• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EST 07:54
CET 13:54
KST 21:54
  • 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
TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners10Intel X Team Liquid Seoul event: Showmatches and Meet the Pros10[ASL20] Finals Preview: Arrival13TL.net Map Contest #21: Voting12[ASL20] Ro4 Preview: Descent11
Community News
StarCraft, SC2, HotS, WC3, Returning to Blizzcon!33$5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship6[BSL21] RO32 Group Stage4Weekly Cups (Oct 26-Nov 2): Liquid, Clem, Solar win; LAN in Philly2Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win10
StarCraft 2
General
Mech is the composition that needs teleportation t TL.net Map Contest #21: Winners Weekly Cups (Oct 20-26): MaxPax, Clem, Creator win RotterdaM "Serral is the GOAT, and it's not close" 5.0.15 Patch Balance Hotfix (2025-10-8)
Tourneys
Constellation Cup - Main Event - Stellar Fest $5,000+ WardiTV 2025 Championship Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament Merivale 8 Open - LAN - Stellar Fest Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond)
Strategy
Custom Maps
Map Editor closed ?
External Content
Mutation # 498 Wheel of Misfortune|Cradle of Death Mutation # 497 Battle Haredened Mutation # 496 Endless Infection Mutation # 495 Rest In Peace
Brood War
General
[ASL20] Ask the mapmakers — Drop your questions BW General Discussion [BSL21] RO32 Group Stage BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ SnOw's ASL S20 Finals Review
Tourneys
[Megathread] Daily Proleagues [ASL20] Grand Finals [BSL21] RO32 Group B - Sunday 21:00 CET [BSL21] RO32 Group A - Saturday 21:00 CET
Strategy
Current Meta PvZ map balance How to stay on top of macro? Soma's 9 hatch build from ASL Game 2
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile Should offensive tower rushing be viable in RTS games? Dawn of War IV
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
TL Mafia Community Thread SPIRED by.ASL Mafia {211640}
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine YouTube Thread Dating: How's your luck?
Fan Clubs
White-Ra Fan Club The herO Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
[Manga] One Piece Anime Discussion Thread Movie Discussion! Korean Music Discussion Series you have seen recently...
Sports
2024 - 2026 Football Thread NBA General Discussion MLB/Baseball 2023 TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 Formula 1 Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
SC2 Client Relocalization [Change SC2 Language] Linksys AE2500 USB WIFI keeps disconnecting Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List Recent Gifted Posts
Blogs
Coffee x Performance in Espo…
TrAiDoS
Saturation point
Uldridge
DnB/metal remix FFO Mick Go…
ImbaTosS
Why we need SC3
Hildegard
Reality "theory" prov…
perfectspheres
Our Last Hope in th…
KrillinFromwales
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 1380 users

Reality Check: State of SC2

Forum Index > SC2 General
Post a Reply
1 2 3 4 5 Next All
mikkmagro
Profile Joined April 2011
Malta1513 Posts
December 14 2012 22:43 GMT
#1
NB: I have nothing to do with Complexity, or the author, but I stumbled on this, and thought it was a very good read, and brought up excellent points.

Reality Check: State of SC2 - Jason Bass, COO Complexity

It was pretty obvious that the viewership was declining and my personal opinion was that it was due to several factors but the most important being content saturation...Can you imagine if the Dallas Cowboys played the Houston Texans 3 times a week?


