"GomTV is planning on sponsoring skilled players and also planning on adding other StarCraft II leagues including a clan league." Not sure when that's planned for.

AyJay

1515 Posts

August 05 2010 19:26 GMT

#502

On August 06 2010 03:48 Juaks wrote:

Show nested quote +

I hope she will. She is hot

. but maybe doing interviews and translations. For casting I´ll rather get SDM which does much better along with Nick.

yeah the only reason to have her is because she's hot.

....

...

Nerds....

knyttym

United States5797 Posts

August 05 2010 19:30 GMT

#503

Amazing. This is exactly what is needed to popularize sc2 in korea.

As for the high textures, I was wondering why at first. I tested it and it had no noticeable difference to the game as I just tested some cloaked units and burrowed movement. It has seemly no affect on the prettiness of your game so I'm not sure what is up.

Deadlyhazard

United States1177 Posts

August 05 2010 19:34 GMT

#504

I hope the stream screens for this are bigger than that tiny one they had when I watched GomTV. I hope it's just like when people watch sports and it's on a decent screen ;-:.

Titusmaster6

United States5937 Posts

August 05 2010 19:37 GMT

#505

This is unreal, just simply...

E-sports, here we come!

Full.tilt

United Kingdom1709 Posts

August 05 2010 19:39 GMT

#506

Want to sell up and start up a foriegners SC2 house in Seoul

slappy

United States1271 Posts

August 05 2010 19:40 GMT

#507

im going to be in korea a week too late for prelims :-(. seeing that prize money gave me butterflies in my stomach.. not that i could compete in the finals or anything, but even if i made it to the round of 64!

Milkis

5003 Posts

August 05 2010 19:41 GMT

#508

We'll find out how successful this all is when it actually happens.

There are a couple things to keep in mind that may hurt this. There are some "technical" points -- first thing is that it's not going to be casted on TV -- it's only done through GOM TV. While this is "great" for foreign fans, this isn't necessary going to get that much attention from the casual person.

Secondly, this is just ONE tournament per month. Remember that this is not a Professional league but a league meant for amateurs -- it's great that amateurs now have a big event that they can dream of winning, but that honestly isn't going to be enough to guarantee a successful competitive scene. Starcraft I grew out of many PC Bang tournaments -- meanwhile, SC2 does not have very many tournaments yet. I am, however, hoping that this announcement will drastically increase SC2 gameplay in Korea -- considering that SC2 is doing absolutely poorly considering the game is free for any Korean at this time.

Also note that, while the Prize Money may seem "huge", consider that there's like a 33% (maybe more?) tax for amateurs winning the game. (This is why the progamer status is important -- it turns this tax into 3%). This is still something Blizzard will need to work out.

Now for the cultural aspect.

The league can be as competitive as it wants. However, realize that it's not going to be anything but a "big tournament" if not many people watch it. SC1 was only popular because "everyone" had played the game and thus, they have an idea of what's going on when they watch SC1. Many people will have to "learn to watch" SC2 and that's definitely going to take away from the viewership. It being an internet broadcast doesn't exactly help their case either.

In the end though, this is a good move for Blizzard. I'm glad they had more planned (okay, I was expecting this but whatever) than just putting up advertisement everywhere in Korea and forcefeeding Korea with Starcraft Ads or making set menus for fast food chains. However, just making a big tournament isn't going to be good enough, and, I hope they develop the architecture needed for a proper eSports. This is a good first step but it's nothing to be hyped about until we see how successful it gets and how much this tournament announcement has on people playing the game. I hope Blizzard takes this first step well and then makes sure not to ignore all the problems that may arise or miss all the details and make sure they are going for a proper eSports, not just some gimmick tournament.

tl;dr, dont' be an Iron Chef America.

McBrian

Denmark38 Posts

August 05 2010 19:44 GMT

#509

That's a seriously sick prize pool O.O

dRaW

Canada5744 Posts

August 05 2010 19:45 GMT

#510

HOLY SH~ That's a lot of cash...

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

August 05 2010 19:48 GMT

#511

Ah after re-reading it I am thinking that for foreigners they have to go to seoul unless I am reading this incorrectly to try and qualify (for the open tournaments). Don't think we'll see too many foreigners though :/.

Still super pumped as watching games 5 days a week is awesome :D. Idra fighting!

TheTuna

United States286 Posts

August 05 2010 19:51 GMT

#512

AWESOME! Can't wait!

Yokoblue

Canada594 Posts

August 05 2010 19:57 GMT

#513

Ive got a question.

To participate... you got to be there in seoul when everything happens... Am I right ???

-infinite-

United States44 Posts

August 05 2010 20:02 GMT

#514

Good, God.... I'm stoked for this.

Runsta

United States161 Posts

August 05 2010 20:03 GMT

#515

OMG. AWESOME!

robertdinh

803 Posts

August 05 2010 20:03 GMT

#516

I really hope things pan out well, this really reminds me of how CS:source was forced in the esports scene by cgs, it created a huge split in the CS community with america basically going source for a year and EU staying 1.6, source and cgs went under because they were a league built on hype and 1.6 never fully recovered in the US after so many players had been lured to source by the $$$.

If SC2 ends up with a healthy community, while BW stays alive as well with a strong community, this will be great for esports. If SC2 essentially kills BW merely because it gets infused with more money in a short period of time, it will stunt esport's growth.

If SC2 dies out like war3 did over the next few years it will also stunt esport's growth.

I like SC2, I do feel it isn't as skillful a game as BW, but it doesn't sit right with me how it is being promoted with so much hype and $$$ so early in it's life before the game has even evolved to a level that you would consider a professional level.

IronWolf

South Africa315 Posts

August 05 2010 20:11 GMT

#517

This is a huuge step to bringing e-sports to a global stage!! well done Gom/Blizzard

These prize pools are outrages!! I wish I wasn't trash!

blade55555

United States17423 Posts

August 05 2010 20:13 GMT

#518

On August 06 2010 04:57 Yokoblue wrote:
Ive got a question.

To participate... you got to be there in seoul when everything happens... Am I right ???

i'm almost 100% positive that yes you have to be in seoul least from both times I have read it heh. Its why I dont' think many foreigners will try out for this because who wants to do a qualifier if it costs about 1000$ to travel to korea and back because if you don't qualify well kind of a waste of money and thats not including food/housing/etc unless you got an awesome sponsor or something hehe.