Last Thursday was a rocky start for SSL9's group A, and group B on Saturday was only a little better. However, Group D (played before group C to aid a player's scheduling conflict) was almost beyond reproach. The camera angles were excellent, the booths, televisions, and main projector were arranged intelligently and professionally, and the studio was filled with fans. The only thing that could be said to be lacking were the commentator's microphones, which at moments of extreme excitement were often pushed beyond their limit, which I find pretty forgivable. Through those microphones, their energy still came through loud and clear.
If you already know Brood War...
You remember the last OSL, and you probably saw it as a defining moment that might mark the end of your own experience with this game. Whether you ended up leaving or not, I urge you to give SSL9 a chance. As someone who has played and watched Brood War forever, there are little things I see about games. I can see it when a player's passion is coming through to the game, and I know how I play when I feel passionate about a match, the types of things that get more concentration than usual, the type of effort I exert. Brood War is as much a game about preparation and intelligence as it is about emotion and execution. Players play their best when they're motivated by an audience, when the consequence of each of their clicks is dramatic. This is the thing that only a few games after the last OSL have been able to bring out of our pros turned amateur. It's what Bisu meant in his interview when he said seeing the fans leave the studio made him unhappy and unmotivated during the first year of Proleague's switch to SC2. Even just as spectators, we can feel it, and that's what's so incredible about SSL9 right now. The energy is back, maybe even stronger than before, because we've proved that the passion for Brood War is even greater than we thought. It is really the phoenix rising out of the ashes.
If you don't already know Brood War...
Let me lay it out. Two of the greatest professional Korean commentators ever are helping Sonic to bring back Brood War out of sheer passion for the game. Tonnes of ex-pros who have been surviving by streaming this game to loyal fans are stirring up old fires and bringing games that are reminiscent of their professional days. If you felt like you missed the boat on Brood War by coming too late to the eSports party and want to get a feel for the excitement of games happening right now, this is the one league to watch. A game that survives long after its developers have stopped advertising for it and have stopped supporting it is a game that's worth looking at. It's both the game most representative of the wild days of making ESPORTS a thing before any developers cared about it, and also the strongest and best loved. It's THE game that made 'esports' more than just prize money from tournaments or a dream of weird animes. Imagine why Chess or Go are popular, and the reason is not so dissimilar from why Brood War is.
A few notes
I think the cameras in his studio might be 16 by 9, but the game itself is very obviously 4:3. The game looks worse in 16 : 9 than people look in 4:3, so I encourage you to download the VODs from YouTube and force 4:3 aspect ratio in the video player of your choice. Sonic is a guy running his own company (Sinbal Farm, a shoe store), and it seems like a lot of these difficult technical details are hard for him to streamline, especially since he produces so much content. If you like to watch on a mobile device, VLC makes a free app for Android that has options for changing the aspect ratio on the fly.
That's all. I don't like to write for TL anymore, but this is something I felt really deserves attention on a site that is becoming increasingly fragmented. Even though I think a lot of people are aware of SSL, they think 'well that's the Brood War section's thing, how nice for them ' or 'it's good to know they're still going, but it's done for me.' So I just wanted to take a moment, share a picture or two, and see if I can help you find something exciting. This is way beyond Sonic's previous SSLs. It might be the start of a new beginning, or it might be one of your last chances to experience the passion of Brood War.
I was thinking maybe "If you don't already know SSL9..." since part of that paragraph was dedicated to explaining who's doing what in SSL and such. Either way, doesn't take away from the writing and I agree fully
Really cool words man. I feel this chill I used to feel from watching BroodWar tournaments again, a chill I haven't felt since watching the last game between Jangbi and Fantasy. SSL9 is amazing by the fact it's the result of pure passion as you said, you can be sure BroodWar is going to be around for a while now after seeing this, and may it be forever !
On January 18 2014 03:11 Chef wrote: This is way beyond Sonic's previous SSLs.
I wouldn't really say this. The step between SSL7 and SSL8 was much bigger than the step from SSL8 to SSL9.
But we can agree that SSL9 is the one that most reminisce the professional days.
Definitely, but I already got that feeling last season.
Seriously? Live studio, 3 Screens, Booths, Stargirls, Kim Carrier, Audience... and BISU! this is as professional as it gets.
We had all of that for the last two seasons. Well, except Bisu ^^. Also, Kim Carrier only joined last season and we had juice girls instead of booth girls, but yeah, it was pretty similar and awesome!
Hopefully, it keeps going and growing for a long time.
On January 18 2014 03:11 Chef wrote: This is way beyond Sonic's previous SSLs.
I wouldn't really say this. The step between SSL7 and SSL8 was much bigger than the step from SSL8 to SSL9.
But we can agree that SSL9 is the one that most reminisce the professional days.
Definitely, but I already got that feeling last season.
Seriously? Live studio, 3 Screens, Booths, Stargirls, Kim Carrier, Audience... and BISU! this is as professional as it gets.
