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On May 20 2010 13:21 JWD wrote:
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Maybe someone more in tune with the Korean media can enlighten me on this: why is there not a greater meritocracy in coverage of eSports? All of the major news sources in progaming: OGN, MBC, Fomos, Daily News (is better, but not by much) seem to be getting away with not producing any good coverage of the most serious issues in Korea's BW scene. How is this possible?
Like, how can it possibly be that a few informal interviews with Ret and Rekrul and Artosis are far more informative on the true state of Korean eSports than nearly every article to come out of Korea in the past 9 years? Like, why do we need Artosis to tell us in his weekly interview that Jaedong only enrolled in "university" to evade the military? Why wasn't that the first line in Fomos's article on his enrollment? There's so much bullshit here.
My guess is that MBC, Fomos, OGN and Daily News are being really careful on this incident since they think it can lead to a a catastrophy, totally destroying e-sports. That, and maybe a bit of the korean culture in some way?
Alot of the things said on this article I was aware of thx to Artosis, ret, idra, Draco and Nony interviews I've seen over the years, but still amazes me to see the uncertainty that the progamers are living with, not knowing what the fuck is going to happen when SC2 hits the stores, and they cant do shit cuz of Kespa/Blizzard negotiations.
I'm guessing if US starts e-sports coverage/progaming on SC2, it will have to make a stand on how a real progamer should live like, and try to really be the lead on how teams should be run to influence Korean proteams.  That, or some politic in Korea trying to change the current situation.
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On May 20 2010 13:21 JWD wrote:Like, how can it possibly be that a few informal interviews with Ret and Rekrul and Artosis are far more informative on the true state of Korean eSports than nearly every article to come out of Korea in the past 9 years? Like, why do we need Artosis to tell us in his weekly interview that Jaedong only enrolled in "university" to evade the military? Why wasn't that the first line in Fomos's article on his enrollment? There's so much bullshit here.
I think part of it may be that what the Korean sources make are for Koreans, who might understand it better(living in Korea and such), along with the fact that there are some things they really can't say, while foreigners don't have said restrictions.
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On May 20 2010 14:04 l10f wrote:
Also, it may bring down the already damaged e-sports scene completely.
This sounds like an argument that KeSPA might make to discourage a player strike, but I don't think it holds any water. First, even as a fan I'd gladly tolerate a holdout if it meant better terms for the players. Things like a lighter schedule, more mobility between teams could really up game quality and drama in the pro scene. There are benefits to a strike that are worth risking the "collapse" of eSports in Korea.
But what does that really mean?? If "bringing down the eSports scene" means killing KeSPA and wiping the slate clean for new league organizers and a new atmosphere in progaming, I am all for it. "The system would suffer" is not a legitimate argument in defense of the system, if the system sucks ass.
I say strike. Either KeSPA takes its head out of its ass and the situation of progamers improves, or the entire scene implodes and a better one eventually replaces it. It's not like all of Korea's BW talent or the market for SC will suddenly disappear if a strike completely upends the existing regime!
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Standard supply and demand. Supply of mediocre players are huge, while supply of star players is low. So, pay the star players enough to keep them, while conditions for mediocre players go down and down until less people are willing to do this.
This will happen no matter what, no matter "what the conditions". Unions? Don't be silly. What you want to do is either make things more competitive (higher skill level to be a progamer/etc), or you just pay them less and less, make conditions worse and worse.
Think other companies will do better? Think conditions will improve if Blizzard or another sponsor came in? Don't count on it, that'll just make the market worse than it is and make an even larger supply of progamers while there is clearly not enough demand for them to begin with (or else they'd be actually paid for their services). I recommend people be realistic, shit like this happen all the time anywhere, whether it be Physics PhDs or sports players in a 3rd world country.
Gotta curb the supply problem if you really want to improve conditions. Unions will just damage the fragile market.
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On May 20 2010 14:00 ryanAnger wrote:
Honestly, what would happen if every pro gamer just stopped playing? Go on strike until they get their rights?
