2012 brought a lot of new changes to the GSL format, with the GSL announcing an entirely new road map for the year to come. GSL fans had many questions about the changes, and the TL staff was curious as well. With the Code S season just kicking off, the GSL's Director, Mr. Chae Jung Won agreed to answer some of our questions via E-Mail.
2012년도에 GSL리그가 방식이 크게 개편 되었다. 리그 개수를 줄이고 각 리그의 기간을 늘린 이유가 무엇인가?
: 몇 가지 이유가 있다. 가장 큰 이유는 모든 e-sports가 마찬가지지만 해당 토너먼트가 발전하고 흥행하기 위해서 가장 중요한 것은 선수들의 경기력과 재미있는 대진이다. 선수들의 경기력은 준비할 시간과 공정한 방식에 영향을 많이 받는다. 하지만, 준비할 시간과 공정함은 리그의 속도와 큰 관계가 있다. 리그의 준비 시간이 많을수록 그리고 최대한 Bo1을 배제하고 최소 Bo3 로 경기를 만들면 선수들의 경기력이 향상될 것이라고 생각한다. 이러한 변화는 반드시 리그의 기간이 길어지는 것을 의미한다. 아울러 2011 GSL을 진행하면서 받았던 가장 많은 Feedback 중 하나였던 그룹 플레이의 Bo1에 대한 해결책이기도 하다. 그리고 리그 기간을 늘이면 자연스럽게 리그 개수는 줄어든다. 하지만 2012 GSL의 전체 경기 숫자는 오히려 2011년보다 늘어났다. 따라서 리그 개수는 줄어들었지만 훨씬 더 양질의 경기를 작년보다 많이 시청할 수 있다.
초기 방식에서 코드S유지를 쉽게 한 이유가 스타 양성, 팀들에게 안정적인 수익원 제공이라고 한 적이 있다. 한국의 스타2계에 어떤 변화가 있어서 옛날 방식을 포기한건가?
: 2011년의 SC II는 아직 걸음마 단계였으며 선수들과 팀은 자신들을 지탱할 만한 팬과 자본을 가지고 있지 못했다. 따라서 2011년의 GSL은 최대한 자주 선수와 팀들에게 기회를 제공하고 상금을 받아가도록 노력했다, 하지만 2011년 한 해 동안 GSL은 성공적인 선수들의 팬층을 만들었고 인기 선수를 가진 팀은 스폰서가 하나 둘 생기면서 안정적인 재정 지원을 받기 시작했다. 그리고 하나 둘 생겨난 GSL 우승자와 GSTL 우승팀에게는 많은 팬들이 생겨났으며 이것은 2012 GSL을 풍요롭게 만들었다고 생각한다. 마찬가지로 해외 대회와의 연계를 통해 자주 해외 대회에 진출하는 선수들이 많아지면서 한국 선수들의 재정적인 상태는 현재 많이 호전되었다. 2011년이 우리가 인프라를 형성하는 시기였다면 2012년은 성숙한 SC II 시장을 만들고 안정화 시키는 시기이다. 그 일환으로 리그 일정을 늘리고 방식을 바꿔 Code S 선수들은 많은 연습을 통해 경기를 치르고 자주 방송 경기에 등장하게 됐다.
새로운 리그 방식을 보면 코드S, 승강전에 외국인 시드를 늘리면서 이전보다 외국인들에게 주어지는 혜택이 많다. 이러한 결정을 내리게 된 이유는?
: Code S 시드는 사실 외국인만을 위한 시드는 아니다. 정확히 말하면 해외 대회들을 배려한 시드이다. 작년의 MLG Code S 시드와 비슷한 방식이라고 생각하면 된다. 하지만 작년에는 MLG에게만 Code S 시드를 주었지만 (게이머의 국적과 상관없이) 올해는 여러 해외 대회들을 종합적으로 고려하여 시드를 준비할 생각이다. 그 선수는 한국 선수가 될 수도 해외 선수가 될 수도 있다. 또한, 후원사에서 원하는 선수가 있다면 Code S 에 합류시킬 수 있는 역할을 하기도 한다. 이는 타 스포츠에서도 많이 도입된 방식이다.
외국인 초청 선수들이 저조한 경기력으로 바로 탈락하는 모습을 많이 보여줬다. 이러한 상황에서 시드를 늘렸는데, 한국 팬들이나, 선수, 팀이 불만을 품지 않았나?
: 팀과 선수들은 불만이 없다. 반대로 생각하면 해외 대회에 한국 선수들이 이미 훨씬 많은 상위 시드를 받고 있다. 해외 선수들이 그것에 불만을 가지진 않는 것과 같은 이치다.(어쩌면 불만이 있을 수도 있지만….?) 월드컵을 예로 들면 이해하기 쉬울 것이다. 월드컵을 단순히 정말 FIFA 랭킹만으로 출전한다면 대한민국은 영원히 출전하지 못하고 남미와 유럽팀들만이 즐기는 스포츠가 됐을 것이다. 우리는 GSL이 단순히 국내 리그로 자리잡는 것을 원하지 않는다. 해외 선수들도 기회가 있다면 얼마든지 한국행을 결정할 수 있는 동기를 제공하고 싶다. 기회가 있어서 한국을 방문하고 한국 프로게이머 문화를 소화한다면 해외 선수들도 충분히 지금보다 강해질 수 있다. GSL은 그런 기회를 제공하고 싶다. 그리고 그것은 비교적 작년 한 해 성공적이었다고 생각한다. (현재 많은 선수들이 한국 팀과 교류하여 한국으로 오는 것을 2년 전만 해도 상상이나 할 수 있었는가?
작년에 MLG와 성공적인 리그 교환 프로그램을 진행했는데, 2012에는 외국 대회와의 연계를 늘릴 생각인가? MLG외에 다른 대회과 협력 관계를 맺을 생각이 있는가?
: 당연하다. 작년에 가장 적극적이었던 것은 MLG였다. 그리고 MLG는 GSL과의 연계를 통해 서로 성공적인 결과를 가져갔다고 생각한다. 2012년은 보다 많은 해외 대회들과 연계할 생각이다. 그리고 가장 적극적인 대회들과 더욱 긴밀한 연계를 할 생각이다. GSL은 언제나 열려있다. 해외 업체가 적극적인 연계를 원하면 우린 언제나 같이 일할 계획이 있다.
작년에 월드 챔피언쉽, 슈퍼 터너먼트가 큰 인기를 얻었는데, 올해로서 사라졌다. 이러한 대회를 개최하지 않은 이유가 무엇이며, AoL같은 대회로 대체 할 생각이 있는가?
: GOMTV 자체적인 평가로 월드 챔피언십은 우리도 매우 성공적이었다고 생각한다. 하지만 슈퍼 토너먼트는 그다지 성공적이었다고 보기 힘들었다. 올해는 월드 챔피언십은 미리 계획하고 있지 않다. 하지만 이것이 월드 챔피언십이 개최되지 않는 것은 아니다. 우리는 2012 GSL 정규 Tour를 발표함에 있어서 최대한 우리가 보장할 수 있는 대회들만 발표했다. 월드 챔피언십은 분명 성공적이었기 때문에 우리는 정규 투어와 상관없이 새로운 방식의 월드 챔피언십을 개최할 의지도 있다. 워낙 급변하는 국제 e-sports 이기 때문에 현재로서 모든 특별 대회까지 발표하지 못했을 뿐이다. 기다려주면 조만간 좋은 소식이 있을 것이다. AOL은 정규 리그에서 해소하지 못한 조금은 이베트성의 리그와 여러 팬들이 원하는 매치 위주로 가져갈 생각이다. 역시 다양한 컨셉이 준비되어 있으니 실망하지 않을 것이다.
지금 까지 AoL을 어떻게 평가하고 있으며, 앞으로 어떤 식으로 운영할 계획인가? GSL처럼 곰TV가 가지고 있는 하나의 고정 브랜드로 키울 계획인가? 해외에서 편의상 AoL을 GSL이라고 부르기도 하는데, 이를 같이 분류하는 것이 맞는가?
: AOL의 기본 기획 의도는 많은 팬들이 보고 싶었지만 GSL에서는 이루어지지 않는 매치들을 보여주는 것이었다. 그리고 이후에는 다양한 이벤트 매치나 새로운 기획들을 만들어내고 있다. 우리는 AOL을 GSL의 온라인 리그 경기 브랜드로 키워나갈 생각이다. GSL은 전 경기 오프라인 라이브로 진행되지만 AOL은 조금 더 유연하게 진행 될 예정이다. 선수들이 오프라인으로 경기를 치를 수도 있지만 기본방침은 온라인의 대전이다. 아울러 GSL에서 보기 힘든 여러 매치들을 시청자 투표 등을 통해 선정한 후 show-match 형식으로 진행할 수도 있다. AOL은 굉장히 유연한 기획이기 때문에 TL에서도 설문 조사를 통해 우리에게 새로운 기획 아이디어를 준다면 언제든지 대회로 진행할 수 있다.
GSL초창기에는 현지 관중이 적어서 많은 사람들이 걱정했는데, 2011년 말에 많이 늘어났다. 한국에서 스타2가 커지고 있다고 생각하고 있나? 2012년도에 어느정도 성장을 예측하고 있는지?
