Article about HSC IV in german online newspaper

Nerds from all around the world are gathering in a living room

With the triumphant procession of the Internet the e-sports scene is growing rapidly. In Krefeld a Starcraft tournament is just taking place with guests from 13 nations.
Unnoticed by most of its inhabitants Krefeld has become the focus of the global public these days. In a 200-square-meters private residence, 32 computer players have gathered from all around the world to compete against each other at a strategy game called Starcraft 2. They come from Sweden, Germany, England, France, Finland, Canada, the USA and even South Korea, the Mecca of the scene. The prize pool is at a total of 15,000 €. The tournament will be broadcast globally via live stream on the Internet and so about 100,000 spectators are expected.

What would have been ridiculed as nerds at a LAN party a few years ago, has now become an event for the masses. Even at the last HomeStoryCup organized by Dennis Gehlen (known as “TaKe”, a former gamer himself) in June 2011 there was a total of 50,000 viewers, and the scene continues to grow. This is also thanks to public viewing: at pubs, gyms, or even at flats there are gatherings called Barcrafts where fans of the computer game meet to talk together, drink and watch the games by their idols.

For Jonathan "DarkForce" Belke, one of Germany's best players, the secret of success lies in the dynamics of the game. "In chess or poker, it is important to think far ahead and to anticipate, not to react to things within a few seconds and perform several moves per second," says Belke. There is no limit to the top at work here. Progamers from Korea, where the game is the world's most widespread and even two television stations transmit live tournaments, play with up to 500 actions per minute (APM). Of course a special gaming equipment is needed. Special mice and keyboards developed for professional players help them to keep the clicking rates high and to minimize the errors.
But not only speed, also huge amounts of strategic skill is needed to respond correctly to surprising actions, says Belke, who regularly participates in major tournaments and was able to win even against some Korean elite player. Currently he also takes part in the HSC IV.

While the first edition of the game, Starcraft 1, enjoyed a high reputation especially in South Korea, the e-sports scene has developed rapidly in europe and USA since the release of Starcraft 2 in summer 2010. Especially in Scandinavia and the U.S. the game has become a trending sport. The biggest e-sports tournament in the world, the MLG (Major League Gaming) was held six times in 2011, at peak times followed by more than 240,000 viewers from 175 countries at the same time on its live streams.
By this, MLG had clearly more viewers and fans in the relevant target group of 18 to 24 year olds than traditional TV stations like Comedy Central. A total of more than 15 million hours of video material from these six tournaments were consumed online in 2011, a doubling to 2010. Even the image of the computer game nerds has changed. Where earlier on the stereotype of the socially incompetent loner was common, he is gathering these days with his fellow gaming friends at Barcrafts or tournaments like the MLG. In Anaheim there was an audience of 20.000 people at the grand final day.

Professional commentators

Also, there are profession eloquent commentators these days at those tournaments. They are often as popular as the players themselves and play ahuge part in the success of that scene. "They immediately point out if a player does some nice moves and tatics so it is possible for viewers without a lot of experience to understand what is going on," says DarkForce.
Viewer counts like at MLG Dennis “TaKe” Gehlen won’t get with his tournament in Krefeld this weekend. But that does not matter. The relaxed lounge atmosphere of the event is always very good and popular and helped the HomestoryCup to quickly become a favourite tournament in the gamer scene. This is also DarkForce’s opinion. "With 40 people it is sometimes a bit crowded and cramped, but it's nice that you get provided nice food and a nice location. And it is always nice to just sit down with the contestants during the games to relax.

A Barcraft right under the tournament location offers space and the opportunity to be close to their stars to over a hundred fans. Also there are right now Barcrafts in many german cities, which are organized and founded via Facebook. The HSC is transmitted to every one of these locations. There is no doubt that this Cup number 4 will be a success this time as well.

The favourites are the Koreans, again and as always. They even set the pace these days and are oftentiomes ahead of the europeans and the americans regarding professionalism in the game. The players train harder than some olympic athletes, oftentimes at an average of over ten hours of practice a day. The Korean league called GSL (Global Starcraft League) is widely known as the Champions League of StarCraft. In fact this is why more and more progamers migrate to Korea, because of the professional structures.

No language barriers

Language or cultural barriers usually "not a big problem, since most players have a very similar kind of person, and they get along with each other very fast. Furthermore, everybody has a common interest in Starcraft 2." says DarkForce.

So this game creates its own "language" to connect different kinds of people from different nationalities, and they more differ themselves in their game races Protoss, Zerg and Terran as in their nationalities.