• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 15:30
CEST 21:30
KST 04:30
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach4[ASL22] Ro8 Preview: In A Tizzy11[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Holy Diver5[ASL22] Ro16 Preview: Rough Waters10[ASL22] Ro24 Preview: Siren's Call8
Community News
Weekly Cups (Sept 21-27): herO and ByuN double1Weekly Cups (Sep 13-20): herO scores triple3BSL Season 2313Weekly Cups (Sep 7-12): SHIN, ByuN, MaxPax double down1StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon105
StarCraft 2
General
Recent patches and the Future StarCraft open world shooter announced at BlizzCon Weekly Cups (Sept 21-27): herO and ByuN double Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16) How do you feel about the StarCraft shooter announcement at BlizzCon 2026?
Tourneys
2026 GSTL Grand Finals ScienceCraft (October 24-25) - Live Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Master Swan Open (Global Bronze-Master 2) Stellar Fest TWO the Moon (Dec 16-20)
Strategy
[H] ZvP Mid-Late Game: Stalkers Collossi HT
Custom Maps
[M] (2) Sweltering Sands [M] (2) Frigid Storage
External Content
The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 545 And Drops and Rifts Mutation # 544 Double Trouble Mutation # 543 Enhanced Defenses
Brood War
General
BW General Discussion Bot on ladder [ASL22] Ro8 Preview: Within Reach PLAYzone Challenge - open offline tour in Prague an AI researcher's take on the ladder bot
Tourneys
[ASL22] Ro8 Day 3 [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL22] Ro8 Day 2 [ASL22] Ro8 Day 1
Strategy
Cliff Jump Revisited (1 in a 1000 strategy) Replay Review Process - What do you do? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation
Other Games
General Games
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Zero Nintendo Switch Thread EVE Corporation
Dota 2
Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 Begins April 25! Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Artificial Intelligence Thread All you football fans (soccer)!
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The Creator Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Diablo Animated Series on Netflix
Sports
MLB/Baseball 2023 Football (Soccer) Thread
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Violent-Cooperative Play and…
TrAiDoS
38 yo Retired SWE loo…
PurE)Rabbit-SF
Can Bots Beat Pros?? Starcr…
namkraft
[meme] I finally understa…
LUCKY_NOOB
Regacy Esports:Our Goa…
regacyesports
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 7565 users

[T] The Reality of Progaming - Page 2

Forum Index > BW General
251 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 Next All
Slunk
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Germany768 Posts
May 18 2010 21:21 GMT
#21
The title looked like a Rekrul thread.
Nice read though.
Yggdrasil Leaf
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
221 Posts
May 18 2010 21:24 GMT
#22
Gloomy times
"A person hears only what they understand" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
SagaZ
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
France3460 Posts
May 18 2010 21:24 GMT
#23
thks for the translation~
B teamers and practice partners have such a dificult live O.o
and kespa is in fact the organization of the sponsors... I didn't knew that, that explain alot of their positions ...
I really hope conditions change, more so if sc2 becames popular in korea
Be nice, buy wards and don't feed double buff.
Inkblood
Profile Joined February 2010
United States463 Posts
May 18 2010 21:28 GMT
#24
Thank you for the translation. Puts everything under a new light. Even if you already knew that most progamers weren't payed much of anything, the way the facts are laid out in this article is an eye opener.
kerpal
Profile Blog Joined June 2009
United Kingdom2695 Posts
May 18 2010 21:30 GMT
#25
wow.. powerful stuff. thanks.
Gann1
Profile Joined July 2009
United States1575 Posts
May 18 2010 21:33 GMT
#26
On May 19 2010 06:09 samachking wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 19 2010 06:00 l10f wrote:
On May 19 2010 05:57 samachking wrote:
Thanks for the translation of the huge article. I enjoyed reading it. This is probably Savior I presume?


I think it's safe to assume the progamer "A" wasn't part of the incident. Who knows.


Well, its a team that has players with salaries above 200k USD, so A is from SKT/KTF or CJ I presume. + The early conditions resemble CJ's early days as GO.

I always thought this was a pretty crappy job for the average progamer by the amount of work/payoff involved, but this puts the pay more into perspective.