: 한국의 SC II 시장은 전 세계 SC II 시장 같이 나날이 발전하고 있다. 거기다가 2011년 말 새로운 리그 방식 개편으로 인해 보다 많은 사람들이 GSL을 즐기기 위해 현장을 방문하고 있다. 1년의 리그 진행으로 이 정도 성과를 낸 대회는 없다고 자신한다. 우리는 현재 최선을 다 하고 있으며 선수들의 경기력이 높아지고 현재 방식을 유지하며 제작 퀄리티를 높인다면 관중 숫자에 대한 문제는 없다.
많은 해외팬들이 리그 개수가 줄어든거나, 2011년에 비해 총상금이 줄어든 것을 걱정하고 있다. 혹시 재정적인 문제가 있었나?
: 위에서도 언급했지만 리그 개수가 줄어든 것이 실제 방송 일수나 게임 숫자가 줄어든 것이 아니다. 이것은 단지 리그의 기간이 늘어났기 때문에 1년에 개최할 수 있는 리그 숫자가 줄어든 것 뿐이다. (1년을 500일로 늘리면 개수를 늘릴 수 있다) 총 상금도 마찬가지다. 현재 우리가 발표된 계획에 따르면 5번의 GSL과 3번의 GSTL이 펼쳐지는데, 이 외에도 AOL 이나 월드 챔피언십과 같은 다양한 중소규모 이벤트 리그는 언제든지 개최 될 것이다. SC II 는 현재 성장하고 있는 산업이다. 총 상금 규모나 리그 개수로 간단히 축소된다고 판단하지 말아달라. 조금만 계산해보면 규모가 늘어났다는 것을 알 수 있다.
스타1이나 외국의 스타2 대회에 비해 GSL이 큰 규모의 스폰서쉽을 확보하기 어려웠던 것 같다. 한국에서는 아직 스타2가 스폰서에게 그리 큰 매력이 없나?
: 특정 업체나 진영과 비교하여 대답하는 것을 원하진 않지만 질문 자체가 비교를 요하는 질문이라 어쩔 수 없음을 먼저 양해해달라. 자칫 싸움으로 번질까 조심스럽다. SC BW의 스폰서와 GSL의 스폰서를 비교해보면 규모가 작다는 것은 어떤 것인지 잘 모르겠다. 실제로 1년에 유치하는 스폰서의 숫자를 비교해보면 훨씬 더 많은 규모의 스폰서를 GSL이 유치하고 있다. GSL의 스폰서는 단지 한국 기업에 국한될 필요가 없다. 전 세계로 방송되고 있기 때문에 해외 기업들도 스폰서에 관심이 많으며 실제로 여러 글로벌 기업들이 스폰서에 대해 논의한 바가 있으며 현재도 논의 중이다. TL 에 자주 오시는 분들은 아시겠지만, 지난 스폰서 중 펩시는 실제로 트위터를 통해 상당한 마케팅 효과를 거뒀으며 긍정적인 피드백을 받았다. 전 세계 글로벌 팬들이 24시간 펩시에게 감사 인사를 남기는 등 마케팅 측면에서도 유례 없는 발전이 이루어지고 있다. GSL은 2011년에 잘 성장했으며 2012년은 더욱 발전할 것이라고 생각한다.
올해 팀 리그의 비중을 늘린다고 했는데, 구체적인 이야기를 할 수 있는지?
: GSTL 대회를 3번 진행할 예정이다. 작년 하반기에 진행되었던 풀 리그 방식에서 듀얼 토너먼트 방식으로 전환 될 예정이다. 풀 리그 방식은 여러 팀이 자주 출연한다는 장점은 있었지만 경기 하나 하나의 긴박감이 떨어지며, 실제로 너무 신인 선수만 기용하는 팀들로 인해 흥미가 떨어졌다. GSL 개인리그의 Code A 출전 선수를 늘렸기 때문에 신인에 대한 연습과 노출은 충분히 해소되었다고 생각하고, 이제 보다 팀들이 절실한 상황의 대회를 기획했다. 총 10주의 일정으로 GSTL은 진행 될 예정이며 첫 시즌은 1월 27일 개막할 예정이다. 아울러 GSTL 에 대해서 깜짝 놀랄 좋은 소식을 진행 중이니 기대해달라. 절대 실망시키지 않을 것이다.
2011에는 GSL이 주요 스타2 대회 중에 유일하게 자체 플레이어를 썼고, 유료 티켓 판매를 중심으로 리그를 운영했다. 하지만 연말에 Twitch.TV로 보다 나은 화질의 무료 방송을 제공하는 등 새로운 시도를 하는 모습이 보였다. 2012년에 새로운 방송이나 사업 방식을 시도할 계획이 있나?
: 해외 대회와의 연계와 비슷한 항목이다. 우리는 모든 해외 업체와의 파트너십에 열려있다. 서로 뜻이 같고 조건이 맞으면 언제나 연계를 진행할 의지가 있다. 2012년의 새로운 사업 방식 중 하나인 타 플랫폼 사용도 고려 대상이다. 물론 GSL의 자체 플레이어인 GOM PLAYER에 대한 개선도 지속적으로 진행 될 것이다. 해외 시청자들이 GSL을 시청하는 데 방해가 되는 요소가 있다면 언제든지 개선할 의지가 있으니 Feedback이 있다면 주저 없이 보내달라
현재 스타2 게이머들의 실력이 물론 훌륭하지만, 현재 선수들의 스타1 성적이 별로였다고 지적이 많다. 박지수, 고석현 처럼 스타 1군이었던 선수들이 코드A 예선을 첫 도전에 뚫고 있는 상황을 감안 할 때, 스타1 선수들이 대거 전환하면 기존 스타2 선수들이 살아 남을 수 있을거라고 생각하는가?
: 식상한 질문인데 SC BW 프로들의 인간 성능이 SC II 선수들보다 뛰어나진 않다. 이는 해외 선수들도 마찬가지다. 모든 선수들의 기량 차이는 결국 연습을 얼마나 할 수 있는가? 에 달려있고 SC BW프로들은 그 점에 대해서는 누구보다 앞선다. 따라서, 어떤 SC BW 프로들이 넘어온다 할지라도 그들이 SC BW성적이 뛰어나서 SC II 성적이 뛰어날 거란 논리는 동의할 수 없다. 다만 그들이 SC II를 SC BW만큼 치밀하고 끈기 있게 연습할 수 있다면 좋은 성적을 낼 것이라고 기대한다. 고석현과 박지수는 아직 검증되지 않았다. Code A에서 좋은 모습을 보였지만 Code S 에서의 경기력을 보고 판단하는 것이 옳을 것 같다.
TeamLiquid: The GSL format has changed a lot for 2012. What was the reasoning behind reducing the number of leagues and lengthening the duration of each league?
Mr. Chae: There are a few reasons. The biggest reason – and this applies to all ESPORTS – is to provide the interesting brackets and high quality of play from the players that are required for a tournament to grow and succeed. The quality of play from the players is affected strongly by the amount of time they have to prepare, and the fairness of the system.
At the same time, the amount of time to prepare and fairness of the league also affect the speed at which the league can proceed. We thought that if the players had longer to prepare, and if we removed BO1's and used BO3's at minimum, the quality of play from the players would improve. For those changes to occur, the length of the league had to increase.
Also, it is an answer to the most frequent feedback we received during the 2011 season, regarding the use of best of one during the group stages. As the league gets longer, naturally the number of leagues in a year goes down. But in terms of individual games, the 2012 GSL will actually have even more games than 2011. The number of leagues may have dropped, but you will be able to watch a great number of high quality games than in 2011.
You've mentioned that the early format of easy Code S retention was for the purpose of creating stars and providing stable income for some of the teams. What changed in the Korean Starcraft II industry that led you to leave this format in November?
Starcraft II was still just learning to walk in 2011, and teams and player did not have the capital or fan bases to support themselves. Thus, in 2011, the GSL tried to give as many opportunities to the teams and players as possible, and give out prize money.
However, during 2011, the GSL developed fanbases for successful players, and teams with popular players started gain sponsors and steadier financial support. The fans that sprung up around GSL and GSTL champions have created a rich environment for the 2012 GSL season. Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
If 2011 was a year where we built up our infrastructure, 2012 is the time to make a mature SC II market and stabilize it. As a part of that, we've expanded our schedule and changed our format, so Code S players can play games with a lot of practice, and appear frequently on broadcasts.
The new league format has introduced foreigner seeds in Code S and the Up-Down matches, offering even more benefits for foreign players. What led to this decision?
The Code S seed isn't just for foreigners. To be exact, it's a seed we offer in consideration of foreign tournaments. You can think of it as similar to the Code S seed available to the MLG winners last season. However, compared to last year when we only gave Code S seeds to MLG winners (regardless of their nationality), this year we're going to consider many foreign tournaments together when awarding this seed. The players could be a Korean players or a foreign players. Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
Many of the invited foreign players show poor games and are knocked out quickly. Taking this into consideration, aren't some of the Korean players or teams unhappy with the increased foreign seeds?
The teams and players have no qualms. If you think about it the other way, Korean players already receive a higher number of seeds, and better placed seeds as well in foreign tournaments. It's the same principle as how foreign players don't have any complaints about that (although, I guess there may be some discontent?).
If I can use the World Cup as an example, it might be easier to explain. If the World Cup went purely by FIFA rankings, Korea would never be able to play, and it would have become a tournament that only South America and Europe enjoyed.
