• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 08:19
CET 14:19
KST 22:19
  • 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
RSL Revival - 2025 Season Finals Preview8RSL Season 3 - Playoffs Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups C & D Preview0RSL Season 3 - RO16 Groups A & B Preview2TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners12
Community News
Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns6[BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 103SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-1822Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises3Weekly Cups (Dec 15-21): Classic wins big, MaxPax & Clem take weeklies3
StarCraft 2
General
Weekly Cups (Dec 29-Jan 4): Protoss rolls, 2v2 returns SC2 All-Star Invitational: Jan 17-18 Weekly Cups (Dec 22-28): Classic & MaxPax win, Percival surprises Chinese SC2 server to reopen; live all-star event in Hangzhou Starcraft 2 Zerg Coach
Tourneys
WardiTV Winter Cup WardiTV Mondays SC2 AI Tournament 2026 OSC Season 13 World Championship uThermal 2v2 Circuit
Strategy
Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 507 Well Trained Mutation # 506 Warp Zone Mutation # 505 Rise From Ashes Mutation # 504 Retribution
Brood War
General
BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ BW General Discussion I would like to say something about StarCraft StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest Data analysis on 70 million replays
Tourneys
[BSL21] Grand Finals - Sunday 21:00 CET [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL21] Non-Korean Championship - Starts Jan 10 SLON Grand Finals – Season 2
Strategy
Game Theory for Starcraft Simple Questions, Simple Answers Current Meta [G] How to get started on ladder as a new Z player
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread General RTS Discussion Thread Awesome Games Done Quick 2026! Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games?
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Deck construction bug Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
Mafia Game Mode Feedback/Ideas Vanilla Mini Mafia Survivor II: The Amazon Sengoku Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Trading/Investing Thread The Big Programming Thread Canadian Politics Mega-thread
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List TL+ Announced
Blogs
How do archons sleep?
8882
Psychological Factors That D…
TrAiDoS
James Bond movies ranking - pa…
Topin
StarCraft improvement
iopq
GOAT of Goats list
BisuDagger
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1052 users

"Thank You Everyone!" David Kim leaves StarCraft 2 - Page 10

Forum Index > SC2 General
290 CommentsPost a Reply
Prev 1 8 9 10 11 12 15 Next All
Be civil.
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada17178 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 14:13:19
April 08 2017 14:08 GMT
#181
Great work Mr. Kim. Your talent and dedication will be missed.
On April 08 2017 21:17 gtbex wrote:
The Jay Wilson of Starcraft 2. I wonder what he will do from now.

Wilson was lead game designer/director. Kim was never lead game designer.

This thread looks like a 1970s hockey game. players want to punch someone in the face so badly they think its worth the 5 minute penalty.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
HalcyonRain
Profile Joined March 2017
United States124 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 14:30:05
April 08 2017 14:27 GMT
#182
I always thought that SC2 had large game design problems. One of which was warpgate negating the defenders advantage, meaning the units that could come out of gateways had to be weaker. This led to reliance on hero units, like the colossus, to win games; promoting a turtle-like style of play. There are many other problems I see but they're mostly problems that would have to be fixed by radical overhauls. Instead of overhauling the game Blizzard gave David Kim (and Co.) a stack of band-aids and said "fix our patient that's bleeding out due to massive lacerations".

Realistically, there was only so much David Kim could do to patch up a patient in critical condition, with band-aids. I think he, and the rest of the balance team, did a fine job when you consider their situation. Unfortunately, I found that I was not a member of SC2's target audience. I just didn't find the gameplay that compelling or engaging (when compared to BW). I still checked in every now and then, but never found SC2 gameplay as compelling as BW.

Regardless of this I wish David Kim the best in his future projects. Being the head of the balance team was (is) a rough job. I would liken it to the job of U.S. Federal Reserve's Janet Yellen. Much like Yellen he had the job of soothing the masses; and no matter what he did, someone was going to be pissed.

So good luck David Kim. I hope your next position in Blizzard will be a little less stressful.


