• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 02:22
CEST 08:22
KST 15:22
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins HomeStory Cup 2915Serral wins Maestros of the Game 243ByuL, and the Limitations of Standard Play3Team Liquid Map Contest #22: Results and Winners7Code S Season 2 (2026): RO4 and Finals Preview12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out, overreactions imminent?0RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-2212Weekly Cups (July 27-Aug 2): SHIN's big week0SC4ALL II: Brood War - $2500 - Dec 5-69SC4ALL II announced - $10,000 prize pool, Dec 5-64
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Aug 3-9): Protoss get shut out, overreactions imminent? SC4ALL: II Talent Announcement! Protoss AoE skill expression August World Ranking: Clem climbs to #2 Balance hotfix patch 5.0.16b (July 16)
Tourneys
RSL goes to London! 2026 Offline Finals Nov 21-22 RSL Revival: Season 6 - Qualifiers and Main Event Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament PIG STY FESTIVAL 8.0! (13 - 23 August) Tasteless Time Warp: SC Evo Showmatch (May 25)
Strategy
[G] Having the right mentality to improve
Custom Maps
Nexus Wars 2021 GUIDE [M] (2) Industrial Park
External Content
Mutation # 538 Media Blackout The PondCast: SC2 News & Results Mutation # 537 Hostile Territory Mutation # 536 Railroad Switch
Brood War
General
Are you ready for ASL 22? NEW HYPE VIDEO BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ ASL22 General Discussion How FlaSh Nearly Forfeited MSL Finals being late BW General Discussion
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues 2v2v2v2 Tournament KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3 Escore Tournament - Season 3
Strategy
Fighting Spirit mining rates Odyssey Mineral Stack Saturation Any training maps people recommend? Simple Questions, Simple Answers
Other Games
General Games
EVE Corporation General RTS Discussion Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Nintendo Switch Thread Diablo 2 thread
Dota 2
Looking for a Dota Mentor Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
[TL LoL EUW IHs] Teemo shall perish TSM pausing esports and CLG Dead
Heroes of the Storm
Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Power Rank TL Mafia Community Thread NeO.D_StephenKing vs This Guy From 1 Million Dance
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Iain M Banks Says He Has Cancer And Months To Live European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread The Games Industry And ATVI
Fan Clubs
MarineLorD Fan Club The ShoWTimE Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Movie Discussion! Anime Discussion Thread Series you have seen recently... [Req][Books] Good Fantasy/SciFi books
Sports
Football (Soccer) Thread NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread Simple Questions Simple Answers FPS when play League Of Legend on laptop
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Northern Ireland Global Starcraft
Blogs
Are High-Level Gamers more A…
TrAiDoS
Cathedral Of CS And NY pizza a…
FuDDx
Please support my new stand…
Peanutsc
Hello guys!
LIN1s
ASL S22 English Commentary…
namkraft
Poker (part 2)
Nebuchad
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 3694 users

Harstem interviewed at community summit: “I make more mone…

Forum Index > SC2 General
77 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1958 Posts
July 18 2016 07:03 GMT
#41
On July 18 2016 14:47 opisska wrote:
you guys so edgy. dont watch, that will show them! and post about it, so that the world knows how cool you are.


Only thing we can do to show our "appreciation".

But I really gotta say after reading that interview I feel kinda bad for disliking Harstem, he's really getting the point across on current WCS, kudos!
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
July 18 2016 08:38 GMT
#42
Props for being honest Harstem!

This WCS system is indeed bad and also very unfair for Korean players. It would be a lot better if we had actual international events where anyone who plays Starcraft is allowed to enter. That would be great! No barring out players just because they have a certain nationality, just because they're "too good".

For some reason a lot of people, including Blizzard, pretend that open, international events are exclusive somehow to protecting regional events. Fancy that?

Good interview though!
maru lover forever
StarStruck
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
25339 Posts
July 18 2016 10:53 GMT
#43
On July 18 2016 01:34 opisska wrote:
It's hard to argue with the man himself ... but I just disagree that he isn't at the peak of his skill. His play on HSC was absolutely insane at times, it really felt like watching peak Stephano again. This just doesn't happen very often for a foreigner. In general, I think the EU scene has somehow improved in this insanely stupid system we have now - I would never ever guess that could happen. I have missed a lot of foreign SC2 lately, but from what I have seen at HSC, at least Harstem, Nerchio and, Snute now really show big moments of brilliance.



He doesn't feel pushed and isn't going up against Koreans. Hence the notion.
HmmmCookies
Profile Joined March 2014
Canada34 Posts
July 18 2016 12:54 GMT
#44
that's what happens when you ban professionals from professional competitions
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-07-18 13:41:17
July 18 2016 13:36 GMT
#45
@the guy talking about peak European play

I don't know. I personally didn't even watch a single match from DH Valencia. I just don't really care that Neeb wins if he's doing it in sheltered waters away from where the big fish are.