coL deserves the hits, read up here:
http://www.complexitygaming.com/news/3922/
mousesports, Team Acer, Fnatic!
kochanfe
Profile Joined July 2011
Micronesia1338 Posts
December 14 2012 22:46 GMT
#2
hmmm... read the article. not sure I totally agree with a lot of it actually.
"The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long." - Lao Tzu
Kluey
Profile Joined April 2011
Canada1197 Posts
December 14 2012 22:47 GMT
#3
So true but, there is nothing we can do. The organizations that can't keep up with the top will die out and that's how we get rid of over saturation.
Rebel_
Profile Joined December 2010
Canada94 Posts
December 14 2012 22:53 GMT
#4
Well small leagues are dieing out little by little now. Next year lets see how the big organizations do it. Its good for players but the viewership is small (comparing to Moba games, sorry), lets hope HoTS restores everything again. Next year will be interesting to see.
“Give the guy a gun he's superman, give him two and he’s God.” - Hard Boiled
Yorbon
Profile Joined December 2011
Netherlands4272 Posts
December 14 2012 22:58 GMT
#5
hm, i didn't really read anything surprising or shocking in the article to be honest.
I don't really see how this should be a reality check :$
OkStyX
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
Canada1199 Posts
December 14 2012 22:58 GMT
#6
Starcraft as much as we want it to be huge actually always thrived as a small highly competitive scene , its good to separate the wheat from the chaff . Good read but not entirely sure i agree with all of it .
Team Overklocked Gaming! That man is the noblest creature may be inferred from the fact that no other creature has contested this claim. - G.C. Lichtenberg
mikkmagro
Profile Joined April 2011
Malta1513 Posts
December 14 2012 23:02 GMT
#7
The next thing would be for Blizzard to put more control on who can and can't run an SC2 event. We need a pro and amateur circuit. I am not advocating killing off all of the small events, but we do need some controls in place to make sure some baseline level of criteria is met before Blizzard gives a tournament license


This is pretty interesting. What do you think about Blizzard having such a degree of control over the competitive scene?
mousesports, Team Acer, Fnatic!
SlayerS_BoxxY
Profile Joined June 2012
United States64 Posts
December 14 2012 23:05 GMT
#8
The "story line" problem he mentions is big. Fixing this is largely a problem of production value. Casters need research available to them, statistics, analysis, stories, etc. Gom uses lots of graphics to show previous results of players. This is a good start, but then it is up to the casters to synthesize that information and connect it to stories about the players.
ledarsi
Profile Joined September 2010
United States475 Posts
December 14 2012 23:06 GMT
#9
The idea of a longer-term circuit is great. Having a Starcraft World Series, or a Starcraft Super Bowl is a great idea.

Not sure if I like the idea of Blizzard preventing people from holding tournaments for arbitrary reasons, like another tournament being scheduled at that time. This could work if strictly limited, such as not having pro tournaments concurrently so that it splits the professional player base, with some attending each. But amateur tournaments should not be limited by Blizzard in any way.
"First decide who you would be, then do what you must do."
packrat386
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States5077 Posts
December 14 2012 23:09 GMT
#10
On December 15 2012 08:02 mikkmagro wrote:
Show nested quote +
The next thing would be for Blizzard to put more control on who can and can't run an SC2 event. We need a pro and amateur circuit. I am not advocating killing off all of the small events, but we do need some controls in place to make sure some baseline level of criteria is met before Blizzard gives a tournament license


This is pretty interesting. What do you think about Blizzard having such a degree of control over the competitive scene?


I guess it seems like somebody has to. Kespa was bad in some respects, but look at how successful they can help make things like proleague and OSL. When you have a lawmaking body you can limit oversaturation without having to wait for companies to fail. You also give the community as a whole some sort of way to get behind stuff as a whole. No tournament or even group of tournaments could probably get a TV contract, but if a rulemaking organization could ensure that, for example, other big tournaments wouldn't broadcast at the same time, then they might be able to do something like that.
dreaming of a sunny day
packrat386
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States5077 Posts
December 14 2012 23:11 GMT
#11
On December 15 2012 08:06 ledarsi wrote:
The idea of a longer-term circuit is great. Having a Starcraft World Series, or a Starcraft Super Bowl is a great idea.

Not sure if I like the idea of Blizzard preventing people from holding tournaments for arbitrary reasons, like another tournament being scheduled at that time. This could work if strictly limited, such as not having pro tournaments concurrently so that it splits the professional player base, with some attending each. But amateur tournaments should not be limited by Blizzard in any way.


