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Australia18228 Posts
Official announcement: https://wcs.starcraft2.com/en-us/news/21349309/WCS-2018-Details-Revealed/
The World Championship Series (WCS) concluded with a bang at BlizzCon 2017, and now we have a new season of professional StarCraft II® to look forward to. Read on for fresh information on the 2018 campaign that will serve as the proving ground for all would-be challengers to Rogue’s WCS Global Championship crown. ![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/o948RXG.jpg) WCS CircuitThe 2018 season features the same number of WCS Circuit events as last year but includes a new, supercharged kickoff at WCS Leipzig in January. At this event, and the three additional Circuit tournaments taking place at DreamHack events throughout the year, the champion will receive a direct seed into the Global Finals at the end of the year. The regional representation for each of these events will remain the same as well, with four players qualifying from Europe, four from North America, two from Latin America, two from Australia/New Zealand, two from China, and two from the Asia Pacific region. With the new stop in Leipzig, Germany for the WCS Circuit and an absolutely packed early schedule in 2018, StarCraft II pros and fans alike will have to hit the ground running. WCS KoreaIn Korea, the Global StarCraft II League (GSL) continues for its eighth year as the most celebrated StarCraft II competition in the world. The 2018 schedule will once again consist of three GSL seasons with two GSL Super Tournaments mixed in. Each GSL season will reward the champion with a direct seed into the Global Finals at the end of the year. Global EventsThe thrill of seeing the top players in the world battle each other means, once again, there will be three global events in 2018. The Intel® Extreme Masters (IEM) Katowice tournament rewards its champion with a berth at the WCS Global Finals, and, for the first time, features a prize pool enhanced by the new StarCraft II War Chest, which is available now. Look for a second War Chest later in the year that will boost the prize pool of the 2018 WCS Global Finals. In addition to IEM Katowice and the WCS Global Finals bookending the global event schedule, GSL vs. the World will return in mid-2018 for a thrilling clash between regions. Watch for further details on the format and prizing for this fan-favorite event. Beyond WCSBeyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/pXOZKTD.jpg) We have an exciting year of professional StarCraft II ahead of us, and we’ll have even more details to share in the coming months, including updates to the Challenger system for players in North America and Europe. Stay tuned to the WCS website to keep up to date on all the specifics as we head into 2018.
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Is this the same Prize-Pool they had last year?
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No SSL announcement, see you in 3 months when they tease the announcement of an announcement.
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Mexico674 Posts
So basically nothing new. Same exact format as last year. I was hoping for some more events for the WCS Circuit this year, but I guess it won't happen.
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Basically the same with last year. No SSL or IEM Shanghai announced but I hope they will announce themselves later on.
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i'm glad to see Montreal is getting another event.
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On December 20 2017 04:12 donek99 wrote:
Is this the same Prize-Pool they had last year?
I'm not sure if each event it the same, but the grand total is certainly the same.
Pretty standard stuff given they said 2018 was going to be the same as 2017.
Although, the prize pool should be significantly better overall with the advent of the War Chests.
I do hope that SpotTV can supplement the scene with a league of their own, but that has yet to be seen.
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Interesting that IEM Pyeongchang is not part of the WCS system, and so presumably will not award WCS points. Last year we had IEM Gyeonggi at the beginning, which did award WCS points.
SSL is not directly affiliated with Blizzard or the WCS system, they don't run on the same schedule. If there is SSL in 2018, it will be announced separately.
Also I'm really happy to see that GSL vs the World is happening again. The first one was amazing, a proto-Blizzcon event.
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I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but...
Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year.
...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year.
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I mean they said already that can announce 2017 and 2018 season last year so idk why are ppl uspet or suprised...
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On December 20 2017 05:24 PharaphOobia wrote:
I mean they said already that can announce 2017 and 2018 season last year so idk why are ppl uspet or suprised...
I'm very well aware of that. I was, however, still hoping that someone would have noticed that 2017 was by far the most uninteresting year in the history of WCS, and that this someone would, you know, make a fist, slam it down on his/her mahogany desk in a highly impressive way and say something along the lines of What kind of + Show Spoiler + circuit was that?? I'm not accepting this. SC2 certainly deserves more. Bring the team to the war room, we've got work to do here...
