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Hi. Im Ethan_Ahn from ThisIsGame Editor. You guys like the WCS system?
We think that there are considerable problems. Thank you for reading this article.
original url - http://www.thisisgame.com/board/view.php?category=13438&id=1501551
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6FSxKMT.jpg)
On April 3rd, WCS 2013 were announced. 2013 WCS Korea Season 1 Premier League, previously known as Code S, were started by the following day, Most Korean players have decided which region they are going to play and WCS NA & EU are about to start soon.
The big picture toward WCS Global Final has been drawn already. However, there have been other voices of concern from e-sports professionals in Korea.
The absence of administration activities from Blizzard Korea
Korean SC2 pro-gamers have been confused while they were choosing the region. According to Blizzard announcement on 3rd, players could change the region after Season 1 is over. However, what Blizzard Korea told to eSF and KeSPA was different - Korean SC2 pro-gamers need to choose the region until 9th. Those of whom are not selecting the region voluntarily until 9th are automatically locked in WCS Korea as well.
In addition, Code S players for WCS Korea Season 1 could change the region after the season is over while Code A (Challenge League) & B (Qualifier) players are locked in Korea.
Those are different from what Blizzard announced on the 3rd because Blizzard Korea understood Challenge League and Qualifier for Season 1 as the events to decide whom will be Premier League for Season 2. The title of the event is Season 1, but actually it is all about Season 2.
All SC2 pro-teams and players rose up because they think they all could change the region when the Season 1 is over. Finally, Blizzard Korea had emergency meeting at 9:00AM on the 9th and corrected their previous announcement as all Korean players could change their region after Season 1 is over.
It wasn’t just a happening. Anxiety and fear from Korean SC2 pro-gamers were more than just serious. A pro-gamer said “I was worrying and felt anxiety after I heard the region regulation. It is fortune that I could choose a region after the season is over, but it gives me a hollow smile after I have been through a couple of days with worrying without any information about the WCS NA & EU.”
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8kHjcmx.jpg)
One more issue, we would like to point out is that the new regulation has been informed to teams in eSF and KeSPA only while players in abroad teams were excluded. Sage of ROOT Gaming needed to contact Blizzard Korea by himself to hear about the region issue.
For whom the region changing right
According to the current league system, Challenge & Qualifier events will be held after the starting of Premier league. Therefore, even if you change the region and keep win games from Season 2 Qualifier, you can compete in Premier League from Season 3, not from Season 2. The current region changing right is for Code B players or players who are within top 5 in each region with lots of points. Those who have been lost at Qualifier should choose a region that is the least competitive to advance into Premier League easily.
On the other hand, it is possible that Korean players who have lots points in NA or EU could choose Korea because of tax they need to pay and the cost to stay.
While they need to pay only 4% tax for their prize money, they need to pay 30 to 40% tax in NA or EU. Korean players in abroad team don’t have to worry about the cost to stay in NA or EU while MVP & Nestea from LG-IM concern about the cost to stay.
What are the meanings of Challenge and Qualifier league for Season 3?
If you pay attention on the schedule for 2013 WCS events, you could find that the Challenge and Qualifier league for Season 3 could possibly have no meanings at all. Because 1) all points accumulated during 2013 season will be expired and 2) only players who advance to Season 3 Premier league could play for the Season 3 Final, what Challenge and Qualifier league for Season 3 mean to other players?
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/E8lkndy.jpg)
▲This Year WCS Korea System
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/udd1ASo.jpg)
▲ WCS NA System
It is caused because WCS adopted GSL system from the bottom. Nothing has been announced about Season 2 from WCS NA & EU, but it is highly likely they will adopt the same system as Korea because of WCS points.
Unlike Premier League, League system for Challenge League could be different from each. If Korea distribute points based on the rank in Challenge League round 1,2,3, NA &EU need to follow the same rule to stop making confusion.
The most important issue is WCS Points System, which Blizzard has been no words about it so far.
Suggesting an alternative
Thisisgame e-sports team has analyzed WCS System with hearing from pro-gamers, teams and media since Blizzard announced. And we ended up with finding a few issues above. Then how to improve the current WCS System?
