On May 18 2011 09:45 eviltomahawk wrote: Oh Ribbon. Thou are quite outspoken on these forums despite honest intentions.
I'm actually quite interested to see what happens to the e-Stars tournament and WCG now that everything has been settled. Will OGN still broadcast WCG 2011 despite the lack of BW? Will e-Stars put Blizzard games back on its lineup?
I'm also interested to see KeSPA-affiliated sponsors and possibly even teams invest in SC2. It was rumored that subsidiaries of SKT and KT tried to sponsor GSL but backed out due to pressure from their parent companies. Also, I wonder if any BW teams will start opening SC2 divisions to test the waters with their B-teamers.
I don't think we'll see people dual-wielding SC2 and BW, because you'd need to practice them both separately. We might see an "SC2" branch of CJ Entus or whatever, but it'll basically be an independent SC2 team with the same name as a BW team.
SC2 and BW are basically going to co-exist and not really step on each other's toes much now. We'll occasionally still see BW players go to SC2 (probably not the reverse) from time to time, but from here on out, SC2 and BW are in the same position as WC3 and BW. It's certainly easier to switch between BW and SC2 than it would be to switch between BW and WC3, but they're different enough games that you basically need to commit to one full time. No one, not Kespa and not Blizzard, is going to really control both scenes now.
On May 18 2011 06:34 Zephirdd wrote: I love how KeSPa and Blizzard were basically killing themselves and now they are all like "I love him, he is the best of the world, this guy is the man"
jokes aside, Awesome to hear that. Looking forward for two years from today to see what will happen once Gretech's contract expires and KeSPa can take SC2 as well.
It's business... I don't know why you guys are even surprised.
I love that SC:BW now can live in peace with Blizzard, and there won't be more hate on SC2.
Since I LOVE both games, and It would be pretty hard to see one going away or something like that.
It's the internet, we'll fight about anything. OP has a pic of a Blizzard employee and a Kespa employee, and I'm mildly surprised there isn't a flame war of which of them would win in a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
If anyone has noticed, while all BW teams are located in Seoul, almost all (except a few, which are in Seoul) of the SC2 teams are in Incheon. Is it possible that the BW scene will remain in Seoul, while Incheon will become the hub of the SC2 industry in Korea? (I think most teams are in Incheon because of cheaper housing and it's close to the Mokdong district in Seoul as I think it's far west).
On May 18 2011 08:01 infinity2k9 wrote: The only stuff i see Ribbon post is about how everything is going to switch to SC2 even if this doesn't represent reality. Seriously i dunno where you get your ideas from.
I said....nothing of the sort. OS2L, if it even happened, would be smaller than the OSL. Significantly, in fact. Even if it continues to grow, SC2 will be a side-show to BW in Korea for at least 5 years, and even that's pretty fucking optimistic (like, Maybe it Flash admitted to paying his opponents to throw games to him using Colombian drug money, or other such major scandal. Maybe.). I'm just saying the too can co-exist. I never said they'd be equal, and I certainly never said SC2 would overtake BW in Korea in the near future.
Korean SC2 is in desperate need of more tournaments than the GSL, or else it's going to collapse. GOM is trying to get more foreign players to go to Korea for tournaments, but it's literally not worth it for foreign players to go to Korea because the foreign scene is just as good for prizes. Preventing SC2 from collapsing is a major goal of Blizzard, and it's almost certainly a factor in making the deal.
If MSL/OSL already run with hardly any profits what makes you think they want to make MSL2/OSL2 at all?
You could keep it profitable by lowering the budget. There's a lot less money in SC2, which means you don't need as much ad revenue to run it profitably. It doesn't have to be as big as the normal OSL. It'd be stupid to make it as big as the OSL right now, in fact. Being optimistic that SC2 can grow doesn't make me blind to the reality that it's not anywhere near Brood War (even if it were an objectively better game right now, and it isn't, Brood War is also firmly ensconced in Korean culture).
