Stop the Korean Invasion! - Page 25

On June 06 2012 23:38 Shiori wrote:
Here's a question: did anyone even watch NASL when they basically had no Koreans? I know I didn't.

On June 06 2012 23:37 Swipe wrote:
Okay, I need help getting something. What makes Koreans so faceless? They're still people with backstories and motivation and dreams, and I love watching my favorite players win regardless of nationality. I mean, I still love rooting for my foreigner favorites in mostly Korean tournaments, but that's more because I like to root for the underdog than because I prefer foreigners. I look at MLG's brackets and see 16 players; I don't really care about nationality. Why's it make a difference where a player is from? (Except the U.S., my underdog thing goes CRAZY with U.S. players because of how bad our pros are on the whole when put next to the rest of the world.)

[To anyone thinking I'm being condescending and saying we shouldn't care and nationality doesn't matter, etc., that's not what this is. I actually don't get why being Korean matters, and it would be most cool if a logical person who thinks it does matter could explain it to me.]

On June 06 2012 23:04 JinThevalley wrote:
While many people watch sports (including e-sports) because they enjoy the games and the sport in itself, few (I hope) would disagree that if it becomes important to you who wins the match this increases the overall entertainment value of the match. Thing is that people often root for people related to geography or nationality.

To use a real sport example, the European football championship is coming up. The level of football is likely to be very high and I will probably have a look, but i won't really care who wins the games as Norway did not qualify (as usual). However, if Norway by some sort of miracle should qualify the next time the tournament would become much more interesting because I would have someone to root for (certainly not because their good).

Same thing with Korean only vs. mixed tournaments. I enjoy to watch GSL or GSTL because they provide excellent games but i only really care who wins if there are foreigners included. MLG on the other hand may not have the same level in their games, but the entertainment value is upped as a result of having someone to root for. If MLG becomes a korean only tournament this will serve to alienate those who primarily watch because they cheer for some foreigner ,while removing much of the entertainment value for those who enjoy both the game and have someone they root for. Thus, this type of tournament will only serve those who only watch because they enjoy good matches. This would probably result in decrease in viewers already following Starcraft while at the same time it is likely that SC will attract fewer new viewers.Besides, we already have top notch, jetlag free tournaments in GSL and GSTL to provide the highest level of SC2 games.

On June 06 2012 23:39 CDR wrote:
Yes, let's limit the number of Koreans in MLG so we can see more low level players like Haypro, Idra or pretty much anyone from NA. What would be the point of watching something like that? I don't care about people who aren't good enough to compete with top Koreans. If I wanna watch games like that there are EU daily cups everyday. I want to see top level games and plays, not random foreigners. Even if there are only 3 or 4 players from KR they will still dominate it. And I don't feel like watching epic battles Haypro vs Jinro or InControl vs IdrA, it is a waste of my time.

On June 06 2012 21:46 Doctorasul wrote:
You want fairy tales, soap operas and circus theatrics: giant vs albino, one-armed vs one-eyed, black vs trans-gendered, midget vs morbidly obese. Why are you trying to make a real competition into a spectacle? Let serious tournaments do what they do best: separate the best from the rest.

On June 06 2012 22:35 Aeroplaneoverthesea wrote:
I think Russian caps the number of foreign players but this is a country where fans throw banana's at black players so what do you expect from those clowns?

On June 06 2012 22:32 Eufouria wrote:
Also everyone knows 감자탕 > Noodles

On June 06 2012 21:19 Hassybaby wrote:


The EG, fnatic and TL houses would like to disagree

On June 06 2012 21:14 marcesr wrote:

With MLG coming up this weekend we have another one of our biggest events and it is totally dominated by Koreans again.

Lately every MLG and IPL have been totally Korean dominated and that makes it just so much less interesting.
Yes I love to watch GSL, I also like to watch Broodwar OSL but when Im watching an international tournament it should be INTERNATIONAL.


Do you know what Koreans did when they hosted their first international tournament (WCG)?
They didnt allow more than 3 players from every country to avoid a bracket with 31 Koreans in the top 32. They knew that most people would not be interested in watching a 2nd OSL which is run on 2 days.
What did they do instead? They created a tournament which greatly supported esport in dozens of countries for almost a decade.


How does MLG ever want to present their product to a larger audience if its all about Random Korean 1 who likes noodles and plays all day against Random Korean 2 who likes noodles and plays all day? (Sorry for the polemical phrases but im quite disappointed.)