Lastly, I'd just like to point out that my view of SC2 is just my opinion. I came from BW and would have liked SC2 to be more like BW; so my opinion is very biased and should be taken with a large amount of salt.
Clbull
Profile Blog Joined February 2011
United Kingdom1439 Posts
April 08 2017 15:11 GMT
#183
I don't agree with many of the decisions David Kim made as balance designer, like the Queen attack range buff which single-handedly ushered in months of Zerg dominance during late WoL, or even how the units of later expansions were designed around a harassment and aggression heavy meta. The amount of pros that ditched SC2 for other games should be considered a testament to this guy's legacy.

Nevertheless, I wish him luck in his future endeavours, and really hope his replacement will actually revolutionise StarCraft II and make it a fun and worthwhile game again.
realityyy
Profile Joined January 2011
Germany50 Posts
April 08 2017 16:05 GMT
#184
Well, his work in Starcraft 2 is finished as it seems
jpg06051992
Profile Joined July 2015
United States580 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 17:33:16
April 08 2017 17:32 GMT
#185
On April 09 2017 00:11 Clbull wrote:
I don't agree with many of the decisions David Kim made as balance designer, like the Queen attack range buff which single-handedly ushered in months of Zerg dominance during late WoL, or even how the units of later expansions were designed around a harassment and aggression heavy meta. The amount of pros that ditched SC2 for other games should be considered a testament to this guy's legacy.

Nevertheless, I wish him luck in his future endeavours, and really hope his replacement will actually revolutionise StarCraft II and make it a fun and worthwhile game again.


At least someone said it, agree with this completely. Or when Brood/Infestor was not patched out because, "the players will figure it out" but Blue Flame Hellions and Ghosts were castrated the instant they looked imbalanced in a tournament setting while Korea Zergs collected free paychecks. Not trying to attack the guy personally and all of the heartfelt good-byes feel nice but the bottom line is that David Kim's approach to balance was flawed, inconsistent, and lacked a vision that the community and fans could get behind.

Only at the very end did Kim start implementing more community based changes, and low and behold, they were by FAR the best changes he made to the game, (buffing tanks and Hydras for example) but it was too late. Hopefully his replacement has a real vision for this game and understands SC2 on a more fundamental level, because saying Kim was out of touch is just being PC.
"SO MANY BANELINGS!"
BronzeKnee
Profile Joined March 2011
United States5219 Posts
April 08 2017 17:38 GMT
#186
On April 08 2017 04:12 Charoisaur wrote:
... and now David Kim leaving sc2. This is a tough time to be an sc2 fan


I have never been more hopeful for SC2 than now.
Drakorb
Profile Joined March 2013
United Kingdom5 Posts
April 08 2017 17:49 GMT
#187
I haven't got so much of an informed opinion on his balance decisions, but I definitely always appreciated the fact that he really was trying to do the best he could for the good of the game. Here's hoping the less constructive members of the community didn't get him down - although it certainly seems from his statement that they didn't!
JimmyJRaynor
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada17178 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 18:06:09
April 08 2017 18:05 GMT
#188
On April 09 2017 02:38 BronzeKnee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2017 04:12 Charoisaur wrote:
... and now David Kim leaving sc2. This is a tough time to be an sc2 fan

I have never been more hopeful for SC2 than now.

this is a great position to have if you want to set yourself up for feeling indignant, angry, and offended in 6 months.

if anything major occurs it'll be Blizzard decreasing the resources devoted to competitive multiplayer. in fact, an incoming decrease in resources may have catalyzed mr. kim's exit from the team. ATVI laid off 5% of its staff recently. The pressure is prolly on for Morhaime to cut budgets where prudent.
Ray Kassar To David Crane : "you're no more important to Atari than the factory workers assembling the cartridges"
jpg06051992
Profile Joined July 2015
United States580 Posts
April 08 2017 18:06 GMT
#189
On April 09 2017 02:38 BronzeKnee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2017 04:12 Charoisaur wrote:
... and now David Kim leaving sc2. This is a tough time to be an sc2 fan


I have never been more hopeful for SC2 than now.