We don't want GSL to only establish itself as a Korean national league. We want to offer an incentive for foreign players to come to Korea, if they should ever have the opportunity. I think if they use the opportunity to come here and take in Korean pro-gaming culture, then they can become stronger than they are now.
GSL wants to provide those kind of opportunities. Also, I think that we were relatively successful at that last year. Two years ago, could you have imagined so many foreign players working with Korean teams and coming to Korea?
You had a successful league exchange program with MLG last year. Are you planning to increase your cooperation with foreign tournaments this year? Any plans to partner with tournaments other than MLG?
Of course. MLG was the tournament that most actively approached us last year. I think we both achieved successful results from our partnership. We want to partner with more foreign tournaments in 2012. And we want to have deeper cooperation with the tournaments that are the most active in working with us. The GSL is always open to opportunities. If any foreign organization approaches us aggressively, then we're always open to working together.
The World Championship and Super Tournament were quite popuar last year, but they were cut from this year's plans. Why were these tournaments removed, and will Arena of Legends style tournaments take their place?
Internally we also evaluated the World Championship as being very successful. However, we did not think the Super Tournament could be seen as very successful.
This year, we are not planning for a World Championship in advance. However, that doesn't mean we will not hold a WC. With our 2012 GSL announcement, we only announced the tournaments we could guarantee.
Because the World Championship was successful, we have the desire to hold a World Championship regardless of our regular GSL Tour. Because international ESPORTS is changing day to day, we were just unable to announce all special tournaments ahead of time. If you wait a little, we should have some good news for you shortly.
We plan to use the AoL as a kind of special event league to implement ideas that can't be done through the regular leagues, and we want to steer it towards the matches many fans desire. We've prepared a variety of concepts for the tournament, and you won't be disappointed.
How do you rate the AoL tournament so far, and how do you plan to run it in the future? Will it be a regular brand under GomTV, similar to the GSL? Many people are calling the AoL the GSL out of convenience; is it correct to group them together?
The original intent behind the AoL was to offer the matches fans wanted to see, but just didn't happen in the GSL. After that, we planned out a variety of event matches and new ideas.
We plan to develop the AoL as the online league brand of GSL. We broadcast all GSL games live and "offline," while the AOL will be more flexible. The players can play "offline" as well, but the base format is to play online.
It's possible we could pick out some matches that would be difficult to see in the GSL and have fans vote on them and then broadcast them in a show-match format. The AoL is a very flexible production, so if TeamLiquid wanted to hold a poll and submit an idea to us, we would be open to using that idea for a tournament as well.
There were worries about poor live audience turnouts during the early days of the GSL, but we saw an increase towards the end of 2011. Do you think the SC II market is growing in Korea? What kind of growth do you foresee in 2012?
Like the global market, the Korean SC II market is advancing day by day. Also, with the introduction of the new league format in 2011, more people are coming to enjoy the GSL live. I'm confident that no tournament has succeeded as much in one year. We are trying our best at the GSL. If the quality of play increases, the format stays the same, and quality of production increases, then we shouldn't have any trouble with drawing an audience.
Some fans are worried about the reduction in the number of leagues, and the decrease in total prize money compared to 2011. Are there financial problems?
Like I mentioned before, the reduction in the number of leagues doesn't mean the number of broadcast days or individual matches has gone down as well. It just means the period for each league has increased, and we can't hold as many leagues per year (if you increased the length of a year to 500 days, we can increase the number of leagues).
The same goes for total prize money. We've officially announced five GSLs and three GSTLs, but we are always ready to hold small to mid-size tournaments like AoL or the World Championship.
SC II is a growing industry. You can't judge it just by the number of leagues or total prize money. If you calculate a little, you will know that we've actually expanded this year.
It seemed that the GSL had difficulties acquiring large sponsorships compared to Starcraft 1 leagues or foreign Starcraft 2 leagues. Is Starcraft II unattractive to sponsors in Korea at this time?
I don't want to draw comparisons with different industries, but it's unavoidable in answering this question. So my apologies in advance. I would like to be cautious, in case this starts an argument.
I don't know what you mean when you say that GSL sponsorships are smaller than Brood War sponsors. If you look at the numbers for sponsorships in a year, the GSL acquires much more sponsorships.
GSL sponsors don't need to be limited to Korean companies. Because it is being broadcast worldwide, international companies also have a lot of interest. We have discussed, and are presently discussing possible sponsorships with international companies.
Frequent TeamLiquid visitors will know that Pepsi achieved significant marketing effects through Twitter, and received positive feedback. With fans from around the world leaving thank you tweets 24/7, it's an unprecedented development in marketing.
The GSL grew well in 2011, and we think it will develop more in 2012.
It was announced that more weight would be put on team competition this year. Could you spare any details?
There will be three GSTL tournaments this year.
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Because we increased the number of players in Code A, we think we have sufficiently addressed the problem of offering exposure and practice for new players. Now, we have planned a tournament where teams face off under more dire circumstances. We will hold the GSTL over a 10 week schedule, and the first season will kick off on January 27th.
Also, we have some good news regarding the GSTL that will be sure to surprise you. Look forward to it, we guarantee it won't disappoint.
GSL was the only major Starcraft II tournament in 2011 to use its own video player, and operate around online ticket sales. However, you also tried some new things towards the end of the year, such as offering a better low-quality stream through Twitch.TV. Are you looking to make any other new ventures in 2012?
This is similar to the question about partnerships with foreign tournaments. We are open to partnerships with any foreign organization. If we have the same objectives, and the conditions are correct, then a partnership is always possible. As part of a new business model for 2012, we are open to using other platforms as well.
Of course, we are planning to continue to improve our propriety platform, GOM Player. If there's anything that interferes with international viewers watching the GSL, we are always looking to improve ourselves, so please don't hesitate to send us feedback.
Though Starcraft II gamers are skilled, some people point out that they did not perform very well in Starcraft 1. With A-Teamers such as ForGG and Hyun making it through the Code A qualifiers on their first tries, do you think the current Starcraft II player base can survive a mass switch from Starcraft 1 players? (This interview was performed before ForGG's Code S games on January 10th).
That's a question that's been asked to death. The human capabilities of BW pros is not higher than that of Starcraft II pros. This is the same for foreign players as well. The skill difference between players boils down to how much they can practice, and Brood War progamers have a huge advantage in that respect.
Even if the BW pros switch to SC II, I can't agree with the logic that they will be good just because they were good at BW. However, if they can apply the same kind of meticulous and tireless practice to Starcraft II, then I look forward to them producing good results.
Hyun and ForGG have yet to be proven. They have been good in Code A, but it's correct to judge them only after seeing their Code S games.
Pretty interesting interview, it looks more like a teaser than real ground breaking news, but I'm happy to see GSL doesn't seem to have money or audience problems (not like he would say if there were lol).
Their strategy seems well thought out and sensible, so... Best of luck ! (and yippeeeee for casters wearing suits lately ! You have to look professionnal all the way !
Excellent read, thank you for the translation. Mr.Chae makes it very clear on why they do things and Im really glad we arent left out in the dark. Depending on how this GSL goes Ill be sure to pick up a ticket if the feedback is positive. He totally nailed the last question.
Great interview and Mr. Chae shows just why he is so highly regarded by many players and casters that actually know him.
The thing I find the most interesting was that Mr. Chae was not necessarily looking at increasing the competition of the GSL only, but also providing stable support for teams and players so SC2 can grow with a stable fanbase and players. Hmm, personally I would think his goal was for the best league, but I forget just how much of a role GSL has on professional SC2 as a whole.
Great interview, lots of choice questions and some really nice answers from Mr Chae.
I'm very excited to see what the GSL comes up with for the rest of 2012, to tell the truth I've already been pretty blown away with the increased production values this season!
Is it just me, or are all of the interviews with major movers at the top coming complete with "big things are coming, we have stuff we'll say in the future" statements?
Also, after reading how many times GSL is interested in working with people that "aggressively pursue them", I have to wonder... is Gom "aggressively" pursuing anyone themselves? Or are they like that guy/girl at the bar that doesn't ever approach someone else, because they're pretty enough that people should come to them? (That sounds meaner than I intended. I just want to know if they're being passive outside of their own microcosm of Korea, instead of reaching out themselves to partners that may not realize how much Gom may have to offer.)
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The new league format has introduced foreigner seeds in Code S and the Up-Down matches, offering even more benefits for foreign players. What led to this decision?
The Code S seed isn't just for foreigners. To be exact, it's a seed we offer in consideration of foreign tournaments. You can think of it as similar to the Code S seed available to the MLG winners last season. However, compared to last year when we only gave Code S seeds to MLG winners (regardless of their nationality), this year we're going to consider many foreign tournaments together when awarding this seed. The players could be a Korean players or a foreign players. Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
i dont like this at all.. its the same as 2011 all over again
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
I wish Mr. Chae could have given more detail about the sponsorship comparison between GSL and BW tournaments, but I guess there are things that just should not be disclosed.
I hope GSL partners with Dreamhack and IPL in addition to MLG this year. If we could have these tournaments united in holy StarCraft matrimony, imagine the possibilities.
Congrats to the person who conducted this interview. Those were some of the best questions I've seen asked in an esports interview in a while. Mr Chae answered everything well, so it was a good read.