We had all of that for the last two seasons. Well, except Bisu ^^. Also, Kim Carrier only joined last season and we had juice girls instead of booth girls, but yeah, it was pretty similar and awesome!
Hopefully, it keeps going and growing for a long time.
Well I personally would be content with SSL staying on the level that it is now, with a couple refinements of course (A custom overlay for in-game with resources + supply would be nice, the booths not falling apart mid-game xD, the small things overall), but of course any improvement that they can make is always welcome!
Also I don't think Sonic should have much trouble finding a sponsor for the next season if as many people attend live/watch on afreeca as there have thus far!
On the in-game overlay thing, can somebody actually explain why that hasn't been done, I mean it's not like it's a foreigner only thing OSL had it, MSL had it, SPL had it, GOM even had unit counts (Granted I don't actually think it's necessary to have that.)
We've had some great games from SOSPA based tournaments. But what’s great about the most recent SSL is the passion and emotion which has been lacking a bit in the proto-proleague for understandable reasons. Pusan was so close to tears when Terror beat him. It makes the games so much more exciting when there’s this level of emotion and passion shown outside the game. It really does start to feel like a proper Star League again.
A lot of this has to be the fact that there’s a crowd and that their interacting so much with the games and the players. Reminds me of been back in Yongsan with the crowd yelling Song Byeunggoo and blowing horns and vuvuzelas (until they got banned). The good old days, we’re not too far away from been there again.
On January 19 2014 23:13 Greg_J wrote: We've had some great games from SOSPA based tournaments. But what’s great about the most recent SSL is the passion and emotion which has been lacking a bit in the proto-proleague for understandable reasons. Pusan was so close to tears when Terror beat him. It makes the games so much more exciting when there’s this level of emotion and passion shown outside the game. It really does start to feel like a proper Star League again.
A lot of this has to be the fact that there’s a crowd and that their interacting so much with the games and the players. Reminds me of been back in Yongsan with the crowd yelling Song Byeunggoo and blowing horns and vuvuzelas (until they got banned). The good old days, we’re not too far away from been there again.
On January 19 2014 17:50 BLinD-RawR wrote: MSL didn't have it, and the SPL matches that were broadcasted on MBCGame didn't have it.
Still adding it seems fairly easy.
Does anybody actually think that not seeing supply is a good thing?
I think it's good and bad. It does increase the entry level for those watching since you have to know something about the game(supplies and such) to tell who's winning although commentators can dispel that. I think it can create some suspense as well if you don't know but I don't think it's a deal breaker if you do either lol.
On January 19 2014 17:50 BLinD-RawR wrote: MSL didn't have it, and the SPL matches that were broadcasted on MBCGame didn't have it.
Still adding it seems fairly easy.
Does anybody actually think that not seeing supply is a good thing?
I think it's good and bad. It does increase the entry level for those watching since you have to know something about the game(supplies and such) to tell who's winning although commentators can dispel that. I think it can create some suspense as well if you don't know but I don't think it's a deal breaker if you do either lol.
I think that would apply if you were talking about production tabs, but for supply/resource thats already available from replays all I want is for them to add it to live.
Sonic's using the resolution expander so TL's resource overlay would be in the wrong place. There's a workaround I could explain to him I suppose, though.
On January 19 2014 17:50 BLinD-RawR wrote: MSL didn't have it, and the SPL matches that were broadcasted on MBCGame didn't have it.
Still adding it seems fairly easy.
Does anybody actually think that not seeing supply is a good thing?
I 100% prefer to see supply/resource tab. It is difficult/impossible to calculate accurate resource/supply counts as a viewer/commentator, but at the same time, the information is often highly relevant. Also, it's there in the corner, if you want to reference it, but it's not overbearing.
I was watching Jin Air Starleague 2011, Set 5, English Subtitles, and the Korean commentators refer to the resource/supply count on a number of key occasions - which improved the quality of the commentary. Most of the time however, you can just focus on the game/commentary, but if you feel like checking the resource/supply tabs, then you have that option to look.
(Note: regarding the kids in the SSL 9 audience - one time (don't remember when), one of the kids was chewing gum and blowing a bubble, one of his friends hit him in the mouth and made him spit out his gum.)
On January 20 2014 05:06 Birdie wrote: Sonic's using the resolution expander so TL's resource overlay would be in the wrong place. There's a workaround I could explain to him I suppose, though.
I was actually thinling about exactly that, with the res hack, he'd probably need to get smb to build a new one from the ground up, but definitely if you are able to contact him, do it.
On January 20 2014 05:06 Birdie wrote: Sonic's using the resolution expander so TL's resource overlay would be in the wrong place. There's a workaround I could explain to him I suppose, though.
you could probably email him to get in contact. i think its sogoodttt@naver.com
On January 19 2014 17:50 BLinD-RawR wrote: MSL didn't have it, and the SPL matches that were broadcasted on MBCGame didn't have it.