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On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments.
It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive.
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On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but... Show nested quote +Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year.
I mean it's not like they don't want events to give out WCS Points, pretty much most events which can contribute do. Afaik IEM PyeongChang will reward WCS points, IEM Shanghai in 2017 did as well.
There were 10 events in the 2017 circuit awarding WCS points (including challenger events, which in fairness ARE much smaller, so maybe you could argue 6 events) and 10 events in WCS Korea 2017.
My question is how many more major tournaments were there in 2017 that could have awarded points? Anything online is a bit iffy already, but ShoutCraft definitely can't due to the format being extremely unfair, it would be ridiculous to look at putting WCS points on the line there. And in terms of offline events, well WESG runs over a very weird set of dates because its part in 2017 and part in 2018, so it isn't really eligible for WCS points.
Beyond that we are talking about other offline events like HomeStory Cup and perhaps Cheesadelphia? If my memory serves me well, HSC does not have WCS points due to certain requirements which they could not meet (I think the prize pool had to be a certain amount, especially for it to be a Global event, and so they either had to put up more money or make it a Circuit event.) Then Cheese is a smaller event again in terms of prize pool, is it really major enough to give out WCS Points?
Even if they gave out less, there is still an entire process to go into vetting these events. If they are going to contribute to the Global Finals line-up, they have to be up to standards and I'm sure Blizzard has a set of requirements such as "PCs must run at certain levels" for example and they would have to be adminned by WCS rules.
I'm starting to ramble but my point is, it's not like Blizzard don't want to give out WCS points, just they have to do it in a way in which it is still meaningful and fair -- the last thing they need is drama of a smaller event somehow having a screw up which effects WCS. It feels like they limit it more now, but the reality is there are just less events going on which could realistically give out WCS Points in the first place.
On December 20 2017 05:59 Hushfield wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive.
And just to touch on this - I think it really is just an issue of making sure the conditions are fair, the admin decisions are being done properly and that the coverage is of a high enough quality. They have to protect the WCS image & brand to sell it as being the most prestigious set of events / event of the year.
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On December 20 2017 06:21 Wardi wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:I'm mean, I do appreciate everyone trying out there, but... Beyond the formal WCS competitions, StarCraft II continues to enjoy an incredible retinue of events this time of year with the World Electronic Sports Games (WESG), SHOUTcraft Kings, and the upcoming IEM PyeongChang leading into the 2018 Winter Games. In addition, with so many organizers continuing to run their own community-driven events showcasing top-tier StarCraft II competition, fans will be treated to the full spectrum of StarCraft II competition in the coming year. ...if Blizzard really wants to make the WCS circuit exiting, they should put some effort into getting as many of these events to contribute as possible. Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. If points were at stake weekly (as the quote seems to do its best to allude to), we'd truly be in for an exiting year. I mean it's not like they don't want events to give out WCS Points, pretty much most events which can contribute do. Afaik IEM PyeongChang will reward WCS points, IEM Shanghai in 2017 did as well. There were 10 events in the 2017 circuit awarding WCS points (including challenger events, which in fairness ARE much smaller, so maybe you could argue 6 events) and 10 events in WCS Korea 2017. My question is how many more major tournaments were there in 2017 that could have awarded points? Anything online is a bit iffy already, but ShoutCraft definitely can't due to the format being extremely unfair, it would be ridiculous to look at putting WCS points on the line there. And in terms of offline events, well WESG runs over a very weird set of dates because its part in 2017 and part in 2018, so it isn't really eligible for WCS points. Beyond that we are talking about other offline events like HomeStory Cup and perhaps Cheesadelphia? If my memory serves me well, HSC does not have WCS points due to certain requirements which they could not meet (I think the prize pool had to be a certain amount, especially for it to be a Global event, and so they either had to put up more money or make it a Circuit event.) Then Cheese is a smaller event again in terms of prize pool, is it really major enough to give out WCS Points? Even if they gave out less, there is still an entire process to go into vetting these events. If they are going to contribute to the Global Finals line-up, they have to be up to standards and I'm sure Blizzard has a set of requirements such as "PCs must run at certain levels" for example and they would have to be adminned by WCS rules. I'm starting to ramble but my point is, it's not like Blizzard don't want to give out WCS points, just they have to do it in a way in which it is still meaningful and fair -- the last thing they need is drama of a smaller event somehow having a screw up which effects WCS. It feels like they limit it more now, but the reality is there are just less events going on which could realistically give out WCS Points in the first place. Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:59 Hushfield wrote:On December 20 2017 05:17 BaneRiders wrote:
Hand out a round of WCS points to all that conform to a set of rules concerning qualifiers etc., and make the chase for WCS points and ultimately a spot in the finals something that goes far beyond 4-5 tournaments. It would be nice recognition for the weekly/monthly online cups that fill the void and essentially do a lot of the gruntwork in keeping the scene alive. And just to touch on this - I think it really is just an issue of making sure the conditions are fair, the admin decisions are being done properly and that the coverage is of a high enough quality. They have to protect the WCS image & brand to sell it as being the most prestigious set of events / event of the year.