(I think OnGameNet was making OS2L rumblings at some point, but they might be soured on that now)
But, y'know, it'd probably be bigger than BW 2v2s were.
Even if the Gretech rights run out they would likely prefer to just broadcast GSL on their own terms for them rather than run their own tournaments at a loss. But this is total speculation anyway like everything you are saying, what we've been told solely relates to BW and nothing else.
And the contract expiring at the same time as GOM's is a coincidence? Even if Kespa isn't thinking it, Blizzard most certainly is.
tl;dr: Blizzard REALLY REALLY NEEDS more SC2 tournaments in Korea, and that's absolutely a big part of the reason they gave in to Kespa, even though they're obviously not going to say it.
You also have to take note of the absence of LAN play. This is seriously hindering SC2 to be taken seriously as an e-Sport.
I don't think that matters nearly as much as people think. Blizz is going to make a tournament server functionality to keep things local. They've been promising it forever, but it'll happen if the lack of it causes enough ratings damage. Which I'm not convinced it will. Jaedong beat Flash via power failure once (and I saw that game, Flash was totally still in it!), but it hardly killed BW.
What's likely to happen now if things continue as is is that the SC2 e-sports scene continues to be huge in the foreign tournaments, to the point that it grows e-sports generally but quite a bit, but fails in Korea because getting sick and losing in the Code A qualifiers means you make 0 dollars at Starcraft for the whole month. And maybe that's okay for Kespa, and it's okay for foreign SC2 players, but it's a huge embarrassment for Blizzard.
I don't think Blizzard is trying to replace BW in Korea anymore. That fight is lost. They want to keep SC2 alive in Korea, and to do that they need more tournaments, or else all the Korean players will either quit or move away to play in the foreign scene. If Kespa offered to host an SC2 tournament, even a relatively tiny one that ran at 3am between the Bowflex Infomercial and the Skeezy porn flicks, they could get a lot for that. GOM is desperate enough that they're paying for Tastosis and some GSL players to go to MLG, which they're taking a break in their big Super Tournament to not conflict with it.
Blizzard /Gretech is in a very desperate position, and it's important to understand that to understand why they're suddenly so accommodating to Kespa. SC2 is in serious danger of failing in Korea, but not because the fans are threatening to walk out; because the players are.
(Admittedly, a lot of my source for this is Idra and Incontrol talking about it on SOTG, but the fact that foreign SC2 players can't be bothered to go to Korea even with a free Code S seed is pretty uncontroversial).
Edit: I don't want to start a SC2 vs BW thread. I like SC2 quite a bit and think it has potential, but BW is absolutely better right now and will almost certainly still be better in 5 years. I'm talking about the reality of the two scenes in as much as it affects the contract negociations.
The ping will still be a huge factor for high gameplay. If they are not going to implement LAN, then there will be huge issues. Comparing the power outage to absense of LAN is quite absurd, IMO. Having to put up with even a small delay would greatly hamper the quality of top level gameplay. For example in BW ZvZ, a single lag would cause huge disaster because everything counts. The problem with the power outage was that it only one set of game was affected by it whereas LAN play, it would affect all gameplay.
On May 18 2011 08:01 infinity2k9 wrote: The only stuff i see Ribbon post is about how everything is going to switch to SC2 even if this doesn't represent reality. Seriously i dunno where you get your ideas from.
I said....nothing of the sort. OS2L, if it even happened, would be smaller than the OSL. Significantly, in fact. Even if it continues to grow, SC2 will be a side-show to BW in Korea for at least 5 years, and even that's pretty fucking optimistic (like, Maybe it Flash admitted to paying his opponents to throw games to him using Colombian drug money, or other such major scandal. Maybe.). I'm just saying the too can co-exist. I never said they'd be equal, and I certainly never said SC2 would overtake BW in Korea in the near future.