With e-sports being as big as it is in Korea, I don't think the strike would last long before they gave in to the gamers demands.
Well first they'd probably be sued for breaking their contracts, and then they'd be replaced by thousands of players who want to get a chance to play professional starcraft on TV.
You also have to figure it would be pretty foolish of them to strike en masse for the possibility at reform, because if it doesn't work, they've just thrown away what they've been putting 60-90 hours a week for 3+ years into.
Also, the ones really needing a reform are the ones on the bottom, and they are the easiest to replace. A top player making a lot of money, getting a lot of televised matches won't want to throw that away. In the end, a mass strike is a nice dream, but it will be foolish of most players do it.
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On May 20 2010 14:08 Lightwip wrote:Show nested quote +On May 20 2010 13:21 JWD wrote:Like, how can it possibly be that a few informal interviews with Ret and Rekrul and Artosis are far more informative on the true state of Korean eSports than nearly every article to come out of Korea in the past 9 years? Like, why do we need Artosis to tell us in his weekly interview that Jaedong only enrolled in "university" to evade the military? Why wasn't that the first line in Fomos's article on his enrollment? There's so much bullshit here. I think part of it may be that what the Korean sources make are for Koreans, who might understand it better(living in Korea and such), along with the fact that there are some things they really can't say, while foreigners don't have said restrictions.
There are absolutely inefficient cultural barriers at play here, and it may also be true that Korean media is restricted by some archaic, free-speech-crushing regulations.
However it just doesn't make sense that Korean news coverage would suck just because "Koreans already know the real story" (and I've read this argument before). First off, it's obviously not true that all Koreans are informed enough on progaming that it would be pointless for Fomos to do any real reporting (and isn't part of the point of good journalism to teach already-informed readers something new?). But on top of that, writing for an informed audience is not an excuse to suck. You don't see the WSJ or Financial Times or whatever printing misleading articles just because their readers "might understand finance better (being in the business and such)".
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On May 20 2010 14:11 Milkis wrote:
Unions? Don't be silly. What you want to do is either make things more competitive (higher skill level to be a progamer/etc), or you just pay them less and less, make conditions worse and worse.
Think other companies will do better? Think conditions will improve if Blizzard or another sponsor came in? Don't count on it, that'll just make the market worse than it is and make an even larger supply of progamers while there is clearly not enough demand for them to begin with (or else they'd be actually paid for their services). I recommend people be realistic, shit like this happen all the time anywhere, whether it be Physics PhDs or sports players in a 3rd world country.
I understand where you are coming from, but your conclusions make no sense. I don't see how you can dismiss a player union out of hand when players' unions are a major force in every American sports league—leagues that are undoubtedly even more competitive than BW in Korea.
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On May 20 2010 14:15 JWD wrote:Show nested quote +On May 20 2010 14:08 Lightwip wrote:On May 20 2010 13:21 JWD wrote:Like, how can it possibly be that a few informal interviews with Ret and Rekrul and Artosis are far more informative on the true state of Korean eSports than nearly every article to come out of Korea in the past 9 years? Like, why do we need Artosis to tell us in his weekly interview that Jaedong only enrolled in "university" to evade the military? Why wasn't that the first line in Fomos's article on his enrollment? There's so much bullshit here. I think part of it may be that what the Korean sources make are for Koreans, who might understand it better(living in Korea and such), along with the fact that there are some things they really can't say, while foreigners don't have said restrictions. There is absolutely a cultural barrier and it may also be true that Korean media is restricted by some archaic, free-speech-crushing regulations, but it doesn't make sense that Korean news coverage would suck just because "Koreans already know the real story". First off, it's obviously not true that all Koreans are informed enough on progaming that it would be pointless for Fomos to do any real reporting (and isn't part of the point of good journalism to teach already-informed readers something new?). But on top of that, writing for an informed audience is not an excuse to suck. You don't see the WSJ or Financial Times or whatever printing misleading articles just because their readers "might understand finance better (being in the business and such)".
