Well I doubt Blizz needs to throw as much money at tournaments as Riot does as SC2 seems to be generating some pretty high paying tournaments. But I fully agree with the lack of promotion. A while back I made this thread: Battlenet: Promoting Esports Suggesting more or less the same thing and others have suggested it. I reminded again as I just logged into LoL to find a nice shiny button and pic saying to watch the stream.

I really do wish that Blizz would do something similar. Obviously they need to be choosy on which ones they highlight because there is a lot of them, but even just a few of the big ones would be awesome. People are lazy and one really has to stumble upon some of these tournaments unless you frequent Team Liquid. And I guarantee many of the casual base of SC2 wouldn't know about it.

tarath

United States377 Posts

August 19 2011 03:11 GMT

#222

Did anyone here play Guildwars?

They had a channel in the game that would just broadcast 2 of the top level teams that were playing and let you hop in at any time as any observer. It was so awesome and made the sport aspect of the game really exciting.

If Blizzard just added an easy way in the client to watch a randomly selected GM level game in observer mode in real time, I think it would get people unfamiliar with esports way more in to the idea watching games.

Obviously they could provide commentary by hiring casters if the wished for a pretty small price.

United States2586 Posts

August 19 2011 03:13 GMT

#223

If Blizzard just added an easy way in the client to watch a randomly selected GM level game in observer mode in real time, I think it would get people unfamiliar with esports way more in to the idea watching games.

Abuseable. Rather they could simply promote streaming SC2 games and making it more accessible within bnet. I feel like a stream tab within or next to the community tab would do it justice. They could even go further and develop their own stream client within battle net and cash in on advertising.

tarath

United States377 Posts

August 19 2011 03:17 GMT

#224

On August 19 2011 12:13 Tyrant0 wrote:

Show nested quote +

Guildwars just played it on a 20 minute delay or something. I don't think its really abusable.

I agree that just a stream tab might be sufficient. Just was remembering how fun guildwars GvG was.

Iamportal

United States184 Posts

August 19 2011 03:19 GMT

#225

I definitely think that blizz could do more to support the scene. I think a big start would be to relax the rigid rules they have on tournaments and prize pools, and do a better job of promoting tournaments that are happening.

darkest44

United States1009 Posts

August 19 2011 03:23 GMT

#226

Easy question.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Kotick

OlimarioSC

United States1 Post

August 19 2011 03:24 GMT

#227

blizzard is working VERY hard on SC2, havent you noticed all the recent patches? SC2 is a work in process, and they have not and WILL not stop supporting it until it is perfect

ApBuLLet

United States604 Posts

August 19 2011 03:32 GMT

#228

I think the reason why Blizzard does not seem to put as much into promoting their game as an eSport compared to a couple of other companies, like Riot, is simply because they don't have the time to right now. There are still two expansions to come and a lot of work they need to do and from what they've said, it sounds like their pretty backed up as it is. Once the last expansion comes out and is running smoothly I think you will see a lot more eSport related things coming for Blizzard, but for right now I think it is just a matter of priorities. First they need to finish making a bad ass game before they put everything into promoting it as an eSport. Yeah, for now it kinda sucks, but I think that with time it will come.

Kaxon

United States117 Posts

August 19 2011 03:36 GMT

#229

I don't feel like Blizzard even needs to do more to promote SC2, I just wish they weren't standing in the way of it so much. The lack of LAN and the 50% fee for big tournaments seem like really big hinderances for the competitive scene, as well as to the development of the fanbase. LAN play and the spawn copies thing really helped SC1 become popular. With SC2, the vast majority or parents aren't going to buy their kids two copies of the game so that they can play against each other - I know kids like this who still play SC:BW multiplayer because they only have one copy of SC2. And it hurts them in Korea in the PC Bangs as well, which hurts the games popularity there.

EaryKing

Bulgaria158 Posts

August 19 2011 03:36 GMT

#230

This is not Blizzard's fault, it's activision.

