I think there needs to be an off-season but not because the 'fans need a break', the fans can just stop watching on their own. The players are the ones who need a break. Mvp is a perfect example as it has been stated many times that he has difficulty finding time to get treatment for his injury due to all the tournaments going on.

ElementAlpha

United States4 Posts

December 19 2012 13:15 GMT

#142

Players are the ones who need the break. Besides, as fans don't we have a choice in whether to watch it or not?

tabeatz

United States83 Posts

December 19 2012 18:23 GMT

#143

I think it could definitely increase viewership, loyalty of viewers, and quality of play if there was an off season for several reasons.
First of all, with an off season, fans will be more hungry for good content and counting down the days until the new season starts. Have you even seen how excited baseball fans are on opening day for example? But, for this to work, there would have to be more cooperation between leagues as to not flood the market with overwhelming amounts of content when the "season" starts up again.
More importantly, I think it would improve the overall quality of the games. HuK recently talked about (on Acer's "grilled" show) how long practice takes to effect your play. If players had several straight months to practice, probably stay in one place (a team house perhaps) and get a really strong practice schedule going, the quality would shine through once the season started. As it is, players are constantly on the road, getting in practice when and where they can, and their play can easily slip from that. I attribute that to why foreigners can't usually compete in long-form offline tourneys like GSL. I think the industry could use off seasons.

HeeroFX

United States2704 Posts

December 19 2012 21:50 GMT

#144

Either way I do take breaks from watching events. I don't tune in every night to NASL or IPL, because its a ton of SC 2 if I am always watching, I can't play. And I mean I like other sports too. Like if the NFL was on every sunday for a whole year.

Swiftocino

United States9 Posts

December 19 2012 23:45 GMT

#145

I would like some way to limit the number of tournaments or at least to give players and viewers some off time. The Superbowl and the World Series are special because they're THE big games and only come once a year. Now that just doesn't seem realistic with the sheer number of tournaments and the diversity of the eSports community, but some time where the pros are simply laddering and streaming I think could be beneficial.

Supert0fu

United States499 Posts

December 20 2012 00:42 GMT

#146

If you have tournaments ALL THE TIME, it makes each tournament less important. The tournaments aren't exciting, if you know next week there's going to be another tournament to watch. I think having all this tournaments is bad for viewer fatigue as well as sc2 as an esport. It's harder to follow the scene if there are always big tournaments all the time. An offseason would be really nice I think, because everyone would be so excited for the first tournament after the break.

Ry2D2

United States429 Posts

December 20 2012 00:43 GMT

#147

On December 14 2012 06:10 BearStorm wrote:
Breaks are good for high end tournaments like GSL and MLG. They build up hype and make each victory seem more significant, but I wouldn't mind if the less popular events occupied the time in between. The worst is when there is a lot of overlap.

This.

Supert0fu

United States499 Posts

December 20 2012 00:57 GMT

#148

All the people saying "as a viewer you can just not watch lol ez" are stupid, because you feel as a viewer that you should be watching mlg when it's on, or ipl, or nasal, but having them all the time can really tire people out, and get them sick of starcraft.

Whitewing

United States7483 Posts

December 20 2012 01:11 GMT

#149

I'm not sure the players can afford a break, they have to make a living too, and it's not like they are rolling in the dough each event. The people who consistently win events probably are okay, but a lot of players who show good results aren't.

LuckyFool

United States9015 Posts

December 20 2012 05:03 GMT

#150

An offseason gives people time to do things other than watch. Talk, play, produce more content, all these people who otherwise spend half their year flying to events would suddenly have more time to do shows or anything else. I'm all for an offseason and think it would greatly benefit the scene.

shid0x

Korea (South)5014 Posts

December 20 2012 21:49 GMT

#151

Screw breaks.

ZiarDS

United States67 Posts

December 21 2012 02:15 GMT

#152

what do you mean breaks do they mean to stop tournaments or just not cover the tournaments everyone has diffident tastes people will watch tournaments if they want supply and demand if theirs demand for more tournaments then more supply will come along

spancho

United States161 Posts

December 21 2012 07:50 GMT

#153

I support an off season for two reasons, to create distinct seasons and the player ranking drama it would produce, but more importantly because then the on-season would be that much more dense. I would absolutely love to see competition every weekend. I miss the long-form league style combate from SC:BW.

Gruntt

United States175 Posts

December 21 2012 08:55 GMT

#154

Yeah I've actually thought a lot about this, and there's definitely such a ridiculous amount of tournaments that it's just crazy for a lot of the players.

I want to see longer breaks between the ro8/ro4 of GSL and MUCH longer (like how it used to be) between ro4 and finals for GSL finals. That's when you get to see the true highest level of play... when players have a week long to study the crap out of those maps for ONE specific opponent.

TPennBud

United States2 Posts

December 21 2012 19:09 GMT

#155

Im glad that there is no off season. As a viewer its great for me and the community!

iamho

United States3345 Posts

December 21 2012 21:19 GMT

#156

Yep. Fewer tournaments and an offseason would be great for the esports scene.

Titusmaster6

United States5936 Posts

December 22 2012 01:26 GMT

#157

I think it would be great if both the players and the fans got a break. I think an offseason would allow the players to heal mentally and physically. It will give them time to relax and re-focus. For the fans, the offseason can be a time of longing and hope...and HYPE!

Velinath

United States694 Posts

December 22 2012 02:34 GMT

#158

I'd like to see an off season for the big tournaments, or at least some form of restructuring. There's nothing wrong with the smaller tournaments running though! I think that's a better way to handle things.

C.K.

Germany2 Posts

December 22 2012 18:02 GMT

#159

totally agree with that ... sometimes less is just more ... in my opinion 3 proleague and 3 gsl seasons a year would be more than enough. it also would be nice if the other international events around the world would be just in the periods between them without overlapping each other. But i think this would be a step of professionality in e-sports we won't see for a long time. First step is already done with the partnership of esl, mlg and dreamhack! Congratz to that!

Edit: I have to add that i would rather buy premium tickets than because the high end tournaments like gsl and proleague would get an more outstanding and elitist tournament than they are already. Don't know if others in the community think the same about that but feel free to pm me ... would be really interested to read opinions about that.

Sorry for poor english ;P