MLG Columbus Day 3 - Page 1414

On June 06 2011 16:51 Serpico wrote:

And it was still more about MMA playing that horribly than anything else.

On June 06 2011 16:54 FataLe wrote:

Wouldn't go that far. A few of the foreigners had really close series with the koreans. They're ahead of us but to imply that lag is the deciding factor in inter-continental tournaments is pretty silly imo.

On June 06 2011 16:46 bennyaus wrote:


Luckily HuK massively outplayed his allin with his fast expand build in game 1 then.

On June 06 2011 16:48 Labil wrote:


That is an absolute joke, being a professional tennis player- and knowing the pratice routine of others, 5 days a week physical training about 2*3 hours. And other times some mental practice and so on, but i still have time for alot of other stuff, i play starcraft 1-2 hours a day for instance, and i seriously think that Starcrat 2 professionals practice alot more then a sport-professional, however, i seriously doubt spending more then 8 hours every day infront of a screen is far from healthy

On June 06 2011 16:54 bennyaus wrote:


Therefore showing that MMA isn't always a fantastic player.... seriously some people will do whatever they can to bring other players down. If MMA played horribly in one game, it still means he was outplayed, and it means he isn't consistent enough to show that he is a better player consistently.

On June 06 2011 16:59 thoradycus wrote:
lol few hrs ago someone said that lebron james gave a shoutout to losira? can ne1 verify this?

On June 06 2011 12:43 Nyor wrote:
Let's compare the StarCraft 2 scene with the Marathon running scene. Marathon running scene? Why am I bringing this up here? Let's have a look at a typical sight you will see at most Marathon races around the world. Obviously, this is the front pack:



Just like in StarCraft 2, the best Marathon runners come from one geographical region. In this case, this would be Eastern Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia in particular. Why is this the case? Kenyans and Ethiopians train extremely hard. Marathon running is one way for them to get out of poverty. If they are part of the international elite, they can live from the price money they get at the Marathon races, and support their families as well. Consequently, the elite runners from Kenya and Ethiopia are extremely motivated, and thus work very hard to achieve success. The environment they live also helps them to improve and do better.

Now, let's look at the Europe, or Northern America... Is Marathon running a viable career choice there? No.... The price money one may earn at races in most cases not enough to cover living expenses. The few elite Western Marathon runners highly depend on sponsorship deals in order to keep training; since becoming an elite Marathon runner requires a lot of effort. For all other marathon runners, it's a hobby, not a professions.

While Marathon running and StarCraft 2 are completely different, one may notice a few similarities here and there. The dominating nation in the case of StarCraft 2 is Korea, becoming a pro-gamer is socially accepted in Korea; being a pro-gamer might also be financially rewarding from their point of view. In the "West" however, e-sports isn't really a viable career choice, it is not socially accepted, and financial-wise very risky. It's a hobby, but nothing more. Let's face it, e-sports, will probably never (never say never) achieve the same level of influence that e-sports such have in Korea.

Can/Should you blame the Ethiopians/Kenyans for doing well at Marathons? Absolutely not. Likewise, can/should you blame the the Koreans for playing well in SC2? Absolutely not, either. As long as you see tournaments with reasonably high price moneys, pro-gamers in Korea will continue to exist, and coonsequently do well in tournaments in the West.

Some people say "OMG, but Koreans winning all the time will hurt e-sports growth in the West". I don't think so. First of all, Koreans pro-gamers aren't unbeatable. Secondly, people who get discouraged by these results aren't really into e-sports anyways. Thirdly, Koreans pro's draw in bigger audiences to the tournaments. The success of the Koreans should be a motivation to play better/train harder, not a discouragement. Bigger Audiences -> More Sponsorship Money -> Higher Price Moneys -> More Competition. I think I can safely say that one reason that the MLG drew in such a big audience (both at Columbus and on the internet streams) is because of MC, Moon, MMA, July or Losira. People were excited to see those matches, and were curious to see whether "foreigners" could beat them. Again, bigger audiences were a result of their presence. Fourthly... eSports is not only about the select few winning the big tournaments; it's also about the majority, the "normal skilled" players. This big chunk of players will not simply go awayjust because a few Koreans did well at a big tournament.
Have people in the West completely stopped running marathons just because a few Kenians won some big marathons?

On June 06 2011 16:54 bennyaus wrote:
Therefore showing that MMA isn't always a fantastic player.... seriously some people will do whatever they can to bring other players down. If MMA played horribly in one game, it still means he was outplayed, and it means he isn't consistent enough to show that he is a better player consistently.