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What do the pros earn and how? - Page 7

Forum Index > SC2 General
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yawnoC
Profile Joined December 2010
United States3704 Posts
May 03 2011 07:17 GMT
#121
Most people don't like to tell other people how much they make. That is a social norm. Most of the time people do not want to know how much someone makes just for "data" its for criticisms. Sure you would say "I am not coming from there" but this is a public forum and some people will. It is honestly just better to drop it OR don't make crazy leaps based off coaching. etc. like incontrol pointed out. Asking about how much someone makes is akin to asking women how much they weigh, how old they are, or WORSE speculating about it.
GG - UNiVeRsE is the best player in the WORLD
JesusOurSaviour
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United Arab Emirates1141 Posts
May 03 2011 07:17 GMT
#122
On May 03 2011 16:15 samuraibael wrote:
Why do you think its rude incontrol? I know that is the general opinion, especially in america, but why is talking about salary so taboo? I have never understood the reasoning behind this.
Perhaps people worry that if it is too low it makes them appear worthless?


In a way, it's a very private matter. Money is something intensely sought after in society and it's related to image, greed, success, in life social status. For some reason it's on the same level of taboo as whether or not you've visited prostitutes in the past year, or information on whether you've slept with the girl your best mate has married. We live in a broken society - there are all kinds of secrets for various reasons.
JesusOurSaviour
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
United Arab Emirates1141 Posts
May 03 2011 07:18 GMT
#123
On May 03 2011 16:17 yawnoC wrote:
Most people don't like to tell other people how much they make. That is a social norm. Most of the time people do not want to know how much someone makes just for "data" its for criticisms. Sure you would say "I am not coming from there" but this is a public forum and some people will. It is honestly just better to drop it OR don't make crazy leaps based off coaching. etc. like incontrol pointed out. Asking about how much someone makes is akin to asking women how much they weigh, how old they are, or WORSE speculating about it.


Yes your example is a lot better than mine re: sexual habits

: ) Nice analogy
Mise
Profile Joined August 2010
Finland580 Posts
May 03 2011 07:20 GMT
#124
On May 03 2011 15:42 FawkingGoomba wrote:
Aside from salaried players like Idra, FXO, or very top europeans, I doubt anyone is making more than your typical 9-5 job. To say that people are making more than 100k/year is ridiculous.

MC and NesTea have made 100k+ already, from price moeny alone and it hasn't even been a whole year. MVP will probably join them soon along with maybe MarineKing and FruitDealer.
It wouldn't even be impossible for MC to make 200k in the first year of SC2.
Agh
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
United States1016 Posts
May 03 2011 07:21 GMT
#125
On May 03 2011 16:05 Golgotha wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 15:57 iNcontroL wrote:
On May 03 2011 15:53 Duravi wrote:
I disagree.

The very tip top 1% make enough money to live off of.

Then you have half THAT percent that make a wealthy living off of this game.

What job market would you want to enter where 1% of the people make a living off that money? It's false advertising.


I would argue many sports are the same. What percent of the people who play bball or football in high school are actually able to make a career out of it? That doesn't stop people from trying and teams hyping how much they pay.


Correct. But you wouldn't look your mom in the eye while watching an NFL game and go "Well I've decided I know what I want to do for a living! I'm going to be that 1% that makes it to the NFL!"

Or maybe you do. But they know you won't make it.

By all means chase the dream and go for it. I am obviously not one to say don't. But saying progamers having their earnings made public so kids can make the argument to their parents that they CAN earn a living playing this game all day is not a good argument imo.

You really going to stand behind that?



but what if we don't give a crap about becoming a pro-gamer and simply just want to know how much you guys make. we are just curious and want to know. we are not going to use this information to persuade mother and father, or in any other ill manner. we just want to know how much you guys make...so maybe we can donate if you guys give us a low number


Then read the posts in this thread. Salary information is supposed to be kept private. And not only that it should be a no-brainer to keep it private save the efforts of ways to keep it enforced because surely enough someone will use it as a dick measuring tool.

the tl;dr version you want has already been said in this thread. A combination of salary, stream, coaching, winnings(cut), and/or endorsement/sponsors.