Korean SC2 is in desperate need of more tournaments than the GSL, or else it's going to collapse. GOM is trying to get more foreign players to go to Korea for tournaments, but it's literally not worth it for foreign players to go to Korea because the foreign scene is just as good for prizes. Preventing SC2 from collapsing is a major goal of Blizzard, and it's almost certainly a factor in making the deal.
If MSL/OSL already run with hardly any profits what makes you think they want to make MSL2/OSL2 at all?
You could keep it profitable by lowering the budget. There's a lot less money in SC2, which means you don't need as much ad revenue to run it profitably. It doesn't have to be as big as the normal OSL. It'd be stupid to make it as big as the OSL right now, in fact. Being optimistic that SC2 can grow doesn't make me blind to the reality that it's not anywhere near Brood War (even if it were an objectively better game right now, and it isn't, Brood War is also firmly ensconced in Korean culture).
(I think OnGameNet was making OS2L rumblings at some point, but they might be soured on that now)
But, y'know, it'd probably be bigger than BW 2v2s were.
Even if the Gretech rights run out they would likely prefer to just broadcast GSL on their own terms for them rather than run their own tournaments at a loss. But this is total speculation anyway like everything you are saying, what we've been told solely relates to BW and nothing else.
And the contract expiring at the same time as GOM's is a coincidence? Even if Kespa isn't thinking it, Blizzard most certainly is.
tl;dr: Blizzard REALLY REALLY NEEDS more SC2 tournaments in Korea, and that's absolutely a big part of the reason they gave in to Kespa, even though they're obviously not going to say it.
You also have to take note of the absence of LAN play. This is seriously hindering SC2 to be taken seriously as an e-Sport.
I don't think that matters nearly as much as people think. Blizz is going to make a tournament server functionality to keep things local. They've been promising it forever, but it'll happen if the lack of it causes enough ratings damage. Which I'm not convinced it will. Jaedong beat Flash via power failure once (and I saw that game, Flash was totally still in it!), but it hardly killed BW.
What's likely to happen now if things continue as is is that the SC2 e-sports scene continues to be huge in the foreign tournaments, to the point that it grows e-sports generally but quite a bit, but fails in Korea because getting sick and losing in the Code A qualifiers means you make 0 dollars at Starcraft for the whole month. And maybe that's okay for Kespa, and it's okay for foreign SC2 players, but it's a huge embarrassment for Blizzard.
I don't think Blizzard is trying to replace BW in Korea anymore. That fight is lost. They want to keep SC2 alive in Korea, and to do that they need more tournaments, or else all the Korean players will either quit or move away to play in the foreign scene. If Kespa offered to host an SC2 tournament, even a relatively tiny one that ran at 3am between the Bowflex Infomercial and the Skeezy porn flicks, they could get a lot for that. GOM is desperate enough that they're paying for Tastosis and some GSL players to go to MLG, which they're taking a break in their big Super Tournament to not conflict with it.
Blizzard /Gretech is in a very desperate position, and it's important to understand that to understand why they're suddenly so accommodating to Kespa. SC2 is in serious danger of failing in Korea, but not because the fans are threatening to walk out; because the players are.
(Admittedly, a lot of my source for this is Idra and Incontrol talking about it on SOTG, but the fact that foreign SC2 players can't be bothered to go to Korea even with a free Code S seed is pretty uncontroversial).
Edit: I don't want to start a SC2 vs BW thread. I like SC2 quite a bit and think it has potential, but BW is absolutely better right now and will almost certainly still be better in 5 years. I'm talking about the reality of the two scenes in as much as it affects the contract negociations.
The ping will still be a huge factor for high gameplay. If they are not going to implement LAN, then there will be huge issues. Comparing the power outage to absense of LAN is quite absurd, IMO. Having to put up with even a small delay would greatly hamper the quality of top level gameplay. For example in BW ZvZ, a single lag would cause huge disaster because everything counts. The problem with the power outage was that it only one set of game was affected by it whereas LAN play, it would affect all gameplay.
