent anchor because of internal issues but also fear of being around too much drama but I think being on 2-3 shows and actively trying to minimize the drama is the cooler choice, you agree? And finally.. FUCK THE HATERS I am going to give some serious effort to winning a god damn tourney or placing as high as my big ass can go. That means accepting that I am not a full time player BUT committing before an MLG or IPL or w/e to training like one for a few weeks before.. I ain't getting any younger.
Thank you for reading my gigantic ass wall of words. Thank you for being a part of my life and thank you for being a part of this gaming world. I truly believe I lead an extremely charmed life and it's only made possible because of the wonderful people I have in my life.. and that means you guys. Haters and lovers alike <3 Hold me to these words and work with me to make them possible!
In high school I was pretty gifted in that I could do well in most of my classes without much effort. They were honors classes and the students in general were, basically, intellectual snobs. One friend of mine, we'll call him Tom, was an intelligent enough guy, but obviously not as quick as many of us. You could tell in class discussions that he just didn't get concepts as quickly or as deeply as a lot of us. I wondered then how, in the hyper-competitive environment we were in, he managed to be an A-student at the same level (or, to be honest, a step above) as quicker, seemingly smarter people like myself.
Well I went over to his house to hang out one day and when I got there he was finishing up a book we'd been assigned for some class. He had his computer on, and had been taking notes and writing down concepts/themes from the book, and in general going over it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure he got as much out of reading that book as he could. I remember being amazed. I was planning to just read it at the last minute (which I did), and answer any quiz/test questions on the book on the fly, with no preparation other than reading the book. After all, that had always worked before.
But in that moment, which I remember clearly years later, I realized why Tom got better grades than I did, even though he wasn't as naturally gifted. He put in twice (or more!) the work I did on all his assignments. In short, he gave it his all. Something I didn't learn to do until years later.
It's only now I realize how foolish I was in high school, and how much wiser Tom was (in that respect, at least). Why do I mess up your blog thread typing all this?
InControl, you've always seemed to me to be a guy that gives it your all. That doesn't just throw something together that's acceptable and call it good. You strike me as the sort of guy that gives 100% and still constantly thinks of ways he's not doing enough. It's that quality that makes you one of the premier figures in the community. And that maintains your fan base (myself included).
By the way, for your YouTube account: YES! Please follow the idea of adding some things that detract from SC2 itself (such as other games, personal vlogs, comedy, etc. etc.) Sounds like it would be a lot of fun, and would hold a high interest !
Always a good read iNcontrol! Though your blog makes it sound like your leaving EG and doing your own thing. GL to you and Anna. Cant wait to see you cast more tournaments with the GD studio~!
Good Read! You do so much for this community, and I thank you for that! Good luck with your marriage; be happy. You are doing what you love while living as a married man, and that is awesome. I wish you the best of luck on winning a tournament. Also, I think you are already one of my favorite "casters".
Geoff, this blog was inspiring. Possibly the best thing I've read from you so far. Whenever the attitude of the community gets a little sour about something you never fail to bring things back to planet earth with a dose of realism and being reminded about how great this community of ours truly is always leaves me feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Love ya man! Happy new years to both you and Anna!
You're pretty on the mark Geoff, but we all have our ups and downs. I've got to say though as a fan you've been nothing but nice to us from what I've seen. I say this having talked to a few times and met you/IdrA for a pic at MLG Dallas. Keep it up man, and stay positive/optimistic. That video Anna uploaded of your wedding yesterday was beautiful too, thanks for sharing.
Going to reread tomorrow after I recover from the festivities. :D
Edit: I don't have the pro-level SC2 skill, but if there's even a small way I can help you with your big goals to grow the scene, please let me know.