+1 lol what the hell are these people even talking about
"SO MANY BANELINGS!"
QuinnTheEskimo
Profile Blog Joined March 2012
Germany55 Posts
April 08 2017 18:34 GMT
#190
I always thought DK was only the guy to take the blame but the actual work was done by other people. So he just took it when we said something was his fault, when in reality he had nothing to do with it.
Well, we'll see what's next. Measured in viewing figures and active players, the game is certainly not at a high and the trend is not encouraging either.

You've got to go apeshit. -- Day[9]
SHODAN
Profile Joined November 2011
United Kingdom1144 Posts
April 08 2017 19:52 GMT
#191
hell, it's about time
[PkF] Wire
Profile Joined March 2013
France24238 Posts
April 08 2017 19:54 GMT
#192
He certainly took the blame for mistakes a whole team was behind but I won't miss him at all. Most decisions and additions since HotS' launch were just abysmal.
Ling22222222222
Profile Joined April 2017
1 Post
April 08 2017 20:30 GMT
#193
I definitely do not think that Kim leaving is a) a bad thing or b) even early enough. As head of his department David Kim was responsible for its work and any result thereof. As do many others, I think many bad decisions have been made and the disaffection and disenchantment of so many players with Sc2, because of balance, meta and unit design in Lotv are in no small part due to David Kims work/ decision making. It was his job, he did get paid for it and, at least in my opinion, he had and has to face the criticism for things the customers disagree with.

No, I am not sad to see him go. Had the news struck a year ago or maybe even in November 2015. Maybe we would still have a larger number of players enjoying Sc2.
StarscreamG1
Profile Joined February 2011
Portugal1653 Posts
April 08 2017 20:32 GMT
#194
I hope SC2 can now drive into a Starbow kind of game (dream, dream, dream...)
SHODAN
Profile Joined November 2011
United Kingdom1144 Posts
April 08 2017 20:46 GMT
#195
DK is a nice guy. he's a skilled communicator and passionate about game design. I have nothing against him personally. balancing sc2 while also making it fun to play is an extremely difficult job - and in the end, DK was not able to do this. I'm very interested to know who else was considered for the job. maybe there was someone on the short-list who would have done a better job... who knows. I'm sure DK's skills will be extremely welcome in other departments of Blizzard. I just hope it's not Warcraft IV balance team.
Riquiz
Profile Joined June 2011
Netherlands402 Posts
April 08 2017 20:55 GMT
#196
I feel it is kinda sad to see so many comments that talk about him ruining sc2,
imo the game is in a very nice place right now.
It's a thankless job and I think he did a good job.
Thanks for everything mr. Kim
Caster man does casting on yt/RiquizCasts
Deleted User 183001
Profile Joined May 2011
2939 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 22:02:42
April 08 2017 21:59 GMT
#197
Dayvie was a guy who meant well, worked hard, but at the end of the day just wasn't competent enough. Still, one has to appreciate the years and effort he and Blizzard put into balancing SC2. For comparison, the last balance patch for Brood War was in 2001. There was a total of 5(?) balance patches. And let's not kids ourselves, BW was not balanced at all, saying this as a BW Terran player. Community maps added a great degree of balance but still wasn't absolutely balanced.

It's a bit saddening that despite DK's great efforts, the game still had glaring issues, which along with other matters, disillusioned many pros who went to other esports are retired altogether. SC2 had a great esports run and still has a decent esports scene. It's not like the old days, but there's a few things I'd like to point out:

1) SC2 was a lot bigger in the foreigner (ie non-Korean) scene than BW in popularity, tournaments, etc.

2) RTS is a very difficult genre. This isn't the days of RTS and skill FPSs. Pro gamers have shifted their focus to streamlined FPSs and MOBAs, games which are take little effort to play and get into and so attract higher numbers of players, viewer, and visibility. RTS as a whole has been falling off. Even if SC2 surpassed BW as a game, I'd still expect it to have fallen off in the face of esports competition.

