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[Interview] iloveoov on coaching philosophy, the state of…
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trada
Germany347 Posts
thumbs up! | ||
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Keeemy
Finland7855 Posts
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Makro
France16890 Posts
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usopsama
6502 Posts
Q: From that perspective, the StarCraft 2 industry seems to be shrinking. A: I think there's a big problem with Blizzard's policy. After the announcement of their plans for 2016, a lot of veteran players – especially those who were competing overseas – announced their retirement. Blizzard's policy regarding StarCraft 2 esports changes too often, too radically, and too unfavorably toward Korean players. When WCS was first formed, Blizzard had no region restrictions. Korean players could compete in North America or Europe, with the idea being that if Korean players could show good games overseas, then the fans would be pleased, and Blizzard was okay with that. Because of that policy, the North America and European pro scene was crippled, and teams only focused on acquiring Korean players. Afterward, the policy eventually changed so Korean players needed citizenship, residency, visas, etc to compete, reducing their opportunities to compete. And going into 2016, the policy has changed so Korean players can't compete in international circuit tournaments. When Korean players compete abroad, they win almost all of of the time. From Blizzard's perspective, Korean players are bullfrogs destroying the ecosystem [bullfrogs are a major invasive species in Korea]. They're changing the environment in order to catch the bullfrogs, but players end up retiring or leaving the scene. When Blizzard said it was okay for them to compete abroad, they left Korea, leaving teams to disband and shrink. Stopping them from competing in foreign tournaments now, three years later, is just forcing players to retire with no alternative. 100% this. | ||
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Clbull
United Kingdom1439 Posts
Simply telling the players the potential cost doesn't help. If they think "live and let die" then they could still cause problems. The best preventative measure is to give players a salary commensurate to their efforts, and for more companies to support teams or players. Counterpoint to that argument: sAviOr | ||
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MiniFotToss
China2430 Posts
When Korean players compete abroad, they win almost all of of the time. From Blizzard's perspective, Korean players are bullfrogs destroying the ecosystem [bullfrogs are a major invasive species in Korea]. They're changing the environment in order to catch the bullfrogs, but players end up retiring or leaving the scene. When Blizzard said it was okay for them to compete abroad, they left Korea, leaving teams to disband and shrink. Stopping them from competing in foreign tournaments now, three years later, is just forcing players to retire with no alternative. Q: Another sad reality. A: You have to wonder if Blizzard really has any desire to help StarCraft break through its current situation. If you look at their interviews, they say they make games with 'artistic spirit, the heart of a craftsman.' Right now, StarCraft 2 doesn't need any artisanal spirit. It needs Blizzard to act like a proud owner. All the people in the Korean StarCraft 2 esports industry have a spirit of ownership. When they hear other people say "StarCraft 2 is a dead game," they feel more hurt than Blizzard. I think iloveoov nailed it here | ||
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Phredxor
New Zealand15076 Posts
Good to see bw vs sc2 fan boys still going at it too. Will never change :p | ||
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zealotstim
United States455 Posts
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TwiggyWan
France334 Posts
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bjornkavist
Canada1235 Posts
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danl9rm
United States3111 Posts
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aRyuujin
United States5049 Posts
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Scarecrow
Korea (South)9172 Posts
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lichter
1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
You can't make progress as an esport focusing solely and primarily on Korea. Esports is now a global game. A revival in Korea is meaningless if the game lags in the rest of the world. It needs to keep growing both where the viewers are and where the talent is. | ||
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bduddy
United States1326 Posts
On January 02 2016 13:55 lichter wrote: But Blizzard doesn't have a plan to grow the game around the world. They have a plan to keep chugging along and just hope that fans fall from the sky. And if that's what they're going to do, I would prefer that their money and support goes to the most deserving players and tournaments.People who keep bringing up sc2 vs BW are stupid You can't make progress as an esport focusing solely and primarily on Korea. Esports is now a global game. A revival in Korea is meaningless if the game lags in the rest of the world. It needs to keep growing both where the viewers are and where the talent is. | ||
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negativedge
4279 Posts
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Inspectop
1 Post
Korea does not deserve its special treatment. Fixating on and dumping cash into a single country won't help SC2; particularly when those players also travel, take prize money from, and kill off the foreign scene. Of course they'll win, and of course they're better. It's because they have team houses, coaches, and all the other things that crossed over from BW that the foreign scene lacks. Perhaps if there had been region locking from the start the foreign scene could have developed; but having the Korean wrecking ball smashing your growth, killing off the fandom, and preventing players from putting in a serious effort - because they, as amateurs, can't compete with high school age Koreans who are afforded the opportunity to practice SC2 full time, and do have team-houses, and practice partners, and coaches, etc..- put a stop to that. And now you have this "best player deserves the money" circlejerk over Koreans. Might as well throw the money into a blackhole because SC2 has already failed in Korea and there certainly won't be returns on it of any sort, except, perhaps, for further damage to the global scene because of the match fixing. There was a chance for foreign starcraft when there was investment from entities unrelated to Blizzard, and viewers who didn't understand that there was a skill discrepancy between foreigners and Koreans but yeah... | ||
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pure.Wasted
Canada4701 Posts
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mrarthursimon
United States55 Posts
On January 02 2016 02:27 BisuDagger wrote: @XKCD, its a comment we aren't supposed to bite at. There is a history of certain sc2 figures down playing the BW scene. I understand where they are coming from. Its unfortunate more people can't be supportive of both the way I always have been. I support the Brood War scene in spirit, and love the StarCraft passion that they bring. But I can't bring myself to watch it or actively support it. I played Brood War, but wasn't aware of the Korean scene or esports in general until SC2. So the nostalgia factor for me isn't nearly as high. It's like your first Doctor Who experience being new Doctor and then going back to watch the older episodes. Yeah, there's good stuff there but the difference between SC2 and BW for me personally without any of the old Korean esports attachment are too vast. SC2 is just more fun for me to watch. Regardless I think that BW reviving itself isn't a bad thing. It is StarCraft and I'm sure there are plenty of people that have enough SC passion to watch both, even if it's not just a monopoly like Kespa would want. | ||
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29 fps
United States5725 Posts
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