• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 13:30
CET 19:30
KST 03:30
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns6[BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 103SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-1822Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises3Weekly Cups (Dec 15-21): Classic wins big, MaxPax & Clem take weeklies3
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises Chinese SC2 server to reopen; live all-star event in Hangzhou Starcraft 2 Zerg Coach
Tourneys
WardiTV Winter Cup WardiTV Mondays SC2 AI Tournament 2026 OSC Season 13 World Championship uThermal 2v2 Circuit
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone Mutation # 505 Rise From Ashes Mutation # 504 Retribution
Brood War
General
I would like to say something about StarCraft BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest Data analysis on 70 million replays
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 SLON Grand Finals – Season 2
Strategy
Game Theory for Starcraft Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Vanilla Mini Mafia Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Survivor II: The Amazon Sengoku Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread The Big Programming Thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TL+ Announced
Blogs
How do archons sleep?
8882
Psychological Factors That D…
TrAiDoS
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
StarCraft improvement
iopq
GOAT of Goats list
BisuDagger
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1163 users

Open Letter to Team Liquid on Overwatch - Page 2

Forum Index > General Forum
Post a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 Next All
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
April 11 2016 12:54 GMT
#21
Because its a concern with no basis in reality and as such deserves no sympathy.


Even if you believe that, it's a bit of a leap to attack people for your beliefs
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Baradrist
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany96 Posts
April 11 2016 14:52 GMT
#22
If I may add, Dota 2 has been played competitively while it was still in Beta! Even a million dollar tournament (TI1) was held while the game wasn't fully developed yet. I don't see any point why should it be bad to form teams in a beta-phase. If anything, it hypes the game for a larger player base later on after the release and more importantly, it gives the developers much needed data on how the game would look like under professional and competitive circumstances. This in turn will increase the overall quality a lot! And that's for ALL OF US who want to eventually play the game. Just watching random guys play for fun will result in different stats and possibly a worse balance within the game. So I really really welcome developments like Liquid Overwatch. I get hyped up for playing the game myself and it is just really entertaining watching pros play that game. A game which potentially will be better because these pros played it competitively (aka in a funded team) even before its release.

I appreciate your concerns, but I don't share them at all since I see much more pros than cons to this.
ZeaL.
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
United States5955 Posts
April 11 2016 15:21 GMT
#23
Difference being dota 2 was in "beta" for years and became open access pretty early on.
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 17:07:16
April 11 2016 17:06 GMT
#24
It's more about the "99% of people that want to compete can't play" than the "beta" tag. Dota 2 was not at all like that.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Liquid`Nazgul
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
22427 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 17:28:15
April 11 2016 17:25 GMT
#25
On April 11 2016 14:25 Cyro wrote:
@Nazgul any comment on the picking up of teams when 99% of people including competitors can't play Overwatch yet?

I would love to, but you're just stating a fact. It appears you feel something is wrong with that, but don't explain what that is. I legitimately don't see the problem at the moment. Looking forward to hearing your concerns though, don't mind thinking about another perspective. For reference we picked up TLO and Jinro three months before official release, and I legitimately am confused why that would have been a bad thing. Just don't see it, sorry.
Administrator
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 17:54:51
April 11 2016 17:44 GMT
#26
Picking up a team for a game like this sends a very different message, that you're committing to these players and nobody else for a significant period of time. Starcraft 2 is a group of individual players that you can pick out one at a time but an Overwatch team is a team, it's often all or nothing.

Given that the players in the beta are either exceptionally lucky (the closed beta seems to be hundreds to a few thousand out of what could be a 7 figure playerbase) or breaking rules under the table (such as the bannable account sharing + buying which is rampant in WoW & overwatch) it seems wrong to me.