You're not going to get somebody to formulate a response to giving you their earnings from every source totaled up all nice and neat for you.
I may appear to be an emotionless sarcastic pos, but just like an onion when you pull off more and more layers you find the exact same thing everytime and you start crying
ROOTFayth
Profile Joined January 2004
Canada3351 Posts
May 03 2011 07:22 GMT
#126
On May 03 2011 15:52 shadymmj wrote:
Other than in Korea going pro is one of the worst things you can ever do in your life - along with those hardcore master league players with over 5k games played and still nothing to show for it...I swear they play for at least 5 hours a day and spend an additional 2 hours or so reviewing and finding strategies.

Look at Greg Fields, the biggest American superstar...18k in winnings over a year (about), maybe if you included a nice salary package of 25k and perhaps fringe coaching/donations/whatever of 2k (because seriously who pays couple hundred bucks for lessons), that comes up to 45k per year, that's about the average American GDP/capita. Very optimistic calculations.

Except that he probably won't be able to do this as a long-term career, as there's probably a burnout around age 32~ like most athletes suffer - an age when most counterparts are climbing the corporate ladder.

The bottom line is that youth-dependent superstars need to be making at least about 100k a year
in their prime to insure their future. I hear Greg is pretty smart, though, so he can at least complete some kind of degree in the future and start up an ordinary career. In that sense his situation is actually pretty alright, not due to e-sports, but because of his academic ability.

Now, how about those that aren't able to attend college?

I'd say close to 100% of the players who makes it in competitive gaming are smart enough to get a degree... we just choose not to
Nashty
Profile Joined September 2010
Canada15 Posts
May 03 2011 07:23 GMT
#127
On May 03 2011 16:15 samuraibael wrote:
Why do you think its rude incontrol? I know that is the general opinion, especially in america, but why is talking about salary so taboo? I have never understood the reasoning behind this.
Perhaps people worry that if it is too low it makes them appear worthless?


to be honest, I don't know why it is taboo. but if someone asked for mine, they'll come across as rude....wierd...just is man. its a personal thing, that other people don't have business or reason to know
Your favorite brotoss buddy
rkffhk
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
474 Posts
May 03 2011 07:24 GMT
#128
Ryan Bingham: You know why kids love athletes?
Bob: Because they screw lingerie models.
Ryan Bingham: No, that's why we love athletes. Kids love them because they follow their dreams.
"Did not realize gold was such an important threshold for people, I guess I honestly take it for granted that if people practice / invest enough time into this game then they would make diamond in no time." ~Caihead
ROOTFayth
Profile Joined January 2004
Canada3351 Posts
May 03 2011 07:25 GMT
#129
On May 03 2011 15:57 iNcontroL wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 15:53 Duravi wrote:
I disagree.

The very tip top 1% make enough money to live off of.

Then you have half THAT percent that make a wealthy living off of this game.

What job market would you want to enter where 1% of the people make a living off that money? It's false advertising.


I would argue many sports are the same. What percent of the people who play bball or football in high school are actually able to make a career out of it? That doesn't stop people from trying and teams hyping how much they pay.


Correct. But you wouldn't look your mom in the eye while watching an NFL game and go "Well I've decided I know what I want to do for a living! I'm going to be that 1% that makes it to the NFL!"

Or maybe you do. But they know you won't make it.

By all means chase the dream and go for it. I am obviously not one to say don't. But saying progamers having their earnings made public so kids can make the argument to their parents that they CAN earn a living playing this game all day is not a good argument imo.

You really going to stand behind that?

Well I honestly don't see anything wrong with that, if someone is going to aim for the top, he should at least kind of know what the rewards will be, no need to put the exact numbers, just something realistic someone can expect from going pro (not #1 in the world pro, more like top 50)
5unrise
Profile Joined May 2009
New Zealand646 Posts
May 03 2011 07:26 GMT
#130
On May 03 2011 08:16 Holcan wrote:
good pros: 50k-100k a year
normal pros 30-50k a year
north american pros : as much as mcdonalds pays, or less.


What's your evidence? Or just reasoning even? Don't just pull numbers off your ass and expect people to believe
Kipsate
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Netherlands45349 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-03 07:34:21
May 03 2011 07:33 GMT
#131
I thought becoming a progamer is extremly volatile outside of Korea, therefore there is no ballpark nor a guestimate of what you can make. There are many known players who probably don't make even nearly as much as others. Seeing as there is no overestablished E-sport assosiation(Kespa like) there is no regulation or anything like that, I think the vast majority of the players have no salary. On top of this, is there a thing as a progamer license outside of Korea?Because if there is not, then what cuts the pro from the amateur?I know that in Korea you can be the best Bnet player there is, if you don't have a progamer license, you are not a pro, just a very good amateur.