Still adding it seems fairly easy.
Does anybody actually think that not seeing supply is a good thing?
I think it's good and bad. It does increase the entry level for those watching since you have to know something about the game(supplies and such) to tell who's winning although commentators can dispel that. I think it can create some suspense as well if you don't know but I don't think it's a deal breaker if you do either lol.
I think that would apply if you were talking about production tabs, but for supply/resource thats already available from replays all I want is for them to add it to live.
Also it looks nice.
hmm well, as long as it doesn't distract from the gameplay(never was an issue in the vods that had it), then I think adding it is fine.
I can take it or leave it as far as the resource tracker goes, but my passion will definitely not be realized until they bring back the "hana, dul, set, [playername] fighting!" cheer. The lobby countdown feels really weird without it.
On January 21 2014 13:43 gngfn wrote: I can take it or leave it as far as the resource tracker goes, but my passion will definitely not be realized until they bring back the "hana, dul, set, [playername] fighting!" cheer. The lobby countdown feels really weird without it.
Those high pitched childlike girl voices always annoyed me
On January 21 2014 13:43 gngfn wrote: I can take it or leave it as far as the resource tracker goes, but my passion will definitely not be realized until they bring back the "hana, dul, set, [playername] fighting!" cheer. The lobby countdown feels really weird without it.
Those high pitched childlike girl voices always annoyed me
It did a great job setting the atmosphere though. Gotta agree with gngfn, bring it back! lol.
Btw: Group A and B may have had some technical difficulties, but they generated way more LR love than the later groups.
Or maybe it's because of technical difficulties After all, longer the series goes, more convenient it is for some of us to be able to watch the stream.
Btw: Group A and B may have had some technical difficulties, but they generated way more LR love than the later groups.
Or maybe it's because of technical difficulties After all, longer the series goes, more convenient it is for some of us to be able to watch the stream.
Some TLers quit this website after BW went down and most of them haven't realized that the game took a revival. We are the vestige that remained strong to witness it.
On January 18 2014 04:20 tomastaz wrote: If only BW and SC2 could coexist, but too many elitists on both sides for that.
I'm not reading much of that "discussion" so I'm curious- what exactly are the arguments of Sc2 elitists? I've never come across any. Usually what I've seen was "Bw is a much better game/ Sc2 sucks!" vs "Nonono you're just oldfag elitists!".
On January 18 2014 04:20 tomastaz wrote: If only BW and SC2 could coexist, but too many elitists on both sides for that.
I'm not reading much of that "discussion" so I'm curious- what exactly are the arguments of Sc2 elitists? I've never come across any. Usually what I've seen was "Bw is a much better game/ Sc2 sucks!" vs "Nonono you're just oldfag elitists!".
Usually somewhere along the lines of "let an actually dead game die it's popularity is going to hurt sc2 even more." I suppose it might not ACTUALY be elitism but yeah it's making all sorts of inferences.
On January 18 2014 04:20 tomastaz wrote: If only BW and SC2 could coexist, but too many elitists on both sides for that.
I'm not reading much of that "discussion" so I'm curious- what exactly are the arguments of Sc2 elitists? I've never come across any. Usually what I've seen was "Bw is a much better game/ Sc2 sucks!" vs "Nonono you're just oldfag elitists!".
I second that. I came too late to the BW party, since I got into esports in 2010/11 (basically with the start of StarCraft II). Checked those great VODs now, and got youtubed into old Brood War games. And although I do not understand a single thing that is happening , I really like the atmosphere.
On January 18 2014 04:20 tomastaz wrote: If only BW and SC2 could coexist, but too many elitists on both sides for that.
I'm not reading much of that "discussion" so I'm curious- what exactly are the arguments of Sc2 elitists? I've never come across any. Usually what I've seen was "Bw is a much better game/ Sc2 sucks!" vs "Nonono you're just oldfag elitists!".
Usually somewhere along the lines of "let an actually dead game die it's popularity is going to hurt sc2 even more." I suppose it might not ACTUALY be elitism but yeah it's making all sorts of inferences.
Its usually BW fans arguing about gameplay and SC2 fans going "Well it has shitty graphics + no matchmaking + hard to find a game + not many ppl play on B.net no more + its dead."
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/2twKGts.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/AbV1Tpu.png)
' or 'it's good to know they're still going, but it's done for me.' So I just wanted to take a moment, share a picture or two, and see if I can help you find something exciting. This is way beyond Sonic's previous SSLs. It might be the start of a new beginning, or it might be one of your last chances to experience the passion of Brood War.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/HGmmbpc.png)
![[image loading]](http://www.teamliquid.net/staff/Hyde/SSL/SSL9/Vods.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/LZeYIO7.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/NMd8nny.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/DAyvacT.jpg)
, I really like the atmosphere. 