This was a great interview, and although some statements were political in a sense, I can feel the genuine feelings of care that he has for the gsl. I can't wait to see how the rest of the year turns out! Also, ForGG got rofl stomped by leenock
Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
I don't like that mush this sentence though : "Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire". Always hard to keep a fair tournament when players are not chosen only due to their results...
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The new league format has introduced foreigner seeds in Code S and the Up-Down matches, offering even more benefits for foreign players. What led to this decision?
The Code S seed isn't just for foreigners. To be exact, it's a seed we offer in consideration of foreign tournaments. You can think of it as similar to the Code S seed available to the MLG winners last season. However, compared to last year when we only gave Code S seeds to MLG winners (regardless of their nationality), this year we're going to consider many foreign tournaments together when awarding this seed. The players could be a Korean players or a foreign players. Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
i dont like this at all.. its the same as 2011 all over again
$$$ > All in the end. If you argue that, you are kinda selfish.
Really nice interview, he seems like a cool guy :p
I hope we'll see more foreigner dominance in 2012 in the GSL :< Last year with Idra and Jinro coming pretty far, that should be possible again with more players.
On January 11 2012 04:58 Serimek wrote: Good job. Very interesting interview.
I don't like that mush this sentence though : "Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire". Always hard to keep a fair tournament when players are not chosen only due to their results...
I don't think you meant "fair," as much as "quality." Those seeds exist, so a player who has "good results" but didn't quite get seeded in to Code S because there were only 30 and not 32 available seats would get denied even if they didn't give the sponsors a say and instead just gave those seeds to winners of foreign events. And if a player who is unworthy skill-wise receives the seed they will promptly be knocked back down to where they belong thanks to the increased mobility of the new GSL system, so it doesn't affect fairness per se. What it does affect is the quality of the event if we see games that are woefully one-sided because a player of insufficient or indeterminate skill received the seed.
Except that sponsors are going to want fan-favorite players to compete to increase viewership. It's not like they're going to open up the TL.net stream list and play russian roulette for the seed. They will choose players that viewers, and thus sponsors, want to see compete, and so we can rest assured that they will be people of skill.
I really like his point comparing GSL format to World Cup in terms of qualifiers. Many teams get a chance to represent their countries because of that format, and while some may get knocked out quickly, there is always that one team (SK in '02, Ukraine in '06, and Ghana/Uruguay in '10) that defies expectations and makes it far.
I think it's a matter of time before a foreign player defies the odds and goes Jinro in the GSL.
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
Also, to put into reference how wise he is, he held the exact same viewpoint during our discussions on the future of SC2 at IPL. Dude's got it together.
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Mr Chae knows his shit, the Starcraft community is lucky to have him. Best of luck in the future, GSL, starcraft 2 and esports have a bright future ahead!
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
If I can use the World Cup as an example, it might be easier to explain. If the World Cup went purely by FIFA rankings, Korea would never be able to play, and it would have become a tournament that only South America and Europe enjoyed.
South Korea is currently #32 in FIFA rankings, they might be able to go to world cup anyway if it's based on rankings . But yea, that's still a good analogy.
if TeamLiquid wanted to hold a poll and submit an idea to us, we would be open to using that idea for a tournament as well.
Let's to this! I want to see team 2v2 AoL showmatches!
Says a lot of nice things, but I disagree with him saying that giving more time to prepare results in better games. From what I can tell, giving more time to prepare against a specific player on a specific map results in more perfectly planned out all-ins. Some people may like watching that, but I don't. It's one of the big reasons why GSL finals, where the most time is given to prepare, tend to end up so terrible and one-sided.
I much prefer the play style seen in gauntlet-style tournaments like the GSTL and MLG, where players need to use their general skill to win games in unpredictable situations.
Man I love esports, the only place where interviewees are clearly being selective about questions they answer so they come off in a good light (unless TL really didn't ask a single question about the Naniwa controversy in which case ugh TL, ugh) get treated as if they're doing us all a great favour by doing their job.
The lack of any remotely investigative journalism in SC2 reporting is really really bad.
Cool interview, it's so great to see so much transparency within the community. The last question made me laugh, since I read this interview directly after watching the matches played last night.
I'm not quite sold on the answer to the prize money reduction question. I think it's good tho,GSL had imo a overblown prize pool which I feared can not be sustained.
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
Why must you make the distinction? We're all just Starcraft fans/players. Nationality does not matter.
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
Why must you make the distinction? We're all just Starcraft fans/players. Nationality does not matter.
A relic, if you can call it that, from the Brood War days when koreans were just way above everyone else in skill.
On January 11 2012 06:17 Fandango wrote: Man I love esports, the only place where interviewees are clearly being selective about questions they answer so they come off in a good light (unless TL really didn't ask a single question about the Naniwa controversy in which case ugh TL, ugh) get treated as if they're doing us all a great favour by doing their job.
The lack of any remotely investigative journalism in SC2 reporting is really really bad.
Why would they need to? GOMTV already released an announcement regarding the situation soon after it happened here.
On January 11 2012 05:51 qwertzi wrote: sorry, but the question about the decrease in total prize money was just dodged.. the prize money has decreased and there is no argument with that..
Why is anyone worked up over this? He never tried to argue that the prize money hasn't decreased lol. He said in 2011 there was a need for Gom to support players by giving out prize money and in 2012 there isn't that need so they can go into a different direction.
The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Great interview. The questions were good and the answers were often quite enlightening. One thing regarding the GOM Player though:
Of course, we are planning to continue to improve our propriety platform, GOM Player. If there's anything that interferes with international viewers watching the GSL, we are always looking to improve ourselves, so please don't hesitate to send us feedback.
I feel that GomTV is on the wrong path pushing its own player where every other tournament uses a regular flash player. If I want to get someone to check out an awesome SC2 match about to go live, that person is unlikely to first install GOM Player, then install GOM Streamer and only then be able to watch. For MLG / DH / NASL / etc people can just open the website and start watching.
GOM Player adds an unnecessary hurdle to watching the GSL. They already have a flash player that works fine, their VOD-player, so why not use that for the live stream too?
A question I missed is something about the stream quality. Most foreign tournaments have free streams that are as good as or better than the paid stream from GOM and the free GSL stream looks like something that escaped from the dialup era. Would be nice to see some improvement here.
On January 11 2012 06:45 Rannasha wrote: Great interview. The questions were good and the answers were often quite enlightening. One thing regarding the GOM Player though:
Of course, we are planning to continue to improve our propriety platform, GOM Player. If there's anything that interferes with international viewers watching the GSL, we are always looking to improve ourselves, so please don't hesitate to send us feedback.
I feel that GomTV is on the wrong path pushing its own player where every other tournament uses a regular flash player. If I want to get someone to check out an awesome SC2 match about to go live, that person is unlikely to first install GOM Player, then install GOM Streamer and only then be able to watch. For MLG / DH / NASL / etc people can just open the website and start watching.
GOM Player adds an unnecessary hurdle to watching the GSL. They already have a flash player that works fine, their VOD-player, so why not use that for the live stream too?
A question I missed is something about the stream quality. Most foreign tournaments have free streams that are as good as or better than the paid stream from GOM and the free GSL stream looks like something that escaped from the dialup era. Would be nice to see some improvement here.
I posted the same opinion on SCReddit and got downvoted to oblivion because there are clearly people who will lick the shoes of the GSL regardless of any flaws they have, just because Tastosis.
It's a good point though, I feel like GOM Player is a deterrent and that if Gretech are serious about promoting their media player to international audiences, they shouldn't be making it mandatory to use in order to watch the GSL.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that the "ameteur prize money hunter" NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit risky because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program.
...
For fuck sakes, this was a mistranslation. STOP BRINGING IT UP.
Chae says, regarding foreigner seed: " Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire." Code S should be about skill and not popularity. This is certainly not a good direction to go.
Chae also speaks about showmatches. I dont like the idea at all tbh. Maybe if its pure fun and players swtich races or something, but other than that its no good.
Chae seems like he is a good entrepeneur and a smart guy. I get the impression that he is a man of business and economics which obviously is essential for a good company. I do however hope that they have a, or get, a sort of esports director who has a strong personality and thinks in terms of esports to create some kind of power balance between the business-esports aspects.
This is such a great interview. I'd like to say though, that despite fOrGG not making it through to the next round of Code S, he is still a Code S caliber player. His group comprised three sick players, all of whom (I think) have made a GSL finals.
On January 11 2012 06:54 Fjodorov wrote: Chae says, regarding foreigner seed: " Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire." Code S should be about skill and not popularity. This is certainly not a good direction to go.
Chae also speaks about showmatches. I dont like the idea at all tbh. Maybe if its pure fun and players swtich races or something, but other than that its no good.
Chae seems like he is a good entrepeneur and a smart guy. I get the impression that he is a man of business and economics which obviously is essential for a good company. I do however hope that they have a, or get, a sort of esports director who has a strong personality and thinks in terms of esports to create some kind of power balance between the business-esports aspects.
I'd like to see an organisation that specifically sets up showmatches for online games. Or something like do a StarCraft World Champion belt similar to the way professional boxing works, where one person earns the title and another person challenges them for it in a hugely hyped, long bout.
Sorta like IPL Fight Club but with a trophy/hall of fame for each winner, less frequent matches, really high prize pools (around $25,000+) and large Bo11 series.
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The new league format has introduced foreigner seeds in Code S and the Up-Down matches, offering even more benefits for foreign players. What led to this decision?