3) SC2 didn't become one of South Korea's biggest professional sports like BW did. There's a number of factors here, but a big reason why BW was alive and well even by the time of SC2's release was the serious and large-scale professional scene in Korea.

Whoever DK's replacement with is hopefully better suited for the position, but at this point it's hard to say how significant it will be considering it's not the heyday of SC2 when this seriously mattered.
benkei
Profile Joined June 2011
Spain51 Posts
April 08 2017 22:07 GMT
#198
Finally some good news for sc2

User was warned for this post
Bub
Profile Blog Joined June 2006
United States3518 Posts
April 08 2017 22:11 GMT
#199
Thanks for everything Kim.
XK ßubonic
Aron Times
Profile Blog Joined March 2011
United States312 Posts
Last Edited: 2017-04-08 22:37:47
April 08 2017 22:37 GMT
#200
On April 09 2017 02:38 BronzeKnee wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2017 04:12 Charoisaur wrote:
... and now David Kim leaving sc2. This is a tough time to be an sc2 fan


I have never been more hopeful for SC2 than now.

Going to reinstall SC2. There is hope for the future.

Mr. Kim, don't forget the lessons your learned during your time with SC2. Gameplay >>> all. Don't sacrifice gameplay for the sake of esports or viewership, because good gameplay will lead to esports and viewership but not vice-versa.

*tips plunger*
"The drums! The drums! The drums! The neverending drumbeat! Open me, you human fool! Open the light and summon me and receive my majesty!"
Prev 1 8 9 10 11 12 15 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 41m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Lowko289
RotterdaM 223
SC2Nice 50
MindelVK 28
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 38370
Rain 3130
Sea 2286
Shuttle 1700
actioN 1320
ggaemo 683
ZerO 628
Stork 556
Light 451
Soma 446
[ Show more ]
firebathero 399
EffOrt 393
Snow 389
Hyuk 372
hero 224
Last 220
Mini 199
Leta 155
Hyun 118
ToSsGirL 109
Aegong 109
Barracks 107
Sharp 98
Pusan 85
JYJ 52
910 51
Sea.KH 47
Movie 43
ajuk12(nOOB) 38
sorry 38
Nal_rA 31
soO 24
Mong 15
Noble 14
zelot 14
HiyA 13
Terrorterran 10
scan(afreeca) 9
Icarus 5
Sacsri 5
Dota 2
XcaliburYe641
Counter-Strike
olofmeister2387
x6flipin869
allub232
Other Games
Gorgc2189
singsing2057
B2W.Neo1893
Pyrionflax648
Fuzer 303
JimRising 274
Sick180
hiko143
ZerO(Twitch)15
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick29343
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 11 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Jankos5153
Upcoming Events
OSC
41m
Classic vs Krystianer
Solar vs TBD
ShoWTimE vs TBD
MaxPax vs TBD
MaNa vs MilkiCow
GgMaChine vs Mixu
SOOP
1d 14h
SHIN vs GuMiho
Cure vs Creator
The PondCast
1d 20h
Sparkling Tuna Cup
2 days
IPSL
3 days
DragOn vs Sziky
Replay Cast
3 days
Wardi Open
3 days
Monday Night Weeklies
4 days
The PondCast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

Proleague 2026-01-06
WardiTV 2025
META Madness #9

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
OSC Championship Season 13
eXTREMESLAND 2025
SL Budapest Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025

Upcoming

Escore Tournament S1: W3
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
CSL 2025 WINTER (S19)
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
Bellum Gens Elite Stara Zagora 2026
HSC XXVIII
Rongyi Cup S3
Thunderfire SC2 All-star 2025
Big Gabe Cup #3
Nations Cup 2026
Underdog Cup #3
NA Kuram Kup
BLAST Open Spring 2026
ESL Pro League Season 23
ESL Pro League Season 23
PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026
IEM Kraków 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026
BLAST Bounty Winter Qual
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.