I actually agree with Ribbon - the ping is not the major factor. What Korea needs is more SC2 tournaments which the result is the Blizzard deal with Kespa. GSL is a good tournament but if someone is eliminated early, there is nothing to do for a whole month. Which is not good for the players, not to mention the foreigners. Having more tournaments will solve this issue.
On May 18 2011 08:01 infinity2k9 wrote: The only stuff i see Ribbon post is about how everything is going to switch to SC2 even if this doesn't represent reality. Seriously i dunno where you get your ideas from.
I said....nothing of the sort. OS2L, if it even happened, would be smaller than the OSL. Significantly, in fact. Even if it continues to grow, SC2 will be a side-show to BW in Korea for at least 5 years, and even that's pretty fucking optimistic (like, Maybe it Flash admitted to paying his opponents to throw games to him using Colombian drug money, or other such major scandal. Maybe.). I'm just saying the too can co-exist. I never said they'd be equal, and I certainly never said SC2 would overtake BW in Korea in the near future.
Korean SC2 is in desperate need of more tournaments than the GSL, or else it's going to collapse. GOM is trying to get more foreign players to go to Korea for tournaments, but it's literally not worth it for foreign players to go to Korea because the foreign scene is just as good for prizes. Preventing SC2 from collapsing is a major goal of Blizzard, and it's almost certainly a factor in making the deal.
If MSL/OSL already run with hardly any profits what makes you think they want to make MSL2/OSL2 at all?
You could keep it profitable by lowering the budget. There's a lot less money in SC2, which means you don't need as much ad revenue to run it profitably. It doesn't have to be as big as the normal OSL. It'd be stupid to make it as big as the OSL right now, in fact. Being optimistic that SC2 can grow doesn't make me blind to the reality that it's not anywhere near Brood War (even if it were an objectively better game right now, and it isn't, Brood War is also firmly ensconced in Korean culture).
(I think OnGameNet was making OS2L rumblings at some point, but they might be soured on that now)
But, y'know, it'd probably be bigger than BW 2v2s were.
Even if the Gretech rights run out they would likely prefer to just broadcast GSL on their own terms for them rather than run their own tournaments at a loss. But this is total speculation anyway like everything you are saying, what we've been told solely relates to BW and nothing else.
And the contract expiring at the same time as GOM's is a coincidence? Even if Kespa isn't thinking it, Blizzard most certainly is.
tl;dr: Blizzard REALLY REALLY NEEDS more SC2 tournaments in Korea, and that's absolutely a big part of the reason they gave in to Kespa, even though they're obviously not going to say it.
You also have to take note of the absence of LAN play. This is seriously hindering SC2 to be taken seriously as an e-Sport.
I don't think that matters nearly as much as people think. Blizz is going to make a tournament server functionality to keep things local. They've been promising it forever, but it'll happen if the lack of it causes enough ratings damage. Which I'm not convinced it will. Jaedong beat Flash via power failure once (and I saw that game, Flash was totally still in it!), but it hardly killed BW.
What's likely to happen now if things continue as is is that the SC2 e-sports scene continues to be huge in the foreign tournaments, to the point that it grows e-sports generally but quite a bit, but fails in Korea because getting sick and losing in the Code A qualifiers means you make 0 dollars at Starcraft for the whole month. And maybe that's okay for Kespa, and it's okay for foreign SC2 players, but it's a huge embarrassment for Blizzard.
I don't think Blizzard is trying to replace BW in Korea anymore. That fight is lost. They want to keep SC2 alive in Korea, and to do that they need more tournaments, or else all the Korean players will either quit or move away to play in the foreign scene. If Kespa offered to host an SC2 tournament, even a relatively tiny one that ran at 3am between the Bowflex Infomercial and the Skeezy porn flicks, they could get a lot for that. GOM is desperate enough that they're paying for Tastosis and some GSL players to go to MLG, which they're taking a break in their big Super Tournament to not conflict with it.
