On June 05 2013 19:55 Kraznaya wrote:
isnt it that NA viewers can watch EU games at pretty reasonable times for NA but NA games are at awful times for EU viewers

Not really, watching WCS EU from NA is like watching GSL from EU.

Thrill

2599 Posts

June 05 2013 21:37 GMT

#63

0 interest.

Nice skyline though.

sM.Zik

Canada2553 Posts

June 05 2013 23:05 GMT

#64

On June 05 2013 19:58 Waxangel wrote:
nah man, people like white ppl

not all, i'd rather watch koreans play against koreans because they show better starcraft.

plogamer

Canada3132 Posts

June 05 2013 23:11 GMT

#65

WCS AM was dull. The casters were dull, the set-up was dull, even the music was dull.

Scarecrow

Korea (South)9175 Posts

June 06 2013 00:03 GMT

#66

On June 06 2013 08:05 sM.Zik wrote:

Show nested quote +

not all, i'd rather watch koreans play against koreans because they show better starcraft.

i'd rather watch top koreans, but WCS AM only had one or two

tshi

United States2495 Posts

June 06 2013 01:16 GMT

#67

that image above the article is sick, SO MUCH INCEPTION

subV

United States93 Posts

June 06 2013 01:55 GMT

#68

I honestly didn't watch NA because of the casters. Not a big fan of Axslav.

Reborn8u

United States1761 Posts

June 06 2013 04:28 GMT

#69

I like the NA casters, they are more noob friendly but they do lack the hype and excitement in their casting that we see in with the EU casters. The live audience probably has a lot to do with this. We also cannot forget in EU they HAD MC THE PROTOSS PRESIDENT doing analysis in between games !! Overall, I watched less of the AM finals because it was basically GSL light. I don't like the fact that the AM, EU, and KA WCS champs are all from the same country. Who is the best in the Americas? The world may never know.

I think they should seriously consider getting Incontrol, Idra, Day9, Kibblez, or CatsPajamas in their caster rotation. It would be nice to see a robust mix. Axetoss and Axslav do seem to get a little worn out, may be why the hype and excitement seems to die down during those long days. Everyone needs a break once in a while!

fenrysk

United States364 Posts

June 06 2013 05:02 GMT

#70

I kept the WCS AM stream open in a separate tab, but the fact that there was a community Star Strikers tournament going on at the same time was major distraction for me as far as paying attention to the games. Some have made the jokes that the star strikers finals was the actual WCS AM finals, but there was some truth in it for me and probably a lot of other people.

edit: i found the img link that encapsulates my sentiments:
+ Show Spoiler +

http://imgur.com/ptL1GVU

saddaromma

1129 Posts

June 06 2013 05:55 GMT

#71

Casters (the two other guys apart from bitterdam) and some players (Revival, Alicia, Alive) were a bit boring.

The way players sat at AM seemed like they were laddering, not playing each other. it would be better if players sat face-to-face like in EU.

Redrot

United States446 Posts

June 06 2013 06:39 GMT

#72

There was no hype at all, there was no live audience. It just felt like an online event. I don't know how else to put it - it just wasn't exciting. When HerO won, it wasn't like "AAAANNNND HHHEROOOO IS THE WCS AMERICA CHAMMPPPIIOONNNNNN!!!!!!!!!" it was like, "oh and hero won, cool." (some exaggerations there)

The players I think had something to do with it but ultimately, whoever wins can't be controlled. I'm sure if DeMu had made it (even though I'm not a fan of him at all), the event would have had a lot more viewers.

Regardless, I watched. The games were exciting, and I wanted to see Snute beat Alicia. Oh well.

PandaTank

South Africa255 Posts

June 06 2013 07:23 GMT

#73

I watched the Protoss games from both. I don't care about the ethnicity of the players. I'm just looking to steal the best builds, nothing else really. But I must say, MLG's production was pretty abysmal in comparison. There just was no hype. When HerO won there weren't even any flashing lights or anything. He said he felt embarrassed because he didn't show any emotion. But I honestly don't blame him. It would look even more awkward if he started cheering in a quiet, well-lit environment, sitting literally 2m away from his competitor.

Wojciech Zywny

Poland271 Posts

June 06 2013 07:38 GMT

#74

these days the only player i watch any more is flash. idk sc2 just isn't that entertaining anymore unless you're watching one of your favorite players.

Without flash i really couldn't care any less about what happens at a tournament

BroodKingEXE

United States829 Posts

June 06 2013 08:19 GMT

#75

The finals were fun to watch, but there was a lot of downtime in between matches. I don't at all have a problem with having Koreans in the tournament, I think that they work the hardest to get in (I mean most of them have to qualify through group stage, a lot of invites were foreigners). I feel like they didn't have enough backstory behind the players though, it's something that really lacks with having US casters on Korean players. They knew a little bit about their playstyles, the favorites in a match, and wins, but it was lacking in terms of interesting material. It could be just because of the youth of HotS, but I feel like the stories and rivalries could have been expanded more.

I have a man crush on Hero. He so buff.

asaed

United States1412 Posts

June 06 2013 08:28 GMT

#76

There's definitely some truth to what salle is saying, but I do think overwhelmingly, the American games seemed to be on a lower level than compared to the EU region. We'll see what happens at the finals, but it does seem like Korea > EU > US. I don't think it's all about whether there are American players in the finals or not. I think this has some effect, but pretty low.

Steelo_Rivers

United States1968 Posts

June 06 2013 08:44 GMT

#77

People want to blame it on the fact that there were no NA players in the NA finals, but if they deserved to be there then wouldn't they be there? I would rather watch 6 Koreans play across the 3 regions rather than 2 Koreans, 2 Americans, and 2 Europeans if that means that the quality of the games are going to be higher. Europeans work hard and train to make their footprint in the e-sports scene, but it seems like Americans only want to be spoonfed rather than work for it which I think is fucking lame. If you want an American vs American finals, then complain to the players about getting better rather than trying to have the rules altered to make it so that there will be a forced American vs American finals.

Also, timezones are a pretty big deal too.

BobMcJohnson

France2916 Posts

June 06 2013 09:43 GMT

#78

Yeah, AM finals were boring, I watched a bit, but, time schedule was horrible for EU (finals at midnight sunday evening, when you work next morning), no crowd, no hype, bland casting.

To me it felt exactly like watching an online tournament. What is the point of playing live if you have no public and barely any interaction with the players outside of pre/post match interview.

I mean it seems there was a barcraft quite near with quite a lot of people, you could have gotten a public without much problem. Hell WCS EU public was quite small, but the proximity with the players made up for it really well.

7mk

Germany10157 Posts

June 06 2013 13:12 GMT

#79

On June 05 2013 18:02 Plexa wrote:
If that lineup had been Hyun, Jaedong, Hero, Polt in the top 4 I feel like the viewership would have been a lot higher.

Yeah people like to simplify only speaking of koreans vs foreigners, but obviously its very significant who the players are, not just what country they're from - for koreans more so than for foreigners.

Crownlol

United States3726 Posts

June 06 2013 13:32 GMT

#80

On June 05 2013 14:52 TylerThaCreator wrote:
I'd say that the main reason why I didn't watch was because there were basically no foreigners, as soon as Snute was knocked out I stopped watching. I was a fervent complainer about the whole lack of Americans (North, South, Central, ANYTHING) in WCS America. I don't think I'm alone on this.

I turned it off after Snute was knocked out too.