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Active: 8870 users

Doomsayers are getting to me or is Sc2 dying.

Blogs > Defury
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1 2 Next All
Defury
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Germany206 Posts
July 28 2013 07:08 GMT
#1
So as a member of a couple Sc2 communities like TL and Reddit I have been bombarded for the last half a year with threads about how bad Sc2 is doing and how it's dying and LoL/Dota 2 are taking over. As someone who has recently discovered how much I love competitive gaming but hate team games Sc2 is really the only game I fully enjoy.

So what is the real unbiased truth?

*
Fission
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Canada1184 Posts
July 28 2013 07:14 GMT
#2
Starcraft 2 underwent a period of extremely rapid and unsustainable expansion in the last couple years, and has since plateaued in terms of viewer count and incoming sponsorship money. This is why many of people claim that it's dying. However, in reality, it's not dying, it has just stabilized; there's still oodles of content, and plenty of good teams. The scene is small in comparison to LoL, sure, but it has a very loyal viewer base and blizzard is starting to show willingness to commit money to supporting/growing the scene. My personal outlook is tentative optimism.
Bunn
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Estonia934 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-28 07:28:27
July 28 2013 07:28 GMT
#3
Although there are problems in the scene, the SC2 isn't going to die anytime soon. There are huge tourneys going on at any given moment. I think the reason why it may feel like SC2 is dying is due to Korea. Lots of people like to make conclusions based on the Korea as SC2 isn't a top1 game like BW used to be. But it's nowhere near to being dead. They seem to keep forgetting EU and NA. Although Koreans win almost all big tournies, there is still lots of non-koreans competing in them.

Another reason why it may feel like declining is due to the scene 'fixing' itself. What I mean by that is that there used to be lots smaller tournies, which competed with each other. But now some have remained, while others have not. It was inevitable. Dota2 is going through a similar phase right now. There are lots of tournies, but it's for certain that not all of them will remain.

The people saying that LoL & Dota 2 are taking over aren't wrong. Think of it like this: LoL & Dota 2 are like football and basketball, while SC2 is chess or snooker. There's no denying that the former two are more popular. The latter 2 are definitely less popular, but they aren't anywhere near to dying. They're just smaller, filling a niche.

I personally have stopped playing SC2 as I don't feel like buying expansions to keep up-to-date, when there are so many great free alternatives. I now play Dota2. Although its mostly solo-queue, I still find it more enjoyable than SC2 (WoL).
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." - Bruce Lee
virpi
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Germany3599 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-28 07:34:28
July 28 2013 07:32 GMT
#4
SC2 is the only real RTS game with a highly competitive scene. 1v1 is stressful and it takes a lot of time to improve. While other games like Dota or LoL are very competitive, too, the team aspect takes away some parts of the pressure, especially in the lower skill levels. It's much easier for people to blame a loss on team mates than to blame it on them themselves.
Furthermore, Sc2 is not free to play, even though Blizzard has introduced some ftp-similar elements.
The viewer numbers for SC2 have stabilized on a good level. Huge finals get 100k viewers, mid tier tournaments are watched by at least 60k people.

Sc2 will never be able to compete with the team games due to its nature, but it will live at least until the last expansion is out. Even though the market for old-school rts games is smaller than it used to be, there will always be people who love playing these games.

It's not a game for everyone, but it's a great game nonetheless.
first we make expand, then we defense it.
BisuEver
Profile Joined May 2010
United States247 Posts
July 28 2013 07:44 GMT
#5
If we don't do something soon we're all dead.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10873775/pa-presents-diablo-iii-console-comic-by-katie-rice-9-13-2013
Defury
Profile Blog Joined September 2011
Germany206 Posts
July 28 2013 08:11 GMT
#6
On July 28 2013 16:44 BisuEver wrote:
If we don't do something soon we're all dead.


D:

In all seriousness though I know its not a major thing like Sc2 will dissapear, people still compete at Tf2 but there's a fine line between a top esport and a game people still play.
DeepElemBlues
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United States5079 Posts
July 28 2013 08:25 GMT
#7
On July 28 2013 16:44 BisuEver wrote:
If we don't do something soon we're all dead.


Even if we do something soon we're all dead sooner or later!

no place i'd rather be than the satellite of love
RvB
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Netherlands6313 Posts
July 28 2013 09:17 GMT
#8
On July 28 2013 16:32 virpi wrote:
SC2 is the only real RTS game with a highly competitive scene. 1v1 is stressful and it takes a lot of time to improve. While other games like Dota or LoL are very competitive, too, the team aspect takes away some parts of the pressure, especially in the lower skill levels. It's much easier for people to blame a loss on team mates than to blame it on them themselves.
Furthermore, Sc2 is not free to play, even though Blizzard has introduced some ftp-similar elements.
The viewer numbers for SC2 have stabilized on a good level. Huge finals get 100k viewers, mid tier tournaments are watched by at least 60k people.

Sc2 will never be able to compete with the team games due to its nature, but it will live at least until the last expansion is out. Even though the market for old-school rts games is smaller than it used to be, there will always be people who love playing these games.

It's not a game for everyone, but it's a great game nonetheless.

