I really wish we knew more about the economics of being a pro gamer. Maybe someone in the know can enlighten us; how well does a player of moderate success level do on a long enough timeline? Granted, the absolute top champs will probably make enough money to last them all life long if they live reasonably, but how about someone who's doing kind-of-sort-of-well.

Because the thing is, many pro gamers retire before the age of 30, at least this has been the case so far. Not even "real" athletes generally do that; the soccer pitches and fight cages are packed with guys and girls in their mid-30's. Now, considering how much less money there is in professional gaming than in other sports, I wouldn't be surprised if, on a long enough timeline, someone like HuK would make the kind of money that would make the average office worker go "oooooh... Idunno man...." - especially keeping in mind how many hours pro gamers put in, not to mention stress, travel pressures etc.

Anyway, I'm going to assume that the average, kind of successful pro makes decent, but not great, money (again, if someone has any actual numbers, that'd be swell). Keeping in mind then that they may only be active for, say, 10 or so years at the most... that's a pretty short career. That said, if someone like HuK could make even 15% more during that same amount of time, he'd be absolutely friggin' retarded not to take the offer - all other things being equal of course. Now, I'm pretty sure there's a lot of value in staying with TL instead of hopping to another team; HuK has even implied as much. So you better believe that the difference in money was probably immense.

Good thing this kind of competition for talent exists. That way, we may start seeing more money injected into the E-sports industry, and maybe more players will stay active past their 30th birthday/wedding day/birth of their first child etc.

lorkac

United States2297 Posts

August 16 2011 20:46 GMT

#1083

Maybe Idra tried to practice with the old guard of EG and realized that he needed to get back to Korea as soon as possible....

Blitz Beat

United States178 Posts

August 16 2011 20:46 GMT

#1084

Now I know how cleveland felt when lebron james made the decision to "take his talents to south beach".... sorta... ):

Angelbelow

United States3728 Posts

August 16 2011 20:47 GMT

#1085

On August 17 2011 05:41 TDN3 wrote:
Well, Idra will be in for a big surprise about the current Code B. This is not the open tournament Idra. You'll be stuck in Code B with Puma forever while waiting for Huk to join code B.

Lol.. you are an emotional person.. IdrA technically earned code A spots in the last 2 MLGs, and ill bet he pulled out of IEM so he can train properly for this one, would you really bet against him on this one? If you had to bet 1000$ on whether Puma is going to do well at MLG, I'd bet that you put money ON him. Cheer up mate, dont let your life be destroyed when EG and their big 3 inevitably do well.

Rasun

United States787 Posts

August 16 2011 20:47 GMT

#1086

As a big Liquid fan with a friendly rivalry towards EG I would be lying if I didn't say this bums me out pretty hard. EG looking so strong now, so come on Liquid guys, keep up your hard work!

Mylkyjo

Australia110 Posts

August 16 2011 20:49 GMT

#1087

Sick news! So many of the little tidbits of info from the clues can be made sense of, regardless of whether they were coincidences or not ^_^

TDN3

United States81 Posts

August 16 2011 20:51 GMT

#1088

but but but....There's much more money to be made in foreign scene. How much money has Idra made in the foreign scene so far? 2k? Why isn't he in the top ten money list?

Copenap

723 Posts

August 16 2011 20:51 GMT

#1089

While I'm really sad about HuK leaving Liquid, I can absolutly understand this decision considering EG made a "life changing" offer. I can't even blame EG for that (the countdown thing was maybe a bit too much) and I'm glad he's staying in Korea. Still gonna be awkward seeing an EG infront of his name though

Serpico

4285 Posts

August 16 2011 20:52 GMT

#1090

On August 17 2011 05:51 TDN3 wrote:
but but but....There's much more money to be made in foreign scene. How much money has Idra made in the foreign scene so far? 2k? Why isn't he in the top ten money list?

Are you done?

eburnsdaniel

United Kingdom69 Posts

August 16 2011 20:53 GMT

#1091

Can anyone explain to me why other clans are able to command such lustrious sponsors and pay so handsomely??? Why is TL sponsored by TLAF and other clans are sponsored by Intel, Steelseries etc etc...

genuinely curious. PM would be nice

magnaflow

Canada1521 Posts

August 16 2011 20:55 GMT

#1092

On August 17 2011 05:53 eburnsdaniel wrote:
Can anyone explain to me why other clans are able to command such lustrious sponsors and pay so handsomely??? Why is TL sponsored by TLAF and other clans are sponsored by Intel, Steelseries etc etc...

genuinely curious. PM would be nice

I could be wrong but i'm guessing it has to do with TL being a SC2 team only, while other teams participate in a variety of other games

chipman

United States139 Posts

August 16 2011 20:56 GMT

#1093

I'd really like to see all these players continue to do well, one way or another.

I respect individual players more than I do the team, so regardless of what banner they're waving, I'll be behind them all the way.

XRaDiiX

Canada1730 Posts

August 16 2011 20:59 GMT

#1094

I guessed this pretty much in various of my posts i kept Repeating it on the EG Announcement Thread

Do i get A prize?'

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=254730&currentpage=142#2831

The 2nd Post of Mine is the Most Correlated to Guessing it Spot on
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=254730&currentpage=156#3113

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=254730&currentpage=175#3497

br0fivE

Canada349 Posts

August 16 2011 20:59 GMT

#1095

EG would be a good team w/o incontroll, machine, lz etc etc

you only really need huk, idra, puma.

Serpico

4285 Posts

August 16 2011 21:01 GMT

#1096

On August 17 2011 05:59 br0fivE wrote:
EG would be a good team w/o incontroll, machine, lz etc etc

you only really need huk, idra, puma.

I think when teams get more aggressive about cutting and signing players is when the SC 2 scene will really get similar to traditional sports and how they have signing periods. It will be much more hectic, but exciting to watch.

Devolved

United States2753 Posts

August 16 2011 21:03 GMT

#1097

I think everyone including Huk realize that he is the player that he is today because of TL's deal with OGS and the fact that this arrangement allowed him to practice with some of the best players in the world, especially the Toss specialist MC and the PvP mastermind Inca. What Toss players will he have now to discuss strats and practice PvP with...Incontrol, Axslav...not quite the same level. Huk has proven he has the dedication and determination to become the best that he can be, but without the proper tools certain tasks become impossible. Combine that with not living in an ideal environment...with Idra...really?...and he may even lose motivation. I hope for the best, but fear for the worst. Good luck Huk, and I hope you continue to improve. Prove me wrong!

doomscythe

61 Posts

August 16 2011 21:04 GMT

#1098

tough time Idra..

Angelbelow

United States3728 Posts

August 16 2011 21:05 GMT

#1099

Love that IdrA is going back too..

ZUR1CH

United States108 Posts

August 16 2011 21:05 GMT

#1100

For all the haters -- just look at the professionalism in this business transaction, and learn from it. Things can't always be taken personally; sometimes people do things for their own reasons, and you have no right to tell them otherwise, especially due to some ridiculous notions of fanboydom.