Great interview! Gave quite a bit of insights into the lives of the players and starcraft industry.

As the king of the 1st generation, champion of the 2nd and a faded legend in the 3rd generation, Boxer experienced both the high and low of e-sport industry. He experienced the "high point" of e-sport, the point in which the imagination of the mainstream was captured by this video game. He was one of the primary reasons why the mainstream's attention was captured and he dreamed like the rest during that period of glory just what "e-sport would become if this level of attention persists". Sadly, the attention faded away just like any fad, to Boxer's disappointment, hence he is "bitching" about the decline of e-sport. Those of us who followed e-sport only recently perceives the current industry as in "fine shape". To Boxer, who experienced the peak glory of the mainstream attention, the current e-sport industry is pretty trashy, as its current audience is limited. I bet majority of the old fans who followed e-sports back in the days have stopped paying attention.

During his prime, Boxer experienced first hand just what active media appearance and giving out interviews with personality could do to promote an industry. The current generations lacks that, a champion who is willing to reach out to the mainstream. He understand what brought SC into the eyes of the public years ago, and he wants that attention back. The thing is, it isn't going to happen.

So...let's wait for SC2 and see what heavenly or hellish news it shall bring with it.

seRapH

United States9808 Posts

February 14 2010 17:55 GMT

#63

is tossgirl's mentality typical of most korean girls? it'd explain why their birth rate is so low

Chunkybuddha

Canada347 Posts

February 14 2010 18:17 GMT

#64

Those two had to have sex before...

stack

Canada348 Posts

February 14 2010 18:20 GMT

#65

On February 15 2010 02:55 majesty.k)seRapH wrote:
is tossgirl's mentality typical of most korean girls? it'd explain why their birth rate is so low

said it perfectly.

Newpostblog

Afghanistan14 Posts

February 14 2010 18:27 GMT

#66

Boxer so sexxxxy. Wait, sorry, I meant Tossgirl. Really.

AlwaysGG

Taiwan952 Posts

February 14 2010 18:50 GMT

#67

On February 14 2010 16:32 dyren wrote:

Show nested quote +

^LOL

Thanks for the translation, I agree the pictures are fantastic!

ROFL funny thoughts

Subversive

Australia2229 Posts

February 14 2010 19:09 GMT

#68

I can't be bothered finding the link right now (tsl starting!) but i believe Mr Hoon posted in the last Boxer interview something along the lines of:
During the Boxer/Yellow finals audience share was like 1.5% During the recent Hyuk MSL run audience share was also this high.
And then there was another figure for the JD/Flash qf's but i forget the numbers. He also pointed out the vastly increased number of games played now to explain lower audiences at PL games. And also that studio's have moved to a harder to get to/less pop dense area?
Anyway this pretty much put paid to the suggestion that esports was dying or sick in my mind

Gigaudas

Sweden1213 Posts

February 14 2010 19:51 GMT

#69

Even when SC2 comes out, I plan to be a player,

I was expecting everyone to jump at this. Or is it old news?

EDIT: Oh, wait missed that there were more than one page in the thread.

0neder

United States3733 Posts

February 14 2010 20:36 GMT

#70

Boxer tells it like it is. Top players need to take over the reigns from him and realize that their future depends on e-sport' popularity, which means they need to be out there for publicity and example and maybe practice an hour or two less a day.

GHOSTCLAW

United States17042 Posts

February 14 2010 20:42 GMT

#71

Thanks so much for the translation - It's interesting to read what they say about eachother.

moopie

12605 Posts

February 14 2010 20:46 GMT

#72

ty for translating

i'm curious if boxer will really transition into sc2.

KissBlade

United States5718 Posts

February 14 2010 21:00 GMT

#73

Tossgirl bashers get so old. Yes, she isn't nearly as good as the real S and most of A ranks but you can tell she really loves the game and is passionate about what she does. Why take it away from her?

moopie

12605 Posts

February 14 2010 21:06 GMT

#74

On February 15 2010 06:00 KissBlade wrote:
Tossgirl bashers get so old. Yes, she isn't nearly as good as the real S and most of A ranks but you can tell she really loves the game and is passionate about what she does. Why take it away from her?

The main reason she gets so much bashing is because she loses to B-teamers, yet gets more airtime/attention than most A players (due to being a girl). No personal opinions btw, just the way she's seen. That said, I really hope she makes a comeback someday.

Xxio

Canada5565 Posts

February 14 2010 21:52 GMT

#75

ahh they look so cute together

great read, thank you for the translation

Achromic

773 Posts

February 14 2010 21:53 GMT

#76

Honestly, Boxer needs to start meeting people. He's getting older and needs to have relationships outside of Starcraft..

ed21x

United States103 Posts

February 15 2010 01:05 GMT

#77

Boxer is famous, rich, charismatic, and good looking, not to mention legendary in what he has done in and for e-sports. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that he's probably doing fine socially. It's not just boxer, but other progamers interviewed have all acknowledged that esports has been in decline for quite a while now, and was at its height when Boxer was its charismatic ace. While we can't expect people to always be as extroverted and charismatic as he is, the top players of this time (Jaedong, Flash, etc...) have the responsibility to represent the sport they're in. It's absolutely reasonable to expect top athletes in any sport to give interviews and try to promote the sport as a whole.

The UFC started becoming mainstream when Dana White forced his fighters to give on-air interviews that dispelled many of the stereotypes casual observers had of the sport back when it was first coming onto the scene. key to any fanbase are players that fans can connect/identify with.