WSJ and Financial Times print misleadings articles all the time.
Anyway, there's no real demand for "real journalism" on Fomos. What would they gain from it, other than making the fragile industry even more fragile? There's no "good" that comes out of it, so I'm guessing KeSPA etc are silencing these outlets so things don't go out of control
I understand where you are coming from, but your conclusions make no sense. I don't see how you can dismiss a player union out of hand when players' unions are a major force in every American sports league—leagues that are undoubtedly even more competitive than BW in Korea.
Unions don't have that much power in Korea. In fact, MBC's recent 30~ day strike got shut down without achieving anything, despite overwhelming support for MBC. There's just such a low possibility that anything will get done especially when these strikes are "illegal" and breaking contracts.Player unions will definitely make the situations if anything, or if they're made, they'll just be for show and serve no real purpose.
Unions attempt to create monopoly power in order to create better conditions for the laborers. It's hard to create monopoly power for anything here unless you get Jaedong Flash etc to join in on the union and go with them, and even then, it'll just make the supply problem worse if anything. It'll just be some artificial problem that'll just make the problem worse overall, until Starcraft gets even bigger in Korea, which I doubt.
You might be right on the supply issue, but isn't like this in most sports? I mean there are probably an enormous amount of people wlling to play proffesional football.
Most players in other sports tend to threathen to strike, but in 90% of the cases they reach an agreement with the ones paying them. There is really only one big difference from the players in other sports and e-sports players in Korea. They don't have a proper union to back them up when they need it. And the unions have worked for other sports so why not Korean esport?
4) What do Minor League players earn?
Minor League Baseball player contracts are handled by the Major League Baseball office. Here are the salary ranges:
First contract season: $1,100/month maximum. After that, open to negotiation
Alien Salary Rates: Different for aliens on visas as mandated by INS (Immigration).
Meal Money: $25 per day at all levels, while on the road
Just consider that, and you'll see how similar that is to the B team conditions in Korea.
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On May 20 2010 14:11 Milkis wrote:
Gotta curb the supply problem if you really want to improve conditions. Unions will just damage the fragile market.
You might be right on the supply issue, but isn't like this in most sports? I mean there are probably an enormous amount of people wlling to play proffesional football.
Most players in other sports tend to threathen to strike, but in 90% of the cases they reach an agreement with the ones paying them. There is really only one big difference from the players in other sports and e-sports players in Korea. They don't have a proper union to back them up when they need it. And the unions have worked for other sports so why not Korean esport?
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On May 20 2010 14:19 Milkis wrote:Show nested quote +On May 20 2010 14:15 JWD wrote:On May 20 2010 14:08 Lightwip wrote:On May 20 2010 13:21 JWD wrote:Like, how can it possibly be that a few informal interviews with Ret and Rekrul and Artosis are far more informative on the true state of Korean eSports than nearly every article to come out of Korea in the past 9 years? Like, why do we need Artosis to tell us in his weekly interview that Jaedong only enrolled in "university" to evade the military? Why wasn't that the first line in Fomos's article on his enrollment? There's so much bullshit here. I think part of it may be that what the Korean sources make are for Koreans, who might understand it better(living in Korea and such), along with the fact that there are some things they really can't say, while foreigners don't have said restrictions. There is absolutely a cultural barrier and it may also be true that Korean media is restricted by some archaic, free-speech-crushing regulations, but it doesn't make sense that Korean news coverage would suck just because "Koreans already know the real story". First off, it's obviously not true that all Koreans are informed enough on progaming that it would be pointless for Fomos to do any real reporting (and isn't part of the point of good journalism to teach already-informed readers something new?). But on top of that, writing for an informed audience is not an excuse to suck. You don't see the WSJ or Financial Times or whatever printing misleading articles just because their readers "might understand finance better (being in the business and such)". WSJ and Financial Times print misleadings articles all the time. Anyway, there's no real demand for "real journalism" on Fomos. What would they gain from it, other than making the fragile industry even more fragile? There's no "good" that comes out of it, so I'm guessing KeSPA etc are silencing these outlets so things don't go out of control
You missed the point on my WSJ/FT analogy.
