I wonder if for some of the old school gamers, pro SC is turning into a chore for them, like it did to IntoTheRain. Maybe they are losing motivation and their drive?
1. For the fans? The fans still love him. We still want to see him perform.
2. For himself, because he can't win any more?
- Just as old school players like Garimto have tried and failed, others like JulyZerg have succeeded. Using 'cheese' and creative strategies in two of the three matches in the OSL final, no less.
- Experience, especially when it comes to the big stage, surely must count for something. Boxer has experience in spades.
- In the airforce, Boxer does not receive adequate training time, and the standard of practice partners probably isn't there. Once he gets out, I believe he can perform, as long as he has the motivation to train and win.
- 'Form is temporary, class is permanent'. Or something. Why, exactly, do you say that Boxer cannot scale this steep learning curve?
- Even if Boxer may never win, does that he should stop trying? Realistically speaking, more than half of the progamers will never get anywhere close to a starleague title. Win a starleague, or die trying. The arguments you listed - mass influx of gamers, big difference in skill - applies to every relatively older gamer. Should they quit as well?
- I think your argument that there is a 'Boxer' effect, without further substantiation, is pure conjecture. Boxer has been out of it for a while now. Is it not as likely that gamers, recognising the skill differences between him and present gamers as you say, will underestimate him?
On August 10 2008 04:50 hixhix wrote: somewhat off topic: imagine if boxer is back to SKT1 and practices under oov's supervision, it'd be awkward.
oov: hey old teacher, if you lose to those 13 year old kids again, you are going to clean the toilet for 1 week.
oov in ilovestar said boxer never formally taught him it was more of a watch me play and learn by copying or something like that. And oov said boxer didnt come to his wedding
On August 10 2008 04:50 hixhix wrote: somewhat off topic: imagine if boxer is back to SKT1 and practices under oov's supervision, it'd be awkward.
oov: hey old teacher, if you lose to those 13 year old kids again, you are going to clean the toilet for 1 week.
oov in ilovestar said boxer never formally taught him it was more of a watch me play and learn by copying or something like that. And oov said boxer didnt come to his wedding
Even Boxer probably can't skip army to go to a wedding..
Plexa's missing the point here. Boxer's progaming life isn't all about winning, but about his style and passion. Even when he loses, he brings us excitement and hope.
Honestly, Boxer's unique game vs Odin was superior to any of the 3-0 utter rape finals.
Boxer shouldn't retire. Even if he goes into a 1W-10L record, if that 1 win is achieved with one of his amazing creative strats, his fans will be happy. And so will be most of the sc community. He has a huge impact on the game even if he is not owning the proscene. Just look at his ghost lockdown against arbiters vs Free. Couple of weeks later it was used by other progamer(can't remember what terran was). And had he won that game vs Odin with the nukes, well, I don't have to tell you how the media and fans would have reacted.
Boxer hanging in there, giving his fans some crazy wins here and there, is enough for the progaming community to keep dreaming about his comeback. And the day that not only does he give a crazy strat win to the fans from time to time, but he manages to use those strats to climb again to a starleague final, THAT alone could bring another golden era for starcraft in terms of audience and media.
I can see BoxeR getting one little squeeze out of his pro-gaming career after he leaves the military due to his personality (the guy won't give up). But he should go to being a coach.
hm funny how u get flamed with 25 posts by saying basically the same to all the overexcited boxer fanboys after todays games, but when plexa writes an article about it, nobody denies the obvious.
btw i just found this in plexas "to bolt is to boxer", written 3 weeks after this article: "The Emperor is returning with one goal in mind – winning the Golden Mouse. Boxer will show us the way forward through these dark times and revitalize the glorious Starcraft scene and preserve it for years to come."
Kinda makes me wonder if u put ur honest opinion in articles or just write anything for the sake of a good article. I mean its quite a 180° turn to go from "boxer u have gotten too far behind, stop embarassing yourself and ur fans and quit" to "boxer will revitalize the scene and be the shining light".
edit: oh I just read ur second post, seems u started to believe again much earlier. Well, to put it in ur own words "as much as I would cream my pants seeing Boxer in an OSL finals again, realistically it will never happen". Maybe in SC2 though, his talent and understanding of strategy games is still undeniably one of the best, if not the best.
On October 03 2008 00:25 damenmofa wrote: hm funny how u get flamed with 25 posts by saying basically the same to all the overexcited boxer fanboys after todays games, but when plexa writes an article about it, nobody denies the obvious.
On August 08 2008 23:02 BottleAbuser wrote: To oversimplify: Boxer needs more practice than he can get, and his style won't get him anywhere anymore - he's playing against a different crowd.
Well...... you just spent like 9/10 of your post talking about how he was awesome because he kept changing his style. *shrug*
I dunno, I think it's still possible that starcraft can be optimized more, and it's possible that boxer will do it. Not holding my breath, but that's no reason to quit.
his style will get him a fanbase and sponsorships.. maybe its not all about winning titles? whats he gunna do, quit playing the game he loves and go work a desk job somewhere?