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With the StarCraft II World Championship Series being announced there have been many questions about the way the world gets divided into 5 continents. Although most people are commenting on Asia-related divisions, to me the most remarkable observation lies in there not being an African continent representative.
While I follow the pro scene quite fanatically and am well aware that there aren't any African pro players, it did get me wondering.
I always figured that SC (and other skill / practice related professions like break-dancing) has grown so large in Korea because it's very difficult to develop a school and work career over there. Even if you're smart, you might have difficulty of being successful.
Then I imagine that the same goes for a lot of less developed countries in, for example, Africa. If you can make a living by becoming successful in SC, as it is right now, why don't any Africans seem to go train full time as a career path?
Is it something to do with technology and internet being unavailable, or lack of teams to support starting pro's, or just ignorance of the possibility, or.. ?
Looking at previous posts, there is some SC action going on in South Afrika, but that does overall seem to be the most 'western' country of the continent anyway.
So, it comes down to this:
I feel like there aren't many African SC players, am I right?
Why is that the case?
EDIT: lot's of people get bogged down on one-liners, saying Africans need food, not gaming, or that I'm retarded for even posting this.
Perhaps I've been unfortunate in my choice of words or the example of Korea (it was just something that got me thinking, not all that relevant to this post). So, to be more clear:
My point is, here in Europe everyone can get into college if you are intelligent enough and want to. You don't need to have money to back it up, and there are more than enough spots for everyone. If you happen to live somewhere where that is not the case, then it might be more tempting to pursue a career in gaming, if there is enough money to be gained by doing so.
If that's a risk that you are able to take, and the alternatives aren't all that safe either, I imagine more people would try to turn pro. The could go for people in some African countries.
I'm not suggesting anything here, merely posing a question. Africa isn't entirely as underdeveloped as you might think, and as it has been pointed out: a lot of African people get into soccer in hopes of being a paid pro.
So why not SC?
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sc2 is not supported there as far as I know
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First of all, a lot countries in africa have too much to worry about such as food, shelter, water, and diseases. Electricity is rare to conveniently have to play games, and they are a developing nation, to be honest i bet at least 3/4 of their country doesn't even know what starcraft 2 is.
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On April 07 2012 09:12 clickrush wrote:
sc2 is not supported there as far as I know
I bet if you are in Africa there is some way to play, but in general Africa as enough on its plate besides supporting ESPORTS
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I remember there was a tournament going on in a while ago, and they only managed to scrounge up around 8 players and the finals was a plat level player vs a gold level player. There are very little players in africa, and you cannot expect anyone to be higher than diamond in all of africa. Imho its due to the general lack of technology and the very different culture.
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Korea has PC bangs everywhere, they're cheap, and they have one of the best internet infrastructures in the entire world. That and in general Asian culture gaming is extremely normal and accepted. Less developed countries (like Africa) are hardly in the same position.
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Another question is what server would they play on?
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On April 07 2012 09:17 GamiKami wrote:
I remember there was a tournament going on in a while ago, and they only managed to scrounge up around 8 players and the finals was a plat level player vs a gold level player. There are very little players in africa, and you cannot expect anyone to be higher than diamond in all of africa. Imho its due to the general lack of technology and the very different culture.
Why do people make statements without any evidence of research into the matter?
EDIT: Africa plays on Europe and we are happy to do so, at least us down at the bottom.
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On April 07 2012 09:15 DashedHopes wrote:
First of all, a lot countries in africa have too much to worry about such as food, shelter, water, and diseases. Electricity is rare to conveniently have to play games, and they are a developing nation, to be honest i bet at least 3/4 of their country doesn't even know what starcraft 2 is.
I'd be willing to say over 3/4 of the population in the US couldn't tell you what SC2 is, either.
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On April 07 2012 09:19 DashedHopes wrote:
Another question is what server would they play on? makes most sense to play on Europe. Obviously not ideal, but it works.