And how can you say there is no demand for real journalism? Neither of us have data on preferences of Korean news readers, but I think the burden is on you to prove your position because it is extremely counterintuitive to say "Koreans do not want good journalism". I suppose Koreans are also content to consume substandard food, shitty cars, bad computers? No.
The "good" that comes out of quality reporting is enormous. We'd have more transparency into KeSPA and there would be more pressure on its officials to rationalize their decisions. We'd be more outraged about the situation of progamers and players would have more leverage to assert more bargaining rights, higher pay, whatever. And purely from the standpoint of a curious intellectual, we'd benefit from having more, better information about what is actually happening in our beloved eSports leagues.
On May 20 2010 14:22 Vlanitak wrote:Show nested quote +On May 20 2010 14:11 Milkis wrote:
Gotta curb the supply problem if you really want to improve conditions. Unions will just damage the fragile market. You might be right on the supply issue, but isn't like this in most sports? I mean there are probably an enormous amount of people wlling to play proffesional football. Most players in other sports tend to threathen to strike, but in 90% of the cases they reach an agreement with the ones paying them. There is really only one big difference from the players in other sports and e-sports players in Korea. They don't have a proper union to back them up when they need it. And the unions have worked for other sports so why not Korean esport?
+1.
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You might be right on the supply issue, but isn't like this in most sports? I mean there are probably an enormous amount of people wlling to play proffesional football.
Most players in other sports tend to threathen to strike, but in 90% of the cases they reach an agreement with the ones paying them. There is really only one big difference from the players in other sports and e-sports players in Korea. They don't have a proper union to back them up when they need it. And the unions have worked for other sports so why not Korean esport?
4) What do Minor League players earn?
Minor League Baseball player contracts are handled by the Major League Baseball office. Here are the salary ranges:
First contract season: $1,100/month maximum. After that, open to negotiation
Alien Salary Rates: Different for aliens on visas as mandated by INS (Immigration).
Meal Money: $25 per day at all levels, while on the road
Just consider that, and you'll see how similar that is to the B team conditions in Korea. Unions? Only for A teamers, who have already "made it". You're not helping the B teamers at all, really.
You missed the point on my WSJ/FT analogy.
And how can you say there is no demand for real journalism? Neither of us have data on preferences of Korean news readers, but I think the burden is on you to prove your position because it is extremely counterintuitive to say "Koreans do not want good journalism". I suppose Koreans are also content to consume substandard food, shitty cars, bad computers? No.
Ah, sorry about the WSJ/FT analogy.
Anyway, I can say that there is no demand for real journalism for eSports. No matter how popular it may seem, it's not a part of mainstream "accepted" culture by any means. My point is simple -- there's a high probability that "real" journalism in eSports will hurt eSports quite considerably, and pretty much damage it.
I definitely agree that transparency is good, but I'm just cynical about how it can happen with KeSPA running everything, and the entire scene just being so fragile. One big shot and the entire market goes down. That's why I would say there isn't any demand -- remember how careful KeSPA has been on revealing this entire scandal, toning down the entire match rigging to just 12 games and going from there, when the problem was likely much deeper.
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On May 20 2010 14:19 Milkis wrote:Show nested quote +You might be right on the supply issue, but isn't like this in most sports? I mean there are probably an enormous amount of people wlling to play proffesional football.
Most players in other sports tend to threathen to strike, but in 90% of the cases they reach an agreement with the ones paying them. There is really only one big difference from the players in other sports and e-sports players in Korea. They don't have a proper union to back them up when they need it. And the unions have worked for other sports so why not Korean esport? 4) What do Minor League players earn? Minor League Baseball player contracts are handled by the Major League Baseball office. Here are the salary ranges: First contract season: $1,100/month maximum. After that, open to negotiation Alien Salary Rates: Different for aliens on visas as mandated by INS (Immigration). Meal Money: $25 per day at all levels, while on the road Just consider that, and you'll see how similar that is to the B team conditions in Korea.