The Code S seed isn't just for foreigners. To be exact, it's a seed we offer in consideration of foreign tournaments. You can think of it as similar to the Code S seed available to the MLG winners last season. However, compared to last year when we only gave Code S seeds to MLG winners (regardless of their nationality), this year we're going to consider many foreign tournaments together when awarding this seed. The players could be a Korean players or a foreign players. Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
i dont like this at all.. its the same as 2011 all over again
$$$ > All in the end. If you argue that, you are kinda selfish.
Even selfishness aside.
More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
i went to the trouble of attempting to log into my TL account, realising i forgot the password, resetting the password, making a new password that i wouldnt forget and then logging in once more, just so i could say thanks for the interview o.o
thanks ^^ i think everyone in the sc2 scene loves mr chae, id like to see a mr chae VS jinro showmatch sometime though...
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
Well the west doesn't necessarily want quality over quantity. They want popularity over quality as shown by the idra vs huk IGN showmatch poll results. Quality > quantity is what you would want in an ideal world, but it's not necessarily the best in a money maximizing world.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
On January 11 2012 06:45 Rannasha wrote: Great interview. The questions were good and the answers were often quite enlightening. One thing regarding the GOM Player though:
Of course, we are planning to continue to improve our propriety platform, GOM Player. If there's anything that interferes with international viewers watching the GSL, we are always looking to improve ourselves, so please don't hesitate to send us feedback.
I feel that GomTV is on the wrong path pushing its own player where every other tournament uses a regular flash player. If I want to get someone to check out an awesome SC2 match about to go live, that person is unlikely to first install GOM Player, then install GOM Streamer and only then be able to watch. For MLG / DH / NASL / etc people can just open the website and start watching.
GOM Player adds an unnecessary hurdle to watching the GSL. They already have a flash player that works fine, their VOD-player, so why not use that for the live stream too?
A question I missed is something about the stream quality. Most foreign tournaments have free streams that are as good as or better than the paid stream from GOM and the free GSL stream looks like something that escaped from the dialup era. Would be nice to see some improvement here.
I posted the same opinion on SCReddit and got downvoted to oblivion because there are clearly people who will lick the shoes of the GSL regardless of any flaws they have, just because Tastosis.
It's a good point though, I feel like GOM Player is a deterrent and that if Gretech are serious about promoting their media player to international audiences, they shouldn't be making it mandatory to use in order to watch the GSL.
I don't mind and the fact that most people aren't raising it as a point means that they don't mind either. If it was as big of an issue as you suggest, more people would complain about it, but instead only a few actually do. Hell, GOMtv is owned by Gretech so the player requirements aren't so different as compared to catering to the needs of a sponsor.
And I like the way you characterize the people who disagree with you. -.-
Maybe people just happen to have a different opinion than you and how the hell is Tastosis even relevant to this?
He seems quite intelligent. I liked all his answers and think GSL is doing a good job as a whole. The format did suffer a bit before but I can understand now why they chose such options before. As of now I think basically everything is good about the GSL with as minor nitpick that I'd prefer them to use a normal standard player for streaming.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that the "ameteur prize money hunter" NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit risky because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program.
...
For fuck sakes, this was a mistranslation. STOP BRINGING IT UP.
Yeah, seriously. The same day that "amateur prize money hunter" thread popped up, there was also a second one clarifying that it was a mistranslation ... but I notice these boycotters harassing gsl threads love to bring up that quote again and again even though it is false.
On January 11 2012 06:17 Fandango wrote: Man I love esports, the only place where interviewees are clearly being selective about questions they answer so they come off in a good light (unless TL really didn't ask a single question about the Naniwa controversy in which case ugh TL, ugh) get treated as if they're doing us all a great favour by doing their job.
The lack of any remotely investigative journalism in SC2 reporting is really really bad.
Why would they need to? GOMTV already released an announcement regarding the situation soon after it happened here.
Because that statement didn't address half of the issues with the incident including the main point that they and MLG had repeatedly informed him that he won a code S seed and their statement completely contradicts that despite lots of evidence to the contrary?
I mean did you not read through that thread and the other threads at the time or something? The fact they haven't even tried to explain these issues is the reason why I and probably a few other people have stopped paying for and watching GOM events. You don't have to agree with my stance but please don't insult my intelligence by implying I don't have a reason to be heavily disappointed in this interview.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
MLG - Invites 4 Koreans. IEM - Invites 4 Koreans. Dreamhack - Invites virtually everyone. IPL - Invited most of their seeded players for IPL 3. NASL - Almost all players invited. Assembly - Invites almost all their players.
By contrast GSL invites only two foreigners to Code S.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
MLG - Invites 4 Koreans. IEM - Invites 4 Koreans. Dreamhack - Invites virtually everyone. IPL - Invited most of their seeded players for IPL 3. NASL - Almost all players invited. Assembly - Invites almost all their players.
By contrast GSL invites only two foreigners to Code S.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
MLG - Invites 4 Koreans. IEM - Invites 4 Koreans. Dreamhack - Invites virtually everyone. IPL - Invited most of their seeded players for IPL 3. NASL - Almost all players invited. Assembly - Invites almost all their players.
By contrast GSL invites only two foreigners to Code S.
Wow Mr Chae hitting it out of the park here. To me the gom people are great ambassadors for South Korea. Up to now pretty much every move they make seems to be very reasonable; BO1 was my number 1 nitpick also. I wish GSL a great 2012!
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Everyone thank the IM Coach.
why o.o?
IM lost because of their use of rookie players, generally
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Everyone thank the IM Coach.
why o.o?
Qxc all kill, you've probably heard of it
Joke aside, it's probably better for excitement, but I still prefer the pool format
Mr.Chae is the man ^_^ I liked all the answers he gave and hope for a bigger, better, and more successful 2012 for gom.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae: + Show Spoiler +
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
1) Beating a dead horse. 2) VODs. 3) Like the idea. [Would have been a good question] 4) GOMtv ditching the GOM player. Doesn't seem likely. [Could be interesting but I think the answer would be the expected one] 5) You get free VODs if you pay for the HQ stream. Most of the events you listed don't directly make money from the VODs so that is why they are offered for free. GOM does. [seems that way to me]
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
MLG - Invites 4 Koreans. IEM - Invites 4 Koreans. Dreamhack - Invites virtually everyone. IPL - Invited most of their seeded players for IPL 3. NASL - Almost all players invited. Assembly - Invites almost all their players.
By contrast GSL invites only two foreigners to Code S.
and don't you agree that a league where everyone has a chance to qualify for nearly all the spots is way better in sporting way? I don't like tournaments where nearly every spots are given away per invite under that regard because it allways a subjective oppinion who is worthy to be invited. So i really like the way the GSL works in that regard. Everyone has the chance to qualify under the same circumstances (no lag cause it's offline, GOM let's you even live in their house for free!). So if you are good enough, you will qualify and if not you won't. It's very fair to everyone. And the argument that you have to commit so much in time by staying in korea... well you only have to stay there for 1 day of the qualifier at the start, after that you know if you are qualified, then you have to stay for code a. But since the matches are sheduled a long time before they are played, I think it's ok for a pro gamer. And I understand why not so many foreigners have taken the shot for the GSL until now. It's not the fact, that they don't want to commit a lot of time to a stay in korea, it's very much more, that they see, that they only have very little chances to succeed. And you should also look what a guranteed Code S spot means. It means guranteed 1k bucks. You can lose all your games and get 1k $ for that. There is no tournament out there, where you have a situation like this. So even the 2 invite slots are very questionable in my oppinion.
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
Why must you make the distinction? We're all just Starcraft fans/players. Nationality does not matter.
A relic, if you can call it that, from the Brood War days when koreans were just way above everyone else in skill.
Except Koreans are stilllll better than foreigners today :p
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Great questions! But it'll take someone with balls to ask them and Mr. Chae probably won't even answer!
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
Why must you make the distinction? We're all just Starcraft fans/players. Nationality does not matter.
A relic, if you can call it that, from the Brood War days when koreans were just way above everyone else in skill.
"were"?
great things are to come! i'm looking forward to 2013
On January 11 2012 04:30 felisconcolori wrote: Is it just me, or are all of the interviews with major movers at the top coming complete with "big things are coming, we have stuff we'll say in the future" statements?
Also, after reading how many times GSL is interested in working with people that "aggressively pursue them", I have to wonder... is Gom "aggressively" pursuing anyone themselves? Or are they like that guy/girl at the bar that doesn't ever approach someone else, because they're pretty enough that people should come to them? (That sounds meaner than I intended. I just want to know if they're being passive outside of their own microcosm of Korea, instead of reaching out themselves to partners that may not realize how much Gom may have to offer.)
Your first question - ESPORTS is growing - obv big things are coming. Second question - GSL is basically the biggest organization in ESPORTS atm, do you really expect them to "seek out" - small companies/organizations? That's not how business works.
On January 11 2012 07:18 Talin wrote: I'm very disappointed with the approach GOM is taking. I get that they want global exposure and foreign viewers, but they should probably be thinking a little more about their status as a respectable competition.
They come off sounding like a western-based organization at this point, and that is far from being a compliment.
On January 11 2012 07:15 TedJustice wrote: More sponsors = More money = More eSports for you to enjoy.
Then again, Quality > Quantity.
GOM do the least inviting of any major eSports league.
Strange, I could've sworn I've been watching at least two that don't do ANY inviting, even though at this point we're now only left with one.