Thank you Incontrol for writing this. I was rereading your 'A Decent Proposal' blog from last year, and reading it brought tears to my eyes. It brought tears to my eyes because reading it got me to remember what it was like to be standing in the huge crowd at mlg anaheim 2011 and feeling my heart beat from not knowing if whether boxer or rain would win the series and feeling the roar of the roar of the crowd as Boxer won the series. It brought tears to my eyes because I remember the passion I felt from hearing Clutch announce each of the kespa players 'as we made eSports history' and hearing the names of bisu, jaedong, and flash go through the crowd and panning around and seeing everyone standing going crazy. It also brought tears to my eyes because I remember seeing Taeja's all kill at IPL team arena challenge 3 in san francisco and feeling the nervousness go through me on his game on antiga as he did the most ridiculous micro I have ever seen with a small marine marauder force against a zealot archon stalker force that was significantly bigger than his and somehow win the engagement and win the game when he was clearly dead, and I remember jumping out of my seat at home and shouting at my computer screen, which was then followed by my mom looking into my room wondering if I have still kept my sanity. Just last week I was at a birthday dinner with a childhood friend and his father asked me why I never played video games with them (LoL) and I told him because I spend all of my time studying, watching, and playing sc2 and I was explaining to him the whole concept of esports and that starcraft is the hardest game to ever be made and why I see it as an art. I am also sad to not see the ridiculous growth that starcraft was getting in 2011. But I believe that 2013 is our chance to make things right, especially with the release of heart of the swarm right around the corner. Until then, my goal is to tell everyone I can why starcraft is the best, and in my eyes only esport and why it is so much more beautiful and complex than any other competitive game out there. I hope I always keep this passion for starcraft. good luck Incontrol with the goals you have set for yourself in 2013, and I will be a supporter of them. good luck and happy new years
I liked all the points you made, this is pretty much exactly what I expect from an iNcontroL rambly blog. I think a lot of people who are genuinely concerned about where SC2 is going as an e-sport especially needed to hear the part about how sponsors see viewer numbers and fan interaction and stuff; there's a lot of raw data (twitter/fb followers, forum popularity, viewer counts, etc.) to be parsed, and it's good to have someone from the industry lay the facts out clearly for people who are worried.
also just because I have to be a dick: for an english major, you take a very... lax approach to grammatical rules
Totally agree; we shouldnt feel threatened by people "leaving to LoL or DOTA" but encouraged; that is firmly placing SC2 in the upper echelon of gaming. Different, but in a way people look at SC2 as the top refined game in esports. Its where the most money is (sponsorships and everything outside of that one yearly DOTA tournament) and SC2 isn't going to die anytime soon. Just because stream numbers and moral is down since last year, thats more to do with it being the lul before HotS, and I must admit we really needed Proleague/KESPA to come and make new maps/introduce new players/evolve this game. Afterall, they have 14 years of BW to see how to continue popularity year after year. Its already been more exciting with Proleague in the past few months than I have been in over a year, and thats not even just seeing Flash/Jaedong playing either.
HotS is looking amazing for the future. Im excited to see vipers, mines, and the oracle in the hands of a well-practiced korean after a few months.
Hell yea, love to read what Geoff has in store for 2013. I'm ready for a few hits and misses in the new year, but there's no better group of people I'd rather go through it with, especially you, iNcontroL! All of this stuff seems very ambitious, let alone the idea of sponsoring a player- but if you're gonna take aim may as well aim high, good luck man!
Oh, and happy new year! If there's anything you need or wanna draw attention to in the future, know that we're here for ya.
That was the longest PS. i have EVER red, but one of the best as well. Thank you for making this universe grow Incontrol. Thank you for being consitent with the scene and thank for for reading all of our crappy spelled comments. Happy new year to you and Anna. PS. glhf with all the good hard work you have ahead.
On January 01 2013 18:33 Kaden wrote: Totally agree; we shouldnt feel threatened by people "leaving to LoL or DOTA" but encouraged; that is firmly placing SC2 in the upper echelon of gaming. Different, but in a way people look at SC2 as the top refined game in esports. Its where the most money is (sponsorships and everything outside of that one yearly DOTA tournament) and SC2 isn't going to die anytime soon. Just because stream numbers and moral is down since last year, thats more to do with it being the lul before HotS, and I must admit we really needed Proleague/KESPA to come and make new maps/introduce new players/evolve this game. Afterall, they have 14 years of BW to see how to continue popularity year after year. Its already been more exciting with Proleague in the past few months than I have been in over a year, and thats not even just seeing Flash/Jaedong playing either.
I think LoL has more money than SC2 or Dota 2. I don't like the game, yet that doesn't change that they pump a lot of money into their tournaments.
As for the topic itself. I can agree with the monetizing point, it is much easier to monetize SC2 fans than the fans of most other e-sport games.
As for players shifting games SC2 lack freshness or fun for me, so I stopped watching/playing it. I watch more BW than SC2 now a days and only really play Dota 2.
Thank you for writing this Geoff, I always feel so bad what with all this bad press surrounding you and a very vocal minority expressing their opinions but i'm sure i'm not alone in saying I think you are a great personality and caster.
Getting more content out there is always good, I run a you tube site myself and the problem is getting consistent good content and this may become a problem with so many other commitments. More EG house stuff is always gonna get views dude.