First of all, WCS System for each region is needed to modify. Right now, Premier League is held before Challenge & Qualifier event. We suggest that Qualifier event is needed to be held first and Challenge League for the second. Premier League should be the last.
It helps to divide each season much clearly and make organizing points for the season easier. It allows a player who keeps winning from Qualifier event and becomes the champion of the season as well.
This modification should be adopted from Season 2. Let’s keep points of top 8 players from Premier League Season 1 and seed as well as the remaining players in Challenge League and apply the modification from Season 2. By doing so, everything will work fine in the way that everyone are satisfying.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/fpPjfN4.jpg)
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China6328 Posts
Yea especially the region lock system might need some clarification ASAP.
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I suggest to ditch all that layered, classified system. Sure high-ranked players from previous edition should be seeded, everyone else should have a shot at winning in every season. No more freaking division, only qualifiers-->main tournament --->regional etc
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It's such a mess, blizzard are working like an amateur company, thats pretty funny to watch.
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Pandemona
Charlie Sheens House51478 Posts
Yes i think the main issue here is, Blizzard have no idea how to make a structured system like this, and didn't ask for anyone's help. Thus, we get a completely messed up system. They needed to get ESL/MLG/GSL together and discuss how they were going to structure the tournament, not just go. Here, this is how this works, you have no choice. Because then you get 100000000000000000000000 nerds raging and Pro players thinking, WTF. And worst of all for me, the best country for Esports loses out as all there home grown players run off to NA/EU tournaments to compete for easy money and ranking points ;_;
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There was a lot of confusion with the region lock. Code S has always started before Code A. Time for a change now? Seems good to me
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Great post, I hope the system will change as right now It's just not good enough.
This is the OP's twitter https://twitter.com/Ethan_Ahn he always tweets relevant korean news if you want to follow him.
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Definitely put together a little too quickly - information is too tough to come by for NA/EU, and the issues raised by Catz, TB, and others absolutely makes me think that this was done by Blizzard without enough time spent on the system. The GSL format is a bit of a no brainer, they just said "That works, that is awesome, let's use that" without figuring out how to do that effectively in regions which do not have any similar system.
Hopefully they take advantage of the expertise of their recently acquired IPL staff, and let them leverage the even greater experience at Gom. There are concerns from players, from coaches, from team owners, and now even from the Korean eSports media. They need to get out in front of this and fix it.
On April 11 2013 17:34 Insoleet wrote:
It's such a mess, blizzard are working like an amateur company, thats pretty funny to watch.
Well, Blizzard is an amateur company when it comes to running leagues and tournaments. Which is why I hope they lean more on the experience they just bought and that they are partnered with.
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Hope Blizzard can have the Games rebroadcasted at better hours next day. even though its great its now free and 720p doesnt change fact that most of us cant watch taht because of school or work. gsl did this couple times and it was great
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On April 11 2013 17:24 EthanAhn wrote:
Suggesting an alternative
Thisisgame e-sports team has analyzed WCS System with hearing from pro-gamers, teams and media since Blizzard announced. And we ended up with finding a few issues above. Then how to improve the current WCS System?
First of all, WCS System for each region is needed to modify. Right now, Premier League is held before Challenge & Qualifier event. We suggest that Qualifier event is needed to be held first and Challenge League for the second. Premier League should be the last.
It helps to divide each season much clearly and make organizing points for the season easier. It allows a player who keeps winning from Qualifier event and becomes the champion of the season as well.
This modification should be adopted from Season 2. Let’s keep points of top 8 players from Premier League Season 1 and seed as well as the remaining players in Challenge League and apply the modification from Season 2. By doing so, everything will work fine in the way that everyone are satisfying.
GSL Code S/Premier league takes 8 weeks, there is not enough time to fit in qualifers and challenger league before that - so what you proposed system would not work with 4 seasons + global finals.
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Pretty good point. Qualifier -> Challenger -> Premier League. Makes more sense than having a Qualifier in season 1 to qualify you for Season 2's Premier.
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On April 11 2013 19:26 Grubby wrote:
Pretty good point. Qualifier -> Challenger -> Premier League. Makes more sense than having a Qualifier in season 1 to qualify you for Season 2's Premier.
True, that is the best way. GSL system has always been really weird. Best solution is Qualifier -> Challenger -> Premier League. It makes best hype and stories. Qualifier and challenger can be done pretty fast way and then give premier tournament more space.
