SK Telecom released a statement on the 16th that s2 has decided to retire.
s2 stated that his decision to retire came about because he will have to go into the army soon. He wants to experience new things in his life and have some time to rest before having to enlist.
Statement from s2: I am so happy and so proud that I was able to be with SK Telecom for 7 years and even experience winning a championship with them. I want to thank all my fans who have cheered me on endlessly up till now, and I hope that those fans will continue to cheer on SK Telecom T1 from here on out.
s2 joined SK Telecom T1 in 2007. He grabbed three victories in the 2010-2011 Proleague winners' league finals and grabbed the MVP award. He was also the captain of SK Telecom T1 during the 2011-2012 SK Planet Proleague when SK Telecom grabbed first place. s2 was an A roster Zerg player for his team and was known as the "Warrior Zerg."
Its inevitable that some of the really experienced KeSPA players will retire between each Proleague because the industry is not yet at a point where it makes sense for any, save a few exceptional cases, to make being an actual progamer a life long career. However, I'm excited to see what sort of growth this new KeSPA restructuring might bring with it and I'm sure we will see plenty of fresh faces that have their own unique potential to become new legends and community favorites.
On September 16 2013 13:09 Kinky wrote: Wow, SKT losing two players recently is pretty saddening
It's sad that the old players are leaving but they also picked up Classic from STX, and well as much as it hurts to say Bisu isn't much of a loss so they should be just as strong next season.
sad but for me it sounds like the contracts came to an end and the lower salary for all the sc1 legends who does poorly in sc1 come in, so alot of them will retire, i expect more next weeks
On September 16 2013 14:10 lessQQmorePEWPEW wrote: I wonder what is next for these guys - especially the fringe players. Korea is an elitist nation, gonna be hard without qualifications.
On September 16 2013 13:55 TheWorldToCome wrote: Honest question: Is the sc2 scene in Korea like super dead or something? Or at least compared to BW is it like 1/10th the size or something?
LoL is waaaay bigger than both of them. But when it comes to # of games being played at any given time on Fish server(which isnt the only place people play bw, but the most populated) vs Star2 battle net, the numbers look quite similar. The proscene for sc2 is still bigger of course because of proleague and WCS.
Oh noes, i will miss s2, always enjoyed watching him
SKT is losing one bw-player after another. With Best, Bisu and now s2 gone it gets harder and harder to cheer for SKT. Atleast they have Fantasy, Rain, Paralyze and Soo left ...
my favorite game of this guy, I remember being so incredibly amused by this game when I watched it ^^ specifically, the giant concave of death at 12:50. Well, I hope he enjoys his time before military!
s2 stated that his decision to retire came about because he will have to go into the army soon. He wants to experience new things in his life and have some time to rest before having to enlist.
Is this a translation for 'I'm going to Sonic StarLeague'?
Moar BW players to watch at snipealot stream!!!! I have to confess that I like when they retire and go streaming on afreeca. Still waiting for Bisu's stream.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
You mean with 3D graphics in 640x480 screen :3? Yes, screen size matters too. Also, i have never seen a proof of BW being balanced. I have seen proofs of BW being awesome, but never seen proofs of it being balanced.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
no thanks, BW is good as it is imo. Any new units may upset the current balance completely and mess up gameplay(or the reverse). I don't think the new graphics will make that much of a difference although they may draw SCII players who dislike the older graphics to try the game.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
You mean with 3D graphics in 640x480 screen :3? Yes, screen size matters too. Also, i have never seen a proof of BW being balanced. I have seen proofs of BW being awesome, but never seen proofs of it being balanced.
Maps are what makes BW balanced. Just search for BW maps and their map stats.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
You mean with 3D graphics in 640x480 screen :3? Yes, screen size matters too. Also, i have never seen a proof of BW being balanced. I have seen proofs of BW being awesome, but never seen proofs of it being balanced.
Maps are what makes BW balanced. Just search for BW maps and their map stats.
I heard there was a map named Katrina.... And yes, i know that maps made BW match-ups what they were.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
You mean with 3D graphics in 640x480 screen :3? Yes, screen size matters too. Also, i have never seen a proof of BW being balanced. I have seen proofs of BW being awesome, but never seen proofs of it being balanced.
Maps are what makes BW balanced. Just search for BW maps and their map stats.
I heard there was a map named Katrina.... And yes, i know that maps made BW match-ups what they were.
Katrina is one of the protoss maps as far as I remember.
As you see, some maps favour a specific race. Others are balanced. It's hard to make a balanced map for every race. So map making was crucial for BW success.
Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
On September 17 2013 03:02 Eggi wrote: If Blizzard had just released SC BW with sc2 graphix and MAYBE 1 new unit for each race.
things would be awesome.
sometimes, fuck blizzard
actually.
all the time
You mean with 3D graphics in 640x480 screen :3? Yes, screen size matters too. Also, i have never seen a proof of BW being balanced. I have seen proofs of BW being awesome, but never seen proofs of it being balanced.
Maps are what makes BW balanced. Just search for BW maps and their map stats.
I heard there was a map named Katrina.... And yes, i know that maps made BW match-ups what they were.
Katrina is one of the protoss maps as far as I remember.
As you see, some maps favour a specific race. Others are balanced. It's hard to make a balanced map for every race. So map making was crucial for BW success.
I remember well role maps played in BW balancing. Katrina is just a random example of map that favored one of races.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
IMO, the teams businesses could be hurt a lot more by seeing the great players leave one after another.
Constructive bashing is more welcomed than flat out lies. If blizzard realize that some of the best BW progamers are leaving the game because of how it is, changes could happen.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
IMO, the teams businesses could be hurt a lot more by seeing the great players leave one after another.
Constructive bashing is more welcomed than flat out lies. If blizzard realize that some of the best BW progamers are leaving the game because of how it is, changes could happen.
Not sure if you could call s2 a great player... Not to be insensitive but both his BW and SC2 liquipedia pages are pretty much empty.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
IMO, the teams businesses could be hurt a lot more by seeing the great players leave one after another.
Constructive bashing is more welcomed than flat out lies. If blizzard realize that some of the best BW progamers are leaving the game because of how it is, changes could happen.
Not sure if you could call s2 a great player... Not to be insensitive but both his BW and SC2 liquipedia pages are pretty much empty.
I've never seen a single game from him.
Maybe he shouldn't have meant s2 or there was misunderstanding, but Bisu, Jangbi and NaDa are good examples. I think Flash would be next, well, not exactly tomorrow or this month, but he is losing passion as well.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
IMO, the teams businesses could be hurt a lot more by seeing the great players leave one after another.
Constructive bashing is more welcomed than flat out lies. If blizzard realize that some of the best BW progamers are leaving the game because of how it is, changes could happen.
Not sure if you could call s2 a great player... Not to be insensitive but both his BW and SC2 liquipedia pages are pretty much empty.
I've never seen a single game from him.
Watch Winners League final for proleague. Thats all you need to know about this guy.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
And they were able to support it fine. Before they had two legs to stand on, LoL and BW. Now that SC2 is faltering, only one pillar.
On September 17 2013 05:01 DPK wrote: Sad to see all these KeSPA players go. If only they had the balls to say they don't like sc2 and want to play BW instead of saying crap like "need to do military service soon" when it's obvious they're leaving to go back to BW primarily. I also don't even understand what was the point of following the transition to sc2 just to announce retirement not long after. I mean, I'm not a pro but when I'm trying a new game, it doesn't take me a year to see if I will like it or not.
They probably don't want to make their team's business crippled by bashing SC2? We should actually appreciate that.
IMO, the teams businesses could be hurt a lot more by seeing the great players leave one after another.
Constructive bashing is more welcomed than flat out lies. If blizzard realize that some of the best BW progamers are leaving the game because of how it is, changes could happen.
Passion is relative to how well a player is doing/earning. While Flash might be losing passion, Bogus does not, he even said he enjoyed SC2 more. Even if all great BW players retire, it doesn't mean Blizzard will take that as a sign that their game is bad, as many players will retire because of pay cut/ not being competitive.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
And they were able to support it fine. Before they had two legs to stand on, LoL and BW. Now that SC2 is faltering, only one pillar.
Right, but now they have a " pillar " just as big as the pillar that BW was in 2006. They don't need anything else, I don't think they would " profit " at all from BW being more popular than sc2 because it would still be a lot less popular than LoL. So while staying with BW would have made more fans in Korea happy, overall to them it probably doesn't matter.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
And they were able to support it fine. Before they had two legs to stand on, LoL and BW. Now that SC2 is faltering, only one pillar.
Do you usually charge for fortune telling or what? There is absolutely no way that anyone can know how BW's numbers would look today had there been no sc2 switch, but if it makes you feel better to just pretend that you know that BW would weather the MOBA storm, I guess more power to you.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
And they were able to support it fine. Before they had two legs to stand on, LoL and BW. Now that SC2 is faltering, only one pillar.