Enjoyed reading your post and I have to admit I have my doubts that esports will grow much this year. IT takes time. 2012 saw huge growth. Viewership for LoL and Dota 2 had some incredible numbers. But the one number that really was interesting to me is how many tournaments they had this year, it seemed like every weekend there was something that paid out prize money. I hope that they do less tournaments but more quality events with big prize pools. I also hope 2013 is the year of the foreigner :D
And I guess a big chunk of it will come down to Blizzard's actions, but that the main message for us is to "try our best anyway". Also I know SC2 is really big and important to people, but I'm really glad you pointed out that e-sports is about making pro-gaming more legitimate as a whole.
Blizzard isn't the only company making good games...we shoot ourselves in the foot by insulting other games that we may deem to be not as "good" as our own. And when the community derides a game collectively, I think it can be pretty damaging over time because it reflects on our maturity level. Maybe the LoL community is doing a fine job of that itself, but why would you add to it and give the perception that that immaturity exists in SC2 as well?
Once e-sports is considered more legitimate, there is the room for countless incredible games to grow in the future that we aren't yet aware of. If we want to move in that direction, we need to put our best foot forward. Realistically though I think the audiences will watch based on how entertaining the game is, and not necessarily because there are a few loud mouthed kids or trolls which probably exist in football as well as other real sports. So it probably doesn't matter that much anyway
Nice blog, happy new year Geoff May 2013 be the year of the Robinson's and your new family
Just a slight point, you do not need to go down the "sponsor a player route" when you are (as far as i still know) the captain of EG? You have ALL of those players (especially in the Lair) to keep on top of their schedules, help improve them, and make them the best they can be. (Possible you pick the line ups for team league games aswell) If you wanted more responsibility, you should put yourself forward to being the EG Coach or even the EG Manager (of like players if you didn't want to take someone elses' position) and get yourself in that role, and before you know it you can find yourself in the EG Lab helping out the SPL side of things etcetc. I'd much rather you did more things for EG (i know you do a lot, but by the sounds of it you want even more to do) so please put your time into more EG things :D
Wonderful words Mr. Robinson. Now put them into action, and become the person you want to be.
Also, best wishes for you and Anna in the New Year.
Also, I just watched the wedding highlight video. A great video, and yes there was a man tear. Beautiful setting, beautiful church, gorgeous bride, and a groom that cleans up well.
For the last month or so i have postponed my adventure of sc2 after starting in bronze i made it to diamond in less than a year shortly before my 14th birthday, i took sc2 insanely seriously i would scream and yell when id lose id get way to emotional, than i received a dota 2 beta from a fine fellow FXOboss, i have not played sc2 since but here comes my point, when i play dota 2 i have this feeling of oh well when we lose, we have no emotional connection to the game that we dont watch all tournaments, watch streams chase them around for autographs or scream win we lose, sc2 has something else than dota 2.
You are one of the best casters in my opinion. I especially remember a solo cast of the EG team league. I tuned in midway through a game and one of the first things i thought was wow this caster rocks. When the game was over I was hey it's Incontrol and I realized he is a very good caster.
Youtube may be great and all but it seems so yesterday. Live streaming is the future imho so a SCHEDULED stream with rebroadcasts shown at different times of the week is the best hope for advancing esports and your career.
Good stuff. as someone who has recently been watching more DOTA2 I'm excited to see where 2013 brings SC2, and I think the rise of other games being played a highly competitive level can only help the growth of SC2.
it always strikes me if people like you talk about their/our 12 year old heritage or Legacy. First of all, its not like their is one game called "Starcraft", it's two games and very different ones as you know. By just mentioning "Starcraft" i feel you are taking away credibility from BW still beeing an active and lively game. Dont make us part of your history, but of your present. Or in other words: Don't just respect Dota, respect BW.
Nice work, I much more prefer reading my SC2 stuff when it's written in a positive tone like you have done here. I want you to consider though, you said you are not a pure player... do you think it's better right now for you to be a pure player or a pure SC2 personality?
Time for some hard words: LoL / DotA2 players are not as refined as SC2 players. Their streams are more casual, their sponsorship representation/love is taken less seriously/not cared for, their players have fewer twitter followers because they don't really care to work on advertising themselves or their media and in general the gaming industry finds them harder to deal with for these reasons but also quite frankly because they are less mature. BOOM.. now a lot of people will read this and think of 1-2 names that "prove" me wrong or they will take this as a biased generalization that is a subtle jab at a great many people.. I can assure you it isn't. I say these things because I speak on a regular basis with your Sundances, Ohlens and the many other people that run tourneys, sponsor players and fund our very livelihood.. and the consensus on this is pretty damn consistent. Now I say this on my blog that is mostly about SC2/on TL because it ties into my point: Show them. SC2 has the most committed and loyal community in gaming. We pay to support those we love. We follow on twitter those we care about and we read on multiple forums stories about our players, fans, leaders etc etc. We are the result of 15 years of gaming taken very serious and for most of those years played at a level worthy of television broadcast. Our players rep sponsors very well (some better than others) and money comes into our game/community because it (for the most part) can be trusted to be given a fair chance at doing something. I very much so expect people to take issue with what I say in this portion of the blog but trust me.. when compared to the LoLs, Dota, CoD, Halo etc... SC2 is head and shoulders better at this.
