It appears that the negotiations between Gretech and KeSPA have broken down for good. On October 11th, Gretech warned KeSPA not to proceed with any tournaments before an agreement was reached, but KeSPA went ahead and officially announced the new Proleague season on the 13th. In response, Gretech has stated "There will be no further negotiations."
Regarding the situation, KeSPA stated "It was not proper etiquette for Gretech to send us a final notice only days before our scheduled opening day. Many players and fans are awaiting the Proleague, and we cannot push back its start. We will continue to try and negotiate afterwards."
On the other hand, Gretech solidified its stance to cease negotiations with KeSPA, stating irreconcilable differences.
Both sides knew what was coming. The biggest question that I have, however, is if Gretech knew about the opening date or not.
If Gretech did not know about the date, then it's KeSPA's fault that they caused the negotiations to cease. However, If Gretech knew about the date, then it's their fault for not asking KeSPA to delay Proleague while not trying to sign with KeSPA for past couple of weeks.
Well Kespa won't care, but the main problem might be sponsors and teams (who are sponsored, obviously) being more reluctant to commit when there's still a legal threat hanging over the whole operation.
On October 14 2010 00:05 supernovamaniac wrote: Both sides knew what was coming. The biggest question that I have, however, is if Gretech knew about the opening date or not.
KeSPA had announced their prospective opening date for the new PL season as early/late as September 28th. That said, negotiations between the two sides had been going for several months prior.
On October 14 2010 00:02 _awake_ wrote: Gretech are the bad guys here. Is anyone still not convinced they want to kill BW?
Not imo, do you realize the money they're asking for is pretty much symbolic, and most likely less than what Kespa previously had to pay? But yeah easy to blame when you have no clue.
Really, Gretech is at fault? Do you want to provide some form of reason for that statement other then a blind reaction without thought?
Kespa announced the new season before they had purchased the rights to do so. They were told explicitly not to do this, yet they did anyway. This to me seems to be the way they operate, with a sense of self importance and disregard for who they are negotiating with.
I know that there are so many unknown factors here, and what demands were being made is not clear on either side. However it is Kespa that took the final step and stopped negotiations by their actions.
It is quite sad, and I am really pissed that this looks to all blow up in everyone's faces.
On October 14 2010 00:05 supernovamaniac wrote: Both sides knew what was coming. The biggest question that I have, however, is if Gretech knew about the opening date or not.
KeSPA had announced their prospective opening date for the new PL season as early/late as September 28th. That said, negotiations between the two sides had been going for several months prior.
Prospective opening date does not mean a confirmed date. But it does raise a good point that Gretech knew what was coming
On October 14 2010 00:02 _awake_ wrote: Gretech are the bad guys here. Is anyone still not convinced they want to kill BW?
I'm not. All I've seen so far is approximately three groups looking out solely for their own interests; Kespa has proven in the past they'd seriously harm brood war before they'd compromise on their interests; Gretech and Blizzard are no different. It always feels stupid to watch people try to paint heroes and villains when everyone is a villain trying to put on a heroic face.
As someone who would much, MUCH rather have both scenes frolicking arm in arm through a meadow, it's all very much bullshit. : |
If my pro-KeSPA speculations are true, then Gretech probably delayed the negotiations up until this point where they can basically 'pull out' of the negotiations in a favorable fashion without making fans think that Gretech wants to kill-off BW
I'm not saying that this is the case (my views are neutral in this case), but it is a probability.
On October 14 2010 00:02 _awake_ wrote: Gretech are the bad guys here. Is anyone still not convinced they want to kill BW?
I'm not. All I've seen so far is approximately three groups looking out solely for their own interests; Kespa has proven in the past they'd seriously harm brood war before they'd compromise on their interests; Gretech and Blizzard are no different. It always feels stupid to watch people try to paint heroes and villains when everyone is a villain trying to put on a heroic face.
As someone who would much, MUCH rather have both scenes frolicking arm in arm through a meadow, it's all very much bullshit. : |
On October 14 2010 00:12 supernovamaniac wrote: If my pro-KeSPA speculations are true, then Gretech probably delayed the negotiations up until this point where they can basically 'pull out' of the negotiations in a favorable fashion without making fans think that Gretech wants to kill-off BW
I'm not saying that this is the case (my views are neutral in this case), but it is a probability.
If we had to speculate about Gretech's motives, I think it's more plausible to say they want KeSPA and MBCGame to die, but not BW as a whole. They successfully negotiated with OGN for the OSL last season, which shows they don't mind BW tournaments. I'm curious as to what specific demands on either side caused the MBCGame and KeSPA negotiation failures, however.
EPT
