EPT+ Show Spoiler [Probs & Joys of StarCraft II] +
+ Show Spoiler [About the "Probs and Joys"…] +
A lot is going on in the scene!
Small sentence, big meaning.
I'd like to share my thoughts on some things with you, dear readers, to enable a sort-of meta discussion about the state of the game we all enjoy so much.
So, as it is usual, people tend to forget about the good things and remember the bad things way more easily. That is why I will be starting off with the bad things, so you can all leave the blog with a good feeling because of all the great news that you will read.
Why I am writing this? Oh hell, I am doing this because currently, those blog posts are my only way to enrich the scene. If I get a shitload of criticism, I will try to raise the blog's quality to a way higher level, so please leave a feedback after reading, wether it be positive or negative, but please construcive.
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I will try to provide sources for every fact I mention. Also, I will try to provide proof, be it logical thoughts or be it a written something from someone, to whatever I am stating. If you think I am oversimplifying thinks, please let me know, but also I'd like you to take into account that I am not as deep in the scene as I would like to be.
I am trying to share my thought process with you, so don't be confused if my initial thesis on some things may or may not change during my explanations. I love being the Advocatus Diaboli!
Last, but not least: I differentiate heavily between StarCraft II and StarCraft: Brood War, not so much between WoL and HotS. Please consider that I am mostly talking about Starcraft II, not that much (and maybe even not at all) about Brood War.
Please, everyone, enrich this blog with your thought on things! I would love to have people joining the discussion.
I will try to cover at least one of either the good or of the bad things in StarCraft II with each blog entry, with a range from eSF disbanding to swarm host meta. Any suggestion of a new topic is welcome! Today's blog will be about:
eSF shutting down.
My first thought on this: "oh crap." Why? eSF provided a more or less safe environment for clans to grow, starting early 2012, making itself a real quick name within the international scene as the postdecessor of the "soon-to-switch-to-SC2" KeSPA as well as its direct rival.
Not everyone was always happy with eSF, there was frustrations from the community and the team side (regarding the SlayerS issue), arguments with KeSPA (KeSPA even forbidding its players to participate in GSL 4 of 2012) - so you cad say eSF had its Ups and Downs.
So, when eSF finally disbanded, making KeSPA finally and officially the undisputed Korean-based eSports organization, what was left? What were the marks that they surely left on the scene?
I think, not too many. The best thing is that some of the original eSF teams still live: StarTale, IM, Prime, MVP, though lately, they seem to join the KeSPA-based Proleague. The strengths of the eSF probably were (among legal help and the rather safe team environment in general) the GSTL which it always supported (and basically built with its team + SlayerS), enabling eSF players to take part in mostly online-based qualifiers for tournaments like MLG and IPL.
But: at the point where KeSPA made the elphant's switch, times became rough for eSF. Among with the closure of GSTL, the ongoing team disbands (oGs, NSH, ZeNEX, TSL) and the general conflict situation with KeSPA's Proleague (conflict might be the wrong word), times became worse. Also, the SC2 scene in Korea seemed to tighten up a bit during 2013 (blabla, ded game posts, anyone?), though to me, it always seemed far from dying. But, if a scene is on the decline, it's quite normal for sponsors to back off, for teams to disband etc. - and if there is another organization that actually is pretty good at what it's doing, you're kinda fucked.
In my opinion, eSF disbanding has not been a good thing, but was kind of inevatable due to the above mentioned issues. A decent way to say this would probably be: "Well, yes, for them, it's bad. But it has no real impact on the scene, so we're all fine with it."
Thanks you, eSF, for the stuff you did well. Hopefully, the people that were spending their time for esports with have the opportunity to achieve whatever they want and can.
Up next in my blog:
The mass disbandings of teams (thank you, Seeker!).
Notable edit: ENCE just joined the list of disbanding teams.
!! 