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Though it's a good point about the qualifiers in season 3 being seemingly meaningless, I still think the major issue with WCS is the way it so favors EU/US teams who have invested in Korean players. The main problems with WCS stem from these teams choosing to prioritize their short term gain over the viability of the US player community. Who of course is a a major reason for why they can exist in the first place.
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On April 11 2013 19:29 Relaaja wrote:Show nested quote +On April 11 2013 19:26 Grubby wrote:
Pretty good point. Qualifier -> Challenger -> Premier League. Makes more sense than having a Qualifier in season 1 to qualify you for Season 2's Premier. True, that is the best way. GSL system has always been really weird. Best solution is Qualifier -> Challenger -> Premier League. It makes best hype and stories. Qualifier and challenger can be done pretty fast way and then give premier tournament more space.
Qualifiers take 1 week.
Code A takes 3 weeks.
Code S takes 8 weeks ( with 3 days of broadcast per week )
Global finals 1 week.
Multiply that for 4 seasons, and the year is completely full without a single break. And there is no room for blizzcon either.
The only way to accomplish Qualifier -.> Challenger - Premier in one season, with 3 broadcasts per week, would be make CodeS or CodeA worse, or lessen the number of seasons per year.
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Seems Blizzard was pretty tight-lipped about WCS information despite the pros needing to know about it ASAP. From what I've read recently about WCS, it has become a mess that only continues to entangle further and further into a confusing mix of opinions and information.
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If you pay attention on the schedule for 2013 WCS events, you could find that the Challenge and Qualifier league for Season 3 could possibly have no meanings at all. Because 1) all points accumulated during 2013 season will be expired and 2) only players who advance to Season 3 Premier league could play for the Season 3 Final, what Challenge and Qualifier league for Season 3 mean to other players?
This is a bit confusing. Why is there this idea that Code A results for season 3 don't mean anything? This is how the GSL has always worked, Code A feeds into Code S for next season. Code A results from season 3 should feed into Code A & S for season 1 2014, like it would in GSL.
The way I see it, this format is proven to work, and since the GSL adopted it, the quality of competition improved tremendously. We now only have truly the best players in Code S and the games are always amazing, season after season.
With NA & EU, since they're starting from scratch with invites, the first season will obviously not be the best, but after that everything should settle, and after a few seasons, just like the GSL, the best players will rise to the premier league and stay there.
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On April 11 2013 19:36 m0ck wrote:
Though it's a good point about the qualifiers in season 3 being seemingly meaningless, I still think the major issue with WCS is the way it so favors EU/US teams who have invested in Korean players. The main problems with WCS stem from these teams choosing to prioritize their short term gain over the viability of the US player community. Who of course is a a major reason for why they can exist in the first place.
Why is it meaningless? The qualifiers are fore Code A, and Code A is played for next season. If you do well in Code A for season 3, it means you get into Code S for season 1 2014, how is that meaningless?
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Getting bit sick of all this complaining about lack of information. Only reason why they complain is that they want to exploit the system and play in EU and US without living there.
Really if you Korean and living in Korea you choose WCS Korea.
But since blizz brain can't think properly players/team saw opportunity to exploit the system and wanted details how it would work out, it's that simple
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I think it is a bit early to be judging the WCS's feasibility, but I will say that I enjoyed the title of the thread very much.
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On April 12 2013 02:59 sitromit wrote:Show nested quote +On April 11 2013 19:36 m0ck wrote:
Though it's a good point about the qualifiers in season 3 being seemingly meaningless, I still think the major issue with WCS is the way it so favors EU/US teams who have invested in Korean players. The main problems with WCS stem from these teams choosing to prioritize their short term gain over the viability of the US player community. Who of course is a a major reason for why they can exist in the first place. Why is it meaningless? The qualifiers are fore Code A, and Code A is played for next season. If you do well in Code A for season 3, it means you get into Code S for season 1 2014, how is that meaningless?
Actually this brings up an interesting point - will they schedule last seasons CodeA and Qualifiers so people who will switch regions in 2014 can already participate in a new region?
This way they could have a chance at starting in CodeS of the region they choose in 2014 already at season 1.
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EPT
