EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/AMhv6Mp.png)
Following one of its most active points in 2009, Brood War progaming suffered an absolutely brutal, and ultimately fatal, decline in just a few years. But more important than the game count, is just simply how that time period was for those who were there.
My original TL account has a join date of 27 April, 2010. I came somewhat late to the BW scene, and I only started paying attention to the game maybe a year before that, in 2009. But I remember that I was there to see how quickly and painfully the scene came crumbling down. I originally came from the Command & Conquer community, which by that time had lost a lot of its luster. In Brood War, I found a game that I could appreciate just as much as the C&C games I loved.
2009 was a pretty optimistic time for the game - the BW scene was well developed, and SC2 was still held in high regard by just about everyone as the wave of the future. In fact, a few friends of mine suggested that I try BW, as a way to prepare for the release of SC2 which was slated to be the next amazing RTS. Ultimately, I ended up enjoying BW in its own right, especially because of its vibrant progaming scene. The ability to watch games that were broadcasted on TV really added a lot to the experience, and I know I spent many nights watching games that were broadcasted at 4:00 in the morning because that was when they were live.
2010 was a rough patch. About the time I joined TL, the two big controversies that would ultimately be the end of the pro scene surfaced: the Blizzard-KeSPA dispute over IP rights, and the match fixing scandal. The immediate casualty of the former was the loss of the eSTRO team (the owner of which was in BW for broadcasting rights), and the latter cost us the Hite Sparkyz team (which lost its lineup to match fixing). But for the time being, things went on.
Ultimately, Blizzard did manage to come to an agreement with OGN, MBC, and KeSPA on broadcasting rights, and the match fixers were banned from BW and prosecuted. But the damage was done. The Blizzard dispute contributed in no small part to a rift between the BW and SC2 communities, with the BW community fearing for the survival of their game (incidentally, the reverse happened whenever SC2 progamers quit to return to BW, which is why I really don't like BW players who are jerks about that happening). The match fixing scandal was worse; eventually it simply destroyed the ability of BW to acquire sponsors for its tournaments.
In 2010 and for many years before, there were three OSLs and three MSLs per year. In 2011, there were one of each. In 2012, MBCGame closed, citing match fixing as the primary cause. OGN managed to host one more OSL in 2012, which would end up being the last one for BW. Around that time, a lot of progaming teams either closed down or at least left BW.
More than the events that caused the progaming scene to end, I remember the events that truly destroyed my own personal interest in the BW scene. The end of MBCGame was one of them; it was an event so brutal and significant that I could not see the progaming scene survive it. The second was the hybrid Proleague format - Bo3 of BW, Bo3 of SC2, then an SC2 ace match. I've joked before that the Bisu vs. Flash ace match in the SPL Finals was the last true game of BW. Now that I think about it, perhaps it was at least true for me personally. I saw a lot of series in the hybrid format that involved 2-0 victories in BW, 1-2 loss in SC2, then a loss in the ace match (leading to an overall loss), which really just made the BW part of the league seem absolutely irrelevant. Soon after, the last OSL concluded and there was a full switch to SC2.
My own interest in the scene never recovered. Out of the ashes of the BW progaming scene came the Afreeca amateur scene, with a few leagues, and in a way BW went on. In fact, the SSL was popular enough that it managed to have one of its leagues broadcasted on OGN. But it never really felt anything like what progaming was back in the old days.
Anyone who remembers me knows that I was a huge fan of Bisu back in the day. I watched two individual leagues pretty closely: SSL 9 and SSL 10, both of which had Bisu vs by.hero in the finals. And yet, I remember my thoughts after watching each of those finals:
SSL 9 (Bisu 3-2 hero): "Bisu won, but he really played terribly. If he had his usual skill level he would have won this one 3-0 given how weakly hero played."
SSL 10 (Bisu 0-3 hero): "Played just as badly as last time, just punished harder for being so inflexible. I'm not surprised."
Doesn't really sound like the words of a huge fan, does it? In recent times I've often been in the awkward position of being critical of Bisu while others defend him, a far cry from how things were back in the day.
These days, I'm mostly here on TL for the community (which is wonderful), specifically the General forums. SC2 never appealed to me, and I only very occasionally pay attention to BW. The leagues and games still exist, but somehow it lost the magic it had back then. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way - many others I've talked to feel as I do, and most of the people I remember from 2012 and earlier no longer visit TL.
I commend those who still contribute to the scene - the writers, casters, and programmers - who still have the interest and dedication to continue to make content for BW. I know that it's an effort that a lot of people appreciate, and it's unfortunate that I no longer have that sort of interest in the game.