I think if there was going to be a body like this, limitations on small prize-pool amateur tournaments would be small, just like they are with similar institutions in traditional sports. The most important restrictions are on top teams and players. Teamleagues with a long running format like proleague are critical and tournaments need to make sure that name-brand players are there when they ought to be.
dreaming of a sunny day
envisioN .
Profile Joined February 2011
United States552 Posts
December 14 2012 23:17 GMT
#12
I definitely agree with the fact that the SC2 pro scene is over saturated with events. MLG, GSL, IPL, NASL, Dreamhack, WCS, ESL and now SPL. If each of these tournaments have 4 major events per year (many of which have more), that is 28 events, more than two every month. With so many tournaments, there is no continuity in rivalries or story lines other than the ones that have carried over from before all of these SC2 events have sprung up.

Don't get me wrong, it is great that we have so many amazing events. It shows that eSports as a whole is growing, and growing rapidly. The problem is that there are so many events that each tournament only really has any importance during that tournaments weekend, and winning a tournament isn't as big of a deal as I believe it should be for a player. In order to gain any lasting recognition as a truly amazing player, one must win multiple tournaments convincingly, which most players cannot do because of the nature of a constantly shifting meta game and the fact that everyone has slumps. One of the reasons the GSL is so prestigious is because the tournament is played out over the course of a month and a half. I think fewer, or more spaced out tournaments, would give much more importance to each tournament win, and make the SC2 scene as a whole much more interesting to watch.
"Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works" -Martin Luther ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
TrippSC2
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
United States209 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-12-14 23:25:45
December 14 2012 23:22 GMT
#13
The one thing that I think should be noted that isn't is that fewer, more important tournaments also means more practice time between tournaments. Without that, the HotS metagame will end up exactly like WoL has become, with 1 standard style for each MU with a lot of small variations that look the exact same to the average fan. I think a metagame with more variety will do more to help viewership than anything and will occur with less major events.
Penev
Profile Joined October 2012
28500 Posts
Last Edited: 2012-12-14 23:29:35
December 14 2012 23:26 GMT
#14
I'm not impressed by the last part of the article about adblock and pvv. I'm amazed I hear this opinion so much from people in the industry because it's such an unrealistic view. You cannot expect your customers to not use adblock or pay for content because you ask nicely. It doesn't work that way. You have to make sure your ads can't be blocked (broadcast them yourself) and pvv.. Well that is a very dangerous path to take. Especially if you want a relatively new, small form of entertainment to grow.
I Protoss winner, could it be?
Hrrrrm
Profile Joined March 2010
United States2081 Posts
December 14 2012 23:28 GMT
#15
We need "Team" events at tournaments. The majority of teams fly out 2-3 players anyways why not 2 more and have the "primary" event be the Team Event and have a smaller Individual tournament. Single player tournaments are what is old and there are too many of them. Would give more exposure to the teams and sponsors, to players on the teams that don't get that much exposure, and allow underdogs to get recognition. Not even going to mention the HYPE! BW was a huge success primarily because it was teams first then players. In SC2 teams have been more in the background and it's all been mainly about individual success.

Maybe IPL or Dreamhack can make it happen. A simple 8 Team Double Elimination Tourney at an event. It would be grand!
alot = a lot (TWO WORDS)
Greenei
Profile Joined November 2011
Germany1754 Posts
December 14 2012 23:30 GMT
#16
On December 15 2012 08:06 ledarsi wrote:
The idea of a longer-term circuit is great. Having a Starcraft World Series, or a Starcraft Super Bowl is a great idea.



isn't wcs/bwc exactly that?
IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA IMBA
divito
Profile Blog Joined January 2011
Canada1213 Posts
December 14 2012 23:34 GMT
#17
On December 15 2012 08:30 Greenei wrote:
Show nested quote +
On December 15 2012 08:06 ledarsi wrote:
The idea of a longer-term circuit is great. Having a Starcraft World Series, or a Starcraft Super Bowl is a great idea.



isn't wcs/bwc exactly that?