For goodness sake. I really wish you could hear yourself sometime Geoff. You really haven't changed since I met you, lol.
There are a multitude of problems with the OPs post - mainly that hes still completely in love with himself. I don't actually hate Incontrol, I do have a reasonable level of respect for him (as much as anyone could have for someone that makes a living playing a video game), but the blog really goes off the wall when it starts to go into 'SC2 is the best' territory.
His discussion on maturity is so full of holes its pretty obscene to even bring it up - The OP just has to look at some of his decisions over the past year to understand that the type of game you play does not define maturity levels.
Their are many immature people in LoL, Dota2, CSS, SC2 and any game under the planet, equally as much as mature people. I would say in 2012 the level of maturity that many SC2 teams have shown when 'drama' occurs is completely lacking compared to that of LoL, Dota 2 teams for example. Just look at the cases of unpaid players, players removed from teams with general disregard for any contractual agreements etc etc.
You are very much in a privileged position , you do work for what many will say is THE top team in SC2 and maybe even e-sports at present (depending on how you would define a top team) , and with that I feel like you are looking at the scene in general with rose tinted glasses.
Everyone may profess on how great SC2 is , but when they themselves don't even play the game anymore its a bit of a 'pot kettle black' attitude. So great that tens of thousands just dropped the game because they got bored, felt cheated, game changed so much since first release, etc? people will say that you don't necessarily have to play the game to enjoy watching it, which is all well and good but Blizzard (certainly under Activision's command) aren't going to be releasing many future SC games if the sales are down the pan - the buck will eventually have to stop somewhere.
It remains to be seen what the take up of HOTS will be - the release has dragged and with that so has the player base, with only time telling if they will return. I will probably be picking up the game, providing it actually offers something new but personally from the current previews it doesn't really look like they have added an awful lot outside of the campaign to justify that team of 70+ developers.
On a more positive note , its great that your looking to cast more - I find you one of the more enjoyable casters out there , I wouldn't necessarily say that researching players is going to make you a better caster , I feel if anything it will make you be just another caster drone reeling off the same stats no-one really cares about during the quiet moments. Its clear that your passionate about the scene, so I wish you all the luck for 2013.
I had no problem with your appearance on SOTG. Sure the Avilo thing was stupid and embarrassing, but it happens, and he brought it upon himself. What was he thinking?
As for the destiny thing, the only people that would bother are Destiny's fanboys. That guy has lost all credibility in the sc2 scene and I don't really believe he's at all relevant anymore. It's not that he's stupid, or bad, or anything like that. He's honestly just not a SC2 guy anymore, and no one can say that he is. His knowledge and opinions on sc2 have become tired, dated and redundant. It's time for the community to put him to bed and come to terms with what he is, an entertaining (to some) streamer that plays a bunch of games and is decent at most of them. That does not make everything he says or does important or valid.
You sir, on the other hand, are a treasure to our community. Your opinions may not always be on point, but your hard work, commitment, and wit make everything you say a treat to listen to. You are committed to the scene like few are, even if it isn't in a player role. If anything we need more people like you who are so involved and so passionate about sc2 that sometimes that gets the best of you. What separates you from others is that you learn from your mistakes and are able to have the humility to come back and say you were wrong and that you'll do better. There are far too many egos in the community that just gloss over their mistakes and ignore them to the detriment of themselves and the community.
Keep doing what you were doing Jeff and happy 2013.