Could also be STX, they have some high salaried players and were the last team to get a sponsorship if I remember correctly.
I drop suckas like Plinko
emperorchampion
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada9496 Posts
May 18 2010 21:35 GMT
#27
Thanks for the translation, elton f ftw

I think a large part of the problem is that there is really no money streaming in except from the Sponsors. So these large corporations control the whole shebang, any match is just a huge advertisement in their eyes. They don't care about any of the players, as long as they make their commercials super exciting so tons of people will watch. Really, I don't think it would be difficult to attract the players away from KeSPA for SCII if Blizzard wanted to create a new system. The problem would be in getting any sort of support for it, unless it just ends up being the exact same thing- but controlled by Blizzard (which I would hope not to see). A different model needs to be created that isn't completely reliant upon the sponsors.
TRUEESPORTS || your days as a respected member of team liquid are over
firebound12
Profile Joined March 2010
Canada274 Posts
May 18 2010 21:35 GMT
#28
wow.... this is sad Now I respect more the progamers who have to go through all that...

Will Blizzard fix those stuff in SCII? Is it why ultimately Kespa doesn't want to let go of the control over their players/matches?
violett
Profile Joined July 2007
Germany143 Posts
May 18 2010 22:05 GMT
#29
thx for translation, was a nice read.
even if it was already known, its interesting to hear it from a progamers perspective himself.
Piste
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
6183 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-18 23:09:56
May 18 2010 22:46 GMT
#30
This changes nothing. Those match fixing actions were illegal and killed e-sports for me. it's a choice to become a progamer, it's NOT a MUST.

edit: and savior doesn't need rolex's or 500$ sneakers.
Nuttyguy
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United Kingdom1526 Posts
May 18 2010 22:46 GMT
#31
ty for the translation
this is reality, the truth hurts. -_-
Uthgar
Profile Joined March 2010
United States21 Posts
May 18 2010 22:59 GMT
#32
I think the sad truth here is that e-sports needs to become more like real sports in terms of its professionalism and business model. If it costs money to watch games live, you can bet people will pay, just like any other sport. Its so silly that people think that since so many kids want to be progamers, it makes them expendable. How many kids want to be the next Kobe or Lebron?
KristianJS
Profile Joined October 2009
2107 Posts
May 18 2010 23:09 GMT
#33
Great article, thanks for translation. e-sports in Korea is a shiny apple which is rotten on the inside it seems =(

I think the whole thing needs to be restructured. Reduce the number of games and start charging money for games instead. Inject more money into the system, give the players more breaks. And then the players need a Union!
You need to be 100% behind someone before you can stab them in the back
lone_hydra
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
Canada1460 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-05-18 23:27:57
May 18 2010 23:27 GMT
#34
On May 19 2010 06:10 Xxio wrote:
I liked the comparison between a progamer's replay, or game, and a musician's composition.
I think things will change with SCII, unless KeSPA makes changes, other tournaments and organizations will be more than enough of an incentive to leave them.


Blizzard doesn't even want kespa to be apart of SC2 unless they dish out the doe. Knowing how greedy kespa is, the chance of them actually paying is slim to none. If progaming is to continue with SC2, then either kespa and sponsers need to stop being cheap bastards, or a new organization+sponsors step up, or no Korean SC2 progamming (teams and what not) save the odd tournament.
Fav Gamers: 2)Stork 5)Bisu
flamewheel
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
FREEAGLELAND26782 Posts
May 18 2010 23:31 GMT
#35
Sigh, thanks for this l10f.
Even back when the allegations and accusations were being made, people were bringing this up. It's nice that there's now another side to this sad, sad story.

I'm sorry for you, Mr. A :<
Writerdamn, i was two days from retirement
PanzerDragoon
Profile Joined March 2010
United States822 Posts
May 18 2010 23:41 GMT
#36
Great article



They desperately need bargaining power. What Kespa and the powerful Korean corporations behind it are doing is basically exploitation, pure and simple.

Of course corrupt companies like Samsung are never going to agree to something that hurts their bottom line, and they'll just buy off any politicians that would make such a push (or just use their capital to bury and discredit them). So the only real hope is that Blizzard basically crushes Kespa, and then they can have some sort of progamers union with fair wages, better contract/free agency rules, and some sort of forced practice maximum. And maybe an actual season, like other sports.

Thats not very likely to happen.
Setz3R
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States455 Posts
May 18 2010 23:56 GMT
#37
Hopefully everyone has seconds thoughts about the recent goings now. I really feel for pro gamers it really sucks that doing something that you LOVE for a living hurts this much for them .
twitch.tv/setz3r
guii
Profile Joined December 2009
Brazil31 Posts
May 19 2010 00:07 GMT
#38
Great Article! Congratz.

Well, I'm feeling kinda bad right now. I always says to my friends "Wouldn't be cool, get payed for play?!", but I never though it was like that.
I mean, I knew progammers trained about 10h ou more/day, but, lose just 1 day to see a concert and being punished going back to B-Team?! That was BS!

