EPTI thought of this while reading NastyMarine's topic about his map (Spinel Valley), and I figured it was important enough to warrant it's own thread. I also was influenced by reading the interview with Rose.Of.Dream (of the OGN mapmaking team) earlier today. Some of the maps in TSL were less-than-interesting (Longinus mainly). I felt this way since the round of 16. Other games I felt like were rehashes of games I'd already seen in OSL and MSL just with less good mechanics and cooler players and a much better event... but a rehash nonetheless.
I think we need is some foreigner-made maps instead of just Korean maps. I don't mean to say throw out all the Korean maps, I just mean introducing 1-2 foreigner maps per season alongside Korean maps in TSL. I am modeling this idea on how OSL and MSL introduce new maps. If TSL has it's own maps that would help it be more than just an imitation of Korean Starleagues. Don't take me wrong, I love TSL. It's a damn GOOD event and it made me extremely happy. My emotions could not be contained as I watched games of IdrA, Brat, JF, Nony, HoRRoR. Now that we (foreigners) have our own Starleague, we should have our own maps.
It'd force new strategies, players wouldn't be able to rely on copying that of Korean progamers. Also, some balance factors are different for foreigners than koreans, foreigner maps could be more tailored to foreigner play.
These maps I think would be best made by having a TeamLiquid mapmaking team consisting of 3-5 already known mapmakers (chosen by TL staff) much like the way OGN seems to do it, and these mapmakers making several maps and then being sent around internally, modified, ideas added and removed, testing with both some kind of testing team and with high-level foreigners and then the mapmakers finally cutting out several maps, leaving only 1-3 per season. While others might suggest a public poll or somesuch with maps to be honest i think that would cause a lot of badly thought out and gimmicky maps to be put through. If some map was that great and made by somebody not on that mapmaking team then I'm sure there could be some way to communicate with the team or something, and maybe consider it. We just need a foreigner Othello, not a foreigner DMZ or Demon's Forest. People who were in TSL RO16 and various clans could be asked to test the maps for balance and various issues. And already existing TSL admins would review the mapmaking team's choices and narrow it down further. Considering TSL's relationship with ICCUP this would probably need to be connected with ICCUP admins as well. Then you'd have the 1-3 maps you'd need, and you could reveal them in time for TSL2 by about a week or so. I believe I heard a rumor somewhere that TSL2 is aimed for August. Well, to get maps going I suggest quick organization of a mapmaking team (if my idea is any good, which it may not be)
Part of increasing the size of the foreign starcraft scene is the need to do something to the slowly dying foreign melee mapmaking scene. This is from someone who several times started working on maps, but never did very much with it, because only 2 people at most would ever play the map (not implying that I would be up to the task of making maps for TSL, there are much better mapmakers on here and on other sites that should be contacted).
I hope that I'm not out of line with this post or just that it's a bad idea.... but I hope that it's a good idea and I would rather see new and interesting games on foreigner maps rather than just games, while beautiful and interesting, that are still people trying to imitate Korean strategies on Korean maps.
This is from someone who absolutely loved TSL, and wants to see TSL2 succeed and TSL become a repeating thing, not just a few times and then fade away into forgottenness.
Again, sorry if I'm out of line with my postcount that is less than some people's APM.
