Korean Pros retiring

On July 14 2021 22:37 TMNT wrote:

- Best is not retiring. He only took a break recently to open his restaurant.

On July 15 2021 00:38 Highgamer wrote:


"The Best Restaurant"

lawl, Best just has the Best name.

On July 14 2021 23:42 HaN- wrote:
For those who missed the Larva announcement:

On July 16 2021 01:14 staatbauhaus wrote:
I think it was Hiya who mentioned if he had an opportunity to work an office job he would do it instantly.

A lot of these pros are approaching mid to late 30's with absolutely no financial stability.

Streaming is only a real job to 1% of the streaming population.

Also, 1000 mmr streamers who play 5 melee games a day making 5-20x more $$$ has got to really feel like a kick in the nuts lol.

On July 16 2021 00:43 marwin wrote:
Anyone knows what happened to free? Why did he stop streaming/playing?

On July 16 2021 00:43 marwin wrote:
Anyone knows what happened to free? Why did he stop streaming/playing?

On July 16 2021 01:14 staatbauhaus wrote:
I think it was Hiya who mentioned if he had an opportunity to work an office job he would do it instantly.

A lot of these pros are approaching mid to late 30's with absolutely no financial stability.

Streaming is only a real job to 1% of the streaming population.

Also, 1000 mmr streamers who play 5 melee games a day making 5-20x more $$$ has got to really feel like a kick in the nuts lol.

On July 14 2021 22:37 TMNT wrote:
- Best is not retiring. He only took a break recently to open his restaurant.

On July 20 2021 00:44 Kare wrote:
Who cares? It's not like the game has been a real esport for a long time anyway, the progamers are just using the game as an income source by playing against each other on stream. A lot of people seem to have forgotten that the game has not been popular for 8ish years.

On July 20 2021 00:44 Kare wrote:
Who cares? It's not like the game has been a real esport for a long time anyway, the progamers are just using the game as an income source by playing against each other on stream. A lot of people seem to have forgotten that the game has not been popular for 8ish years.

On July 20 2021 03:50 ...onmYwaY wrote:


Yeh. Who cares if Sidney Crosby stop playing hockey or Roger Federer stop tennis? I am no expert but I would guess that some fans would care.

Does the sport have to be “big” for someone to care? Let me ask you, just how “big” must it be to be considered real? Is chess a real sport? Is pedal canoeing a real sport? It is about the price money or how many people there is in the audience?

If you really like this game you don’t care about any of that stuff. My suggestion is that you stop being a jerk and bugger of to some LOL forum where you can feel safe about it being real.

On July 20 2021 04:47 Kare wrote:


Hockey and Tennis is huge, so not sure what you are talking about there. As someone who watched every match back in 2007 etc, todays BW situation is less than satisfying to say it lightly. I still play some games here and there because I like the game, probably way more than you, but that doesn't mean I care about some koreans stopping playing.

On July 20 2021 00:44 Kare wrote:
Who cares?

On July 20 2021 09:50 Freezard wrote:
Sad but understandable, they've been playing for a very long time now. There's still enough old players in ASL so I'll keep watching but it's not looking great. It's like tennis - the new players just aren't exciting to watch. Once the big players stop playing, there's no appeal to keep watching (for me anyway).

On July 16 2021 01:14 staatbauhaus wrote:
I think it was Hiya who mentioned if he had an opportunity to work an office job he would do it instantly.

A lot of these pros are approaching mid to late 30's with absolutely no financial stability.

Streaming is only a real job to 1% of the streaming population.

Also, 1000 mmr streamers who play 5 melee games a day making 5-20x more $$$ has got to really feel like a kick in the nuts lol.

On July 20 2021 04:47 Kare wrote:


Hockey and Tennis is huge, so not sure what you are talking about there. As someone who watched every match back in 2007 etc, todays BW situation is less than satisfying to say it lightly. I still play some games here and there because I like the game, probably way more than you, but that doesn't mean I care about some koreans stopping playing.

