Disclaimer:The following article was meant to be a response to a comment on Reddit, but since I started laying out my thoughts the length of the response has become too large to be a mere reply and thus this humble article was born. I am no spokerperson for CatZ, this is purely my own endeavour. I will very likely not become more popular for writing ths article, but let‘s not make this about me either. If you are sensitive when it comes to subjects such as economics and politics, you should read this article at your own risk, as politics tend to get heated at times.
In 2011.04.09 a video has been posted on AskJoshy‘s YouTube channel of Paolo „CatZ“ Vizcarra opening his thoughts on home-grown eSports ( link - ). The views expressed in the video have been cited on many different occasions and used in agressive tone by some users in several TeamLiquid and Reddit threads of which the said statements spawned many. Since then Catz has gained many anti-fans. I believe, unjustly so.
In this article, I will aim to explain why CatZ said what he did, explain the rationale and reasoning behind his views and dispel some myths formed by false conclusions that were drawn from the interview video. Basically I‘m saying CatZ is not an asshole. Here‘s why...
There are a few myths about CatZ‘s statements on koreans participating in foreign leagues (the statement applies to broader scale than just NASL). I‘d like to dispell those and explain the reasoning of Catz‘s statements. Let‘s start with some misconceptions about CatZ‘s position on the matter, shall we?
1. CatZ is racist – FALSE - he doesn‘t agree with koreans competing in NASL, not because of their race, but locale. Remember he, himself, is Peruvian, competing in the USA.
Well, that one‘s easy, let‘s do another one. 2. CatZ wants to win more money and is afraid of korean competition – FALSE – this argument is of purely economical inclination, Paolo is saying that the prize money should stay and circulate in the foreign Starcraft scene – I will go into deeper detail on this in a second.
Before jumping to any of these previously mentioned false conclusions you should ask yourself how much do you know about money flow. The CatZ argument is purely economically inclined. There is no "boo-hoo they too strong and doesn't afraid of anything" here. When you're thinking of CatZ's statement's you should consider...
A simple economical formula that most students know:
GDP=C+I+G+(X-M)
What CatZ is talking about is the "(X-M)" part which stands for net exports. It is the diffrence of export versus import. When import is higher than export (money leaks) GDP is smaller. If consumers buy more foreign products than local ones, net export is negative. In other words, buying goods from a foreign country fuels money to that country's economy, while your country gets into shit financial situation if this phenomena is en masse.
Here's a real world example, one that was given to me by a macroeconomics proffesor in my university, an example that is very relevant to me.
Lithuania joined the European Union. The small(er) business here were bought out by foreign competitors. The products that people buy are often products of foreign companies. This makes import high and export low. If this negative isn‘t compesated by other factos in the formula the national debt is piling up as net export remains negative. That‘s where This leads to huge economical tendencies that I won't go into about.
Now imagine that different countries are different Starcraft e-sports scenes with a completely free trading market. The growing "western" and the "already-developed" korean scene. The western scene is developing and is starting to create some revenue, however the korean scene, which is already big, competes for the same money. Money is leaked from the western scene into the korean scene via prize pool (as korean players are better financed, received better conditions and training for years, while western players could only do this as a hobby). It is natural for the korean scene to dwarf the underdeveloped western scene. A korean winning a foreign tournament means more money for korean e-sports. If a korean stays and competes in North America, he is part of THAT scene. This is why CatZ does not oppose koreans STAYING to compete in NA tournaments. Stricly speaking the „already developed“ scene would suck funds out of the „developing“ one. This is why Koreans winning foreign tournaments can be POTENTIALLY bad for foreign eSports.
Granted, this is only pize pool money we‘re talking about. It is also unfair to say that all of the money will remain in one particular scene, afterall there is a fair trade going on between the two. However, you have to admit the point remains valid.
CatZ‘s argument is purely economical and I want you to understand this perspective.
This short article was not written to change your opinion, it does not instrigate any hostilities toward any nation whatsoever. In the end, take this opinion for what it is – a way to look at the subject. I do not expect for you to agree with the reasoning, nor to change it, but I want you to understand that there is perfectly reasonable rationale behind Catz‘s argument. Everyone has their own opinion and is free to (respectfully) disagree, I hope that this article at least helped to explain the CatZ‘s side of the argument.
