Oh my god no invitations? Unless I mis read its all qualifiers. Fucking finally. I really hope more big tournament organizers do stuff lilke this. The invite only tournaments are so hard to break into when there is only 1-2 qualifying spots in a 16+ man tournament lol.

~Maverick~

United States234 Posts

January 26 2012 06:08 GMT

#42

I really love that there are open qualifiers. I really love underdog success stories such as Thorzains TSL3 run. And this way, every night I can dream and imagine myself winning everything

phame21

Australia43 Posts

January 26 2012 06:10 GMT

#43

I think they should play HoTS. WoL has pretty much crappy gamebalance and consider the fact the sc1 was pretty much bummed out till BW started to balance things out. Also who's gonna be still playing WoL with HoTS out o_O?

DYEAlabaster

Canada1009 Posts

January 26 2012 06:11 GMT

#44

I think this is really great. I love the stance they have taken... I'm guessing they for sure want to avoid any bitching, like they had with BW and KeSPA

Playing WoL is good to maintain the same game throughout the league. It's like showing up to a tennis match halfway though the season and realize everyone is playing badminton. Sure, both use rackets, nets, etc.etc., but it's not fair to judge 1/2 of the season on tennis and 1/2 on badminton

flowSthead

1065 Posts

January 26 2012 06:11 GMT

#45

To be honest, I don't particularly care about the prize pool as a viewer, although I understand that the pros will. I was more interested to know what maps they will be using, and whether they are open to the "grassroots" or "nationals" having eSports centered maps rather than ladder maps.

But this is cool nonetheless. Even if it is a disaster, which I highly doubt it would be, or just boring anyway I think it is a good sign from Blizzard.

OrD

United States28 Posts

January 26 2012 06:16 GMT

#46

A fascinating idea, that esports can be organized in the same nature as a sport. Obviously those pp with teams to train and sponsors to support them have the best chances, but the "open" system leaves so much hope for everyone else and will likely create the kind of "Cinderella" stories that national media loves to cover. This will be an extremely healthy thing for the community and I'll be super excited to watch [how much will that cost is the question... Thoughts anybody?]

ticklishmusic

United States15977 Posts

January 26 2012 06:19 GMT

#47

Blizzard is helping e-sports! Yay! Sounds epic!

So... can we have LAN?

Sinedd

Poland7052 Posts

January 26 2012 06:21 GMT

#48

sounds pretty cool

but its going to take such a long time

this is the ultimate tournament

cant wait to see this !

Neverplay

Austria532 Posts

January 26 2012 06:21 GMT

#49

sounds great

coolcor

520 Posts

January 26 2012 06:22 GMT

#50

On January 26 2012 15:11 DYEAlabaster wrote:
I think this is really great. I love the stance they have taken... I'm guessing they for sure want to avoid any bitching, like they had with BW and KeSPA

Playing WoL is good to maintain the same game throughout the league. It's like showing up to a tennis match halfway though the season and realize everyone is playing badminton. Sure, both use rackets, nets, etc.etc., but it's not fair to judge 1/2 of the season on tennis and 1/2 on badminton

But what if halfway through the season every other big tennis tournament has switched to badminton because they have shorter seasons and now the pros who are all playing badminton anyways must still practice tennis just for this one tournament. How much time will they devote to it?

snowbird

Germany2044 Posts

January 26 2012 06:26 GMT

#51

oh babey!

It keeps getting better every year!

Deyster

Jordan579 Posts

January 26 2012 06:32 GMT

#52

Call me skeptical, but I don't believe Blizzard when they say that "streaming will be fine". I've heard reassurance from Blizzard all the time when I played WoW and all what we got was disappointments. Also the feedback we gave after the regional qualifiers didn't influence Blizzcon itself.
I'm not bashing on Blizzard, I'm just not getting my hopes up and preparing to be disappointed again.

Hossinaut

United States453 Posts

January 26 2012 06:32 GMT

#53

This was interesting to read, and heartening in large part concerning Blizz's interaction with the community on specific issues and on their overall plan to grow SC2 as an eSport.

That being said, its also troubling that if this blizzard cup will be as big as they are trying to make it, the pro scene will be retarded for at least a few months if not longer concerning the release of heart of the swarm. Or so it seems. I love Wings of Liberty, but I sure wont mind when HotS comes, and I hope to see WoL SC2 eSports to transition well. With this tournament, it seems more difficult for this to happen. I hope otherwise, but I maintain my fear.

THErealDRAGO

United States3 Posts

January 26 2012 06:33 GMT

#54

Cannot wait for this this to start. 2012 is getting better and better.

Jusba

Finland189 Posts

January 26 2012 06:33 GMT

#55

I think Blizzard will definitely manage to grow esports by doing this.

Jacopana

El Salvador210 Posts

January 26 2012 06:36 GMT

#56

Shit just got real! Blizzard joined the e-SPORTS horse!! a real world championship is just... amazing

mute20

Canada175 Posts

January 26 2012 06:36 GMT

#57

I hope they follow a gsl map pool or something similar, cause it definantly could bring inspiration for new map makers to make awesome maps.

Amyris

United Kingdom77 Posts

January 26 2012 06:41 GMT

#58

Looks great! Very exciting news.

TheRealFluid

United States501 Posts

January 26 2012 06:41 GMT

#59

"Want to create local heroes for national communities" Now that, sounds awesome.

heartlxp

United States1258 Posts

January 26 2012 06:49 GMT

#60

WOW the prize pool statement is a HUGE letdown, if you compare yourself to the World Cup, at least have equivalent prizes. Think about how much FIFA puts into their world championships. Riot and Valve are not pulling "stunts" when they offer big prize pools, they are showing their dedication and commitment to their product. repeating "grassroots" in hopes of someone else coming along to foot the bill is a gigantic cop-out. Especially coming from a multi-billion dollar company.