Do you usually charge for fortune telling or what? There is absolutely no way that anyone can know how BW's numbers would look today had there been no sc2 switch, but if it makes you feel better to just pretend that you know that BW would weather the MOBA storm, I guess more power to you.
Before Kespa's switch, LoL was already considered to be the powerhouse of esport in 2012 but BW's number still relatively strong. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for SC2.
On September 17 2013 09:37 rift wrote: I wonder if Kespa is thinking "we shouldn't have switched games". Because I'm certain Bisu and Jangbi wouldn't have retired from BW.
I think Kespa is thinking " thank god LoL exists " because It's not like BW wasn't on the decline as well. LoL revitalized the Korean esports scene. Staying on BW longer would have been preferable for some fans and some players but that's about it.
BW would still trump over SC2's current ratings in Korea any time of the day. They would have profited way more by not initiating the switch.
Profit in terms of what? Wouldn't they be spending more money and giving more support to BW if it was bigger than sc2?
And they were able to support it fine. Before they had two legs to stand on, LoL and BW. Now that SC2 is faltering, only one pillar.
Right, but now they have a " pillar " just as big as the pillar that BW was in 2006. They don't need anything else, I don't think they would " profit " at all from BW being more popular than sc2 because it would still be a lot less popular than LoL. So while staying with BW would have made more fans in Korea happy, overall to them it probably doesn't matter.
I'm not sure how much surplus monetary gains they would get from BW vs SC2 but I surely know that by possessing a more domestically popular game in your repertoires is far more efficacious than another inferior one in terms of, together with money-wise, and as you said, fan relationship.
I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
On September 17 2013 10:51 Dodgin wrote: I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
LoL has a vibrant foreign scene.
SC2 has a much stronger foreign scene than BW.
It makes sense for Kespa to use SC2 to bumper their foreign presence with LoL being their primary game.
On September 17 2013 10:51 Dodgin wrote: I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
LoL has a vibrant foreign scene.
SC2 has a much stronger foreign scene than BW.
It makes sense for Kespa to use SC2 to bumper their foreign presence with LoL being their primary game.
Can we please stop comparing the SC2 scene to the BW scene? It's an unfair comparison. You guys are very fortunate to have the money we do now.
On September 17 2013 10:51 Dodgin wrote: I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
LoL has a vibrant foreign scene.
SC2 has a much stronger foreign scene than BW.
It makes sense for Kespa to use SC2 to bumper their foreign presence with LoL being their primary game.
Don't really think foreigners care about kespa. Beside its only the EU scene that's sustainable. Pretty soon, the Korea SC2 infrastructure will collapse and you won't get high level training environment anymore and have less crisper games.
On September 17 2013 10:51 Dodgin wrote: I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
LoL has a vibrant foreign scene.
SC2 has a much stronger foreign scene than BW.
It makes sense for Kespa to use SC2 to bumper their foreign presence with LoL being their primary game.
Can we please stop comparing the SC2 scene to the BW scene? It's an unfair comparison. You guys are very fortunate to have the money we do now.
I really wish this could happen, tbh. Just be happy with what we have and contribute to try and make it better.
On September 17 2013 10:51 Dodgin wrote: I'm not denying that it would be better for BW to still be alive professionally, just saying that Kespa probably isn't kicking themselves over the death of BW. If anything what Kespa most likely regrets the most is not being able to transfer the fandom of some BW players like Jaedong over to LoL to increase Its popularity even further(LoL has its own stars now, but it wasn't always like that).
Maybe BW could have continued for longer than sc2 will alongside LoL but It's not some kind of permanent solution, they would still need an exit strategy for when the popularity of the game reached a point where it was no longer feasible to run competitions(something that I fear doesn't exist for sc2). I think part of the reason for Kespa's continued support of Starcraft, more so than Blizzard's support, is them having no idea what to do with all the BW pro players if they abandon their system. 100~ pro players + team staff would suddenly be unemployed and it would look awful for them to abandon them.
LoL has a vibrant foreign scene.
SC2 has a much stronger foreign scene than BW.
It makes sense for Kespa to use SC2 to bumper their foreign presence with LoL being their primary game.
Can we please stop comparing the SC2 scene to the BW scene? It's an unfair comparison. You guys are very fortunate to have the money we do now.
I really wish this could happen, tbh. Just be happy with what we have and contribute to try and make it better.
I feel that SC2 community should help out BW community too for that to happen.
EPT
s2![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/apmT1xo.jpg)
