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Blizzard Q&A on WCS 2014 - Page 24

Forum Index > SC2 General
646 CommentsPost a Reply
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I'm seeing a lot of comments from people who are disappointed that we did not share the exact plans for WCS 2014. To clarify, we did not intend for this to be an announcement, or an announcement of an announcement for that matter

The reality is that we are still finalizing the details of WCS 2014 with our partners, however, we did not want to wait until everything was finalized before letting you know some of the things we were discussing. We want to give the community an opportunity to provide feedback before we locked down the specific details. We have outlined most of our plans and ideas in some of our answers, but haven't fully committed to any of the decisions because we want to hear from the community. Our goal is to confirm and announce the plans for WCS 2014 before BlizzCon. That gives you at least a week to give us your input on what we've shared!

Thanks again for your support!

-kimaphan
Slydie
Profile Joined August 2013
1994 Posts
October 15 2013 15:38 GMT
#461
The Koreans are too god and the foreigners cant compete. Imagine of 90 of the top 100 tennisplayers were Spanish... omg, good luck promoting that! Discrimination of Koreans is the only way out of it as Blizz is selling games worldwide.

Anyway, I think a tennis-like system would be the best for SC2. Why not make an official "live event ladder" like tennis, eurofootball or chess? Let the points earned more than 2 months ago decay so that people cant rest on previous results, and let wins in the bigger events count more than the smaller ones.
Buff the siegetank
ACrow
Profile Joined October 2011
Germany6583 Posts
October 15 2013 15:52 GMT
#462
Good news. While there was a lot of PR talk and not that much actual decisions, getting rid of the Season finals and smarter scheduling will do a lot of good for the scene. It's so ridiculous that the season finals immediately overshadow the regional finals (hell, GSL was THE tournament to win, it's a shame how the WCS system diminished its prestige with a) the season finals, b) the brain drain caused by EU and especially NA and c) the stupid sharing between Gom and OGN).
I hope they take the money they save by removing the Season finals and going 4->3 seasons and put it to either increase the price pool of the regional WCSes and/or by supporting the weekend tournament organizers.
Get off my lawn, young punks
Pirfiktshon
Profile Joined June 2013
United States1072 Posts
October 15 2013 15:53 GMT
#463
Wouldn't that be interesting to make a Professional License for Starcraft 2 LOL
MateShade
Profile Joined July 2011
Australia736 Posts
October 15 2013 15:55 GMT
#464
Gsl used to have the undisputed best player in the world because every gsl was more or less the best 32 players in the world. That's the thing that kept me interested, not 'storylines' honestly what the heck. Wcs has been nothing but a negative impact I'm afraid, it's the reason I don't watch any Starcraft anymore. I can't keep up with 3 tournaments going on at once, the old gsl in Korea was completely fine.
juvenal
Profile Joined July 2013
2448 Posts
October 15 2013 15:55 GMT
#465
On October 16 2013 00:30 Plansix wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 16 2013 00:26 juvenal wrote:
When we launched WCS 2013, our main goal was to create a global system that was capable of identifying the undisputed, best StarCraft II player on the planet

well this is just lie. You don't do things that cost lots of money to give people a champion, a hero, out of sheer curiosity. You do it for more money. I'm ok with all that but please be honest Blizzard and do not treat us dumb, thanks.

They can do both you know. The NFL can be all about making the best games possible and making mad money. It's not binary.

they can do whatever, just don't say it's your prime driving force when it's not.
Michael Probu
StarStruck
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
25339 Posts
October 15 2013 16:00 GMT
#466
On October 16 2013 00:38 Slydie wrote:
The Koreans are too god and the foreigners cant compete. Imagine of 90 of the top 100 tennisplayers were Spanish... omg, good luck promoting that! Discrimination of Koreans is the only way out of it as Blizz is selling games worldwide.

