EPTOn December 15 2011 06:33 GOMTV wrote:
There seems to be great confusion regarding an incident involving NaNiWa that took place on the second day of Blizzard Cup. We would like to clarify this matter and hereby announce our official stance towards the incident.
There seems to be great confusion regarding an incident involving NaNiWa that took place on the second day of Blizzard Cup. We would like to clarify this matter and hereby announce our official stance towards the incident.
GOMTV announces a great confusion, but this may simply not be the case. Please do not be influenced by GOMTV's comments or responses as they may be simply untrue and attempt to take advantage of the community's good will.
As an organisation, when you announce a decision you provide reasoning behind the decision the moment it bcomes public. What you are seeing here, is a more calculated and knifing approach designed to:
Analyse the community's response before deciding upon an announcement which publicly benefits the current position of GOMTV which aims to caters for the majority of the community in a way in which GOM walks out the winner and community leader
Do not be fooled.
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Here is the reasons behind the process in which GOMTV 'REMOVES & REPLACES Naniwa':
A) Maintain GOMTV's 'presence or stature' of being the worldwide premier tournament.
Did anyone ever stop to wonder as to why the MLG & GSL transfer every stopped? Step back for a moment and keep an open mind.
The majority of viewers GOMTV is aiming to attract is the worldwide market, however GOMTV did not think very strategically when they agreed to player transfers with MLG. If any of you have noticed the amount of viewers watching MLG & GOMTV, you will notice that MLG has only increased its viewership and GOMTV's viewership has declined. There are some legitimate reasons behind this:
1) By agreeing to the player transfer, MLG is able to take 'the very best korean players' and the 'very best foreigners' all at once. The barriers of playing in the United States are far less than the barriers in participating in GSL. This means that you will recieve a much greater and broader range of players worldwide competing, which in turn creates much greater value for the viewer. Additionally, the entire event is cast in ENGLISH! A popular language no doubt!
2) Once upon a time, GSL was 'THE TOURNAMENT'.. And why do you think this is? Very simply, the best of the best remained in Korea and this meant that to see the greatest game play, you would have to tune in to the GSL during an awkward time of day. This gave it 'prestige, desirability and a competitive advantage in having all the best players and talent delivering high quality starcraft 2 gaming'.
HOWEVER!
The market leaders are changing! Yes, MLG is now closer to the market leader in providing high quality value and entertainment for Esports Viewers. For some time now, MLG has been stealing marketshare of the starcraft 2 viewership numbers. Why watch 'all' the koreans when you can just watch the very best vs players who you know locally, directly or someone from your own region of the world? I can keep talking about this, but lets get down to business.
This move by GOMTV is a POWER BASED MOVE and has MOTIVES behind it. What this move is:
- A slap in the face to MLG, "We do not have to honour our agreement with you.. And this publicity helps us to achieve this.. It means less top koreans participating in your events and more focus on our events.
- Sends a message that GOTMV will not put up with Naniwa but MLG/other tournaments will, hence attempting to 'establish itself as the premier tournament or maintain higher status within the minds of its market' We are above dealing with conflict mentality.
- Cultural Discrimination: Both Idra and Sen have been affiliated with Korea for some time now, and Naniwa has not. Naniwa broke NO RULES, if GOMTV were not interested in playing this move to their advantage, they would simply modify the rules for future events. GOMTV is telling us all, that WHEN THEY FEEEEEL like it, they will disadvantage you. In many countries & regions around the world, the rules are what matter, and if the rules do not suffice, you change them.
Korean e-sports fans generally share this understanding of the term 'professional athlete’ or in this case 'progamer', and might be less likely to tolerate a deviation from these core values compared to overseas communities.
[B]According to this quote, Naniwa is being discriminated against based upon 'Korean Values' rather than any legitimate issue. If Naniwa wants to probe rush, then its his strategic choice to do so. He even GGd, infact someone who just 'leaves the game' is more or less likely worse. Additionally, how about all those players who 'don't leave the game when its over'... What Naniwa did may be frowned upon, but it was clearly within his right to do what he did, and GOMTV is just using this 'legitimate match' to further there own agenda and discriminate against Naniwa.
[b]
Do not be fooled by GOM's true motives, they are an organisation and are out to profit in both the short term and the long term. It can be very easy to just go along and say 'I support GOM and back them 100%'. Yes they may support community interests, but this does not mean you should not consider all possibilities on the table, GOM will be adapting a strategy against MLG as a competitor in 2012, wait and see.
Player Rights have not been considered in this topic, and Naniwa would have a 'Strong Legal Standing' in regards to this incident should it go to court.
NaNiWa has however purposefully not tried his best and shown this in a disrespectful manner. This was not only disappointing for his opponent NesTea and the GSL, but also for the many fans who had anticipated a great match. This behavior does not match with the definition of a progamer as laid out in the paragraph above.
Once again, Naniwa is being discriminated against by Korean culture or Corporate power play. I QUOTE: 'as laid out in the paragraph above'. If it DOES NOT MATCH with your paragraph above, then please feel free to publicize this, rather than defining your own principles as you go along. Whatever suits your needs is your definition according to how you have handled this. I am deeply disappointed in GOM for the way it is acting.