Time for some hard words: LoL / DotA2 players are not as refined as SC2 players. Their streams are more casual, their sponsorship representation/love is taken less seriously/not cared for, their players have fewer twitter followers because they don't really care to work on advertising themselves or their media and in general the gaming industry finds them harder to deal with for these reasons but also quite frankly because they are less mature. BOOM.. now a lot of people will read this and think of 1-2 names that "prove" me wrong or they will take this as a biased generalization that is a subtle jab at a great many people.. I can assure you it isn't. I say these things because I speak on a regular basis with your Sundances, Ohlens and the many other people that run tourneys, sponsor players and fund our very livelihood.. and the consensus on this is pretty damn consistent. Now I say this on my blog that is mostly about SC2/on TL because it ties into my point: Show them. SC2 has the most committed and loyal community in gaming. We pay to support those we love. We follow on twitter those we care about and we read on multiple forums stories about our players, fans, leaders etc etc. We are the result of 15 years of gaming taken very serious and for most of those years played at a level worthy of television broadcast. Our players rep sponsors very well (some better than others) and money comes into our game/community because it (for the most part) can be trusted to be given a fair chance at doing something. I very much so expect people to take issue with what I say in this portion of the blog but trust me.. when compared to the LoLs, Dota, CoD, Halo etc... SC2 is head and shoulders better at this.
For goodness sake. I really wish you could hear yourself sometime Geoff. You really haven't changed since I met you, lol.
I can hear myself.. what part of what I said are you upset about?
Good luck Geoff, you have always been a huge inspiration to me and I will continue to support you and be a fan.I am very lucky to be mod for your stream, and I hope one day to meet you in person! Thanks for everything!
Thanks for the inspiration iNcontroL, you're one of my favorite personalities in the SC2 scene. I really hopes things come together for SC2 in 2013, because it really seemed like we could do no wrong coming into 2012 but everything just fell apart.
incontrol, This is about the best blog entry I have read on Team Liquid in a while. I too found the "sky is falling" crowd quite annoying, but what is there to do. People will always have their opinions, whether they are right or wrong.
Also, I have decided that it is time to start acknowledging the MOBA games. The growth of eSports will only be due to all the top games and their communities working together. Football doesn't hate Basketball or Baseball. Sure, some fans like other games more than StarCraft, however, that doesn't mean that we have to hate them. The people who play league are not killing eSports anymore then those who play StarCraft are killing it by not being open to other ways of growth and frankly being a bit elitist. Does StarCraft deserve to be elitist, possibly, because of our long and illustrious heritage; but we have to remember that Brood War was a different game, and SC2 is owed nothing because of its predecessor.
I love Team Liquid, I love StarCraft, and I love eSports. Let's make 2013 a year to be remembered!
so after perusing through a series of threads on hots, i ask you this incontrol: do you really think that 2013 is going to be better? the streams for hots gather no more viewers than wol anymore, and the gameplay looks equally stagnant in its variety of games we see. I understand that the community has a part to play in the growth of esports, but I feel that there is only so much we can do when the game we are playing and promoting and loving is getting to be the way that it is. Competing games are arguably more fun to play/watch right now, and the immaturity in their presentation is sure to be cleaned up in the coming months. If hots was released in its current state (minus the obvious imbalances that are sure to be patched before release i.e. medivac speed) do you really think that 2013 will be better than 2012?
I'd say 2013 will be better but not for the same reasons as '11
I think beta at this point is not what beta was in WoL. in WoL it was a new game and beta had some novelty. Now I think it's about release. I think release will spike numbers (again, not like in '11) and I think SC2 will remain one of the 3 big games that is a must have for streaming/tourneys.
im cautiously optimistic in what you say. I just worry that the foundation of the whole sc2 scene (the game itself) might be fundamentally flawed. My feeling is that people are slowly losing interest because its the same thing over and over again. hell, my best friend who I introduced to sc2 has since moved to LOL simply because its more fun to him, and I get the feeling that there are a lot of people who have allready made that same switch or will in the future. do you think that hots is going to be able to get sc2 back to where it needs to be? I guess this might not be the correct question to ask at this stage because we havent seen the final product yet and it will probably take years to see how it performs.. but still
Why not bring all of esports together? LoL people only really say nice things or talk about how much harder starcraft is (otherwise they hardly mention it). Why do you have to be all big mouthed "we advertise ourselves better" sort of shit just beacuse they aren't reading it? The amount of your own credibility you destroy when you just slag a community you don't understand is monstrous.
LoL people dont pimp their twitters and all that stuff as much because at the moment they dont need to, the game is young, huge viewer and player base.
You are speaking as if you are on some higher level just because you are a "starcraft" player rather than a LoL/DotA player when in actuality the SC community is better at all of these things because it has been associated and a strong part of esports for the last ~10 years
EPT
). Separate we are weaker, together we are STRONK.
And finally.. FUCK THE HATERS I am going to give some serious effort to winning a god damn tourney or placing as high as my big ass can go. That means accepting that I am not a full time player BUT committing before an MLG or IPL or w/e to training like one for a few weeks before.. I ain't getting any younger.