Blizzard /Gretech is in a very desperate position, and it's important to understand that to understand why they're suddenly so accommodating to Kespa. SC2 is in serious danger of failing in Korea, but not because the fans are threatening to walk out; because the players are.
(Admittedly, a lot of my source for this is Idra and Incontrol talking about it on SOTG, but the fact that foreign SC2 players can't be bothered to go to Korea even with a free Code S seed is pretty uncontroversial).
Edit: I don't want to start a SC2 vs BW thread. I like SC2 quite a bit and think it has potential, but BW is absolutely better right now and will almost certainly still be better in 5 years. I'm talking about the reality of the two scenes in as much as it affects the contract negociations.
The ping will still be a huge factor for high gameplay. If they are not going to implement LAN, then there will be huge issues. Comparing the power outage to absense of LAN is quite absurd, IMO. Having to put up with even a small delay would greatly hamper the quality of top level gameplay. For example in BW ZvZ, a single lag would cause huge disaster because everything counts. The problem with the power outage was that it only one set of game was affected by it whereas LAN play, it would affect all gameplay.
I actually agree with Ribbon - the ping is not the major factor. What Korea needs is more SC2 tournaments which the result is the Blizzard deal with Kespa. GSL is a good tournament but if someone is eliminated early, there is nothing to do for a whole month. Which is not good for the players, not to mention the foreigners. Having more tournaments will solve this issue.
idk .. Sc2 not being p2p can be a technical issue. Regarding tournaments, thats up to the players and sponsor. but we'll see.
On May 18 2011 08:01 infinity2k9 wrote: The only stuff i see Ribbon post is about how everything is going to switch to SC2 even if this doesn't represent reality. Seriously i dunno where you get your ideas from.
I said....nothing of the sort. OS2L, if it even happened, would be smaller than the OSL. Significantly, in fact. Even if it continues to grow, SC2 will be a side-show to BW in Korea for at least 5 years, and even that's pretty fucking optimistic (like, Maybe it Flash admitted to paying his opponents to throw games to him using Colombian drug money, or other such major scandal. Maybe.). I'm just saying the too can co-exist. I never said they'd be equal, and I certainly never said SC2 would overtake BW in Korea in the near future.
Korean SC2 is in desperate need of more tournaments than the GSL, or else it's going to collapse. GOM is trying to get more foreign players to go to Korea for tournaments, but it's literally not worth it for foreign players to go to Korea because the foreign scene is just as good for prizes. Preventing SC2 from collapsing is a major goal of Blizzard, and it's almost certainly a factor in making the deal.
If MSL/OSL already run with hardly any profits what makes you think they want to make MSL2/OSL2 at all?
You could keep it profitable by lowering the budget. There's a lot less money in SC2, which means you don't need as much ad revenue to run it profitably. It doesn't have to be as big as the normal OSL. It'd be stupid to make it as big as the OSL right now, in fact. Being optimistic that SC2 can grow doesn't make me blind to the reality that it's not anywhere near Brood War (even if it were an objectively better game right now, and it isn't, Brood War is also firmly ensconced in Korean culture).
(I think OnGameNet was making OS2L rumblings at some point, but they might be soured on that now)
But, y'know, it'd probably be bigger than BW 2v2s were.
Even if the Gretech rights run out they would likely prefer to just broadcast GSL on their own terms for them rather than run their own tournaments at a loss. But this is total speculation anyway like everything you are saying, what we've been told solely relates to BW and nothing else.
And the contract expiring at the same time as GOM's is a coincidence? Even if Kespa isn't thinking it, Blizzard most certainly is.
tl;dr: Blizzard REALLY REALLY NEEDS more SC2 tournaments in Korea, and that's absolutely a big part of the reason they gave in to Kespa, even though they're obviously not going to say it.
You also have to take note of the absence of LAN play. This is seriously hindering SC2 to be taken seriously as an e-Sport.