I think the better idea would be to incorporate results from all events though, rather than their own satellite events.
Skype: divito7
SigmaoctanusIV
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States3313 Posts
December 14 2012 23:37 GMT
#18
Over saturation has nothing to do with the decline in viewers. The game has gotten Stale to watch for a lot of the casual viewers. Most tournaments don't have a wide variety of races being played, one race is always cut out early. Many Foreigner fan favorites don't perform like they used to.

The scene is going to turn around for HOTS, we will have an influx of people playing just to check stuff out and they might love it or just be interested enough in it to come browse on TL and see what the scene is up to.
I am Godzilla You are Japan
ishyishy
Profile Joined February 2011
United States826 Posts
December 14 2012 23:40 GMT
#19
- Event saturation: I dont see a problem here, the fans will tune in to what they like, and each company will either grow or decline as a result. It's all part of the entertainment industry, it's all about competition for viewers. I see no problem here.

- Watching the game: if people dont like watching the game anymore, then they move on to something else. Just because the diehard fans of sc2 demand it of everyone that sets their eyes on a sc2 stream one time to stay glued to it for life doesnt mean it's going to happen. No one other than the players can choose how the players play the game, and if you dont like watching a zerg sit on their ass for 15 minutes and mass spines, then dont watch it anymore, or watch someone else. No one knows if it will be "the best" strat in the expansion, but if it is, there is only 1 entity to blame, blizzard. Not the players. Not the fans.

- Playing the game: Pro and amatuer circuit? Who the hell is going to care or watch non-pro players? Cant say for sure that no one will, but I'll bet that there are less viewers for it than there is for the Pro matches lol, and I'll also bet that it wont be a sustainable or profittable business for long. I dont watch Playhem, I dont watch go4sc2 or any other small tournament, I only watch MLG and GSL because those 2 events have *the best* players playing, and I am only entertained by *the best players*.

For example, Jason says "...basically anyone can run an event, regardless of quality, whenever they want. This creates a situation of white noise. Nothing seems important anymore."

How does this make any sense at all? People will either like or dislike an event, and if an event is disliked enough times it will disappear. An MLG sure does seem a hell of a lot more important because everyone likes it, than some fucking joke tournament in some remote country that was ran poorly.

IMO people are slowly getting bored with seeing the actual game. We dont live in an age where people stay entertained by the same shit for years and years anymore. New generation gamers always want flashy shit that changes often. Look at LoL, a flashy, somewhat easy to play game that changes several times a month because new skins and heros come out. Look at Call of Duty, they fuckin make a new game or 2 every year with a few new flashy eye candy bits in each game (not saying the actual gamplay changes, just the shit you see).

In sc2, nothing changes, theres no flashy eye candy to keep kids entertained (not even a dis, its true), the changes we get are "reduce build time on [X building] by 5 seconds". Is that supposed to bring new players into the game? Blizzard is not making new ways to attract new players, and obviously everyone currently playing will eventually lose interest, thus you have a declining population, it's that simple. Sc2 is plain, dull, not entertaining to play for long periods of time for most people, and gets insanely boring to watch because pro players have figured the game out. The expansion wont change this. It will eventually boil down to a set amount of maps that are good, a set amount of builds that are good, and flip coins. It isnt going anywhere fast, and Jason, that is no ones fault other than the creator, the designers, and the main supporters of the game, Blizzard.
Hider
Profile Blog Joined May 2010
Denmark9407 Posts
December 14 2012 23:40 GMT
#20
Gah unfortunately bass view is very simplistic.

Sc2 would decline eventually, regardless of the saturation. If fewer games were played, the duration might have been longer in terms of years, but in terms of total veiwerships of all games watched it wouldn't have mattered (or it would have been even lower).