Edit: I agree that Koreans can bring interest and revenue to the foreign scene, no doubt they have a positive influence as well, but they can also harm development of foreign Starcraft 2 scene (not purposely of course!). Which approach - "protectionarist" or "free market" is better is a very difficult thing to say, I just wanted to explain the the logic behind protectionarism and CatZ's approach to the matter. I hope the video is enough to give you a view of what CatZ's argument actually was.
Here's what CatZ had to say in the comments:
This wasn't a video I made in order to make people not invite koreans to their leagues, its simply my opinion on Home grown esports, and the growth of a community, not of me as a player, realistically, if I played a tournament today with the top non-koreans i'd still stand very little chance to win, but at least in my particular case, If I knew that my chances were improved, heck, lets narrow it down even more... If there was -just- a 3000$ prize-pool tournament in florida, for florida residents, I'd practice my ass off for it, because I know that my chances to win would be much bigger, then weather I win it or lose it, I will have become a better player, and if the circle continued, before you know it im devoting all of my time into practicing like I should practice, listening to less songs and singing less on my stream, and becoming a better player who could potentially compete with anyone in the world. THEN I go and play in tournaments with everyone else outside of florida, and if this had happened in every location, everyone will by then have become better players. So obviously im not saying organize a large tournament in florida so I can make more $, im just trying to show what I mean to say here, if there are SOME leagues that SOME players will believe they have a better shot at winning, they'll practice harder for them, become better players and help esports grow, idc if its me or whoever else. Right now, players outside of korea, have a shot at generation better revenue by 'getting out there' being more 'popular' 'raging' etc. Because this means they'll get more stream viewers and more Lessons and whatever else, very few players, like maybe KiWiKaKi will focus all of their efforts in gaming (because as many people know, he's wealthy already) as a result he's much better than most 'pros' who for the most part need to make a living off of the game somehow, not necessarily by playing the game 24/7 and being the best and going to a tournament and winning it.
I think local leagues or even national, leagues, where you realistically can have a shot at the prize pool would drive A LOT more of these players to play the game more and become the best players they can become. Its false that fans won't support this leagues or not watch them if there's no Koreans in it, if that is true, its a small percentage, IPL season one proved that, with good production, it was driving more viewers than NASL was at the time (even though NASL had koreans competing in it).
Im not scared to play Koreans either, I'd LOVE to measure myself against them more often even if I get rapeddddd. But if we continue on this path, you're looking at broodwar 2 in a couple years.
Very interesting perspective but your youtube link is broken which will cause lots of silly posts from people that dont know whats going on until its fixed
Good explanation. The one question that I would bring up is whether Koreans coming to the scene doesn't actually benefit the scene by making the tournament more legitimate and therefore more appealing to fans or potentially sponsors? I definitely think some people would take that point of view.
I think there are some serious flaws in your argument tbh (and Catz' if that is his theory).
The currency of esports is not prizemoney but fans, views and streams. Ultimately these generate revenue for the event of course, which has a very indirect impact on prizemoney.
That 'currency' (ie fans) does not get 'exported' to Korea if a Korean wins. Therefore there is no loss to the foreign scene.
The only way that there could be an impact is if you were to run an argument that lower (or less access to) prizemoney would mean lower quality foreign players (I know you don't specifically make such a claim). However, views/streams/fans make sponsors more achievable, teams more profitable and player income higher without ever relying on prize money. Koreans adding interest to our foreign tournaments DEFINITELY help this grow. Consequently, I can't see a negative impact from having Korean players. Hell, even if the lack of prizemoney did have an impact, the fact that they have come over and bossed people might inspire and drive foreign players far more than prizemoney ever could.
On June 17 2011 11:39 MidnightSun001 wrote: 1. CatZ is racist – FALSE - he doesn‘t agree with koreans competing in NASL, not because of their race, but locale. Remember he, himself, is Peruvian, competing in the USA.