I don't think that matters nearly as much as people think. Blizz is going to make a tournament server functionality to keep things local. They've been promising it forever, but it'll happen if the lack of it causes enough ratings damage. Which I'm not convinced it will. Jaedong beat Flash via power failure once (and I saw that game, Flash was totally still in it!), but it hardly killed BW.
What's likely to happen now if things continue as is is that the SC2 e-sports scene continues to be huge in the foreign tournaments, to the point that it grows e-sports generally but quite a bit, but fails in Korea because getting sick and losing in the Code A qualifiers means you make 0 dollars at Starcraft for the whole month. And maybe that's okay for Kespa, and it's okay for foreign SC2 players, but it's a huge embarrassment for Blizzard.
I don't think Blizzard is trying to replace BW in Korea anymore. That fight is lost. They want to keep SC2 alive in Korea, and to do that they need more tournaments, or else all the Korean players will either quit or move away to play in the foreign scene. If Kespa offered to host an SC2 tournament, even a relatively tiny one that ran at 3am between the Bowflex Infomercial and the Skeezy porn flicks, they could get a lot for that. GOM is desperate enough that they're paying for Tastosis and some GSL players to go to MLG, which they're taking a break in their big Super Tournament to not conflict with it.
Blizzard /Gretech is in a very desperate position, and it's important to understand that to understand why they're suddenly so accommodating to Kespa. SC2 is in serious danger of failing in Korea, but not because the fans are threatening to walk out; because the players are.
(Admittedly, a lot of my source for this is Idra and Incontrol talking about it on SOTG, but the fact that foreign SC2 players can't be bothered to go to Korea even with a free Code S seed is pretty uncontroversial).
Edit: I don't want to start a SC2 vs BW thread. I like SC2 quite a bit and think it has potential, but BW is absolutely better right now and will almost certainly still be better in 5 years. I'm talking about the reality of the two scenes in as much as it affects the contract negociations.
The ping will still be a huge factor for high gameplay. If they are not going to implement LAN, then there will be huge issues. Comparing the power outage to absense of LAN is quite absurd, IMO. Having to put up with even a small delay would greatly hamper the quality of top level gameplay. For example in BW ZvZ, a single lag would cause huge disaster because everything counts. The problem with the power outage was that it only one set of game was affected by it whereas LAN play, it would affect all gameplay.
The ping is fine as long as it's consistent. I don't thing I've heard a single SC2 player complain about lag and not be talking about playing transcontinental games. If that really does become a problem, and I doubt it will, Blizz has said they're going to make "tournament servers" for exactly this issue. Even then, I've heard Korean players say the Korea-to-NA lag isn't that bad once you get used to it.
Ping *is* a concern when Koreans play in non-Korean online events like the TSL or NASL, but there's not much that can be done about that right now. Lag *spikes* are very bad, but consistent small latency isn't really a big deal. Even LAN has a little latency.
And I mentioned power outages because I thought you were talking about drops and stuff, which does happen more than it should, but not a lot.
On May 18 2011 08:01 infinity2k9 wrote: The only stuff i see Ribbon post is about how everything is going to switch to SC2 even if this doesn't represent reality. Seriously i dunno where you get your ideas from.
I said....nothing of the sort. OS2L, if it even happened, would be smaller than the OSL. Significantly, in fact. Even if it continues to grow, SC2 will be a side-show to BW in Korea for at least 5 years, and even that's pretty fucking optimistic (like, Maybe it Flash admitted to paying his opponents to throw games to him using Colombian drug money, or other such major scandal. Maybe.). I'm just saying the too can co-exist. I never said they'd be equal, and I certainly never said SC2 would overtake BW in Korea in the near future.
Korean SC2 is in desperate need of more tournaments than the GSL, or else it's going to collapse. GOM is trying to get more foreign players to go to Korea for tournaments, but it's literally not worth it for foreign players to go to Korea because the foreign scene is just as good for prizes. Preventing SC2 from collapsing is a major goal of Blizzard, and it's almost certainly a factor in making the deal.
