EPTThis is a rough translation of the original post on PlayXP:
http://www.playxp.com/sc2/bbs/view.php?article_id=2174397&page=5
EDITED WITH PGR RESPONSES IN BOLD.
Considering PGR and Ruriweb responses, most of these rumors are probably true.
EDIT2: I've added few interesting tweets at the end of this post.
EDIT3: Commentator Um just tweeted that Ongamenet Starleague will start its qualifiers next week or at the latest the week after.
EDIT4: Removed some info to keep the post as objective as possible.
1. Around middle of last month (mid-September), there was a rumor that Gretech was willing to negotiate with a major game broadcasting company (Ongamenet and MBCgame to be precise) if Boxer transitioned to SC2. Now that Boxer has and even qualified for GSL2, there is a serious talk between Gretech and Ongamenet of broadcasting GSL2 via Ongamenet and Ongamenet alone (If you've been following Korean E-Sports scene for very long time, you'd know that Ongamenet basically pushed Boxer to the stardom and tried to maximize that for their benefit. Their change from Ro16 to Ro24 format and golden mouse were all designed with Boxer in mind. Ongamenet knows that Boxer alone will make GSL2 a huge hit and is pushing hard to get the broadcasting right.)
In Progress
2. Ongamenet has received a lot of sponsorship proposals for their Starleague, but they are waiting on the GSL situation and may even stop Starleague completely if they can get the right. (Another rumor is that the next Starleague might occur in conjunction with GSL2 with Gretech/GSL as the sponsor).
Nothing set in stone. Ongamenet might do S league starting with GSL 2011. Active negotiation is in progress
3. Ongamenet is not very confident that they will be broadcasting Proleague. This is reflected in that they slotted their Kartrider league on Tuesdays 6:30PM, which would conflict with Proleague's 5 day schedule.
Ongamenet will still do Proleague, just on weekends.
4. MBCgame appears to be going in the direction of completely shutting down MSL. As most of you know, they forced Bigfile MSL and STX Masters Cup without any negotiation with Gretech. This has caused Gretech to completely ignore MBCgame in any of their negotiations.
MBCgame cannot open an individual league even if it wants to. With them likely to not be a part of Proleague, they are looking to move in another direction. Probably will take at least 6 months. They already have a sponsor for their next Tekken Crash season. If they can't be a part of Proleague, they are looking into giving up MBCgame HERO team.
5. MBCgame's Coach Ha resigned because of players' complaints. Team's front office wanted to bring Coach Ha back because the team faired much better past season, but players didn't want this. MBCgame's coaching team has mostly left the team (Coach Park left years ago to lead SK T1, Coach Lee left the team to found TSL for SC2, and Coach Han, aka Clide, as you know, now plays SC2 in team TSL. With lack of other leadership, Coach Ha has been very strict on the players and pushed them very hard, which caused the players to make complaints.
This is true. This isn't really Coach Ha's fault, but more of players who don't know their place. They are asking for a lot, but their skill level isn't good enough, so the coach naturally pushed them harder, and obviously restricts players' free time and they would get frustrated. They should really look back and study their current situation. Even if they go to another team, they won't be able to adjust very well.
6. Gretech is not willing to back out from shutting MBCgame out of Proleague. From the beginning, Gretech didn't really want proleague to start at all. They don't want the original Saturday through Wednesday schedule as it will conflict with GSL, but KeSPA is not willing to negotiate on that matter. So Gretech took the position that MBCgame cannot broadcast Proleague, which makes running Proleague basically impossible.
No response
7. KeSPA is still looking to start Proleague on 16th or 23rd, regardless of the negotiation with Gretech. Their thought is that even if there is some lawsuit, they will be able to win against a mere game company. Gretech has already sent KeSPA the necessary documents to prove that they alone have the right to open any tournaments with Blizzard games in Korea, and also publicly stated that they will take this to the court if KeSPA forces Proleague.
This is true
8. iloveoov is pretty much confirmed as the player with the same ID in SC (Choi Yeon Seung). He will wait for the negotiations to end, but if Proleague doesn't happen, he will transition to SC2 and play it until he has to go to the army.
There is no information/confirmation regarding this. What is true is that people are practicing SC2 within SK T1 team. Coaching staff can do so freely.