On July 20 2021 14:03 LpTraxamillion wrote:


It has fallen off the last few months but BW was literally peaking (as far as the last 10 years go) not long ago with the Flash R ASL and Queen's team win in ASTL.

These guys don't need huge followings to make relatively good money because their fans are older and have money.

Plus, we will always have Artosis

On July 21 2021 09:23 ...onmYwaY wrote:
Yeha.... and I really don’t like it when people try to romanticize the old KESPA days.

On July 21 2021 16:21 ReachTheSky wrote:


Locked up? That is some serious hyperbole. They were bound to contracts, Just like any real sport. It was no different than being signed to a team in the nba where you were bound by contract only play basketball professionally in the official nba leagues, because it was completely understandable. Players at least got paid a wage they could live off of. Kespa legitimized starcraft as a sport. If it weren't for Kespa, the korean starcraft scene would have never grown as big as it had. Kespa even handled contract negotiations. Kespa was even responsible for making starcraft mainstream on tv through mbcgame and ongamenet. If it weren't for kespa, players like boxer, nada etc etc would have never gotten the big salaries that they did. If it weren't for Kespa, sc1 in korea would have been completely wildwest just like the sc2 scene when it came to teams and players getting paid. If we pretend for a second that a governing body like Kespa wasn't a good thing, then the sc1 scene would have stagnated and fallen off just like the sc2 scene did. Why? Because Kespa brought real structure to the scene. They implemented real qualifications for being a progamer. They created an actual process. If it weren't for Kespa, absolutely nobody in the sc1 or sc2 playerbase would have been inspired to become a pro gamer. Kespa was the main reason sc1 was as successful as it was as an esport and I think it's important to recognize that.

On July 21 2021 21:37 ...onmYwaY wrote:



This is what I mean. I never said that KeSPA was not good for the scene from a marketing or packaging point of view. They did a real good job to romanticize the scene. They made Boxer, Nada etc. as shining examples of what could be if you were on top of the game. Truth is that 99% of the rest struggled for years. They saw money to be made from youth who sacrificed everything to play the game. It is what it is, and kudos to all the players that made it though, but anyone can admit that it was a pretty hard time, that probably broke a lot of people.

Yeh... they did get contracts signed. Contrats that would break you, and me and most of the people here within months. Don't even try to compare it to an NBA contract where you can go home to your family every day - instead of sitting in a crammed apartment with 20 others in front of a screen 12 hours a day. There is nothing romantic about that.

I think that the scene is more healthy today, and I think the players are better off than before during the KeSPA era. Sure, we don’t get massive production with screaming fans and huge SKT and KTF banners. Money goes to the players instead who in turn gives us 1000 hours of streaming content.

On July 21 2021 21:37 ...onmYwaY wrote:



This is what I mean. I never said that KeSPA was not good for the scene from a marketing or packaging point of view. They did a real good job to romanticize the scene. They made Boxer, Nada etc. as shining examples of what could be if you were on top of the game. Truth is that 99% of the rest struggled for years. They saw money to be made from youth who sacrificed everything to play the game. It is what it is, and kudos to all the players that made it though, but anyone can admit that it was a pretty hard time, that probably broke a lot of people.

Yeh... they did get contracts signed. Contrats that would break you, and me and most of the people here within months. Don't even try to compare it to an NBA contract where you can go home to your family every day - instead of sitting in a crammed apartment with 20 others in front of a screen 12 hours a day. There is nothing romantic about that.

I think that the scene is more healthy today, and I think the players are better off than before during the KeSPA era. Sure, we don’t get massive production with screaming fans and huge SKT and KTF banners. Money goes to the players instead who in turn gives us 1000 hours of streaming content.

On July 22 2021 02:30 juvenal wrote:

how about we compare KeSPA to gymnastics/figure skating instead of NBA. Gymnastics/figure skating where star athletes are about the same age as progamers in KeSPA days, where severe physical and psychological trauma is the norm, you're expected to push through broken bones, torn ligaments, sexual abuse, malnutrition, etc. How's that for a comparison? You're much more likely to get a decent contract if you're a grown ass man than if you're a child. KeSPA did it about the same way it's done everywhere else.