Anyway, I think a tennis-like system would be the best for SC2. Why not make an official "live event ladder" like tennis, eurofootball or chess? Let the points earned more than 2 months ago decay so that people cant rest on previous results, and let wins in the bigger events count more than the smaller ones.


There are methods to get those players closer to the Koreans though. I rather try to avoid isolating the scenes for several reasons. One of which is it makes better storytelling. It's one thing to have EU versus NA as we saw with C9 versus Fnatic at Worlds (it did get some hype), but there would be a lot more hype for that match if they had developed a rivalry beforehand. More than just which region they hail from. It's more than one dimension. Also, I rather not stunt a player's growth because they were born in the wrong country. That would be bad. Live events are important and guess what. You see all the world's best players at those events and no one is arguing anything different.
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
October 15 2013 16:09 GMT
#467
On October 16 2013 00:55 juvenal wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 16 2013 00:30 Plansix wrote:
On October 16 2013 00:26 juvenal wrote:
When we launched WCS 2013, our main goal was to create a global system that was capable of identifying the undisputed, best StarCraft II player on the planet

well this is just lie. You don't do things that cost lots of money to give people a champion, a hero, out of sheer curiosity. You do it for more money. I'm ok with all that but please be honest Blizzard and do not treat us dumb, thanks.

They can do both you know. The NFL can be all about making the best games possible and making mad money. It's not binary.

they can do whatever, just don't say it's your prime driving force when it's not.

It's total nit picking and pointless to "call them out on it". It's like calling me a lier for saying I go to work because I enjoy my job, and claiming that I really go to work to make money.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
kellymilkies
Profile Blog Joined August 2010
Singapore1393 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-15 16:13:15
October 15 2013 16:12 GMT
#468
Ok well, this interview really answered nothing for me. It just reads like a PR reply from Blizzard to "pacify the community"
Sorry.
For someone like me who loves starcraft 2 so much, I hope they fix WCS 2014 especially when it comes to schedule and the region locking. gl.
edit: also the fact that I miss tournaments which did their own shit and was epic. like GSL. Winning GSL = dream. but now gsl is just another place where you watch players earn points.
They need to make each individual tournament mean something to the community. not sure how they are gonna do that but they really really should try.
Be the change you wish to see in the world ^-^V //
juvenal
Profile Joined July 2013
2448 Posts
October 15 2013 16:13 GMT
#469
On October 16 2013 01:09 Plansix wrote:
Show nested quote +
On October 16 2013 00:55 juvenal wrote:
On October 16 2013 00:30 Plansix wrote:
On October 16 2013 00:26 juvenal wrote:
When we launched WCS 2013, our main goal was to create a global system that was capable of identifying the undisputed, best StarCraft II player on the planet

well this is just lie. You don't do things that cost lots of money to give people a champion, a hero, out of sheer curiosity. You do it for more money. I'm ok with all that but please be honest Blizzard and do not treat us dumb, thanks.

They can do both you know. The NFL can be all about making the best games possible and making mad money. It's not binary.

they can do whatever, just don't say it's your prime driving force when it's not.

It's total nit picking and pointless to "call them out on it". It's like calling me a lier for saying I go to work because I enjoy my job, and claiming that I really go to work to make money.

may be you're right, but as it was written it gave me impression they want us to view Blizzard as fucking esports paladins, which is not quite true.
Michael Probu
Masayume
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
Netherlands208 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-10-15 16:21:08
October 15 2013 16:16 GMT
#470
As long as they invest the money they save by abolishing Global Finals and a 4th season back into each regions regular seasons, I'd be very happy. By increasing the prize pool in a manner where the Challenger League and Ro32/R016 of Premier League provide more sustainability and the top heavy prizes increase only marginally, you give more players a better chance and incentive.