If MSL/OSL already run with hardly any profits what makes you think they want to make MSL2/OSL2 at all?
You could keep it profitable by lowering the budget. There's a lot less money in SC2, which means you don't need as much ad revenue to run it profitably. It doesn't have to be as big as the normal OSL. It'd be stupid to make it as big as the OSL right now, in fact. Being optimistic that SC2 can grow doesn't make me blind to the reality that it's not anywhere near Brood War (even if it were an objectively better game right now, and it isn't, Brood War is also firmly ensconced in Korean culture).
(I think OnGameNet was making OS2L rumblings at some point, but they might be soured on that now)
But, y'know, it'd probably be bigger than BW 2v2s were.
Even if the Gretech rights run out they would likely prefer to just broadcast GSL on their own terms for them rather than run their own tournaments at a loss. But this is total speculation anyway like everything you are saying, what we've been told solely relates to BW and nothing else.
And the contract expiring at the same time as GOM's is a coincidence? Even if Kespa isn't thinking it, Blizzard most certainly is.
tl;dr: Blizzard REALLY REALLY NEEDS more SC2 tournaments in Korea, and that's absolutely a big part of the reason they gave in to Kespa, even though they're obviously not going to say it.
You also have to take note of the absence of LAN play. This is seriously hindering SC2 to be taken seriously as an e-Sport.
I don't think that matters nearly as much as people think. Blizz is going to make a tournament server functionality to keep things local. They've been promising it forever, but it'll happen if the lack of it causes enough ratings damage. Which I'm not convinced it will. Jaedong beat Flash via power failure once (and I saw that game, Flash was totally still in it!), but it hardly killed BW.
What's likely to happen now if things continue as is is that the SC2 e-sports scene continues to be huge in the foreign tournaments, to the point that it grows e-sports generally but quite a bit, but fails in Korea because getting sick and losing in the Code A qualifiers means you make 0 dollars at Starcraft for the whole month. And maybe that's okay for Kespa, and it's okay for foreign SC2 players, but it's a huge embarrassment for Blizzard.
I don't think Blizzard is trying to replace BW in Korea anymore. That fight is lost. They want to keep SC2 alive in Korea, and to do that they need more tournaments, or else all the Korean players will either quit or move away to play in the foreign scene. If Kespa offered to host an SC2 tournament, even a relatively tiny one that ran at 3am between the Bowflex Infomercial and the Skeezy porn flicks, they could get a lot for that. GOM is desperate enough that they're paying for Tastosis and some GSL players to go to MLG, which they're taking a break in their big Super Tournament to not conflict with it.
Blizzard /Gretech is in a very desperate position, and it's important to understand that to understand why they're suddenly so accommodating to Kespa. SC2 is in serious danger of failing in Korea, but not because the fans are threatening to walk out; because the players are.
(Admittedly, a lot of my source for this is Idra and Incontrol talking about it on SOTG, but the fact that foreign SC2 players can't be bothered to go to Korea even with a free Code S seed is pretty uncontroversial).
Edit: I don't want to start a SC2 vs BW thread. I like SC2 quite a bit and think it has potential, but BW is absolutely better right now and will almost certainly still be better in 5 years. I'm talking about the reality of the two scenes in as much as it affects the contract negociations.
The ping will still be a huge factor for high gameplay. If they are not going to implement LAN, then there will be huge issues. Comparing the power outage to absense of LAN is quite absurd, IMO. Having to put up with even a small delay would greatly hamper the quality of top level gameplay. For example in BW ZvZ, a single lag would cause huge disaster because everything counts. The problem with the power outage was that it only one set of game was affected by it whereas LAN play, it would affect all gameplay.
I actually agree with Ribbon - the ping is not the major factor. What Korea needs is more SC2 tournaments which the result is the Blizzard deal with Kespa. GSL is a good tournament but if someone is eliminated early, there is nothing to do for a whole month. Which is not good for the players, not to mention the foreigners. Having more tournaments will solve this issue.