The border between progamer and amateur doesn't seem clear to me, and therefore it is hard to judge how much a progamer actually makes. As Incontrol stated some only get travel and gear, this while others make much more money appearently.
WriterXiao8~~
Duravi
Profile Joined September 2010
United States1205 Posts
May 03 2011 07:35 GMT
#132
just something realistic someone can expect from going pro (not #1 in the world pro, more like top 50)


That is what I'm arguing, i see no reason for teams not to release something like an average salary across their active players. If asked a team manager, say Scoots, "will you tell me the average pay your players make, and if not why will you not release that number?" I fear I would get no response.
shadymmj
Profile Joined June 2010
1906 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-05-03 07:38:05
May 03 2011 07:37 GMT
#133
On May 03 2011 16:22 ROOTFayth wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 15:52 shadymmj wrote:
Other than in Korea going pro is one of the worst things you can ever do in your life - along with those hardcore master league players with over 5k games played and still nothing to show for it...I swear they play for at least 5 hours a day and spend an additional 2 hours or so reviewing and finding strategies.

Look at Greg Fields, the biggest American superstar...18k in winnings over a year (about), maybe if you included a nice salary package of 25k and perhaps fringe coaching/donations/whatever of 2k (because seriously who pays couple hundred bucks for lessons), that comes up to 45k per year, that's about the average American GDP/capita. Very optimistic calculations.

Except that he probably won't be able to do this as a long-term career, as there's probably a burnout around age 32~ like most athletes suffer - an age when most counterparts are climbing the corporate ladder.

The bottom line is that youth-dependent superstars need to be making at least about 100k a year
in their prime to insure their future. I hear Greg is pretty smart, though, so he can at least complete some kind of degree in the future and start up an ordinary career. In that sense his situation is actually pretty alright, not due to e-sports, but because of his academic ability.

Now, how about those that aren't able to attend college?

I'd say close to 100% of the players who makes it in competitive gaming are smart enough to get a degree... we just choose not to


one of the things we learn at university (and is common sense really) is not to make an assertion without statistical evidence backing it up.

note that "100%" is pretty much a generalisation. (how close?)
There is no such thing is "e-sports". There is Brood War, and then there is crap for nerds.
Loooui
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Sweden348 Posts
May 03 2011 07:40 GMT
#134
On May 03 2011 15:02 Chill wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 13:53 iNcontroL wrote:
On May 03 2011 13:40 Chill wrote:
On May 03 2011 12:55 Joementum wrote:
On May 03 2011 12:02 iNcontroL wrote:
fun thread but so far this has been a bunch of people that have absolutely no idea judging/speculating on the salaries of players based on what Destiny said in an interview and what IdrA charges for coaching.

btw he charges that much not because he is in that high of demand but because he doesn't want to coach.. unless someone pays him tremendously.


Why not shed some light on it then instead of saying "LOL noobs speculating?" Otherwise, just let us speculate. There's only one player we know of and it's Destiny since he's come out and said how much he makes.

Agreed.


There is no way to come off as good talking about how much you make playing sc2. And it's just not a good idea.

I agree. So berating the curious doesn't add anything.


I sincerely disagree. Why not talk about it? I am pretty sure that people who are thinking about going pro have no idea what kind of salary that can be expected, or what kind of work that pays most, which leads to less new players taking the "risk" to go pro. And it is also hard for a new player to know if his contract is fair or not.

Openness is always better than "not talk about that" in my opinion. It would be better for the pro players to know what other players earn and from what. It would benefit the growth of the "Starcraft market" in the long perspective and make it a more competitive environment.
SpaceToaster
Profile Joined October 2010
United States289 Posts
May 03 2011 07:42 GMT
#135
On May 03 2011 16:37 shadymmj wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 16:22 ROOTFayth wrote:
On May 03 2011 15:52 shadymmj wrote:
Other than in Korea going pro is one of the worst things you can ever do in your life - along with those hardcore master league players with over 5k games played and still nothing to show for it...I swear they play for at least 5 hours a day and spend an additional 2 hours or so reviewing and finding strategies.

Look at Greg Fields, the biggest American superstar...18k in winnings over a year (about), maybe if you included a nice salary package of 25k and perhaps fringe coaching/donations/whatever of 2k (because seriously who pays couple hundred bucks for lessons), that comes up to 45k per year, that's about the average American GDP/capita. Very optimistic calculations.

