Finally! Koreans dominated WCS AM and EU too hard which hurt the viewership. WCS 2012 Europe finals was one of the most interesting tournaments ever and I'm glad we are going back in this direction.

However, Blizzard acts like a headless chicken. Going from full region lock to no boundaries at all and then to soft region lock and now we are back with full region lock again. What's for 2016? Full open WCS again?

vesicular

United States1310 Posts

September 05 2014 05:02 GMT

#462

Personally I don't see how this changes anything. Having Korean B-Teamers win NA isn't much different than NA residents winning it. They'll all get crushed by Code S players in the grand finals anyway.

If prompts Jaedong to go back to Kespa, I'm all for it.

gasmeter

United Kingdom251 Posts

September 05 2014 05:04 GMT

#463

On September 05 2014 09:58 Fionn wrote:
The year is 2018.

Polt is a 52-time WCS America champion.

HAHA! Not too far from the truth actually. I can imagine the likes of Jaedong, NesTea, LiquidHero etc. would rather not relocate to America.

Wingblade

United States1806 Posts

September 05 2014 05:05 GMT

#464

I'm not of the opinion that the region lock in itself is bad, but its too late. SC2 has already become global almost completely, the foreigners are starting to reap some of the benefits of playing vs Koreans, and a ton of Koreans have already made the move. Now you have a very hairy situation where the Koreans who are or can become qualified residents are going to more or less run over the other regions(aka Polt, and some in Europe), and everyone else is kicked out and sent back to a region that has been playing against more consistently difficult competition for 2 to 3 years.

Next year, a large number of Koreans in a non-Korea region this year will succeed in WCS not based upon their actual skill, but based upon who got to stay in AM and EU and who had to go back to Korea. Imagine 2 Koreans of equal skill next year. One of them can stay in AM/EU, and the other is stuck going back to Korea.

The player still in AM/EU will probably cruise through the region winning and placing highly, and still going to foreign tournaments regularly, and will probably cruise into Blizzcon in the upper half of the points bracket. The other will be in Korea fighting day in and day out just to make Code S, get knocked out in the ro32, and attend no foreign tournaments and wind up somewhere below the top 50, all because they couldn't stay behind.

Don't do this Blizzard. Not now.

blacksheepwall

China1530 Posts

September 05 2014 05:06 GMT

#465

On September 05 2014 14:02 Cinek357 wrote:
Finally! Koreans dominated WCS AM and EU too hard which hurt the viewership. WCS 2012 Europe finals was one of the most interesting tournaments ever and I'm glad we are going back in this direction.

However, Blizzard acts like a headless chicken. Going from full region lock to no boundaries at all and then to soft region lock and now we are back with full region lock again. What's for 2016? Full open WCS again?

The viewership has been great this season, I have no idea what you're talking about. Also, I've loved seeing the battles between the smaller-name Koreans and the foreign players, it's added a lot of legitimacy and excitement to the events, in my opinion. I just can't help but feel for Axiom and other Koreans playing in the US region.

But we can at least agree that the inconsistency is somewhat maddening.

Wingblade

United States1806 Posts

September 05 2014 05:06 GMT

#466

Viewership has been doing better recently. The foreigners were improving. Now its all being torn down and the Koreans who have to go back are thrown under the bus.

blacksheepwall

China1530 Posts

September 05 2014 05:07 GMT

#467

On September 05 2014 14:06 Wingblade wrote:

Show nested quote +

Viewership has been doing better recently. The foreigners were improving. Now its all being torn down and the Koreans who have to go back are thrown under the bus.

This guy gets it. Couldn't agree more.

Eire_91

Ireland82 Posts

September 05 2014 05:20 GMT

#468

lol region lock, who will even watch WCS AM now :/

gruff

Sweden2276 Posts

September 05 2014 05:25 GMT

#469

Sooo, I'll likely just watch Code S now. Will be interesting to see how the overall viewership across WCS will end up after this change. Might strengthen the scene in the long run but will the viewers stay for that to happen?

tili

United States1332 Posts

September 05 2014 05:25 GMT

#470

On September 05 2014 10:11 stuchiu wrote:

Show nested quote +

That would require me to make twitter. And then I'd be forced to mock literally everyone in sc2 and who would want that?

Don't you do that regardless?

Trasko

Sweden983 Posts

September 05 2014 05:26 GMT

#471

Ooo yeah this is good. I like it. Yet I see how it's potentially dangerous for the scene too. But seriously. This should be incentive enough for top Korean players to go back and participate in Proleague/GSL. Maybe another individual league or more seasons of GSL in Korea would provide beneficial.

Yello

Germany7411 Posts

September 05 2014 05:28 GMT

#472

so we will see a lot of Koreans retiring. Korea doesn't have enough teams, money and tournaments even now when a lot of Koreans are playing in EU and NA.

Nirel

Israel1526 Posts

September 05 2014 05:29 GMT

#473

On September 05 2014 13:20 Dodgin wrote:

Show nested quote +

Taeja retiring will free up more money for local NA heroes on Team Liquid. It's all for the greater good.

Blasphemy! Taeja not playing is never good!

ejozl

Denmark3546 Posts

September 05 2014 05:33 GMT

#474

Hmm I'd much prefer a strictly offline style, just like the GSL.

imrusty269

United States1404 Posts

September 05 2014 05:35 GMT

#475

This is a good change because it means more money to POLT!

TommyP

United States6231 Posts

September 05 2014 05:40 GMT

#476

Region lock...good!!
reset...bad

nkr

Sweden5451 Posts

September 05 2014 05:49 GMT

#477

WCS EU will still have quite a few koreans. Most of them already have visas, no?

Pucca

Taiwan1280 Posts

September 05 2014 05:52 GMT

#478

Damn, without internet for four days after moving to Taiwan and this big news drops. I look forward to the new season. Polt would probably be in WCS America because he is on a student Visa right?

Or are we talking about they will need have to have a green card to play in WCS?

althaz

Australia1001 Posts

September 05 2014 05:53 GMT

#479

I'm torn on how I feel about full region lock. If it means more Korean players moving back to Korea to play, then I'm all for that (because of timezones/interest/quality of play, I mostly watch Korean-based Starcraft). GSL is still by far the best tournament, but it's a little easier and less star-studded than it was. On the other hand though, some players who I quite like but aren't the best I might no longer get to see at all (because they aren't good enough to stay in Code S).

klipik12

United States241 Posts

September 05 2014 06:00 GMT

#480

On September 05 2014 14:29 Nirel wrote:

Show nested quote +

Blasphemy! Taeja not playing is never good!

I would rather Taeja lose in an epic game 7 of the Blizzcon finals vs. Flash, and then retire, than having him be relegated to "that guy who was good two years ago" like Nestea or Mvp.

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I think it's about time for the reincarnation of KeSPA 8th team (9th if we still count IM), what with all these disbanding teams and teams cutting players all over the place.

...and awww, they didn't do a SEA WCS and South America WCS like I wanted them to.