MLG - Invites 4 Koreans. IEM - Invites 4 Koreans. Dreamhack - Invites virtually everyone. IPL - Invited most of their seeded players for IPL 3. NASL - Almost all players invited. Assembly - Invites almost all their players.
By contrast GSL invites only two foreigners to Code S.
and don't you agree that a league where everyone has a chance to qualify for nearly all the spots is way better in sporting way? I don't like tournaments where nearly every spots are given away per invite under that regard because it allways a subjective oppinion who is worthy to be invited. So i really like the way the GSL works in that regard. Everyone has the chance to qualify under the same circumstances (no lag cause it's offline, GOM let's you even live in their house for free!). So if you are good enough, you will qualify and if not you won't. It's very fair to everyone. And the argument that you have to commit so much in time by staying in korea... well you only have to stay there for 1 day of the qualifier at the start, after that you know if you are qualified, then you have to stay for code a. But since the matches are sheduled a long time before they are played, I think it's ok for a pro gamer. And I understand why not so many foreigners have taken the shot for the GSL until now. It's not the fact, that they don't want to commit a lot of time to a stay in korea, it's very much more, that they see, that they only have very little chances to succeed. And you should also look what a guranteed Code S spot means. It means guranteed 1k bucks. You can lose all your games and get 1k $ for that. There is no tournament out there, where you have a situation like this. So even the 2 invite slots are very questionable in my oppinion.
In an absolute ideal world everything in Starcraft would be earnt on merit. We'd just have a Tennis style format where there's minor and major tournaments all impacting upon world rankings which earn you seedings to the major tournaments and everyone can easilly afford to visit every event and the sponsors, teams and prize money pays a sufficient salary for around 100 pro's who make up the scene.
Now obviously there isn't the money in Sc2 to make this happen. I do agree that granting Code S spots to foreigners is undeserved but GOM has a business to run and we're not at the stage where GOM don't have to actively pursue good business decisions to keep their business afloat.
Just accept that this is the real world and not an eSports utopia where pro starcraft is more popular than the World Cup so it's a necessary 'evil' which doesn't really effect to tournaments too heavily but do ensure that we're able to have any tournaments at all.
This is a great interview, Mr. Chae is great and that's why i bought my pass and will continue to do so.
Also love the comment about the BW pros, it really is about the amount of practice. If they are serious about it like they are with BW they will be very good, some will be great and a few will probably dominate. But it's a matter of practice and talent not just because they are good in BW. The forGG comment makes Mr. Chae look really smart now, hehe. Code S is not easy, even for BW pros. He needs more practice and wins before he is considered the best.
Look forward to tomorow, where hopefully idra will give us some foreign much needed hope! GSL keeps getting better and have my utmost apreciacion.
There is only 2 major sports for me right now, football (soccer for those guys.. ) and SC2! GSL is clearly the Champions League of SC2 :D
Also, we have some good news regarding the GSTL that will be sure to surprise you. Look forward to it, we guarantee it won't disappoint.
Curious to see what that is going to be, hate waiting for announcements!
Most likely the addition of some foreign teams. I'm not sure on "who", but EG and Liquid plan on having at least 5 players in Korea.
Jinro, Hero, Zenio, Ret, Haypro, TLO (all confirmed to go to Korea at some point, correct me if I'm mistaken) Huk, IdrA, PuMa, JYP (all confirmed to go to Korea at some point, correct me if I'm mistaken), and then maybe Demuslim who was supposed to go earlier.
Also could be the addition the Chinese Super-star team, or other Korean teams like ProS.
I am glad someone like Mr Chae is a director at GOM, everything he says is smart and well researched, every decision GOM have made this year has been great. The new format is great, the year ahead is looking to be better than last year with everything going forward. GOM is great for Global StarCraft, that's for sure.
I can't lie, I got pretty sick of hearing all about the elephant in the room. It was nice to see some top flight pros show that ForGG isn't invincible.
Cool article, great he answered so many questions. Regarding the GOMTV Player, i would love to have a linux version which should be compatible with mac, too.. i think quite a few ppl would be happy to have that
Very good interview. I liked the phrasing of the questions and the topics you've asked. However I would've loved to hear Mr. Chae's thoughts on a planned visible improvement of the HD quality of the stream and therefore the VODs. If you compare for example the GSL HD to the IPL3 HD... well, you could almost start crying. :/
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Everyone thank the IM Coach.
Thank you IM coach! Now we don't get a awesome full sized league. Instead we get three separate tournaments, no TL Fantasy League(probably), and the importance of winning the team leagues is considerably less! hoo........ray
Also I agree with what someone earlier in the thread said, would love to see the Players league format(with ace match god damnit) instead of the winners league; it is just more exciting and gives you a real way to get behind your team.
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Everyone thank the IM Coach.
Thank you IM coach! Now we don't get a awesome full sized league. Instead we get three separate tournaments, no TL Fantasy League(probably), and the importance of winning the team leagues is considerably less! hoo........ray
Also I agree with what someone earlier in the thread said, would love to see the Players league format(with ace match god damnit) instead of the winners league; it is just more exciting and gives you a real way to get behind your team.
Agree. GOM have done everything to please viewer demands, but man do they need to use the Proleague format. Based on Mr Chae's interview though, it seems as if they're moving away from that direction, where they'd rather see established players own up each other in the team leagues rather than lesser known players . The answer to me seems to suggest they prefer the excitement of the Winner's League format rather than the standard teamleague format.
Yeah what a fantastic response to the last question; pretty much captures everything that needs to be said on the issue. GOM have been very responsive and with the exception of the Nani situation, they have been pretty awesome.
Similarly, cooperation with overseas tournaments has led to more players participating frequently overseas, further improving the financial situation of Korean players.
this is both humorous and depressing. =| good interview.
Korea has it pretty good in SC2, foreign teams and tournaments pay their players more and more, while foreigners pay more and more to watch Korean leagues
Why must you make the distinction? We're all just Starcraft fans/players. Nationality does not matter.
A relic, if you can call it that, from the Brood War days when koreans were just way above everyone else in skill.
Except Koreans are stilllll better than foreigners today :p
They're not "WAY above" everyone else nowadays. They're now just "above" everyone else.
On January 11 2012 09:26 bkrow wrote: Yeah what a fantastic response to the last question; pretty much captures everything that needs to be said on the issue. GOM have been very responsive and with the exception of the Nani situation, they have been pretty awesome.
Proleague format would be so damn juicy
I hope they announce the lineups beforehand despite the match fixing scandal that made that disappear from BW. I think it makes for more hype and higher-level games.
On January 11 2012 04:20 Waxangel wrote: That last question and answer. I've never been so owned.
Poor Wax
It looks like he owned everybody, though.
I think most people thought the same as Mr.Chae though. A few people thought forgg sucked, a few thought he would dominate, most just thought that he hasn't played enough tournament games to make a judgement call.
I could be wrong on this, but this was the general feeling from the community I had.
Good interview, missed one obvious question though. I guess the MLG code S seed question wasn't allowed, I don't understand why they just put the lid on that one. Maybe it's something to do with Korean culture but it would be so much better if they were just honest and admitted where they messed up in that whole situation imo.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Why would anyone deliberately agree to an "interview" that's actually nothing more than thinly veiled complaints from a highly opinionated individual? Injecting such opinions so heavily into the question removes it from being a question at all; you're just venting what you think GOMTV should do, which may not even be good ideas for the company at all.
This is why we have awesome people like Waxangel doing the interviews at TL.
Nice interview. Also... How many people prefer to read their interviews instead of watch them? I find reading interviews is much easier because some people do not talk clear and you can go at your own pace.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Great questions! But it'll take someone with balls to ask them and Mr. Chae probably won't even answer!
No, they're not even questions. They're complaints with suggestions (some of which I personally think are bad, but it's a subjective thing) sprinkled in.
Mr. Chae hit the nail on the head with the last question regarding ForGG and the constant BW vs SC2 and Koreans vs foreigners debates. It all boils down to training and hard work.
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Why would anyone deliberately agree to an "interview" that's actually nothing more than thinly veiled complaints from a highly opinionated individual? Injecting such opinions so heavily into the question removes it from being a question at all; you're just venting what you think GOMTV should do, which may not even be good ideas for the company at all.
This is why we have awesome people like Waxangel doing the interviews at TL.
i wish i can speak like you...exact thoughts when i saw those questions but i just couldn't put it to words
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Why would anyone deliberately agree to an "interview" that's actually nothing more than thinly veiled complaints from a highly opinionated individual? Injecting such opinions so heavily into the question removes it from being a question at all; you're just venting what you think GOMTV should do, which may not even be good ideas for the company at all.
This is why we have awesome people like Waxangel doing the interviews at TL.
i wish i can speak like you...exact thoughts when i saw those questions but i just couldn't put it to words
I personally think I end up being redundant too often, either with my point or with certain phrases.. but thank you for the compliment!
It's a nice interview, but to be frank it doesn't give many answers. He kinda fobs of most of the important questions. I must admit though, his last answer is really interesting, and a PoV I hadn't really thought about!
