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Pros React: WCS 2015 and Region Lock - Page 3

Forum Index > SC2 General
285 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 5 13 14 15 Next All
NOTICE: Blizzard has not officially announced any information on visa criteria, and some players are operating under unconfirmed assumptions.
geokilla
Profile Joined May 2011
Canada8240 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:24:38
September 09 2014 21:23 GMT
#41
Taeja and Polt retiring will be very sad... Can't Taeja delay his military service? Or is he doing it for his wrists?

On September 10 2014 05:51 Waxangel wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 05:48 GranC wrote:
VortiX doesn´t play for mousesports anymore :D


I've been playing only hearthstone lately, give me a break

Passionstone.
Squat
Profile Joined September 2013
Sweden7978 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:26:48
September 09 2014 21:24 GMT
#42
On September 10 2014 06:16 Boucot wrote:
I was hoping that TaeJa would reconsider his retirement thing, I'm disappointed. I mean, he's only 19 years old. And we'll lose Polt and Bomber next year too because of the military, that's sad.

His wrists will never recover as long as he plays as much as he has to, in order to be relevant at the pro level. It could easily become chronic. Retirement is the only sensible option at this point. I said in late 2013 that Taeja might have a year left in him, I feel pretty confident about that prediction still.
"Digital. They have digital. What is digital?" - Donald J Trump
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7031 Posts
September 09 2014 21:27 GMT
#43
On September 10 2014 06:17 brickrd wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:09 Grumbels wrote:
I don't believe Catz when he says that the difference between Koreans and foreigners is small. Haven't we gone over this argument often enough? The foreign scene largely consists of people that play part-time. Every single Korean pro is favored against every single foreigner with like five exceptions.

thats exactly what hes saying tho? you cant go into progaming as easily as a NA starcraft player compared to KR, its just a different world and a different culture

i see people mocking NA pros as being lazy or stupid or deserving scorn because they dont want to commit to 16hr/day practice and learning to speak korean. i dont think its a bad thing that WCS AM/EU could potentially become more inviting for people who want to compete among the best in their regions but don't want to have to tank their social and academic lives to do so. as long as blizzard makes appropriate changes with regard to WCS points and prizemoney i think its good for fans

That's fine, but it's known as college sports, not professional sports.
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
BakedButters
Profile Joined November 2011
United States748 Posts
September 09 2014 21:32 GMT
#44
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.
Snute <3 Bomber <3 Parting <3 Life <3
kaykoose
Profile Joined February 2014
United States2302 Posts
September 09 2014 21:32 GMT
#45
Jeez. No Taeja and Polt in '15 I guess....
Die4Ever
Profile Joined August 2010
United States17676 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:36:31
September 09 2014 21:35 GMT
#46
On September 10 2014 06:32 BakedButters wrote:
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.

I think if shown a random game with names hidden yea it'd be so hard to tell (could just be Flash on a bad day or Neeb on a good day?), but overall across the span of many games (like a whole WCS AM season vs a whole GSL season) the difference would be very noticeable.
"Expert" mods4ever.com
stuchiu
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Fiddler's Green42661 Posts
September 09 2014 21:37 GMT
#47
On September 10 2014 05:23 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Show nested quote +
Taeja

Don't you think that the North American scene needs to grow in order for the long term health of SC2?

There aren't even many NA pros to save.


Ouch


Taeja giving 0 fucks. My god if he was like this all the time he'd be idra.
Moderator
AWalker9
Profile Blog Joined August 2013
United Kingdom7229 Posts
September 09 2014 21:38 GMT
#48
On September 10 2014 06:37 stuchiu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 05:23 FrostedMiniWheats wrote:
Taeja

Don't you think that the North American scene needs to grow in order for the long term health of SC2?

There aren't even many NA pros to save.


Ouch


Taeja giving 0 fucks. My god if he was like this all the time he'd be idra.