Techno

1900 Posts

August 19 2011 03:38 GMT

#231

OP is like some weird version of a conspiracy theorist.

Diamond

United States10796 Posts

August 19 2011 03:40 GMT

#232

On August 19 2011 12:11 tarath wrote:
Did anyone here play Guildwars?

They had a channel in the game that would just broadcast 2 of the top level teams that were playing and let you hop in at any time as any observer. It was so awesome and made the sport aspect of the game really exciting.

Wait a minute you could watch those games!?!?!!?!?!?!?!

Shit.......

Louuster

Canada2869 Posts

August 19 2011 03:40 GMT

#233

I think the fact that the competitive scene is doing well without Blizzard support is a good thing, not a bad thing. If anything, it gives it a staying power as the scene can remain active for longer than the "lifetime" of the game itself. The reason there is still a very active BW scene while Bliz has stopped supporting that game about 5 years ago shows that.

tychusfuddley

Vanuatu39 Posts

August 19 2011 03:43 GMT

#234

all the people here saying blizzard does not support esport scene is ridiculous. Go watch dustin browders gdc presentation, the frickin game was designed to be an esport first then single player. GSL is directly supported by blizzard. i think in a year they have probably pumped more than 2 million in prize pool.

Antisocialmunky

United States5912 Posts

August 19 2011 04:06 GMT

#235

I saw the picture of NaDa and was disappointed that this wasn't the 2nd coming of the NaDa's body thread.

magnaflow

Canada1521 Posts

August 19 2011 04:15 GMT

#236

On August 19 2011 12:43 tychusfuddley wrote:
all the people here saying blizzard does not support esport scene is ridiculous. Go watch dustin browders gdc presentation, the frickin game was designed to be an esport first then single player. GSL is directly supported by blizzard. i think in a year they have probably pumped more than 2 million in prize pool.

Ya after watching that video my views have changed a bit.

United States1177 Posts

August 19 2011 04:17 GMT

#237

Blizz should create player profiles for the top 5 grandmasters, so when people are curious about rankings, they can click on their names on the ladder and get a short summary about the person behind the alias, accomplishments/rivalries/equipment/etc. Of course make it optional so people can retain privacy if wanted.

Also no reason not to advertise tournaments more, but please, more than a short sentence telling people to tune in to GSL finals. The main selling point should be the players who are playing, give a bit of background story, while letting people know these guys are the best of the best. Have pictures of them at least, as well as a stream link (preferable embedded).

I am envisioning myself as a noob, a year ago. What captivated me? I wanted to know more about high level starcraft and see what a perfect game looked like. Blizz better get grackin, because the casual playerbase isn't getting any higher.

edit: Also do you have a higher definition of that picture to share?

Rinnegan5

Netherlands319 Posts

August 19 2011 04:28 GMT

#238

I think MOBA games are a temporary hype in the esports scene.To each his own but I think SC2 will ultimately be the pillar on which Esports is build.

Trealador

United States207 Posts

August 19 2011 04:29 GMT

#239

Blizzard doesn't take as much interest in SC because they have 3 games to deal with. They also do not host these tournaments and therefore do not make the money from them. And why would you promote a game that is a buy once and they never make anything else from you when they have WoW which is 15$ a month instead of 60$ lifetime. It just makes more sense to put money into things that will make more money for you.

TheSwamp

United States1497 Posts

August 19 2011 04:34 GMT

#240

Your points are great and extremely relevant. Though, the caps don't really add anything to the write-up. I completely agree with you. Blizzard does seem to take the pro scene lightly. Without proper support from the developer, it's easy to let the scene fail. I mean this in the sense that growth will halt at a certain point. I believe if Blizzard made an actual effort, equal to what sites like TL have made, to actually grow the scene it would explode to a proportion that we have yet to see. There are still a ton of casual viewers and players that don't necessarily follow the pro scene, and Blizzard is definitely the key.