Some countries in Africa have a fair bit of development, particularly South Africa or Egypt, but aside from internet infrastructure not being there, I think the culture just hasn't developed there enough, people do different things. Japan for instance doesn't have much starcraft players even though it's probably the most developed country technology/gaming/internet-wise.
That said, I'm sure there's many South African Starcraft players, and some better than just platinum.
edit: which Numy just pointed out
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Hm I am pretty sure there are considerable amounts of gamers in Egypt and SA. Haven't encountered anyone from any other Africa country though.
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On April 07 2012 09:15 DashedHopes wrote:
First of all, a lot countries in africa have too much to worry about such as food, shelter, water, and diseases. Electricity is rare to conveniently have to play games, and they are a developing nation, to be honest i bet at least 3/4 of their country doesn't even know what starcraft 2 is.
Well this is true, there are a fair few wealthy places in Africa.
I've met A person who played sc2 in Africa before moving to Canada. Might be more, but honestly I'm too ignorant to know many people from Africa.
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On April 07 2012 09:21 Numy wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 09:17 GamiKami wrote:
I remember there was a tournament going on in a while ago, and they only managed to scrounge up around 8 players and the finals was a plat level player vs a gold level player. There are very little players in africa, and you cannot expect anyone to be higher than diamond in all of africa. Imho its due to the general lack of technology and the very different culture. Why do people make statements without any evidence of research into the matter? EDIT: Africa plays on Europe and we are happy to do so, at least us down at the bottom.
He is right (WCG Namibia I believe) about that tournament. But youre right, there are some good African players (I believe there are some GMs on EU maybe?, I know PandaTank is EU GM for sure)
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On April 07 2012 09:11 bblack wrote:
I always figured that SC (and other skill / practice related professions like break-dancing) has grown so large in Korea because it's very difficult to develop a school and work career over there. Even if you're smart, you might have difficulty of being successful.
Why is that the case?
Seriously, WHAT is this supposed to mean? Very difficult to develop a school and work career in Korea?
They have one of the lowest unemployment rates (3.7) and best schools in the world.
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On April 07 2012 09:36 SabreUK wrote:Show nested quote +On April 07 2012 09:21 Numy wrote:On April 07 2012 09:17 GamiKami wrote:
I remember there was a tournament going on in a while ago, and they only managed to scrounge up around 8 players and the finals was a plat level player vs a gold level player. There are very little players in africa, and you cannot expect anyone to be higher than diamond in all of africa. Imho its due to the general lack of technology and the very different culture. Why do people make statements without any evidence of research into the matter? EDIT: Africa plays on Europe and we are happy to do so, at least us down at the bottom. He is right (WCG Namibia I believe) about that tournament. But youre right, there are some good African players (I believe there are some GMs on EU maybe?, I know PandaTank is EU GM for sure)
Shoot my bad forgot about PandaTank, and that there are some good african players.
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People tend to think that in Africa only there're poverty, famine, diseases, etc. But people don't know or forget that there are developing countries in Africa as well without having these issues.
That being said, i wouldn't be surprised to see more african players arising these next years/months. We hope so!
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Seoul, Korea has more internet than all of Africa (except South Africa) combined. True story.
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Guys there actually are a lot of tech advanced countries there, just there are far more who aren't its not like its non-existant, but the culture isn't like that there. It just isn't a priority there in front of creating stable job opportunities and growing economies. there is very little in the way of technologically advanced time killers, but their are a lot of sports.
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It would cost more money running a server for Africa then they would make from it. There's not enough of a scene there to make a blip on Blizz's radar for them to remotely care.
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On April 07 2012 09:11 bblack wrote:
So, it comes down to this:
I feel like there aren't many African SC players, am I right?
Why is that the case?
I don't feel that it's possible to answer this question without going into some really sensitive issues in depth - issues beyond the spectrum of this forum - and possibly stepping on some toes by doing so. So you're not gonna get a good answer to your question - but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
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EPT