Meanwhile, Maru is finally back in Code S where he belongs... after 7 months since the start of the year, where he was knocked out of GSL in a Bo5 which should have been the semi-final match, not a Code A "have-a-5-month-break-from-tournaments" match. We're down to 2 GSLs a year now thanks to Blizzard and their anti-Korean policies.

I would happy to trade Blizzcon for another GSL because that's where you have the best players, the best casters, the best production, just the overall best Starcraft.

Yet Korean players are forced to play in a very limited number of tournaments whereas foreigners keep the entire international scene to themselves. It's not even a policy where everyone has their own regional events to compete and shine in. It's a policy where we take the international scene and block out a large portion of competitive players because they've got a Korean passport. It's ridiculous. Blizzard, Dreamhack, ESL have all largely gone down in my esteem.
maru lover forever
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France13011 Posts
July 18 2016 13:40 GMT
#46
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.

WriterMaru
a_flayer
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Netherlands2826 Posts
July 18 2016 13:46 GMT
#47
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.
When you came along so righteous with a new national hate, so convincing is the ardor of war and of men, it's harder to breathe than to believe you're a friend. The wars at home, the wars abroad, all soaked in blood and lies and fraud.
Incognoto
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
France10239 Posts
July 18 2016 13:53 GMT
#48
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.


Honestly if you have such a negative outlook then why watch Starcraft at all?
maru lover forever
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France13011 Posts
July 18 2016 14:06 GMT
#49
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.
WriterMaru
rockdj911
Profile Joined July 2016
14 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-07-18 14:19:17
July 18 2016 14:18 GMT
#50
You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.

I don't think so, man. This top-8 Koreans are, like, GSL/SSL 2016 TOP1 winners and some more like STATS. I could bet my house Zest, Stats, Dark and like will advance with 100% probability from RO16 to RO8 if they face foreigners in RO16 and it will be at least BO3, not BO1. If foreigner has a chanse, it's only in BO1.
RKC
Profile Joined June 2012
2848 Posts
July 18 2016 15:04 GMT
#51
The fact that EU Zergs are dominating but Korean Zergs are struggling shows that the gameplay quality in both regions are very different. It just can't be a coincidence. It feels like watching two different leagues of ladder.

Flashy plays of brilliance? Doesn't mean a thing. When I turn on MLS, I see lots of fancy footwork and epic goals - more than European football. Does it make American-based footballers better? No. Their fancy plays would be easily shut down by the more technically sound and tactically astute Europeans. Better entertainment does not mean better quality of play.
gg no re thx
Khai
Profile Joined August 2010
Australia553 Posts
July 18 2016 15:17 GMT
#52
Very honest interview. I stopped following the NA and EU completely scene since the skill level is even worse than what it was before with a few Koreans, there's also less Korean vs foreigner hype stories so there's no real reason. Good to see at least they are helping the foreigners survive though.

Maybe it is best keeping the the Korean and foreigner scene separate, those who watch Koreans for their skill will continue to follow the Korean scene and those who support the foreigner scene will continue with theirs. I used to complain about Blizzard limiting competition, killing the Korean players' chances of competing in foreign tournaments but now I don't really care anymore. I guess my appetite for watching SC2 eventually fell to the level of the remaining good tournaments, Proleague, GSL and SSL and will probably stay that way. On the occasion I somehow tune in on a foreign tournament I am often disappointed by the quality of the play and the entertainment value isn't quite enough to pull me back.
SC2Towelie
Profile Joined July 2014
United States561 Posts
July 18 2016 15:57 GMT
#53
On July 18 2016 01:29 lost_patrol wrote:
Show nested quote +
I need to you to say that exact quote. What did you say yesterday?


Is this how journalism works? Tell the interviewee what to say, so you get your juicy headline?


But if it's something that he already said, then what's the problem?...
Don't forget to bring a towel! (Towelie.635)
gab12
Profile Joined June 2016
Poland147 Posts
July 18 2016 17:19 GMT
#54
Nice work , hope more interviews will come soon Harstem really said really interesting things about the wcs system ...
Charoisaur
Profile Joined August 2014
Germany16086 Posts
July 18 2016 17:31 GMT
#55
On July 18 2016 23:06 Poopi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that foreigners will lose every map in 5-10 minutes. Maybe even less.
Many of the coolest moments in sc2 happen due to worker harassment
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1958 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-07-18 17:53:35
July 18 2016 17:51 GMT
#56
On July 19 2016 02:31 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 23:06 Poopi wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that foreigners will lose every map in 5-10 minutes. Maybe even less.


I don't think it will be that desastrous, but honestly how can people believe that foreigners are gonna be on equal footing against Koreans at Blizzcon?
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
Poopi
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France13011 Posts
July 18 2016 17:52 GMT
#57
On July 19 2016 02:31 Charoisaur wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 23:06 Poopi wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that foreigners will lose every map in 5-10 minutes. Maybe even less.

Having 8/8 favorites advancing in any sports is unlikely, plus I wouldn't call them all favorites since Nerchio is probably far ahead of most korean zergs if they can't win much in ZvT.