Taeja should go full BM for his last few months in Starcraft it'd be glorious
soOjwa has returned to smite all that stand in his way
Grumbels
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
Netherlands7031 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 22:03:17
September 09 2014 21:39 GMT
#49
On September 10 2014 06:35 Die4Ever wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:32 BakedButters wrote:
I don't think you guys really can tell who's playing if you yourself are observing the replay in the SC2 game client. It's the casters, especially Tastosis, who are so good at hyping up the hardest tournament on earth (which it is), and so they always praise the GSL players and their plays. If someone were to give you a random game from the previous WCS randomly from AM, EU, KR region, I doubt you will be able to tell what region it's from.

I think if shown a random game with names hidden yea it'd be so hard to tell (could just be Flash on a bad day or Neeb on a good day?), but overall across the span of many games (like a whole WCS AM season vs a whole GSL season) the difference would be very noticeable.

Or MC/Polt/Violet/First/Yoda/Stardust/Jjakji/Bomber/Oz/Alicia/San etc. With all the Koreans there is no way to tell, but I dare anyone to watch the Kas vs Vortix games from WCS EU Ro32 and tell me it can be mistaken for tip top Korean play.

Also, WCS EU having subpar play(ers) is why I'm not interested in it despite it having better time zones for me than GSL, which I do catch whenever I can. Or rather, it's not just that the players aren't as good, it's that the games are often barely relevant to anything because they're played by people that don't take progaming seriously. I don't mind watching TLO or Snute (well, outside of swarm hosts) play because they practice a lot, but there are enough pros in even the WCS EU premier league that just coast and practice only enough to stay in premier.
Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views--amen, so be it.
Hider
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Denmark9384 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:45:05
September 09 2014 21:40 GMT
#50
On September 10 2014 06:01 Nebuchad wrote:
Catz: "I call bullcrap on people whose argument is "I want to see the best game of SC2 possible and I can tell the difference between top foreign play and Korean play" because I'm almost certain they can't."

This is a dishonest way to state this, because the top foreigner players are already getting screen time in the current system. The people we will get to see more as a result of the change is people who are a level below that, and yeah I can certainly see the difference between those people and average koreans (or even top foreigners).


Catz has really no idea what he is talking about. On top of what you already mentioned, it's not even the point that people can't tell the difference. But rather what people wanna see is the players whom they perceive to be the best player. For instance, I am interested in watching boxing matches between the two best players in the world, but I could not care less about the two best players in Austria (or w/e random country) battle it out even if I cannot tell the difference (because I don't understand boxing).

The exact same concept applies here, and I think eveyrone is completely missing the implications for what would occur if all koreans went back to Korea: The effect is more people like Livezerg, Miniraiser, Hanfy, Slivko, Gunfungbda, Hope, Blysk and Bails (those are the foreigners that according to Aligulac could replace the Koreans)
Viewer numbers are going to drop significant in the group stages if games with those players replace JJaki, MMA, Polt, Violet, Taeja and San.

Overall, EU can handle this better than NA (viewership wise) because it has a higher level of players, but NA viewer numbers will take a significant hit backwards if fewer Koreans stay in the region.

Rifkin on Remax mentioned that "who's the best European" had better viewership number than "thebigone", however that's pretty obvious. The bigone consisted of 90% of koreans that we already saw in NA/EU + 1-2 "medicore" Kespa players/Supernova.

That's not comparable at all to what happens in WCS EU/WCS NA, where koreans are still in the minority. If these visa requirements came as a result of 25+/32 players in the region being Koreans it would be understandable, however, that's not the case here. Rather I believe we have an approprirate mix of Koreans agaisnt the best foreigners which makes it pretty interesting to watch and follow.
brickrd
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States4894 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-09-09 21:51:40
September 09 2014 21:43 GMT
#51
On September 10 2014 06:27 Grumbels wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 10 2014 06:17 brickrd wrote:
On September 10 2014 06:09 Grumbels wrote:
I don't believe Catz when he says that the difference between Koreans and foreigners is small. Haven't we gone over this argument often enough? The foreign scene largely consists of people that play part-time. Every single Korean pro is favored against every single foreigner with like five exceptions.