Mr. Chae seems to be so on-top of his shit. Towards the end of 2011 GSL (as in, last Dec) I had made some complaints about the GSL no longer being the "top-notch" tourney it used to be, and with tournies (notably IPL and HSC4) stepping up their production game SO much, GSL was starting to look outdated or "amateur" even. Now though, having seen last night's GSL, the production has been kicked up SO much. I'm very optimistic once again for the 2012 GSL. The only thing I would ask for more of is:
1. More player content. Other tournies have shown that more personal player content is EXTREMELY appealing to viewers. 2. English "segments" and translations to be taken more seriously. Many GSL interviews/segments of Korean players seem to be translated very shoddily, and with live translations (not to diss on the great John or others!) we seem to miss a lot of what is said.
On January 11 2012 10:17 CluEleSs_UK wrote: It's a nice interview, but to be frank it doesn't give many answers. He kinda fobs of most of the important questions. I must admit though, his last answer is really interesting, and a PoV I hadn't really thought about!
How do you gather? I felt Mr. Chae answered the questions pretty directly. Which important questions did he not address? o_O
GSL is awesome, and I've enjoyed all the new tournaments, special events and caster they've brought upon us in 2011 and I'm looking forward to more in 2012. Still a bit sad about NaNi though ;p
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Why would anyone deliberately agree to an "interview" that's actually nothing more than thinly veiled complaints from a highly opinionated individual? Injecting such opinions so heavily into the question removes it from being a question at all; you're just venting what you think GOMTV should do, which may not even be good ideas for the company at all.
This is why we have awesome people like Waxangel doing the interviews at TL.
i wish i can speak like you...exact thoughts when i saw those questions but i just couldn't put it to words
I personally think I end up being redundant too often, either with my point or with certain phrases.. but thank you for the compliment!
yeah like "i personally think" (same as i think) LOL just poking fun i agree with u 100% on the questions. nicely put
On January 11 2012 06:39 Clbull wrote: The real burning questions I would have asked Mr. Chae:
1. Why can't you just admit that NaNiwa had been punished through the revoking of his Code S seed for probe rushing a meaningless game? Your alternative explanation that he had no seed in the first place seemed a bit crazy because it broke the agreement of the League Exchange Program, and seemed more like an insult to the first (and only) non-Korean that would have earned a seed through the system.
2. Any plans to provide restreams of the GSL for Western audiences? Us Europeans are a bit pissed off with being required to watch in late morning and I'm sure a lot of Americans are pissed off with having to watch extremely early morning?
3. Any plans to improve the GSL format some more? In particular Code A where your odds of being eliminated from the GSL depend on the opponent you face (In the case of NaNiwa, he faced Lucky (known to have near unstoppable ZvP).... TWICE IN A ROW each time he did earn a Code A seed.) I feel a Ro48 group stage is a necessity to actually more fairly determine who should remain in the GSL..
4. Any plans to ditch GOM Player as a requirement for HQ streaming? You know..... because Twitch TV is more convenient, has a better SQ stream, lets you place a paywall on certain qualities, doesn't require you to run external software to view and is more popular outside of South Korea. Oh and also because every other major tournament uses a browser based flash livestream.
5. In response to the NASL finally promising free VODs in Season 3 and with successful leagues such as Major League Gaming, IGN Pro League, Dreamhack, WCG, ESWC etc offering free ad supported videos on demand. Will GOMTV finally do what every other major tournament has done and remove the paywall from VODs?
Why would anyone deliberately agree to an "interview" that's actually nothing more than thinly veiled complaints from a highly opinionated individual? Injecting such opinions so heavily into the question removes it from being a question at all; you're just venting what you think GOMTV should do, which may not even be good ideas for the company at all.
This is why we have awesome people like Waxangel doing the interviews at TL.
Good reply. I'm all for hard questions, but those are just someone moaning and telling the "interviewee" how they should behave. Maybe something about Naniwa and the misinformation around the situation would have been legitimate, but there's only so much time in an interview and personally I'm incredibly bored by the matter.
Anyway, good interview. GOM certainly have a positive attitude which I really like, and the comments on the financial situation are at least somewhat reassuring. Definitely the best tournament and I hope they keep up the great work. :D
Mr Chae is the first person i've ever seen drop a sport analogy which actually applies to the situation and backs up his point properly. He's a smart man ^_^
Great interview~! Last question was pretty damn funny though.
You can not ask him question he won't feel good about because there will be no interview next time. When asking question you have to be smart and know the limits. This is a good informative interview. But again we learn a lot and yet nothing. I do like how he said that ForGG has to prove that he is THAT GOOD. As we saw today, he is on same level as everybody else.
Great interview, I like Mr. Chae, he did really well on Stotg. I wish he would do more of that. They got a close up of him during the crowd roaring at Blizzcon, his face was priceless
So glad I put in for the year ticket, I love the changes. SO far group a and B have been insane this season! Best of 3 makes for much more intense and fair matches, no more groaning when your favourite player loses his 1 shot to some lame cheese.
I'm sure you guys said this, but damn... hard hitting questions. Its like the reporter thought "what would Mr. Chae least like to be asked?" I love it. i wish american reporters had these balls. and kudos to Mr. Chae. He's really on point.
Thank god all the Naniwa anti-drama has died down and all the whiners can once again recognize Mr. Chae and the GSL for what they are: esports godsends.
Very good interview, I'm one of the people that think reducing the amount of leagues is a good idea, also makes winning the championships more valuable and the champions more special.
However I would love to see World Championship again and also more GSTL.
This interview was a really great interview. I'm looking forward to the GSTL news, especially since it's coming up soon I really want to buy that GSTL season ticket >.<!! It's also interesting to see what AoL might turn into as well ^^
On January 11 2012 10:51 Bart wrote: very good and informative answers. Love the GSL but for whatever reason it's lagging so bad nowadays :/
I have no idea why, but for some reason recently if I have the GSL player in a different tab it lags, but if i switch back to that tab it's fine...o.O Other than that it works great.
Good interview, it did answer several of my questions about how the GSL has grown and evolved over the past year. I'm looking forward to the new GSTL and can't wait until it's finally here!
Thank you for the interview. There are not many interviews where every single question is a good and is met with such good answers. Very professional and informative. I especially like Mr. Chae's answer to the prospect of BW pros switching over to SC2 and their predicted success.
Also - I am such a huge fan of this new format: only five players can win a GSL this year, and we're going to have so much more time to follow their runs through the tournament and catch up on all the games.
I don't get why the sponsorship question was asked. Since when did the GSL had sponsorship problems? LG, Pepsi, Sony, and Intel aren't big sponsors? They were also international sponsors which is something BW has not had since Pringles if I recall correctly.
Some clarification on where that question was coming from?
On January 11 2012 04:30 felisconcolori wrote: I just want to know if they're being passive outside of their own microcosm of Korea, instead of reaching out themselves to partners that may not realize how much Gom may have to offer.
I have a feeling that being pursued aggressively means being approached with a partnership opportunity that is beneficial financially to GOM in a rather obvious manner.
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
Nice enough interview, despite the amount of simple promises; they are unavoidable, though: if you are not ready to make an official announcement about something then you will not talk about it informally in an interview. What I disagree with is the new GSTL format and the fact that rookies will now have enough chances in Code A anyway. Code A is incredibly stacked and the qualifiers will become even more competitive than they already are. It is true that rookie play occasionally made the GSTL embarassing, however it is also true that it allowed us to discover a few talented players. Nerves are still a major issue for many players, and I guess this will favour players who are just solid rather than allowing everyone to make experience with televised matches. Maybe the KSL could try to do something to replace the lost opportunity? A small online team league where only players who are not in Code A/Code S could work, but I suppose that it might not be attractive enough for the audience.
Yet another amazing read...and very timely indeed. I would guess the real question for 2012 would be if there would be mass switch from BW to SC2 or BW will keep going strong?
We saw some turbulence in 2011, but nothing of significance yet.
We plan to switch from the full-league format from second half 2011 into a double elimination tournament format. The full league had an advantage in that many teams could appear often, but individual matches lacked excitement, and teams that employed too many rookie players which decreased the entertainment value of the tournament.
Sadly I dont agree with this at all, for me its excited to see a guy coming from nowhere like puzzle making an all kill and getting some attention. Or does everybody forgott that Drg started that way? All killing every single team. Still, we just have to wait and see what comes to 2012.
Mr Chae is one of the biggest nerd ballers on the face of this Earth. He creates tournaments where we get to see the worlds best players destroy each other, and he employs Tastosis. Need I say more?
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The Code S seed [... is also ] a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
A bit concerned with people buying players in to the tourney, but sponsors come first and I don't blame them. Could mean we finally see puma in GSL lol
Be nice for more tournaments with foreign vs korea but not making them play the day or dayafter that they first arrive in korea like normal.
Same with code S and Code A spots, please make it so if you invite anyone to korea from now on, they need to come to korea like 2 weeks or more before they play the game.
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The Code S seed [... is also ] a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
A bit concerned with people buying players in to the tourney, but sponsors come first and I don't blame them. Could mean we finally see puma in GSL lol
Well if they don't have the skill to keep in it takes a couple matches to get kicked out again. Look how many seeds actually survived so far. MMA/DRG/Huk are the only ones i can think off.
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
you're not paying much more to gom, you're paying the exact same amount per game...
On January 11 2012 04:30 felisconcolori wrote: I just want to know if they're being passive outside of their own microcosm of Korea, instead of reaching out themselves to partners that may not realize how much Gom may have to offer.
I have a feeling that being pursued aggressively means being approached with a partnership opportunity that is beneficial financially to GOM in a rather obvious manner.