It'd be so weird if the SC2 capital of the word ended up being Sweden or something. GOM's making an announcement about that tomorrow (coincidental timing? Maybe), so we'll see. They're changing their formats to, among other things, allow Korean players to go to MLG. (And, rumor, increase the time dedicated to team leagues. Which is a bit off-topic but pleasepleaseplease)
Ping is not an issue right now because there's hardly any micro that requires good latency (unlike BW). The lack of LAN is, however, one of the prime reasons people bring up when arguing that adding more (mechanical) micro by blizzard would be pointless.
In other words, once we get LAN, we can move on to fix the lack of micro.
Anyone know what the contract ended up looking like... "who" does it favor?
I'm sure it favors blizzard as they technically have the law on their side. But honestly, blizzard knows that it's in their best interest to keep kespa in the game on their side, as they provide free promotion for blizzard.
Anyone know what the contract ended up looking like... "who" does it favor?
I'm sure it favors blizzard as they technically have the law on their side. But honestly, blizzard knows that it's in their best interest to keep kespa in the game on their side, as they provide free promotion for blizzard.
Considering Blizzard got none of their stupid demands the law is not on their side.... the right to audit kespa...lol...100% ownership of all things BW related... the leagues.... the teams.... players contracts...lololol
Anyone know what the contract ended up looking like... "who" does it favor?
I'm sure it favors blizzard as they technically have the law on their side. But honestly, blizzard knows that it's in their best interest to keep kespa in the game on their side, as they provide free promotion for blizzard.
Considering Blizzard got none of their stupid demands the law is not on their side.... the right to audit kespa...lol...100% ownership of all things BW related... the leagues.... the teams.... players contracts...lololol
Yup. It's funny because it's actually quite the opposite. Like SC2 never happened.
nice to see they could finally agree. now i can only hope the bw teams will start sc2 teams as well, maybe from their b- teams so that starcraft scene grows bigger!
Blizzard sure miscalculated the loyalty level of BW fans in South Korea. Now seeing SC2 even has less popularity than BW proleague in S. Korea, blizzard has to change its strategy.
I think that to assume that Blizzard would reach an agreement that does not lead to the growth of SC2 in Korea is naive. Therefore, the most likely outcome of this is more SC2 tournaments in Korea.
I'm surprised it ended so quickly and abruptly. Wonder what the details of the negotiation are? Anyone know? I wonder who took the lesser end of the deal? So much speculation
You guys going on about 'Well it must mean something for SC2 or they wouldn't do it!' don't make any sense, this is solely about the BW rights and it doesn't indicate any intentions towards anything else right now, just think about it objectively;
The fact both of the contracts run for 2 years doesn't mean anything... if Blizzard wanted KeSPA to take over they would simply cancel the exclusivity with Gretech and allow KeSPA to broadcast too. Just because they gave them the BW rights after having to go to a court case first doesn't mean they want to give them SC2 at all, you think they are best buddies all of a sudden now? If anything it looks very possible the case wasn't progressing in a direction they wanted hence the fairly easy settlement on KeSPAs part.
Gretech could infact even allow KeSPA to broadcast SC2 right now... they are allowed to sublicense it i believe (why would Gretech want competition though, this would only happen if Blizzard asked them and it was on Gretechs terms). The 2 year contract is likely just a timeframe they've decided to give broadcasting rights out because it's a good period of time in between re-assessments of the situation. And of course the contract is going to allow Blizzard to break it off and redecide what they want at any time, so don't try and suggest to me that they MUST keep it exclusive for Gretech.
Anyway i'm sure people are going to still go on about how SC2 is suddenly going to have more tournaments, teams will accept the game with open arms, the whole of Korea will unite in their newfound love of Starcraft 2. Just like people kept saying it was impossible for KeSPA to come out of this situation with Blizzard in any good way... and now look.
EPT