Now, i know why those progammers accepted losing on purpose. And now, I'm feeling bad for saying bad stuff to sAviOr.. Indeed sad story..

Altough it's lots of fun watching progammers play, the story behind the cameras it's... sad.

(..and sorry for my bad english)
Slow Motion
Profile Blog Joined July 2009
United States6960 Posts
May 19 2010 00:18 GMT
#39
If you love the game so much, then why throw matches? Yes, I respect progamers who sacrificed to do something they love. But throwing matches for money is the opposite of that. If you love money more than the game, then you should have stayed in school. Otherwise, if you truly love the game as much as someone like Boxer, then you would never do anything dirty to compromise it.

I feel that many of these kids, like the people who go to Hollywood in hopes of making it big, aren't as much in love with acting or Starcraft as much as they are with the lifestyle and fame they associate with the industry. In short, this article makes me sympathetic to the conditions of progamers, but I still feel the utmost contempt for the cheaters.

As an aside, obviously we derive great entertainment from watching these kids play BW, but maybe the government should be stepping in and banning conditions where kids are stuck in a room playing video games all day every day. Maybe 16 year old reflexes and dexterity plus hours of hard practice is what necessary for us to see the most amazing Starcraft games, but as the situation is right now it just isn't worth it. These practice partners are going to be going into the workforce with poor education and vocational skills because they made a shortsighted decision as kids to be a progamer.
ohN
Profile Blog Joined November 2009
United States1075 Posts
May 19 2010 00:23 GMT
#40
Thanks for the translation.
Maybe if it was harder to get a programer license the current ones could get better treatment?
There's like 20ish people per team * 12 teams, thats a lot of money that needs to come from somewhere.
Maybe if each team had like 6-8 people max, living conditions would be much better?

In non-korean countries most programing "teams" are like 6-8 per game. Even less for some other and its only so many because alot of the games are like 5v5 (DotA, CS). SC is 1v1 and yet teams have like 20+ people?.
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 11 12 13 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Monday Night Weeklies
16:00
#65
RotterdaM1030
TaKeTV 338
TKL 330
IndyStarCraft 201
BRAT_OK 103
ZombieGrub74
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
RotterdaM 1030
TKL 330
IndyStarCraft 201
MaxPax 193
BRAT_OK 103
ZombieGrub74
JuggernautJason43
Nathanias 32
EmSc Tv 17
StarCraft: Brood War
Shuttle 667
ggaemo 162
White-Ra 134
firebathero 80
Barracks 60
910 49
Killer 28
Shine 27
Trap 26
yabsab 7
Counter-Strike
Fnx 804
Super Smash Bros
C9.Mang0166
Heroes of the Storm
Grubby8876
crisheroes1702
Liquid`Hasu1553
Trikslyr66
Other Games
Liquid`RaSZi4652
summit1g3853
singsing1372
Beastyqt835
shahzam440
B2W.Neo349
ArmadaUGS137
KnowMe132
UpATreeSC84
Organizations
Dota 2
PGL Dota 2 - Main Stream432
Other Games
BasetradeTV213
StarCraft 2
EmSc Tv 17
EmSc2Tv 17
[ Show 16 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• kabyraGe 195
• Reevou 4
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• 80smullet 23
• Azhi_Dahaki21
• FirePhoenix13
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• TFBlade879
Other Games
• Shiphtur319
• imaqtpie7
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
14h 30m
Afreeca Starleague
14h 30m
Leta vs Soulkey
PiGosaur Cup
1d 4h
Kung Fu Cup
1d 15h
The PondCast
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Online Event
4 days
FEL
4 days
BSL: Ladder Tournament
4 days
[ Show More ]
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
BSL Open Qualifier
5 days
BSL Open Qualifier
5 days
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-09-27
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Calamity Invitational

Ongoing

ASL Season 22
Super Anchor Qualifying S3
CSL 2026 AUTUMN (S22)
Acropolis #5
1win Private Club #1
Logitech G Play Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #3
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3

Upcoming

Acropolis #5 - GSB
Acropolis #5 - GSC
BSL Season 23
SC4ALL II: Brood War
BSL 23: Non-Korean Championship
HSC XXX
Stellar Fest 2: Lunar Cup
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
Custodian Cup
Copium Cup
PGL Major Singapore 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 6
BLAST Rivals Fall 2026
IEM Beijing 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 5
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
1win Private Club #2
Thunderpick World Champ. '26
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.