Combine that with a requirement to play and maintain a certain level on the ladder of the region the player is competing in, having the ladder connected with the WCS system and reserving a certain number of slots for the local region players, and you have a pretty decent step forward in the competitive ecosystem of SC2.
Balance. Enjoy the process instead of focusing on musts.
Sablar
Profile Blog Joined December 2010
Sweden880 Posts
October 15 2013 16:24 GMT
#471
No more GSL finals? :/
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52798 Posts
October 15 2013 16:28 GMT
#472
I like the direction that WCS is going but I'd love to see more premier korean tournaments- US/EU has IEM, Dreamhack, MLG (?), HSC, etc etc, and I can't remember a single big korean tournament besides WCS.
Although koreans do attend these tournaments in EU/NA, they have to fly over and compete- something I don't think is really desirable.
Also, this would be a premier tournament, not a league, so it's fair for the koreans that didn't manage to do well the first time around.
ModeratorI am still alive, somehow
TL+ Member
SeakayKu
Profile Joined October 2010
United States128 Posts
October 15 2013 16:33 GMT
#473
we hope this Q&A clears up some of the confusion and gives StarCraft 2 fans better understanding about Blizzard's overall plan and philosophy

This article starts off with a mission...

We are aware of the concern that allowing skilled players from other regions to easily swoop in and take Premier/Challenger spots can be a severe roadblock to the growth of up-and-coming talent within a local region

Okay, so Blizzard is aware of this specific issue

What are their plans and what do they really mean?

A. giving sympathy slots to players who seem to have a shot for WCS prize pool and fame
carving out a portion of player slots dedicated to legal residents that would guarantee players living in a particular region would always have a consistent chance to make it into Challenger League...


B. doing offline tournaments to discourage foreign player's access
we are pushing for more of our broadcast content to happen in a physical studio environment, inevitably pushing players to commit to longer periods of time where they must reside locally


C. telling the world's top players (or lets say Koreans) to take it easy and not bashing on the new comers
encouraging pros to play on their prospective regional ladders and requiring that anyone who wants to qualify in a region be ranked at a certain level on that region’s server

Well, if "these players" make enough money in their own region, then it would be logical that Blizzard's plan might work.

But... here is the problem...
Will the prize pool for WCS 2014 be raised? Will the prize pool for WCS 2014 be more evenly distributed?

This is something we’re discussing, but we haven’t made any decisions because we’re still evaluating other ways or areas we can contribute to the ecosystem outside of the prize pool to better support more players.


So basically, money talks. Funding is a major issue and setback. Without the fresh new cash from Legacy of the Void, I just do not think the current Starcraft II revenue generating system is setup to operate WCS at the scale Blizzard wants it to be. I suggest coming up with a long-term funding plan with the release of LotV instead of another cash-grab-gimmicky-sucker release.

Moving on... to Blizzard's vision and thoughts about WCS being
the tournament above all other tournaments


The most interesting line I saw is this...
this unifying action was necessary for the scene to grow, and Blizzard was in the best position to help pull together all the various entities involved in fostering professional StarCraft II


I have seen, already, Korean pros who are retired or retiring stating the same thing that Blizzard wants to take control of whatever is happening. I am so glad that now the pieces are now beginning to form a clear picture and I can relate. It is hard to keep up with cost of maintaining SC2. And these hyped Korean tournaments are simply just not fullfilling Blizzard's demand for revenue (it is Blizzard's right by the way, according to SC2's license/usage agreement).

Anyway, for anyone who wants to do more SC2 tournaments etc... please be careful...
What Blizzard said was this...

We think team leagues are great and we’re supportive of them, but we do not have any plans to incorporate them directly into the WCS system in 2014. However, we do have ideas around how we can make WCS points more meaningful to teams and players by encouraging team spirit and support in WCS.

We think non-WCS tournaments are crucial to the StarCraft II ecosystem, and we do have plans to extend the WCS storyline to more tournaments. In order to do this, we plan to simplify the broadcast schedule for WCS to allow for other organizations to hold major events during the year.

But what they really mean??

Blizzard will support (spiritually) for small tournaments and team leagues AS LONG AS
1. They do not interfere with WCS's schedule
2. These small tourneys and leagues contribute to the storyline of WCS

Anyway...