9. Reach is finishing his military service on October 29th and is rumored to transition to SC2 as well. He recently had his last vacation days, and have mentioned his intention to his friends. Anytime finishes his service on the same day as well, but there's no word regarding his future. Btw, Yellow finishes his service on December 30th.
No confirmation, but Anytime did play SC2 when he was recently on vacation leave.
10. KeSPA has already found a sponsor for the Proleague, but only when they finish the negotiation with Gretech. (see item 6)
11. Hite Sparkys and CJ Entus will combine to become one team, Hite Entus (this was confirmed recently). If you didn't know, CJ Media bought OnMedia, which is a parent company of Ongamenet. Hite Sparkys is encouraging B team players and practice players to transition to SC2. You can find the article at http://www.fomos.kr/board/board.php?mode=read&keyno=111075&db=issue
12. eSTRO is now disbanded and players will be drafted by other teams (Confirmed). Article at http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=107&oid=347&aid=0000005822
13. Almost all teams have no players other than their A team, and basically have no new players.
Confirmed
14. Former CJ Entus player Effort is currently playing SC2, but he only recently picked it up and didn't participate in GSL2 because he felt his skill isn't good enough yet.
It is true that he's practicing, but not sure about GSL related issues.
15. Former SK T1 coach Ju Hoon and Former KT (then KTF) coach Jeong Su Young is looking to create SC2 team. Coach Jeong has been looking into this since around the time Team NEX formed. It is also rumored that Boxer will most likely follow Coach Ju when he forms the team.
Coach Ju news is true.
16. Within KeSPA, it's CJ vs KT/SK fight. It is rumored that CJ is leaking most of the information we hear regarding the KeSPA and the negotiation to drop their credit and eventually have someone from CJ be the president. (For those who don't really know, when KeSPA first formed, it wasn't this "evil group". It changed when the 2nd president was named and SK has been in control for prolonged period of time. This is also when KeSPA started to charge for Proleague broadcasting fee, which basically initiated this whole mess IMO).
It's actually CJ vs SK vs KT. Rest of the teams, including KT, is basically saying whoever wins is our side. As far as CJ leaking rumors, it's what SK's Jo Man Su said and it's most likely not true. I believe it's an issue with the Daily. Daily and Jo Man Su are main source of KeSPA related news. I hope they do well together (Daily refers to E-sports Daily, which is a korean e-sports online newspaper).
17. A big European company has offered a current BW player a big contract with a condition of transitioning to SC2. It's one of those "what if he were to play SC2" type big name player. The offer is by far the biggest in SC2. The player in question has recently re-signed (Stork, Leta, Jaedong, and Flash are the only publicly known ones).
18. A progame team is looking to transition to SC2 or buy a current SC2 team. Responses are positive and talk is moving forward very fast. (At least front office related people know this and it can even be one of the big SC2 teams like oGs, Prime, TSL).
Ongamenet is trying to quieten the rumors as much as possible by using their broadcaster Um Jae Kyeong (you can follow him on twitter @ http://twitter.com/JackYeongOng if you know Korean), but most fans don't really believe.
Interesting Tweets.
Ongamenet Commentator Um Jae Kyeong
As far as SC2 broadcasting rights are concerned, commentators don't know anything. I hope bargaining(?) goes well this time. People say that GSL1 broadcasting was ruined by third party when it was pretty much set. Ongamenet is not that weak.
Ongamenet Official Twitter
There is nothing set at this moment. At this time, we cannot give an official answer. When we make a final decision, we'll inform you via Twitter.
Fomos Reporter Sim Hyun (he's one of the oldest and most respected reporter in the scene)
1+1 is 2. But in this world, 1+1 is sometimes 1. You will soon see this equation again
There will be few storms in the future of eSports scene. I wish I can only give you good news, but there aren't really any... There aren't many days with clear weather in eSports.
I'm sorry I have confused you with just short sentences. I'm just as frustrated, so I left few words. I'll let you know the details as soon as it's finalized. What's true is things have to go in the direction for the progamers and eSports fans.
KT Rolster coach Lee Ji Hoon
IP and public property is important, but... People don't know the biggest hurdle in the negotiations and are just arguing with themselves. I'm not allowed to disclose any information, but when you find out... you will probably be extremely upset... Man...