I wasn't into sc2 pre-release so i'm not sure how the beta was handled. For the Legacy beta, TL and other organizations were given keys to use and hand out and for a long time before release everybody had the opportunity to preorder-buy into playing if they wanted to compete, so it was a completely different situation.
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
April 11 2016 17:50 GMT
#27
The SC2 beta was close to the Overwatch beta, except it lacked the twitch streaming element. But there was nothing fair about it. I remember getting my key from pre-ordering SC2 and people had already been playing for months upon months. Some people were lucky and got early access.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
Valiver
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
Caldeum1977 Posts
April 11 2016 18:18 GMT
#28
There's another part of this that people aren't considering: there's a lot of organizations who have already picked up teams for Overwatch and if TL didn't sign a team before the game actually came out most of the good players would already be signed. TL is still a business, and being the last one to get into the market is always bad. Just check the Liquipedia Portal here for a list of teams and look at all the big names who have also already signed teams. Whether or not you think it's too early/unfair to sign players in an exclusive beta it's already happened and that's how it's probably going to go with all would-be esports titles from now on.
Writer
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 18:49:43
April 11 2016 18:48 GMT
#29
most of the good players would already be signed


In a month the playerbase is going to increase dramatically, 20x - 100x or more. That includes more esport-tier players than the everyone that's in overwatch right now
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
April 11 2016 18:53 GMT
#30
On April 12 2016 03:48 Cyro wrote:
Show nested quote +
most of the good players would already be signed


In a month the playerbase is going to increase dramatically, 20x - 100x or more. That includes more esport-tier players than the everyone that's in overwatch right now

Ok, why does TL care? They are signing a team now with people they can work with, as opposed to later when everyone has access. What are they supposed to do, wait until the game is out for 2 months so people cut their teeth and the cream can rise to the top? Or is it three months? What completely arbitrary date would you like to set before they can sign a team?
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 19:06:08
April 11 2016 19:03 GMT
#31
What are they supposed to do, wait until the game is out for 2 months so people cut their teeth and the cream can rise to the top? Or is it three months?


It's 1 month for the game to go from a tiny random super closed-off playerbase to all esports players playing. Seems worth the wait to me if you're not going to sign any more players after the initial selection.

Ok, why does TL care?


Why would TL not care about who they're selecting?
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Jaaaaasper
Profile Blog Joined April 2012
United States10225 Posts
April 11 2016 19:10 GMT
#32
I'm fine with picking up a roster this early, but I have a much bigger with a proven match fixer on the roster
Hey do you want to hear a joke? Chinese production value. | I thought he had a aegis- Ayesee | When did 7ing mad last have a good game, 2012?
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
April 11 2016 19:12 GMT
#33
On April 12 2016 04:03 Cyro wrote:
Show nested quote +
What are they supposed to do, wait until the game is out for 2 months so people cut their teeth and the cream can rise to the top? Or is it three months?


It's 1 month for the game to go from a tiny niche random playerbase to all esports players being able to play. Seems worth the wait to me if you're not going to sign any more players after the initial selection.

Show nested quote +
Ok, why does TL care?


Why would they not care, in particular? You're wording that as if the default is nobody caring

The owner of TL has posted several times about their business decision and found none of these arguments compelling. Yet you continue to make them like they are new and original. There is no reason for them to wait to sign a team, since they can always update their roster. Your entire argument seems to be based on your personal metric for what is fair.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
Cyro
Profile Blog Joined June 2011
United Kingdom20322 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 19:16:27
April 11 2016 19:14 GMT
#34
Bigger & better selection of players is more important than it being fair. A lot of people agree in the liquid overwatch thread

There is no reason for them to wait to sign a team, since they can always update their roster.