This is a smart point to raise, but I think you've only highlighted why we consider conditions for players in Korea so poor. Most B-teamers are not getting paid anything. They certainly do not have as many negotiation rights as minor league players (who can, for example, get an agent. Or sign a contract without the approval of their parents, for fuck's sake). And, probably most importantly, minor league baseballers are not required to practice or study the game for 13 hours a day, 7 days a week. (In fact, sidenote: that would probably violate labor laws.)
Put simply: no, B-teamers are not playing under conditions similar to those of minor league baseballers. I understand that there is much less money in progaming than in baseball, so we'd expect conditions for up-and-coming progamers to be much worse than conditions for up-and-coming baseballers. The 13-hour workdays and the lack of pay are understandable—if players want to go through that, it's their decision. What I really object to are the rules that are systematically preventing players from improving their positions. These rules are unfair, archaic, and perhaps keeping players from achieving "efficient" levels of compensation for their work.
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On May 20 2010 14:28 Milkis wrote:
I definitely agree that transparency is good, but I'm just cynical about how it can happen with KeSPA running everything, and the entire scene just being so fragile. One big shot and the entire market goes down. That's why I would say there isn't any demand -- remember how careful KeSPA has been on revealing this entire scandal, toning down the entire match rigging to just 12 games and going from there, when the problem was likely much deeper.
I see your point and I agree that the present eSports scene is somewhat fragile. But what does it really mean that the "market might go down"? I'm going to quote my above post, in response to l10f, because I addressed this there: if the "market going down" means that KeSPA dies and we have true competition for BW leagues, different tourney organizers trying to woo players, that would be a good thing for the game. It's important to differentiate between the risk of losing current progaming institutions, which might actually be great, and the risk of interest in SC disappearing, which would obviously be horrible but is an extremely unlikely consequence of a player strike or great eSports coverage.
On May 20 2010 14:11 JWD wrote:Show nested quote +On May 20 2010 14:04 l10f wrote:
Also, it may bring down the already damaged e-sports scene completely. This sounds like an argument that KeSPA might make to discourage a player strike, but I don't think it holds any water. First, even as a fan I'd gladly tolerate a holdout if it meant better terms for the players. Things like a lighter schedule, more mobility between teams could really up game quality and drama in the pro scene. There are benefits to a strike that are worth risking the "collapse" of eSports in Korea. But what does that really mean?? If "bringing down the eSports scene" means killing KeSPA and wiping the slate clean for new league organizers and a new atmosphere in progaming, I am all for it. "The system would suffer" is not a legitimate argument in defense of the system, if the system sucks ass. I say strike. Either KeSPA takes its head out of its ass and the situation of progamers improves, or the entire scene implodes and a better one eventually replaces it. It's not like all of Korea's BW talent or the market for SC will suddenly disappear if a strike completely upends the existing regime!
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This is a smart point to raise, but I think you've only highlighted why we consider conditions for players in Korea so poor. Most B-teamers are not getting paid anything. They certainly do not have as many negotiation rights as minor league players (who can, for example, get an agent. Or sign a contract without the approval of their parents, for fuck's sake). And, probably most importantly, minor league baseballers are not required to practice or study the game for 13 hours a day, 7 days a week. In fact, that would probably violate labor laws.
1,100 MAXIMUM. In AMERICA. Consider America's Per Capital Income and Korea's, it's twice as big.
I mean, I definitely agree with you that practice requirements are ridiculous. America's lucky to have proper labor laws and a more transparent system overall, but remember, if they're getting away with 1,100 maximum per month in America, that's still lower than minimum wage.
