Fuck KeSPA (why exhibition matches werent BCed)

On July 27 2009 09:44 Kennigit wrote:
Yes this is true. Has to do with blizzard/kespa politics and ESPORTS drama. I was hoping Paul Sams would jump on stage and slice the KESPA president's chest open with Frostmourne.

On July 27 2009 09:49 Mikilatov wrote:
Sometimes I wonder if KESPA is just trying to see how many people they can upset before they inevitably become obsolete when SC2 is governed by Blizzard.

On July 27 2009 10:02 illu wrote:
I don't see why Kespa cannot govern wc3 players. Afterall it's Korean e-Sports Association, not Korean Starcraft Association.

On July 27 2009 10:10 Aegraen wrote:


Because WC3 pros aren't licensed by KeSPA. Therefore, KeSPA has no authority over them.

It's like if Grubby and Sky played SC2 KeSPA would have no say if they could play or not. Blizzard controls whether or not SC2 is actually broadcasted, since they payed for the spot in the building, no (And they own SC2)?

The original linked article specifically only mentioned Nal_Ra, Moon, and NaDa all 3 of which Korean and under contract with KeSPA (correct me if I'm mistaken).

Something is afoul here.

On July 27 2009 11:14 StarBrift wrote:
A big fuck you to KeSPA as usual. I wouldn't be suprised if KeSPA forces more teams to drop out of the next GOM classic. If that happens it's time for some netized MASS protesting.

On July 27 2009 11:52 mikeymoo wrote:

That's not KeSPA's fault.

On July 27 2009 11:50 ViruX wrote:
Blizzard should just go "Hey KeSPA, $1000 royalty on any broadcasted games, that'll teach you for being dicks"

On July 27 2009 11:55 Manifesto7 wrote:


You're right, lets just end Korean SC now because kespa didn't like a showmatch. Sheesh.

On July 27 2009 11:52 mikeymoo wrote:

That's not KeSPA's fault.

On July 27 2009 11:56 ViruX wrote:


I am sure they can afford it

On July 27 2009 12:00 moebius_string wrote:
The games were not even best of 3, so Kespa did me a favor in this case, by keeping me from wasting my time watching them. I'm not a big fan of Kespa, but at least they have a track record of running something that approaches professional quality. Blizzard's events tend to look cheap and amateurish.

On July 27 2009 12:03 Count9 wrote:
If they keep this shit up I hope the programmers leave and set up an independent league, especially for SC2.

On July 27 2009 12:13 Manifesto7 wrote:


The games were bo3...

Kespa is a fun bandwagon to jump up and down on, but they basically created the best version of esports on the planet. Blizzard is a software company, not a media production company, and every attempt they have made at it so far shows they have a ways to go.

Would kespa style management work in the states? Maybe not, but it is designed to serve the industry located in a single city. There are things they could do better, but there are already a lot of things they do right.

On July 27 2009 13:59 GTR wrote:
we all have to admit, kespa did bring e-sports into the mainstream, and eventually made it the 2nd most watched sport in korea behind football.

On July 27 2009 12:13 Manifesto7 wrote:
Kespa is a fun bandwagon to jump up and down on, but they basically created the best version of esports on the planet. Blizzard is a software company, not a media production company, and every attempt they have made at it so far shows they have a ways to go.

Would kespa style management work in the states? Maybe not, but it is designed to serve the industry located in a single city. There are things they could do better, but there are already a lot of things they do right.

On July 27 2009 09:59 Manifesto7 wrote:
Kespa was a Korean organization suitable for a Korean eSports scene. When SC2 comes and eSports grows beyond their borders, they will find that they do not have the flexibility to adapt to the new environment.

That being said, they are going to hold onto their chips for as long as possible, and create some drama in the meantime.

On July 27 2009 15:29 iMate wrote:
they dont wanna loose nada like they lost stork to WoW..

On July 27 2009 14:24 keV. wrote:
I could care less about KeSPA or "Korean pros." SC2 will be big enough that I don't think we will always have to be looking -just- at Koreans to get quality entertainment and great games.

On July 27 2009 17:23 Tef wrote:
*Sigh* Blizzard doesn't want to create the tournaments, they want to develop their games and give the community necessary tools and means to create their own tournaments. Why would they spend money doing something the community/KeSPA does for free? Even though KeSPA makes money as a government body of e-sport in Korea it will be far from profitable world wide, especially for a game developing company. Remember that KeSPA is an e-sport association, they don't produce broadcasts. And they are not only a dictator of rules and ranks, they also shuffles money into the e-sport industry and makes sure every team can compete on the same level, economy wise.

Have a look at ICCup as a ladder, it works because there are a lot of volunteers in the communiy. They check replays for abuse and cheats, etc. thus Blizzard have to create a tool in Bnet 2.0 for moderating cheat/bad manner reports. Teamliquid is another great example, they create tournaments, or at least affiliates themselves with the tournament creators. They give the community write-ups, betting and what not to create excitement for the community. I don't see any reason why blizzard would focus their time on anything like this.

It remains to be seen whether or not Game Masters (volunteers) will be part of the new Bnet 2.0 and if they will play any role in Starcraft other than the removal of inappropriate names etc. Last but not least, I don't see any reason why KeSPA wouldn't be able to continue with what they are doing, nothing about the no-LAN issue affects KeSPA. Don't you think they have internet to connect with Bnet 2.0?

Just my 2 cents.