Well, for potential major tourneys to partner with in 2018 I think there are like 10 Dreamhacks coming up in 2018 and I don't know how many IEMs? One could also imagine a number of smaller-medium sized events with simpler rules awarding less money and points etc. to keep up the drama/hype/interest in general, and try to identify / schedule possible organizers such as yourself, Homestory and so on and see if they are up for it (with some support, maybe a traveling circus what do I know). But of course, all of this would require, well, fist on the desk by dude/dudette in charge and putting in some sterling efforts. Sure, ez enough for me to say, but I so feel that Blizzard is truly wasting an opportunity here... 
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Starcraft 2 ain't dead, bitches!
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Wish there were more global events but that was stated by many back in 2016 when 2017 was announced. Hoping to be at DH Austin again next year.
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I would have expected, that going free to play and organizing DH Leipzig and especially going to Pyeongchang would boost Starcraft into more events. I guess they are waiting to see if this has any impact and decide later, whether to organize more. However, if they dream to make Starcraft or any other esport game into an Olimpic game they really should.
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Residency-locked instead of citizenship for WCS Challenger?
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On December 20 2017 05:11 pvsnp wrote:
Interesting that IEM Pyeongchang is not part of the WCS system, and so presumably will not award WCS points. Last year we had IEM Gyeonggi at the beginning, which did award WCS points.
SSL is not directly affiliated with Blizzard or the WCS system, they don't run on the same schedule. If there is SSL in 2018, it will be announced separately.
Also I'm really happy to see that GSL vs the World is happening again. The first one was amazing, a proto-Blizzcon event.
SSL gives out WCS points, so yeah, it is directly affiliated with Blizzard and the WCS system.
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Everything as expected.
Let's enjoy another year of sc2!
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On December 20 2017 08:36 Boggyb wrote:Show nested quote +On December 20 2017 05:11 pvsnp wrote:
Interesting that IEM Pyeongchang is not part of the WCS system, and so presumably will not award WCS points. Last year we had IEM Gyeonggi at the beginning, which did award WCS points.
SSL is not directly affiliated with Blizzard or the WCS system, they don't run on the same schedule. If there is SSL in 2018, it will be announced separately.
Also I'm really happy to see that GSL vs the World is happening again. The first one was amazing, a proto-Blizzcon event. SSL gives out WCS points, so yeah, it is directly affiliated with Blizzard and the WCS system.
No, you misunderstand me. By "directly affiliated" I mean that Blizzard has a hand in funding and organization.
SSL is run by SPOTV and funded by JinAir. The only connection they have with Blizzard is that SSL is a "Korea Tournament" and adheres to the point/prize distribution laid down in the official tournament guidelines. The fancy graphics for WCS 2017 and WCS 2018, for instance, make no mention of SSL. Nor does the official documentation. All of which is to say, Blizzard has nothing to do with whether or not SSL will happen in 2018. That decision is made separately, by separate people, on a separate schedule, so there's no point in asking about SSL in this context (which some people were doing and I was addressing in my OP).
Contrast 2017 SSL and 2016 SSL, that's the difference between being "directly affiliated" with Blizzard and not. Or at least insofar as I use the term, semantics may vary.