What I really object to are the rules that are systematically preventing players from improving their positions. These rules are unfair, archaic, and perhaps keeping players from achieving "efficient" levels of compensation for their work.
I mean, I agree, but I don't think they prevent players from improving their situations. Remember that corporations likely don't get TOO much money out of sponsoring players so they're just trying to cut costs overall. The practice rules are probably there to see if the player can even make it, since I'm considering many of the A team players practice similar amounts if anything. I also wouldn't make assumptions about Minor League Baseball, either.
But in the end, my point is that such conditions are natural in sports. B team players there aren't going to want to stay in B Team forever, they are there to take their chance at the big leagues, much like Minor League players aren't there to play Minor League Ball forever, they're there for their "dreams". They're willingly making the sacrifice in paycut, harsher conditions, just for that chance. I would simply say that people are just willing to take that risk, and what we need to do is cut down on those people if we really want conditions better, or make B team leagues more popular and profitable.
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This sounds like an argument that KeSPA might make to discourage a player strike, but I don't think it holds any water. First, even as a fan I'd gladly tolerate a holdout if it meant better terms for the players. Things like a lighter schedule, more mobility between teams could really up game quality and drama in the pro scene. There are benefits to a strike that are worth risking the "collapse" of eSports in Korea.
But what does that really mean?? If "bringing down the eSports scene" means killing KeSPA and wiping the slate clean for new league organizers and a new atmosphere in progaming, I am all for it. "The system would suffer" is not a legitimate argument in defense of the system, if the system sucks ass.
I say strike. Either KeSPA takes its head out of its ass and the situation of progamers improves, or the entire scene implodes and a better one eventually replaces it. It's not like all of Korea's BW talent or the market for SC will suddenly disappear if a strike completely upends the existing regime!
All that would happen in a strike is the government steps in and enforces contracts, starleagues gets delayed, and in fact, it'll make getting sponsors even HARDER than before.
Wiping the slate clean? Dont' think that way, Korean corporations will 100% remember, and will just not sponsor. Killing KeSPA is like saying to the corporations that's been sponsoring starcraft forever to fuck off and it's sort of unreasonable to expect such a scene to flourish again after that. In fact, if KeSPA dies for reasons like a strike or bad journalism, eSports in Korea is dead, as no company will want to get involved in that. That's why there's a lot of netizen talk about CJ/Hite disbanding after this season
Don't be idealistic. Starcraft is in Korea, not America.
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On May 20 2010 14:36 Milkis wrote:Show nested quote + What I really object to are the rules that are systematically preventing players from improving their positions. These rules are unfair, archaic, and perhaps keeping players from achieving "efficient" levels of compensation for their work. I mean, I agree, but I don't think they prevent players from improving their situations. Remember that corporations likely don't get TOO much money out of sponsoring players so they're just trying to cut costs overall. The practice rules are probably there to see if the player can even make it, since I'm considering many of the A team players practice similar amounts if anything. I also wouldn't make assumptions about Minor League Baseball, either. But in the end, my point is that such conditions are natural in sports. B team players there aren't going to want to stay in B Team forever, they are there to take their chance at the big leagues, much like Minor League players aren't there to play Minor League Ball forever, they're there for their "dreams". They're willingly making the sacrifice in paycut, harsher conditions, just for that chance. I would simply say that people are just willing to take that risk, and what we need to do is cut down on those people if we really want conditions better, or make B team leagues more popular and profitable.
First off, good discussion here. Your second paragraph above I totally agree with.
However I really object to your statement that the current regime (KeSPA's regulations) are not preventing players from improving their situations. Being denied agents and allowed only a fake, puppet players union obviously kills bargaining power for progamers. Without agents, players (keep in mind these are kids) are being denied the opportunity to get smart, adult counsel on their contract terms and therefore they are opened up to exploitation by their teams. For a prime example of this you need look no further than Jaedong's free agency imbroglio of last fall. I wrote about that here, and I think it's an excellent example of how an awful system of regulations (KeSPA's "Free Agency") hurt a player's ability to get "market" or "fair" wages for his play.
