EPTMLG announcing that they aren't including an sc2 competition at their next major event serves to reinforce the sense of decline that it appears many community members have been fretting for a while - some even view this as confirmation of decline - in every way, especially concerning the American scene... there have been some compelling arguments made about the issue of the American scene in particular. this for example
This blog entry is not intended to dispute those specific claims. Instead, its an attempt at an encouraging call to anyone and everyone invested enough in sc2 E-sports to read this blog-of-a-noname to lift your damn heads, realize - or remember - what sets us apart; what makes this game so great at its best moments, both to play and to watch - potentially for anyone and everyone - still! for the aspiring amateurs as well as for the novice. For the younglings as well as for oldies. For the hardcore fan like you & me as well as for the curious bystander.
While i generally agree with Geoff's sentiment in his recent lets have a talk" initiative on reddit, i would like to take this opportunity to eco some things that have been said in the past and reiterate an explanation of what is different with sc2 as a game and as an E-sport as opposed to other titles. some harsh but manageable truths, and some quite beautiful ones. The beautiful truths starts with the intuitive linkage between the hardcore fan and the curious bystander in the paragraph above, the harsh ones has to do with the business side for game developers.
Its a firm belief of mine that the realtime strategy game that is Starcraft II HotS, with its clearly illustrated tactical and strategical gamplay is a great spectator sport. The intuitive character of the games economic foundation; resource gathering, infrastructure for production & defense etc, the fact that the curious ignorant bystander can find him/her self intrigued even as they only begin to grasp these most fundamental concepts, while they notice rough distinctions between two competing athletes and their interaction in a key moment of strategical decisions while a nearby regular-watcher break down the players reasoning...
I think we've all seen dozens of really really great starcraft games. Games that really, if you think about it, form heroic narratives on par with any movie, book, comic book or other conceivable piece of adventurous literature. Especially when we get to know the people behind the game and get their story told - and as with every hero-athlete, they become truly great because we experience and celebrate their greatness - together.
Starcraft is not free to play. As such it cant be expected compete in viewing numbers with games that are. It seems its still expected by many that it should, even though arguments to the contrary are solid and frequently stated. The way i see it, the vast majority of viewing numbers today are what i'd like to define as "primary" viewers; viewers that have spent a good amount of time playing the game. But if you agree with the previous couple of paragraphs, you should also agree that SC2 should be able to attract other kinds of viewers - lets call them secondary. Arguably, sc2 should do this better than other E-sport titles!
I have not done more research than a minute on google, but the sc2 community barcrafting efforts were the first, and i expect them to still be the largest and to probably be the most resilient in nature. If this is indeed the case, i would largely attribute it to the games attractiveness to secondary viewers. This is certainly something to be proud of; something that aught to speak a loud and clear message that the trade that is professional Starcraft competition and broadcasting is here to stay. for a fucking while. A message that to an extent aught to give off a distinct eco independent of what calibre of viewing numbers it gets. We are a significant bunch of nerds who are passionately committed to consuming good 1v1 RTS narratives.
The marketing money spent on tournaments and E-sport infrastructure by the developers of free-to-play games can buy a lot of exposure, bring in more viewers, more players and more player-commitment that gets cashed in on though micro-transactions (witch is why those devs can "afford" to invest the amount of direct E-sport support that they do). Thats all well and good for them, but in order for the sc2 community to stand proud and confident in its future, let me underline that money cant buy what we've already got going in the sc2 scene, even though we're fewer in numbers. They cant buy our multitude of players, relatable and distinctly different in strengths, weaknesses and personalities in and out of game. They cant buy the mentioned repeatability to the secondary viewer. and finally, so far, nobody is even attempting to make an 1v1 RTS that can offer superiorly thrilling, dramatic gameplay.
to round this up, here's a quote from one of us. i think it really hits home for many of us:
I was one of those people who was into SC2 during the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 because it was "the new thing." I had never played Starcraft or any kind of RTS before and seeing it at MLG is really peaked my interest (been around MLG since 2006/2007 starting with Halo). Since then, I've grown to love Starcraft. I don't play it much anymore, but I watch every SC2 event that I can. I love the history of Starcraft in general, the hype that big matches bring, the moments that make your jaw drop and keep you wondering how it happened and just the amount of skill that it take.[...]
- /u/Proto__ @reddit
... you might say that the relative decline of sc2 in the grander world of E-sports will diminish this kind of community-growth significantly, but i actually doubt that. there is plenty of overlap in the player/viewer-base of Sc2/Dota2/LoL, so anyone attracted to one game will eventually hear about the others and give them a look at some point... And like i tried to convey above, given the right circumstances, the game and the people around it speak for themselves. Now, the organised instances of those "right circumstances" might be in decline, most notably in the US. but if you can agree with or believe in the above, maybe you can have a bit of an easier time staying positive. Personally, i think things will get better..!
... So just invite that friend over to watch the game, you know he'll love it - how could he not?
