The Problem With Esports - Page 5

On September 30 2010 06:32 Pokebunny wrote:
I disagree.

I'm as much of a brood war nostalgia lover as anyone. I loved the brood war days, played thousands of games on ICCup, made thousands of posts here about brood war. I hope that you won't read this post and think "ugh another kid who loves shiny graphics".

I believe SC2 will and must replace brood war as far as foreign eSports, and frankly at this point, Korea as well. Quite simply, when there's a sequel with a better game engine and graphics, especially one with the name brand of the best eSport of all time, sponsors will flock to it. They already have. We're seeing nearly as many foreign tournaments with prizes in six months than we did in nearly twelve years in brood war, outside of Korea.

Brood war can no longer grow with SC2 existing. Assuming SC2's ultimate success, which is so far turning out well even with all the flaws, the best brood war can do is stay stagnant. Brood war will no longer draw in new players. While your point is well made and completely logical, it's just not how the world works. Sports live in a world driven by media. Baseball introduced balls that carry better when hit to keep people interested. Scandals are given more attention than success. Is SC2 a "better game"? In my opinion, yes, but you can't arbitrarily define "better" as more competitive and having a higher skill cap. The more money, the more fame, the larger community = better in the world of eSports. The way the brood war community is will never catch on outside of Korea. Korea succeeds because of the fact that everyone sees the players as idols, sees them as real people. We see each other as internet personalities, even the top players. We don't know half their real names until they make it big. In Korea, it's part of the social culture. It can't catch on until it's accessible to the public, which brood war will never be.

This was a poorly structured post, and I mainly just wrote whatever came into my mind. I've often longed for the days before we worried about SC2, because really, neither of them are as enjoyable to me anymore. Last night I had a conversation with a friend I met at a SC2 LAN, and I brought him through some of the events of the brood war era teamliquid, thinking back about all the greatness that once was. I wish it could exist again, but we'll never see this greatness again.