Also it may be true that Korea is a less competitive, or less meritocratic, environment than the US, but I can almost assure you that companies would be willing to step up and sponsor BW leagues in the absence of KeSPA. Progaming is taking off all over the world right now. With SC2 right around the corner it would be just stupid to ignore all of Korea's SC fandom and talent by refusing to sponsor a league in the absence of KeSPA/the current regime. Hell, this is exactly what GOM tried to do for BW—and it failed probably only because KeSPA used its leverage against pro teams to deny GOM the best players. No KeSPA means leagues like GOM succeed—that's true now more than ever, with interest in SC2 peaking.
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yea, to be honest I expected something like this to be the main reason of the scandal, players should rise against KeSPA, with Boxer and lead to a new ear of e-sports
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However I really object to your statement that the current regime (KeSPA's regulations) are not preventing players from improving their situations. Being denied agents and allowed only a fake, puppet players union obviously kills bargaining power for progamers. Without agents, players (keep in mind these are kids) are being denied the opportunity to get smart, adult counsel on their contract terms and therefore they are opened up to exploitation by their teams. For a prime example of this you need look no further than Jaedong's free agency imbroglio of last fall. I wrote about that [yrl=http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=100700]here, and I think it's an excellent example of how an awful system of regulations (KeSPA's "Free Agency") hurt a player's ability to get "market" or "fair" wages for his play. [/url]
Now that you have clarified what you have meant (I have completely misinterpreted it since I was under the impression we were talking about B team players), I agree that those kinds of restrictions are unnecessary, and hinders players from improving their conditions. I don't think agents, however, is feasible -- remember that these players don't have the monetary power to get such advice, and you and I both know exactly what will happen if the teams decide to provide agents for the players as a whole.
My biggest issue with KeSPA and the teams is that they don't operate like a profit making business. Where's the merchandise, and why do I have to wait for specific times to get my starcraft merchandise? Why not sell tickets, why not sell tickets to meet the players, etc? The biggest thing is that the teams get all of their money from sponsors right now, and that's pretty much why any "rights" or "agencies" will be nothing but a farce at this point. When teams have their own income and balances and get more and more independent, that's when Free Agency comes in, and that's when you can actually get what you want to get. (IE, we need billionaires buying teams and buying all the top players, Yankees style), before we do have conditions like the ones for Baseball or any major sports.
Progamers can't bargain, because they're not bargaining with teams, they're bargaining with sponsors. That's a tough sell.
Also it may be true that Korea is a less competitive, or less meritocratic, environment than the US, but I can almost assure you that companies would be willing to step up and sponsor BW leagues in the absence of KeSPA. Progaming is taking off all over the world right now. With SC2 right around the corner it would be just stupid to ignore all of Korea's SC fandom and talent by refusing to sponsor a league in the absence of KeSPA/the current regime. Hell, this is exactly what GOM tried to do for BW—and it failed probably only because KeSPA used its leverage against pro teams to deny GOM the best players. No KeSPA means leagues like GOM succeed—that's true now more than ever, with interest in SC2 peaking.
I don't share your idealism, which is why my response is a lot more cynical "just accept it, that's the way it is" kinda deal. From what I know of Korean culture and Korean corporations, it's highly unlikely that anyone would be willing to pour money into system when the "first system obviously failed" and you have rather disturbing scandals (whether or not that was caused by poor KeSPA practices).
I agree with you, but remember that it's only stupid in our eyes, not theirs. What matters is how korean businesses will see it.
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JWD the answer to all your questions is a combination of cultural differences which extend all the way down to journalism ethics, and probably business politics. Asian cultures simply don't have the same regard for social transparency as westerners do. Whether a reporter's personal ethics should overrule his responsibilities as a journalist is a difficult question to answer. The bottom line is not everything is as absurd as they seem to be. I do however agree the players need a union, I've been making one liners about this for years.
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EPT