Well, yes. Although they may also have a mindset in place that means it takes an explicit offer, rather than a sounding out, to provoke a response. What worries me is that GOM is obviously the largest player in eSports (right now) (in Korea), but they may be taking a passive stance in maintaining that position. If Gom relies on where they are and what they are doing and their position as the sole means of attracting other organizations (sponsors, potential partnerships, even players or teams) they may end up slowly stagnating and being surpassed by other organizations globally. (I don't see any currently that will do it, simply from a presence standpoint; Gom is more visible for longer periods, as opposed to (example) MLG which is very visible for three to four days every couple of months. But MLG has a broader base (in that it runs more different tournaments/games) that can attract a wider variety of possible sponsors and players.)
I guess my real concern is, that yes Gom is the Big Dog of eSports right now, what are they doing to ensure that they will remain that way as international organizations begin to grow and compete across a broader spectrum of the global audience? Besides Tastosis and arguably the best player pool, their product isn't exactly optimized for a global audience. (Not that I'm complaining about the Kpop. Even if I have no idea what they're singing, they have good voices and great moves.)
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: The new league format has introduced foreigner seeds in Code S and the Up-Down matches, offering even more benefits for foreign players. What led to this decision?
The Code S seed isn't just for foreigners. To be exact, it's a seed we offer in consideration of foreign tournaments. You can think of it as similar to the Code S seed available to the MLG winners last season. However, compared to last year when we only gave Code S seeds to MLG winners (regardless of their nationality), this year we're going to consider many foreign tournaments together when awarding this seed. The players could be a Korean players or a foreign players. Also, it is a way to include players in Code S that the sponsor might desire. This is a method that has been used in other ESPORTS as well.
i dont like this at all.. its the same as 2011 all over again
I don't know what you are talking about. Look at tennis - probably the most developed globally individual sport. Granted - golf brings a bit more money but that's probably because it generates more interest among rich people and it's definitely less popular than tennis, especially outside US&UK.
Either way - tennis is at least 2nd most developed individual regular there is.
And you know what? There are wild cards in the tournaments - including Grand Slams tournaments.
Wild Card Gilles Müller - advanced to 3rd round Wild Card Dudi Sela - advanced to 2nd round Wild Card Daniel Cox - lost in 1st round Wild Card Arnaud Clement - lost in 1st round Wild Card Daniel Evans - lost in 1st round Wild Card Alejandro Falla - lost in 1st round Wild Card James Ward - lost in 1st round
so 7 wild cards in a tournament of 128 players. GSL has 2 wild cards in a tournament of 32 players (Code S). The ratio is rather similar, don't you think?
Also it's worth to note that I'm completely ignoring the fact, that there were 9 WC in the qualifiers (another 128 players there - at least 16 of them entered the main draw) and each of them could enter the main draw (although not all of them at the same time).
Long story short: this is as normal for a sport competition with significant prize pool as it can be. It's good for everyone, really, if you try to see big picture here.
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
you're not paying much more to gom, you're paying the exact same amount per game...
The "paying more" was meant to be per season, and not per game.
okay, let me put it that way: I get to see more games per season, so I pay more per season. Fine. The players play more games per season, so why don't they get more prize money per season?
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
Since when did it become GOM's obligation to ensure that players are adequately compensated? Did I miss something?
Very insightful questions and I felt his answers were quite thoughtout and responsive. Glad to see this sort of interview and the questions not being PR dodged with answers that don't really say anything. Over all this was enlightening and a good read. Thanks TL!
btw that last question made me smile, loved the answer
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
you're not paying much more to gom, you're paying the exact same amount per game...
The "paying more" was meant to be per season, and not per game.
okay, let me put it that way: I get to see more games per season, so I pay more per season. Fine. The players play more games per season, so why don't they get more prize money per season?
gom ran out of funds? didn't feel it was necessary to be the sole supporter for pro players? wants to be greedy? who knows. The prizepool is still drastically more than other tournaments out there, and I see no reason why GSL have to pay so much better than other tourney organizers.
what should matter to us is the quality of the game and service we paid for
Good interview, wish chae would have been asked what will happen when goms exclusive sc2 broadcast rights expire this year. Didn't the prize pool improve for code a this season? Also gsl prize money is still higher than almost every foreign competition. First place in OSL one and a half years after it started was a lot lower than what gsl is atm. Maybe sc2 in korea is starting to be big enough that pro players don't have to rely on gsl prize money anymore.
Really looking forward to gstl, and the thought of another WC gives me nerdchills already.
On January 12 2012 00:28 Lorch wrote: Good interview, wish chae would have been asked what will happen when goms exclusive sc2 broadcast rights expire this year. Didn't the prize pool improve for code a this season? Also gsl prize money is still higher than almost every foreign competition. First place in OSL one and a half years after it started was a lot lower than what gsl is atm. Maybe sc2 in korea is starting to be big enough that pro players don't have to rely on gsl prize money anymore.
Really looking forward to gstl, and the thought of another WC gives me nerdchills already.
Im pretty sure that the biggest souce of income for GSL is foreign subscriptions and sponsors. I think sc2 fanbase is growing faster outside of korea than inside, but i could be wrong and I dont have any stats to back that up But it be very interesting to see exactly how many subscribers GSL has now. Havent found any info or numbers, have anyone else?
On January 11 2012 04:57 JustPassingBy wrote: Hm, I don't really understand Mr. Chae's answer to the decrease of prize money.
I know the amount of games per league has increased, but that only means that the league demands the players to show us more games for the increased costs (which I am sure the players are happy to do). However, it does not change the fact that I now pay gom 50% more per season, while they do not forward not even close to that percentage of money more to the players participating in the league.
its already been calculated at some posts before, you're paying the same $$ for the same amount of games
sure, there's less total leagues but more games per league, so it turns out to be about just the same amount of games total
please read my post, I am complaining that I pay much more to gom (increase by 50%), however gom does not pay that much more to the players.
you're not paying much more to gom, you're paying the exact same amount per game...
The "paying more" was meant to be per season, and not per game.
okay, let me put it that way: I get to see more games per season, so I pay more per season. Fine. The players play more games per season, so why don't they get more prize money per season?
gom ran out of funds? didn't feel it was necessary to be the sole supporter for pro players? wants to be greedy? who knows. The prizepool is still drastically more than other tournaments out there, and I see no reason why GSL have to pay so much better than other tourney organizers.
what should matter to us is the quality of the game and service we paid for
Well, Mr. Chae's answer does not sound as if they were having financial troubles. And I agree, GSL is still worth every penny. However, GSL is clearly being a bit greedy here and sometimes you just got to call a spade a spade.
On January 11 2012 04:21 Apollo_Shards wrote: Excellent read, thank you for the translation. Mr.Chae makes it very clear on why they do things and Im really glad we arent left out in the dark. He totally nailed the last question
Hell yeah sick answer. Thx for sharing so much with foreigners : )
I love the transparency that Gom is showing, it seems a far cry from the earliest days of KESPA, and I believe that this points to a much better partnership and mode of cooperation within the "Global SCII scene" as opposed to an SK-centric system ala BW.
Can't wait till I can buy my yearly pass! All the foreigner hopefuls are going to be interesting to watch.
Hope they find room for the World Championships, if only for Team Korea vs. the World again. Hands down my favorite event of SC2 so far, though being at Blizzcon for GSL October finals was pretty sweet, too
On January 11 2012 04:20 Waxangel wrote: That last question and answer. I've never been so owned.
Rofl.
Out of curiosity, did the editorial staff consider asking him about the Naniwa incident? If yes, was the subject broached with Mr Chae or his minders prior to the interview? If so, was it put in the 'don't ask' basket?
Thanks ! Nice Interview, Mr Chae looks like a very thoughtful, respectful, intelligent and practical businessman. And this is what is required. Respect ~
On January 11 2012 04:20 Waxangel wrote: That last question and answer. I've never been so owned.
Rofl.
Out of curiosity, did the editorial staff consider asking him about the Naniwa incident? If yes, was the subject broached with Mr Chae or his minders prior to the interview? If so, was it put in the 'don't ask' basket?
GomTV has declined to comment on certain topics in the past.
Mr. Chae did a great job with that interview IMO--it was actually pretty insightful.
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: If I can use the World Cup as an example, it might be easier to explain. If the World Cup went purely by FIFA rankings, Korea would never be able to play, and it would have become a tournament that only South America and Europe enjoyed.
I think this is actually an interesting comparison and something I didn't think of before. I loved rooting for Korea in the WC . I do wonder if he's really right when he says "the teams and players have no qualms" about the system though.
On January 11 2012 04:09 TeamLiquid ESPORTS wrote: It seemed that the GSL had difficulties acquiring large sponsorships compared to Starcraft 1 leagues or foreign Starcraft 2 leagues. Is Starcraft II unattractive to sponsors in Korea at this time?
Can someone from the interview staff comment on this question? Pepsi, Samsung, etc. seem like pretty big sponsors... I don't understand what prompts them to ask this. Relatedly does anyone know if you can get hot six in the US? Also anyone want to place a bet on how long it takes for Tastless to mispronounce that ?
Does someone at IGN have a gambling problem? The only place IPL seems to turn up at are Casinos. Or is it just all about the Glug Glug and the US has retarded drinking laws?
EPT
!
. But yea, that's still a good analogy. 