Also nice interview, having more money for foreigners is a good thing, plus skill relative to other competitors is still hard to gauge now that we don't see kor vs for often, it's probably closer than expected bar the top players of each race.
WriterMaru
Creager
Profile Joined February 2011
Germany1958 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-07-18 17:58:07
July 18 2016 17:56 GMT
#58
On July 19 2016 02:52 Poopi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 19 2016 02:31 Charoisaur wrote:
On July 18 2016 23:06 Poopi wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that foreigners will lose every map in 5-10 minutes. Maybe even less.

Having 8/8 favorites advancing in any sports is unlikely, plus I wouldn't call them all favorites since Nerchio is probably far ahead of most korean zergs if they can't win much in ZvT.

Also nice interview, having more money for foreigners is a good thing, plus skill relative to other competitors is still hard to gauge now that we don't see kor vs for often, it's probably closer than expected bar the top players of each race.


But you DO realize that practice routines are VASTLY different for foreigners, right? Nerchio wins ZvT not because he's so good but because foreign Terrans are apparently so bad not good enough so you rarely see them at WCS events.
... einmal mit Profis spielen!
JackONeill
Profile Joined September 2013
861 Posts
Last Edited: 2016-07-18 20:57:15
July 18 2016 20:53 GMT
#59
Am I the only one to feel like this :

Yeah, the issue isn’t that they don’t know what the problems are, it’s more about “will they have the manpower and money to solve them?”


is the most interesting piece of information in this interview? I mean it's completely obvious that blizzard has the money to solve and patch starcraft issues, so if they understand them and have the money, why aren't they doing it ?
It shows how blizz is choosing not to patch and solve SC2's issues because of commerical/investment choices, while managing the community's expectation with balance band-aidy patches, community feedback updates and community summits.
StarStruck
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
25339 Posts
July 19 2016 01:50 GMT
#60
On July 18 2016 23:06 Poopi wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 18 2016 22:46 a_flayer wrote:
On July 18 2016 22:40 Poopi wrote:
I dunno, watching 8 foreigners vs 8 koreans at Blizzcon will be way more hype than watching koreans play in a league that used to be great in the golden age but is now kinda meh.
There was so much more competition among koreans at the start that it felt way more epic than now where only 2-3 are good.


I mean, I don't want to jump ahead here, but I'm fairly sure you could argue that watching 7 foreigners get trashed by koreans and one foreigner giving the particularly jet-lagged and sick-from-lack-of-kimchi-korean a bit of a struggle to get his win isn't very hype at all.

You realize that this won't happen? The more likely thing is that two or three koreans will get upset. Maybe even more.


and this is all based on assumptions. like really.
Prev 1 2 3 4 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 3h 38m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
WinterStarcraft628
ProTech86
FoxeR 64
StarCraft: Brood War
Rain 3321
GuemChi 2065
Bale 38
Icarus 9
Dota 2
febbydoto2
League of Legends
JimRising 572
Counter-Strike
summit1g7699
m0e_tv700
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King216
Other Games
C9.Mang0332
NeuroSwarm120
amsayoshi31
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick600
[ Show 13 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• practicex 39
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• Migwel
StarCraft: Brood War
• iopq 15
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• lizZardDota2266
League of Legends
• Rush1300
• Stunt533
Upcoming Events
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3h 38m
PiG Sty Festival
5h 38m
PiGosaur Cup
17h 38m
Replay Cast
1d 2h
Kung Fu Cup
1d 4h
Replay Cast
1d 17h
The PondCast
2 days
Replay Cast
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
4 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
5 days
[ Show More ]
Afreeca Starleague
6 days
Rush vs Hm
Bisu vs Shuttle
WardiTV Weekly
6 days
The Patches Monday
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-08-10
CranK Gathers Season 4: BW vs SC2 Team League
Eternal Conflict S2 Finale

Ongoing

KCM Race Survival 2026 Season 3
K-JUNGMAN
Acropolis #5
RSL Revival: Season 6
Esports World Cup 2026: LCQ
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026
BLAST Bounty Summer Qual
Stake Ranked Episode 3
XSE Pro League 2026
IEM Cologne Major 2026
Stake Ranked Episode 2

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S3: W7
CSLAN 4
ASL Season 22
Escore Tournament S3: W8
Acropolis #5 - TRS
Blizzard Classic Cup 2026
Acropolis #5 - GSA
HSC XXX
SC4ALL II: StarCraft II
Kung Fu Cup 2026 Grand Finals
RSL Offline Finals
PiG Sty Festival 8.0
Big Dog Cup 2026 Div 1
META DYMY #4
PGL Masters Bucharest 2026
Thunderpick World Champ.
ESL Pro League Season 24
Stake Ranked Episode 4
Logitech G Connect 2026
SL StarSeries Fall 2026
FISSURE Playground #5
BLAST Open Fall 2026
Esports World Cup 2026
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2026 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.