2016: http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19993876/2016-starcraft®-ii-world-championship-series-12-17-2015
2017: https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/t6/T6NP61H0JTHR1486493787514.pdf
2018: https://wcs.starcraft2.com/en-us/news/21349309/WCS-2018-Details-Revealed/
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/content_entry_media/y5/Y5VRQN9SF28B1450377387248.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://wiki.teamliquid.net/commons/images/7/79/2017_WCS_Format.jpg)
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/h9/H9SRKRQ6HVTH1513707992685.jpg)
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This year's system was good so no reason to change anything. My only concern was the incredibly stupid fan-vote for GSL vs the World. Hope they'll do a qualifier this time instead.
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crossing my finger for a SSL announcement in the future
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SSL + Money from the first warchest = better than GSL
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absolutely hyped for more GSL vs the World team match. More awkward intros and trash talk pleeeaaase!
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Pretty much what we all anticipated to see more or less..... although no SSL announcement yet has me worried... It felt as though there weren't enough games to watch in 2016, and if there isn't SSL in 2017 will GSL really be the only ongoing Korean tourney we will have to watch?! Like, I NEED more Korean SC2 in my life again 
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I suppose the warchest $$$ is going to increased prize pools and not actually running more events?
On December 20 2017 10:33 Togekiss wrote:Pretty much what we all anticipated to see more or less..... although no SSL announcement yet has me worried... It felt as though there weren't enough games to watch in 2016, and if there isn't SSL in 2017 will GSL really be the only ongoing Korean tourney we will have to watch?! Like, I NEED more Korean SC2 in my life again
SPOTV usually annouce their leagues closer to the start date. Hopefully Jin Air are still enthusiastic about sc2 still and sponsor it again
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On December 20 2017 06:21 Wardi wrote:
And just to touch on this - I think it really is just an issue of making sure the conditions are fair, the admin decisions are being done properly and that the coverage is of a high enough quality. They have to protect the WCS image & brand to sell it as being the most prestigious set of events / event of the year.
You're right. It would probably be a nightmare to ensure the quality of the event, as well as making sure no stream cheating occurred.
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Any info on where Mongolia is this time? :>
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South Korea2105 Posts
I was really hoping we'd get 5 WCS events, what with Leipzig being right at the beginning of 2018 and all that.
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On December 20 2017 18:01 SiorasSC wrote:
Any info on where Mongolia is this time? :>
Nothing that I saw. I would recommend trying to contact the organizers (DH) as early as possible to find out. These sort of problems get much harder to resolve as tournaments draw nearer. With ample warning in advance, admins should be fairly accommodating.
Good luck.
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A shitty system like last two years...nothings changed.
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Bisutopia19267 Posts
Still awesome prizepool. Great news for SC2 players.
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Excited for another amazing year of SC2! Hyped for more GSL!
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once again, the best format for the community.
well done blizzard.
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On December 20 2017 09:13 Charoisaur wrote:
This year's system was good so no reason to change anything. My only concern was the incredibly stupid fan-vote for GSL vs the World. Hope they'll do a qualifier this time instead.
Well HALF of it was.
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When can I start milking those foreigner tears?
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I'm usually not a fan of microtransactions, but when buying warchests directly support esports, it's not that bad.
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Microtransactions that are purely optional/cosmetic get a bad rep. They're a good way of making games cheaper/supporting esports. It's the pay-to-win and "pay extra if you want a decent experience" games that are the absolute worst
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On December 22 2017 04:24 Fango wrote:Microtransactions that are purely optional/cosmetic get a bad rep. They're a good way of making games cheaper/supporting esports. It's the pay-to-win and "pay extra if you want a decent experience" games that are the absolute worst
Even optional/cosmetic microtransactions do merit the scrutiny applied to them. Some games (not Starcraft II so far) have models of microtransactions which are clearly exploitative, and purely targeted at 'whales'. It's a bit of a grey area, but I don't think that its moral to have a system that tries to incentivizes a very few (some of them children) to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on micro-transactions. It's nice for the general population, and you can argue that it's the responsibility of the person with the money (or their parents) to be able to spend the money responsibly, but the games are still clearly trying to create and feed an addiction.
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i had a bizarre suggestion in 2010 that "Ultra" mode graphics should cost $20.
any how, 1 way to stop predatory microtransaction policies that create an atmosphere of gambling is to boycott the product.