thats exactly what hes saying tho? you cant go into progaming as easily as a NA starcraft player compared to KR, its just a different world and a different culture

i see people mocking NA pros as being lazy or stupid or deserving scorn because they dont want to commit to 16hr/day practice and learning to speak korean. i dont think its a bad thing that WCS AM/EU could potentially become more inviting for people who want to compete among the best in their regions but don't want to have to tank their social and academic lives to do so. as long as blizzard makes appropriate changes with regard to WCS points and prizemoney i think its good for fans

That's fine, but it's known as college sports, not professional sports.

? the more appropriate analogue would be minor league sports, which are professional... if youre on a team and making money for it youre pro by definition o_O (edit: well i guess the definition is if its your primary source of income and you live off it, otherwise youre "semipro"? but thats semantics) dunno bout where youre from but in the usa and canada people go to see alternate league/minor league sports all the time as a cheaper and more relaxed alternative

are you going to tell me the barber down the street isnt a professional because hes not styling celebrities hair for $500 a pop?
TL+ Member
Heyoka
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
Katowice25012 Posts
September 09 2014 21:45 GMT
#52
I agree with Scarlett's assessment.
@RealHeyoka | ESL / DreamHack StarCraft Lead
TheDougler
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada8304 Posts
September 09 2014 21:47 GMT
#53
That is so fucking "Taeja" of him to have an epic interview response for the first time ever just months before retiring. (Before Innovation Taeja was the guy people bugged about boring interviews.") Good for him tho, and thanks TL for the content.
I root for Euro Zergs, NA Protoss* and Korean Terrans. (Any North American who has beat a Korean Pro as Protoss counts as NA Toss)
SFDuality
Profile Joined December 2012
United States1318 Posts
September 09 2014 21:52 GMT
#54
Taeja laying down the smack. What a time for him to retire, too. Fans want to see him in GSL, Code S players want to play him in GSL, Blizzard implements a region lock that basically forces him to play in GSL, and he fucking retires.

Love those miscellaneous answers.
Circumstance
Profile Blog Joined March 2014
United States11403 Posts
September 09 2014 22:01 GMT
#55
On September 10 2014 06:45 Heyoka wrote:
I agree with Scarlett's assessment.


While it was logical, I still think Harstem's contribution was important to push the dialogue forward.
The world is better when every background has a chance.
Ace Frehley
Profile Joined December 2012
2030 Posts
September 09 2014 22:02 GMT
#56
Would like to hear the opinions of the koreans who are mid-tier even in wcs am (the top ones could compete in gsl, I guess)
They must be massively pissed
...
Zealously
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
East Gorteau22261 Posts
September 09 2014 22:04 GMT
#57
On September 10 2014 05:50 sharkie wrote:
pretty much no pro cried about the "horrible" region lock ^^


This might be because very few of the players interviewed are going to be hurt by this change. Do you think Kane, TLO or Bunny will be upset? Do you think soO will care about four more players he can stomp all over in GSL? Of course not.
AdministratorBreak the chains
Dodgin
Profile Blog Joined July 2011
Canada39254 Posts
September 09 2014 22:07 GMT
#58
Taeja retirement confirmed D:

funny that soO's opinion as the best GSL player this year is that GSL isn't that much harder than WCS AM or EU, well maybe he's just saying that for the fans D:
tshi
Profile Joined September 2012
United States2495 Posts
September 09 2014 22:08 GMT
#59
What does this mean for Avilo?
scrub - inexperienced player with relatively little skill and excessive arrogance
Zealously
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
East Gorteau22261 Posts
September 09 2014 22:09 GMT
#60
On September 10 2014 07:08 tshi wrote:
What does this mean for Avilo?


He might make Challenger next year
AdministratorBreak the chains
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