Messy to kick half a team, messier to kick a whole team
"oh my god my overclock... I got a single WHEA error on the 23rd hour, 9 minutes" -Belial88
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-11 19:16:58
April 11 2016 19:16 GMT
#35
On April 12 2016 04:14 Cyro wrote:
bigger & better selection of players is more important than it being fair

TL clearly feels differently, as they have stated above. So they do not agree with your assessment of the situation or opinion on when they should form a team. They can always let members go that are not working out and sign new talent if necessary, as with every single team sport on the planet.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
nighcol
Profile Joined January 2012
298 Posts
April 12 2016 02:08 GMT
#36
On April 12 2016 03:48 Cyro wrote:
Show nested quote +
most of the good players would already be signed


In a month the playerbase is going to increase dramatically, 20x - 100x or more. That includes more esport-tier players than the everyone that's in overwatch right now


I'm fairly certain that those who are at the top right now will be there for some time after launch though. New stars from the wave of players will rise for sure but there will be a delay and many of these people will still stay relevant because they do also have track record that shows they have great potential in this title.
KeksX
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
Germany3634 Posts
April 12 2016 15:42 GMT
#37
Wasn't SC2 post-launched mainly dominated by players who participated in beta?

I think that saying it doesn't matter if you don't get beta access is just wrong. You are up against players with months of practice already, and while you can still rise to the top, you'll still have to put in many more hours than anyone else to catch up.
No one is born a progamer for any game.

Gorsameth
Profile Joined April 2010
Netherlands22030 Posts
April 12 2016 15:48 GMT
#38
On April 13 2016 00:42 KeksX wrote:
Wasn't SC2 post-launched mainly dominated by players who participated in beta?

I think that saying it doesn't matter if you don't get beta access is just wrong. You are up against players with months of practice already, and while you can still rise to the top, you'll still have to put in many more hours than anyone else to catch up.
No one is born a progamer for any game.

It helped them yes and you can certainly argue that for example Fruitdealer won the first GSL because of this headstart but this disappears in a few months, which is also why TL signed a team now, because if they wait for the new "real" stars to rise they miss out on the first few months of tournaments and at the end of the day the pro-gaming side of TL is a business.
It ignores such insignificant forces as time, entropy, and death
eScapegoat100
Profile Joined March 2011
Canada71 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-12 20:39:04
April 12 2016 20:36 GMT
#39
On April 10 2016 12:51 SirPinky wrote:
Gamers like to believe that they, either one person or many, can rise to the top of the ladder (or any ranking system) with hard work, skill and perseverance. In my opinion, making a team before the game is even released adds a certain futility to the hope gamers can someday be part of a well-respected team, like Team Liquid. It narrows the ability for future, better, gamers to work their way to the top echelon of gameplay.


On April 12 2016 02:25 Liquid`Nazgul wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 11 2016 14:25 Cyro wrote:
@Nazgul any comment on the picking up of teams when 99% of people including competitors can't play Overwatch yet?

I would love to, but you're just stating a fact. It appears you feel something is wrong with that, but don't explain what that is. I legitimately don't see the problem at the moment. Looking forward to hearing your concerns though, don't mind thinking about another perspective. For reference we picked up TLO and Jinro three months before official release, and I legitimately am confused why that would have been a bad thing. Just don't see it, sorry.


If I may. I think I can parse the concern / complaint of the OP and explain why he thinks this is a "bad thing."

Going into the release of Overwatch there was an illusion among some gamers of an "even playing field". They believed that if they picked up the game on release and played a lot - and played well, that they could rise to the top of the field and become pro. While this belief isn't entirely crushed by the formation of a pro team prior to release it certainly puts to lie the "even playing field" myth.

Comparisons to the release of Starcraft 2 (Jinro TLO etc...) are not very applicable to this situation. There were no myths of an equal starting point there. SC2 was an obvious successor to SC Broodwar and WC3 so it was equally obvious that progamers from those former titles would have a leg up on the common gamers. Gamers that saw SC2 release, knowing that they would never be good enough to turn pro, looked forwards to the next Blizzard title for their "big break."

Another difference between Overwatch and SC2 is that an SC2 team can always pick up another player if they are outstanding on the ladder. Roster size is unlimited. Not so much in Overwatch. SC2 is all about individual success - whereas success in Overwatch will rely greatly upon team chemistry and cohesion. All of this means that in Overwatch - it appears less hopeful for solo queue stars to be added to a pro team.