Perhaps not racist, but most likely xenophobic. Edit: and being a foreigner yourself in no way prevents you from being racist. Or hypocritical. So I don't think much of your 'proof' sorry
Nice argument though! A lot of thought put in
And further edit: Catz seems like a good guy who genuinely cares about Esports, not his personal wealth. I'm not bagging him, just the argument he put forward
The problem with this is that the comparison between progamers and countries is silly. While his argument may be financially motivated, it isn't economically motivated. It has nothing to do with trade or commerce. Prize money doesn't benefit national esporta scenes nearly as much as it does progamers. I'm not disagreeing with the argument (or agreeing with it), I'm simply disagreeing with your analysis of it.
You did an amazing job of explaining Catz argument without explicitly stating what his argument was. I may be one the few that doesn't know about this controversy. Can you please outline what the two opposing positions are.
When you say
I‘d like to dispell those and explain the reasoning of Catz‘s statements. Let‘s start with some misconceptions about CatZ‘s position on the matter, shall we?
What exactly did he say?
As for your thinking, I would argue that by increasing competition in foreign tournaments, Koreans help to advertise the skill level of SC2. They are a mjor draw card to any tournament and pull large crowds. Thus increasing the demand for tournaments, which benefits everyone.
Your argument seems to revolve around Koreans dominating everything, in a systematic way. I highly doubt this will become a structured regular thing. Competition is a good thing, protectionism and "trade barriers" harm the market.
I agree with your synopsis. I think Catz just means to say that the GSL, as in the GLOBAL Starcraft II League, should be the international affair. At least that's what I take from it.
On June 17 2011 11:52 deerpark87 wrote: I don't understand why you want to bring up this topic again. I rather you explain Catz/Ret's MLG drama. At-least that is more entertaining.
we like beating a dead horse? anyways, i like having koreans in major tournaments, make them more legit and more HYPE!
On June 17 2011 11:51 Datum wrote: The problem with this is that the comparison between progamers and countries is silly. While his argument may be financially motivated, it isn't economically motivated. It has nothing to do with trade or commerce. Prize money doesn't benefit national esporta scenes nearly as much as it does progamers. I'm not disagreeing with the argument (or agreeing with it), I'm simply disagreeing with your analysis of it.
Yes, that is correct. The argument misconceives the economics of this whole thing. Esports is a global phenomena and nationhood is largely irrelevant.
Another thing: people don't care about the nationality of players as much as some people think.
Doesn't do anything to dispel what he has said in chats, in games, on streams, in interviews, just sounds like a lot of lame excuses being made to make himself look better after the hate he's gotten.
As long as the prize distribution at foreign tournaments such as the NASL and MLG remains so top-heavy, this position is fundamentally flawed.
When the winner is taking home roughly half the prize pool, it doesn't matter whether that winner is Korean, or American, or whatever.
Until prize pools rise to the point where professional players can be in the middle of the pack skill-wise and still make a living off of their earnings, we don't need to worry about such matters.
If anything, having more Koreans participate will speed up the process of having higher prize pools since they draw more viewers, and more viewers equals more money from sponsors.
Huge reason why I enjoyed Columbus so much was the koreans vs foreigners. Haha especially IdrA vs the koreans. I also think the best tournaments in the world have been where both foreigners and koreans are involved. GSL, Dreamhack, Nasl, Columbus etc... I'm not sure how good the IPL was, but if it was good and people enjoyed it, that would be a good counter argument though.
The thing is, from a conscientious viewpoint, whomever this Cat person is is stating that eSports is only about improving from a self-economic perspective, You remonstrate otherwise, but usually, if a sport is non-amateur, the player/team wants to become the very best in the world. Soccer is an example. No team would ever consider money first compared to winning say the world cup and proving to the world that they are the best team. Granted, SC II isn't about international pride and there is the WCG to prove that sort of dominance, but his viewpoint makes me question is own pride and goals if he's so cantankerous against Koreans in the foreign scene. In other words, just be like Flash and play everyone you face without a thought. If you lose, only a better reason for you to improve.
so wait, how does a korean winning prize money make it so that that money circulates in the korean scene and not in the foreign scene? the player doesn't put the money back into the tournaments, but spends it on necessities like food/clothing...
basically I see this as catz arguing that all non north americans should be excluded from the NASL to promote the north american scene which is a backwards argument in itself. Without the highest level of competition it's gonna produce much less revenue, and much less prize money.
EPT