So Blizzard will host their own tournaments and crown their own champion through WCS. The fundings and profits will now go to and be managed by Blizzard. Hopefully they can use it well enough for a better release ov LofV.

GG THX, back to Dota 2...
It's an Art and I hope I can see beautifully fought matches.
Pirfiktshon
Profile Joined June 2013
United States1072 Posts
October 15 2013 16:37 GMT
#474
LOL talk about slanderous posts.... you are crucifying Blizzard for trying to piece back together the Scene.

Blizzard is actually speaking and listening to the community then you complain about them doing so....
Plansix
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
United States60190 Posts
October 15 2013 16:42 GMT
#475
As I said before, some people live to bitch and claim it is all "valid criticism". Personally I wish the poster above luck in dota 2, since they have much lower tolerance for that kind of whining in the TL section of the dota community.
I have the Honor to be your Obedient Servant, P.6
TL+ Member
Zenbrez
Profile Joined June 2012
Canada5973 Posts
October 15 2013 16:49 GMT
#476
On October 16 2013 01:24 Sablar wrote:
No more GSL finals? :/

That was never said or implied.
Refer to my post.
SeakayKu
Profile Joined October 2010
United States128 Posts
October 15 2013 16:50 GMT
#477
My first line I wrote was actually "GG THX, back to Dota 2..."
and then I felt I might want to explain the thoughts before leaving such comment, hence long-ass write-up

I now understand from my point of view what Blizzard's thought process is
So from my perspective, they fulfilled their mission with this Q&A

Side note, I just want to play the game I want to play
RTS that focus more on 1v1 competitive play than anything else without much attraction to the casual-but-revenue-generating players?
I get it, this is how Blizzard wants the game to be, play it or don't...
But they do not have plans or have made decision on how they raise prize pool money or fundings right??
I just don't see SC2 being successful without some compromised feature like...
Customs map 3v3 bgh with bw units
Zero clutter
LOL anyone?

It's an Art and I hope I can see beautifully fought matches.
The_Templar
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
your Country52798 Posts
October 15 2013 16:51 GMT
#478
On October 16 2013 01:24 Sablar wrote:
No more GSL finals? :/

No more SEASON finals.
ModeratorI am still alive, somehow
TL+ Member
SeakayKu
Profile Joined October 2010
United States128 Posts
October 15 2013 17:07 GMT
#479
On October 16 2013 01:42 Plansix wrote:
As I said before, some people live to bitch and claim it is all "valid criticism". Personally I wish the poster above luck in dota 2, since they have much lower tolerance for that kind of whining in the TL section of the dota community.


blizzard is responsible to find money to make the game better
i am all about cost control and revenue generating
put those 2 together is just efficiency

blizzard can claim their vision and thoughts about wcs to the community, which obviously both you and i are a part of
and my opinion, or what you called valid criticism, whatever, is what they wanted
so both you and i reacted towards blizzard's call to "contribute"... in a sense

if my response was not clear enough, i will rephrase it

blizzard, sc2 is a good game, but sorry i don't play that now
sharing your vision on wcs is appreciated, but no, it is not enough to get me back into the game

what will get me back, are the fun sub-games that i, and many others, will play (for example bgh and zer0 clutter)
what i am saying is that we can be a part of contribution, you know?
money-wise, to help with your goal on wcs
but, i respect that it is not what you want your game to be

so there it is... gg...
It's an Art and I hope I can see beautifully fought matches.
Dingodile
Profile Joined December 2011
4139 Posts
October 15 2013 17:08 GMT
#480
my suggestion:
You should change the cap for weekends-tournaments: from 25k to 25k-50k
prizepool increases about 25k per region per season for NA & EU. WCS Korea 35k.

They should stop overshadow the weekends-tournaments... I guess they want exactly this but they say that this isn't so (what a liar).
Grubby | ToD | Moon | Lyn | Sky
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