On July 27 2009 14:16 BookTwo wrote:
blizzard makes the games.

kespa adds fun to it

On July 27 2009 16:13 Jonoman92 wrote:
T.T KeSPA... They've become way too powerful considering they don't serve much of a purpose. I mean the pro teams shoudl be like F U KeSPA and make a new organizational league that is just cooperative within themselves. I realize it must be more complicated than that but it seems KeSPA is undeserving of the power they've come to wield.

On July 27 2009 10:48 GTR wrote:
Blaming KeSPA, sigh.
I may be a big opposer of KeSPA in the past, but KeSPA is not to blame today.

No one is to blame today.
Games were not intended to be broadcasted at all.

On July 27 2009 21:39 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Haha, KeSPA is the progaming teams. KeSPA consists of one member from each of the teams' companies. But then the sponsors of a team don't always do what the team wants to do. It's a very weird move, at least in my American opinion, that the sponsors of the teams would also run the governing entity. They purposely and openly govern KeSPA in a way that's best for their companies and not what's best for eSports.

On July 27 2009 23:55 entrails wrote:
i'm just going to say that kespa/ogn/mbc do a hell of a lot better organizing and broadcasting SC than any of the organizations broadcasting and organizing 'blizzard sanctioned' WoW tournaments. It's dumb if kespa isn't broadcasting these SC2 matches as part of a power struggle with Blizzard (kespa WILL lose when SC2 comes out), but i'm not exactly sure I want Blizzard taking over or getting their hand in things.

On July 27 2009 09:44 Kennigit wrote:
Yes this is true. Has to do with blizzard/kespa politics and ESPORTS drama. I was hoping Paul Sams would jump on stage and slice the KESPA president's chest open with Frostmourne.

On July 27 2009 09:46 Kennigit wrote:
KESPA still had governance over estars or at least heavy heavy sway with it's organizers...it makes perfect sense. It has nothing to do with the progamers. It's Kespa vs Blizzard. That is all this is about.

On July 28 2009 01:43 G3nXsiS wrote:
Im the original creator of that post and I must say Im suprised it spread to Teamliquid also.

In any case we the foreigners are the ones losing out here. True kespa did alot for starcraft but what did they do to make the game more international? We had to go underground to stream matches live and all these years there was not a single event that had English coverage until the Gom events. Kespa could have easily done it. They could have picked up tasteless and artosis or get some commentators from fansites but they decided not to. And when gomtv finally started broadcasting a tournament with english coverage they banned certain teams from participating in it.

Is this a governing body that we really want in the starcraft community when starcraft 2 comes out? One that prevents starcraft from going international?

Get rid of the stupid licensing system. Use a more baseball oriented approach. Anyone should be able to become a pro-gamer without having to win Courage, or some other tournament. How many times have you known for someone drafted 858th+ end up making it to the Majors and doing extremely well. A lot.

On July 28 2009 09:01 Spawkuring wrote:
Well personally I don't think Blizzard wanting more control on e-sports is necessarily a bad thing. Keep in mind that control doesn't have to be constricting, kinda like how the map editor is "Blizzard-controlled" yet still manages to be full of community creativity and freedom.

It all depends on how Blizzard manages it and what exactly will they operate themselves or allow the community to handle. Obviously Blizzard wants a share of the profit (businesses want money after all), but it might not be so bad if Battle.Net really turns out to be as great as Blizzard wants it to be. Blizzard at the very least seems to be putting a lot more effort into the SC2 esports scene than the ones for WoW, DotA, and the like.

On July 27 2009 09:44 Kennigit wrote:
Yes this is true. Has to do with blizzard/kespa politics and ESPORTS drama. I was hoping Paul Sams would jump on stage and slice the KESPA president's chest open with Frostmourne.

On July 28 2009 09:17 Aegraen wrote:


I hope Blizzard gets more involved in the sponsoring and promotion aspect. Collect your royalties, and sponsor tournaments (Imagine a Blizzard Starleague o.O), but let the community run the actual Proleagues, Individual Leagues, etc. Support GOM, market internationally, and help start up an American Proleague is all I ask for, nothing more.

Hopefully Blizzard and its affiliates can get with channels like G4TV, ESPN, Spike, MTV, to broadcast tournaments. Once corporations see how much interest there is in SC2, all you need is someone like Super Daniel Man to drive it home to them how cost-effective the marketing would be to a young to mid-age demographic. So, market to corporations and companies that try to target those demographics like a Best Buy, Verizon, Intel / Microsoft, Target, Pepsi, etc. For these guys a few million + a year to get to hundreds of thousands / millions of people around the world is a pittance. I hope Super Daniel Man follows through on what he said he wants to do and hopefully comes to America and tries to set up a Proleague here.

Ah, Imagine having Proleague broadcasted on ESPN 2, and Individual Leagues on G4TV. Only problem would be where to setup the actual Proleague because you can't have teams all around the country it would be monetarily infeasible for such an upstart business venture (and cuts into practice time way too much). I would say....either Southern California, New York, or Chicago.

Ah, one can dream I suppose. It is possible because MLG is immensely popular and many Halo 3 pros get paid 100,000$+ all ready and its broadcasted on ESPN.

Edit: I really, really, really want to see (If this ever comes to fruition) the American Proleague champion vs the Korean Proleague champion. Of course me being biased would say Americans
4-3 first set and losing second set 4-3, but winning the Ace match to take the world Championship.

On July 28 2009 08:28 Manifesto7 wrote:


Spreading SC was never the kespa mandate. You might as well curse major league baseball for not expanding to africa.

The reason I am defending kespa, although I have pointed out their substantial failures as well, is that most people here have no idea who they are or what they do. They simply see "fuck kespa" and try to get a free post.