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On December 22 2017 05:11 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On December 22 2017 04:24 Fango wrote:Microtransactions that are purely optional/cosmetic get a bad rep. They're a good way of making games cheaper/supporting esports. It's the pay-to-win and "pay extra if you want a decent experience" games that are the absolute worst Even optional/cosmetic microtransactions do merit the scrutiny applied to them. Some games (not Starcraft II so far) have models of microtransactions which are clearly exploitative, and purely targeted at 'whales'. It's a bit of a grey area, but I don't think that its moral to have a system that tries to incentivizes a very few (some of them children) to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on micro-transactions. It's nice for the general population, and you can argue that it's the responsibility of the person with the money (or their parents) to be able to spend the money responsibly, but the games are still clearly trying to create and feed an addiction.
But what about a sense of pride and accomplishment?
Seriously though, I doubt microtransactions are goimg anywhere. And they're far from the worst example of predatory capitalism out there. For better or worse, a fool and his money are soon parted, so the best way to keep your money is to not be a fool.
That being said, I do think microtransactions did not earn their less-than-stellar reputation by coincidence.
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On December 22 2017 05:11 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On December 22 2017 04:24 Fango wrote:Microtransactions that are purely optional/cosmetic get a bad rep. They're a good way of making games cheaper/supporting esports. It's the pay-to-win and "pay extra if you want a decent experience" games that are the absolute worst Even optional/cosmetic microtransactions do merit the scrutiny applied to them. Some games (not Starcraft II so far) have models of microtransactions which are clearly exploitative, and purely targeted at 'whales'. It's a bit of a grey area, but I don't think that its moral to have a system that tries to incentivizes a very few (some of them children) to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on micro-transactions. It's nice for the general population, and you can argue that it's the responsibility of the person with the money (or their parents) to be able to spend the money responsibly, but the games are still clearly trying to create and feed an addiction.
The responsibility does fall on the consumer though. The people that get addicted/spend stupid amounts on cosmetics would probably be obsessed with buying espensive clothes and jewelry in real life if they weren't gamers.
Yes it's sad that kids get addicted and that some games aim to exploit them. But the business model of f2p with cosmetics can offer a lot to the consumer base. Especially when said cosmetics can support development and esports. It gives people the option to not only support the game/esport but also get something out of it for themselves
The games that make you pay to get a different/better experience can go to hell however
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Homestory cup is the best tournament of the year.
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On December 22 2017 06:42 Fango wrote:Show nested quote +On December 22 2017 05:11 ZigguratOfUr wrote:On December 22 2017 04:24 Fango wrote:Microtransactions that are purely optional/cosmetic get a bad rep. They're a good way of making games cheaper/supporting esports. It's the pay-to-win and "pay extra if you want a decent experience" games that are the absolute worst Even optional/cosmetic microtransactions do merit the scrutiny applied to them. Some games (not Starcraft II so far) have models of microtransactions which are clearly exploitative, and purely targeted at 'whales'. It's a bit of a grey area, but I don't think that its moral to have a system that tries to incentivizes a very few (some of them children) to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on micro-transactions. It's nice for the general population, and you can argue that it's the responsibility of the person with the money (or their parents) to be able to spend the money responsibly, but the games are still clearly trying to create and feed an addiction. The responsibility does fall on the consumer though. The people that get addicted/spend stupid amounts on cosmetics would probably be obsessed with buying espensive clothes and jewelry in real life if they weren't gamers. Yes it's sad that kids get addicted and that some games aim to exploit them. But the business model of f2p with cosmetics can offer a lot to the consumer base. Especially when said cosmetics can support development and esports. It gives people the option to not only support the game/esport but also get something out of it for themselves The games that make you pay to get a different/better experience can go to hell however
The responsibility ultimately being the customer's, and finding the behaviour of the companies who aim to create and exploit addicts being despicable aren't mutually exclusive. Besides when your financial model is focused on hunting whales the experience of regular users does inevitably suffer as a result even if it isn't always immediately apparent (though it sometimes is). Starcraft II has done a pretty good job so far not to stray down that path, so let's hope it stays that way.
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always love the super tournament and korea vs the world of course
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EPT