1 2 3 4 5 Next All
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
CranKy Ducklings
10:00
Sea Duckling Open #140
CranKy Ducklings81
LiquipediaDiscussion
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
mouzHeroMarine 283
Lowko211
ProTech118
RotterdaM 14
Railgan 12
StarCraft: Brood War
Sea 6644
Horang2 3957
GuemChi 1955
Larva 876
Jaedong 839
actioN 323
Rush 286
Soma 280
Mini 254
BeSt 240
[ Show more ]
Killer 217
EffOrt 160
ToSsGirL 97
Hyun 74
Backho 64
Mind 41
PianO 35
Sharp 35
sas.Sziky 17
JYJ16
Icarus 16
Terrorterran 16
zelot 11
sorry 10
soO 10
Bale 9
HiyA 7
Sacsri 6
Dota 2
Gorgc4885
singsing2090
qojqva633
XcaliburYe237
BananaSlamJamma0
Counter-Strike
fl0m2971
zeus570
edward37
Heroes of the Storm
Khaldor159
Other Games
B2W.Neo1028
Sick273
Fuzer 147
XaKoH 90
nookyyy 45
MindelVK16
Organizations
StarCraft 2
WardiTV485
Counter-Strike
PGL143
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• Berry_CruncH200
• StrangeGG 63
• Dystopia_ 1
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
Dota 2
• C_a_k_e 289
League of Legends
• Stunt779
Upcoming Events
IPSL
5h 6m
dxtr13 vs OldBoy
Napoleon vs Doodle
LAN Event
5h 6m
Lambo vs Clem
Scarlett vs TriGGeR
ByuN vs TBD
Zoun vs TBD
BSL 21
7h 6m
Gosudark vs Kyrie
Gypsy vs OyAji
UltrA vs Radley
Dandy vs Ptak
Replay Cast
10h 6m
Sparkling Tuna Cup
21h 6m
WardiTV Korean Royale
23h 6m
LAN Event
1d 2h
IPSL
1d 5h
JDConan vs WIZARD
WolFix vs Cross
BSL 21
1d 7h
spx vs rasowy
HBO vs KameZerg
Cross vs Razz
dxtr13 vs ZZZero
Replay Cast
1d 20h
[ Show More ]
Wardi Open
1d 23h
WardiTV Korean Royale
2 days
Replay Cast
3 days
Kung Fu Cup
3 days
Classic vs Solar
herO vs Cure
Reynor vs GuMiho
ByuN vs ShoWTimE
Tenacious Turtle Tussle
4 days
The PondCast
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
Solar vs Zoun
MaxPax vs Bunny
Kung Fu Cup
4 days
WardiTV Korean Royale
4 days
RSL Revival
5 days
Classic vs Creator
Cure vs TriGGeR
Kung Fu Cup
5 days
CranKy Ducklings
6 days
RSL Revival
6 days
herO vs Gerald
ByuN vs SHIN
Kung Fu Cup
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 21 Points
SC4ALL: StarCraft II
Eternal Conflict S1

Ongoing

C-Race Season 1
IPSL Winter 2025-26
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 4
SOOP Univ League 2025
YSL S2
BSL Season 21
Stellar Fest: Constellation Cup
IEM Chengdu 2025
PGL Masters Bucharest 2025
Thunderpick World Champ.
CS Asia Championships 2025
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual

Upcoming

SLON Tour Season 2
BSL 21 Non-Korean Championship
Acropolis #4
IPSL Spring 2026
HSC XXVIII
RSL Offline Finals
WardiTV 2025
RSL Revival: Season 3
META Madness #9
BLAST Bounty Winter 2026: Closed Qualifier
eXTREMESLAND 2025
ESL Impact League Season 8
SL Budapest Major 2025
BLAST Rivals Fall 2025
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 © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.