There is no reason that someone who has never played at a pro-level in another esport can't become pro in Overwatch through practice and determination - but having already named the Team Liquid roster puts into perspective the uphill battle that they face to achieve that success. This can be disheartening.

<p align=center><a target=_blank href=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm><img border=0 src=http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/5.jpg></a></p>
Liquid`Nazgul
Profile Blog Joined September 2002
22427 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-04-13 01:40:50
April 13 2016 01:32 GMT
#40
I can see why it may be disheartening to an aspiring pro without a beta key, but I am not sure what you would want me to do about it or why it is relevant to us picking up a team. I don't see anyone bothering to show why the two are connected when it comes to Liquid picking up a team. It is probably disheartening to an aspiring pro that there are no replays in LoL, but that is no reason for teams not to pick up players. I'm also imagining 99% of the planet not having money to pursue car racing. It sucks and the sport has to deal with that when it comes to fans. It is however no reason for a car racing team not to pick up talent if they are in the business of running a sport team. Overwatch as a sport has to figure out how to popularize it and have as much fan appeal as possible.

Just to be perfectly clear when the game is out officially the group that has pro potential, but does not have beta access, isn't going to be good from day one of public release at all. They're going to need time to catch up with the players who already had access. One month into full release they will be nowhere close to guys playing for half a year. Two months they will be nowhere close, either. So you are asking us to wait.. how long exactly? Sounds like we would have to wait one or two years after public release just to give the entire player base a chance. And then after that young kids will come along who will have started three years post release. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I'm not saying we must get in this early, but these arguments that we shouldn't because not everyone has access are nonsensical. If there's a good team to pickup that we believe in then we should do so, beta or no beta.

I also think this whole discussion does not give nearly the appropriate amount of credit to the players that get early access. Most players that have a reputation for hard work and skill in similar games will be able to get access. They have put years into developing those skillsets, similar to how that was the case for SC1/SC2. Your new talent from Overwatch that plays itself to the top throughout the years will be able to do the same if they ever decide to transition into something else. There's a reason why these ex-TF2 players are all monsters at OW, and I can tell you it is not because they had early access.
Administrator
Prev 1 2 3 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
14:00
Season 13 World Championship
GgMaChine vs MixuLIVE!
WardiTV1093
IndyStarCraft 223
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
IndyStarCraft 223
JuggernautJason74
BRAT_OK 73
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 28646
Shuttle 668
EffOrt 377
firebathero 200
Dewaltoss 118
Rock 48
scan(afreeca) 12
Shine 11
Dota 2
420jenkins812
Counter-Strike
adren_tv8
Heroes of the Storm
Liquid`Hasu404
Other Games
Grubby3927
Liquid`RaSZi2089
FrodaN1817
ceh9584
Mlord538
B2W.Neo259
JimRising 254
Fuzer 237
DeMusliM213
KnowMe115
QueenE72
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick44079
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 17 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• naamasc247
• Adnapsc2 7
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• sooper7s
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Migwel
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
StarCraft: Brood War
• FirePhoenix4
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
• BSLYoutube
Dota 2
• WagamamaTV604
League of Legends
• Nemesis2352
Other Games
• imaqtpie1491
• Shiphtur300
Upcoming Events
SOOP
1d 9h
SHIN vs GuMiho
Cure vs Creator
The PondCast
1d 15h
Wardi Open
1d 17h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
WardiTV Invitational
2 days
IPSL
3 days
DragOn vs Sziky
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
3 days
WardiTV Invitational
4 days
[ Show More ]
WardiTV Invitational
5 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-01-06
WardiTV 2025
META Madness #9

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
OSC Championship Season 13
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W3
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Thunderfire SC2 All-star 2025
Big Gabe Cup #3
Nations Cup 2026
Underdog Cup #3
NA Kuram Kup
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.