Except that he probably won't be able to do this as a long-term career, as there's probably a burnout around age 32~ like most athletes suffer - an age when most counterparts are climbing the corporate ladder.

The bottom line is that youth-dependent superstars need to be making at least about 100k a year
in their prime to insure their future. I hear Greg is pretty smart, though, so he can at least complete some kind of degree in the future and start up an ordinary career. In that sense his situation is actually pretty alright, not due to e-sports, but because of his academic ability.

Now, how about those that aren't able to attend college?

I'd say close to 100% of the players who makes it in competitive gaming are smart enough to get a degree... we just choose not to


one of the things we learn at university (and is common sense really) is not to make an assertion without statistical evidence backing it up.

note that "100%" is pretty much a generalisation. (how close?)


I'd assert that it is pretty dang close to 100%, progamers are some of the most hardworking people around, and if I've learned anything from the two times I've failed out of college, its that a degree is almost completely about hard work (there are many many people who were not as bright as me that were much much more successful... then again that they knew enough to try their hardest might prove that they're smarter than me ).

On topic, if as many progamers have decided to pursue gaming rather than a conventional career as already have, it must pay enough to be worthwhile. Possibly not as much as a degree require field does ($60k+) but enough that its worth trading salary to do what you love for a living, and shouldn't that be enough?
Etra
Profile Joined September 2010
81 Posts
May 03 2011 07:46 GMT
#136
On May 03 2011 16:05 Golgotha wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 15:57 iNcontroL wrote:
On May 03 2011 15:53 Duravi wrote:
I disagree.

The very tip top 1% make enough money to live off of.

Then you have half THAT percent that make a wealthy living off of this game.

What job market would you want to enter where 1% of the people make a living off that money? It's false advertising.


I would argue many sports are the same. What percent of the people who play bball or football in high school are actually able to make a career out of it? That doesn't stop people from trying and teams hyping how much they pay.


Correct. But you wouldn't look your mom in the eye while watching an NFL game and go "Well I've decided I know what I want to do for a living! I'm going to be that 1% that makes it to the NFL!"

Or maybe you do. But they know you won't make it.

By all means chase the dream and go for it. I am obviously not one to say don't. But saying progamers having their earnings made public so kids can make the argument to their parents that they CAN earn a living playing this game all day is not a good argument imo.

You really going to stand behind that?



but what if we don't give a crap about becoming a pro-gamer and simply just want to know how much you guys make. we are just curious and want to know. we are not going to use this information to persuade mother and father, or in any other ill manner. we just want to know how much you guys make...so maybe we can donate if you guys give us a low number


Maybe they do not want to for personal reasons and you should shut the fuck up.

User was temp banned for this post.
Scorch
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Austria3371 Posts
May 03 2011 07:49 GMT
#137
Maybe this question is easier to answer for the pros: can you estimate how many players outside Korea are professional gamers in the sense that they are able to support themselves off of salary, prize money, coaching, streaming, commentating, etc., without having a day job?
DONTPANIC
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States340 Posts
May 03 2011 07:51 GMT
#138
I think people curious about how much streaming makes is okay. Sheth is quoted saying on his stream in response to the question: "Nothing yet but I hope to make more". So there is that. I personally make $75,000.00 a year. + Show Spoiler +
Though I am a Freight Train conductor.
The universe is big. Really big.
Etra
Profile Joined September 2010
81 Posts
May 03 2011 07:52 GMT
#139
On May 03 2011 16:51 DONTPANIC wrote:
I think people curious about how much streaming makes is okay. Sheth is quoted saying on his stream in response to the question: "Nothing yet but I hope to make more". So there is that. I personally make $75,000.00 a year. + Show Spoiler +
Though I am a Freight Train conductor.


Viva Las Vegas? Who cares.
Holcan
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada2593 Posts
May 03 2011 07:54 GMT
#140
On May 03 2011 16:26 5unrise wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2011 08:16 Holcan wrote:
good pros: 50k-100k a year
normal pros 30-50k a year
north american pros : as much as mcdonalds pays, or less.


What's your evidence? Or just reasoning even? Don't just pull numbers off your ass and expect people to believe


a year of managing a sponorship seeking sc2 team
2 years of managing a sponsor seeking wc3 team
5 years of administrative work on the semi professional level in wc3, so I was in constant contact with players like Empire.Kas, Thorzain, etc.

I dont care if you believe me or not, but my numbers are the closest you are going to get in this thread.
Reference The Inadvertant Joey, Strong talented orchastrasted intelligent character.
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