Casual viewers know the top foreigners and a few Koreans like MC.

What makes GSL so great is the incredible level of play and the hard competition.
What has made MLG the best tournament in the past was the great athmosphere, the interesting storylines, rivalries etc. and also the great games of course.

But really, in 2012 most of that is gone.

Yes the level of play is awesome, but I can see better games in the GSL every day.
Why do you turn MLG into a one weekend GSL?


Ive bought MLG passes in the past, I will still buy GSL passes and for Homestory cup – not for MLG anymore until this changes again.


And to all the people who say that foreigners should just train harder.
Do you really think that it is realistic, especially with the BW pros switching to SC2, that we will EVER have more than 3 foreigners who can keep up with the top 30 Koreans? Its not.

On June 06 2012 23:37 Swipe wrote:
Okay, I need help getting something. What makes Koreans so faceless? They're still people with backstories and motivation and dreams, and I love watching my favorite players win regardless of nationality. I mean, I still love rooting for my foreigner favorites in mostly Korean tournaments, but that's more because I like to root for the underdog than because I prefer foreigners. I look at MLG's brackets and see 16 players; I don't really care about nationality. Why's it make a difference where a player is from? (Except the U.S., my underdog thing goes CRAZY with U.S. players because of how bad our pros are on the whole when put next to the rest of the world.)

[To anyone thinking I'm being condescending and saying we shouldn't care and nationality doesn't matter, etc., that's not what this is. I actually don't get why being Korean matters, and it would be most cool if a logical person who thinks it does matter could explain it to me.]

On June 06 2012 23:35 Aeroplaneoverthesea wrote:


It's still a completely retarded point because those are naturally according scenarios.

If a Japanese player qualifies for Wimbledon that's great for Japan but the ITF should not ever and would never guarentee a Japanese player at every Wimbledon round of 32 no matter how shitty he is purely to appease and increase Japanese viewers.

That is fucking pathetic and a total embarrassment to the name of competition and anyone who thinks that is a good idea needs to get as far away from a position of influence as possible.

China is the biggest nation on earth, India is second. They are both shit at football. Does Fifa guarantee them a spot at the world cup anyway just for viewer numbers? Of course not because Fifa is not a joke, it is serious sporting body creating serious sporting competitions.

MLG hopefully wants to be more like Fifa and not the embarrassing joke you and other mindless fools want it to be.

On June 06 2012 23:40 Embir wrote:


I guess for those SC2 fans it comes down to language and cultural barrier.

On June 06 2012 23:38 Shiori wrote:
Here's a question: did anyone even watch NASL when they basically had no Koreans? I know I didn't.

On June 06 2012 23:43 goiflin wrote:


Well, it's mostly because we don't have the same connection to their scene as we do to the western scene. They don't market their players at all, there's little to no behind the scenes content (IN COMPARISON TO THE WEST), and for the most part, people just think of them as gaming machines who sit in their pro houses practicing all hours of the day. And while that stems from ignorance, it's still not going to go away until we get more exposed to their scene. I believe that the responsibility lies on the teams to make that happen. If they get more western market exposure, they can even start to pull western sponsorships for their teams. Stuff like GSL:OTR is a step in the right direction, but we seriously have so much content in the west that allows us to get to know the pros better, and korea has one 15 minute weekly talkshow.

On June 06 2012 23:45 zefreak wrote:


Hah this is brilliant.

Look at IPL FC etc. There is a reason they are almost entirely korean now. IPL is a business, and unlike what most people say, top level koreans bring the numbers, not foreigners. Even korean vs korean brought higher numbers, and IPL is a business.

On June 06 2012 23:23 Aeroplaneoverthesea wrote:


In that case most of the games would be total shit.

On June 06 2012 23:31 Domus wrote:
Closed/Regional tournaments are not a weird thing at all, in fact it is a very normal thing in any sport to have a hierarchy of competition. Like the regional level, national level, "continental" level, and international level, and then there are things like the champions league (soccer). Each level has its own rewards and benefits. The thing is, many people don't want every event to be a champions league. This is currently the case with MLG and many offline tournaments though. People want to see their favorite players compete at a level that they can actually compete at in an offline setting.

I think that MLG will facilitate this at some point in the future, but you can expect it to be PPV (not a problem for many, right?).