People have been saying sc2 is dying even before the viewer numbers reached 100k.
WolfintheSheep
Profile Joined June 2011
Canada14127 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-28 09:28:11
July 28 2013 09:26 GMT
#9
On July 28 2013 16:08 Defury wrote:
So as a member of a couple Sc2 communities like TL and Reddit I have been bombarded for the last half a year with threads about how bad Sc2 is doing and how it's dying and LoL/Dota 2 are taking over. As someone who has recently discovered how much I love competitive gaming but hate team games Sc2 is really the only game I fully enjoy.

So what is the real unbiased truth?

SC2 is basically where it was in late 2010, early 2011 and 2012. Only late 2011 had a somewhat larger individual tournament viewership and total prize money (though I think the highest viewer number ever still came from MLG Winter 2013).

That said, if you want to enjoy SC2, stay away from any discussions that aren't Strategy, Fanclubs or Live Review (maybe not even LR), as sad as that sounds. On a general level, Reddit, TL and especially the Battle.net boards have become absolute soul-destroying pits of negativity. Even the fun joke threads aren't immune to balance whine and pitchforks.
Average means I'm better than half of you.
beg
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
991 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-07-28 16:21:17
July 28 2013 16:20 GMT
#10
SC2 will probably have another huge spike in viewers with the next expansion in a few years and will continue to go similarly strong as it's now, until warcraft4 is released.


of course i'm just guessing about warcraft4, but it's not too unlikely.
BisuEver
Profile Joined May 2010
United States247 Posts
July 28 2013 17:27 GMT
#11
Ok, don't.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/10873775/pa-presents-diablo-iii-console-comic-by-katie-rice-9-13-2013
Dodgin
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada39254 Posts
July 28 2013 19:55 GMT
#12
Everything is dying, slowly.

So the question then becomes how fast is sc2 dying? The answer is " slowly".

We have premier tournaments frequently right now, that's not anywhere near dead. When we have only a couple of big tournaments a year we can talk about dead.
KhaliWear
Profile Blog Joined October 2012
Canada159 Posts
July 29 2013 05:17 GMT
#13
Still in a beta, another expansions + balances to come.

Further more Star Craft is more prestigious, it will always be less then dota and LoL in viewership.

Compare Tennis (SC2) to Basketball (LoL) and Hockey (Dota) with fans and of course pay out.

More players making a large average sum. In LoL and Dota

Small amounts of players making Huge sums. SC2
Stretching ones neck 30 seconds to either side, will help improve blood flow and relax nerve endings.
guN-viCe
Profile Joined March 2010
United States687 Posts
July 29 2013 14:36 GMT
#14
SC2 is dying in a very similar way that you and I are dying. Slowly and inevitably.

People said SC1/BW was dying every year since it came out; and it was true, to an extent.

New games come out, people grow up, etc.

SC2 is very much alive and it will be for many more years.
Never give up, never surrender!!! ~~ Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence -Sagan
Kvassten
Profile Joined May 2012
Sweden159 Posts
September 08 2013 22:06 GMT
#15
According to sc2ranks there are about 100k less players right now compared to 6 months ago but I don't really think the game is dying.

As long as there is Koreans Starcraft will actually never die lol.
ninazerg
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States7291 Posts
September 08 2013 22:39 GMT
#16
Well, to be honest, nothing lasts forever. It really just depends on what you mean by "dead". If you mean it will be abandoned completely forever and wiped from existence, that will probably not happen unless there is a major catastrophe that afflicts all of humanity. If you mean there will be a bit less tournaments and stuff, then yeah, it's totally dead.
"If two pregnant women get into a fist fight, it's like a mecha-battle between two unborn babies." - Fyodor Dostoevsky
Ettick
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United States2434 Posts
September 09 2013 01:24 GMT
#17
I feel the same way, but that's just because I'm personally watching and playing a lot less SC2 than I used to.
I think that the game is just in an awkward transition period right now, especially considering the state of affairs in Korea, so a lot of people think it's dying when it really is just changing.
Dfgj
Profile Joined May 2008
Singapore5922 Posts
September 09 2013 01:49 GMT
#18
On September 09 2013 07:06 Kvassten wrote:
As long as there is Koreans Starcraft will actually never die lol.

It's funny because SC2 isn't that popular in korea and never was.
EsportsJohn
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
United States4883 Posts
September 09 2013 02:47 GMT
#19
On September 09 2013 10:49 Dfgj wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 09 2013 07:06 Kvassten wrote:
As long as there is Koreans Starcraft will actually never die lol.

It's funny because SC2 isn't that popular in korea and never was.


That's because BW was still being played competitively in Korea -_-. And as of this year, Kespa, the government-funded esports association that runs some of the largest esports events in the world, is involved in SC2.

It's funny because as long as the Koreans are involved with Starcraft, it will actually never die.

StrategyAllyssa Grey <3<3
Dfgj
Profile Joined May 2008
Singapore5922 Posts
September 09 2013 02:52 GMT
#20
On September 09 2013 11:47 SC2John wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 09 2013 10:49 Dfgj wrote:
On September 09 2013 07:06 Kvassten wrote:
As long as there is Koreans Starcraft will actually never die lol.

It's funny because SC2 isn't that popular in korea and never was.


That's because BW was still being played competitively in Korea -_-. And as of this year, Kespa, the government-funded esports association that runs some of the largest esports events in the world, is involved in SC2.

It's funny because as long as the Koreans are involved with Starcraft, it will actually never die.


It's not what organisations are involved, it's what people actually play.
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