EPT![[image loading]](/staff/Plexa/Serious_Business/seriousartcover.jpg)
Serious Business
by NeverGG
TeamLiquid: Final Edits
The Korean StarCraft scene has a problem.
It began with a slow crawl; notices stuck to the walls of the backstage rooms at OGN's studios and a sudden down turn in certain trends which had ignited the passion of fans from around the world.
Now it's in your face, printed in bold type across the pages of Korean websites such as the hub of all things Esports; Fomos.co.kr. It seems that a week cannot go by recently without another story dedicated to how a player has failed to abide by the stringent new guidelines imposed upon them by the Esports governing body Kespa.
Yet, it is merely the tip of a very large and pervasive iceberg.
Steps had been made since April of 2008 to make StarCraft more accessible to the casual viewer. Those who watched from home or dropped by the live events at Yongsan and LOOX could now engage with the playful and mischevious personalities of Shogun and his 'ancestor' Bunkie. These mascots handed out free gifts such as keychains and Christmas themed stationary to the gathered fans. They made children's faces light up with a simple candy or dance and even the stoniest of older male fans played along with their antics.
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~ Love him or hate him, Bunkie brought a new energy to the live events. ~
SKT1 decorated the benches behind which their team sat with rainbow colored signs. Christmas in particular led to an influx of silly hats and sillier behaviour from the team who had succeeded in turning around their negative public image to one of generousity and pure entertainment.
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~ SKT1's decorations have become noticably more subdued. ~
Firebathero (Lee Sungeun) enthralled and appalled fans in equal measures as he divided the netizens of Korea and abroad with his outrageous dances and inciteful behaviour that highlighted a self-fabricated rivalry between himself and Ma Jaeyoon (SaviOr.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLSTKkaLwUA&NR=1
~ Firebathero polarizes the StarCrafting community with his bold moves. ~
~ Firebathero polarizes the StarCrafting community with his bold moves. ~
Even the shyest of players became gods of confidence and cockiness as they strode from the booths to deliver a cutting gesture or, in the case of the 2v2 teams some hilariously well co-ordinated ceremonies that left the commentators and fans alike reeling with laughter and surprise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdOyUGCUZRo&feature=related
~ Various spirited ceremonies from days gone by. ~
~ Various spirited ceremonies from days gone by. ~
But those days have come to an end.
First it was Ruby (Min Chanki) and his forfeit loss against KTF's newcomer Hoejja. The successor of the undisputed king of mistakes Son Chanwoong (BackHo.) whose 'ziziyo' retort has become the stuff of legend within the StarCraft community, Ruby was penalized in a move that many fans called un-necessarily harsh.
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~ Min Chanki - Ruby; Now headed for Air Force ACE. ~
'I can understand them limiting it to a few options. What I don't get why they don't allow the most common ones, including ww.
Also, wouldn't a warning be enough? Seriously - he typed ww - followed by gg. Just a mistake - no one got hurt. Even from an admins perspective this is just a bit to severe.' (Doso - Teamliquid.net)
'Instead of focusing on issues that actually require attention, KeSPA occupies itself with pointless BS like this? Djzs christ, it's a miracle Korean e-sports actually survived for so long with such a lame governing body.'
(foeffa - Teamliquid.net)
As if to cement the concerns of the fans over Kespa's increasingly aggressive application of rules such as these it was then Leta (Shin Sangmoon) who bore the brunt of the new stipulations. A single keystroke cost him his match against STX Soul's Kim Kyuhyun (Kal) during week four of Proleague's fourth round. The netizens of Korea were outraged by the seemingly random injustice of Leta being penalized for an equipment malfunction and the subsequent ignorance towards the issue raised in the post-match period.
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~ Leta - the second gamer to earn himself a forfeit loss. ~
"When they made the rules I knew something like this would happen... rules are rules but seriously..."
"Since when were they so uptight about sticking to the rules that they lost their common sense?"
"e-sports is fucked."
(Translated credited to konadora - Teamliquid.net)
Along with the massive restraint now imposed upon ceremonies which has led to countless weeks of dumbed down bowing and stoic faces amongst the teams who had begun to introduce so many measures to make StarCraft more entertaining and a showcase for the positivity and enjoyment to be gained from participating in and watching professional esporting events - is StarCraft becoming far too serious for it's own good?
You may ask yourself - with StarCraft 2 looming upon the horizon, does this new approach even matter? For those fans who dedicate themselves whole heartedly to deriving happiness from the reactions of the players and the variety of the events they can watch this new somber attitude towards StarCraft means everything.
This is not to say that all the current problems stem from the strict enforcement of Kespa's regulations. Kespa has aspirations of globalising Korean Esports to the degree that it is mainstream and more comprehensibly linked with that of foreign countries that should be lauded.
Also the introduction of rules to promote fair-play such as briefly and discreetly checking players' equipment before matches do not interfer with either the atmosphere or flow of the events themselves. For this Kespa is recognized as having a good comprehension of what is necessary to make sure all the games played during Korean live events are set upon a level playing ground. It is these incidents that seem to be inconsistent with the otherwise wide-spread adherance to the rules that are beginning to promote a negative and heavy-handed view of the organization and the scene in general when they are seen from so many different perspectives. Why, was it acceptable for one player to create a pylon heart in the middle of a map during a MSL match (Much vs Firebathero.) - an act which directly contradicts the new rules on 'offensive' ceremonies from some perspectives without consequence and yet now a solitary misplaced keystroke is enough to land a player in major trouble? The Korean fans seem to demand a level of consistency which has not quite yet been realised.
Without rules, no doubt professional Esports would fall into chaos - but nowadays fans are the ones who question the limits of these regulations and whether when applied so liberally they might make StarCraft more of a chore than a pleasure for all involved.
However, it seems to be an ever increasing trend that the fringe Esports are now gathering larger and larger crowds - whereas the main leagues of StarCraft struggle to find sponsors or to keep the highly opinionated Korean netizen population from tearing them apart upon a weekly basis.
The most vivid example of this (and I have quoted this event several times in direct comparison to the current state of the StarCrafting world.) is Dungeon and Fighter. The latest Sunday evening league 'It's Your Turn!' (a similar set up to the 'Again Special Force.' league.) is now promoted by three separate and influential sponsors - Samsung, G-Market and a Korean gaming networking company. In a time when the OSL and MSL have used MMORPGs as sponsors (which are often looked down upon in comparison to the sponsorship of actual mainstream companies.) the fact that these so-called marginalized Esports can attract solid and regular sponsorship from companies such as the current Proleague sponsor Shinhan Bank is both worrying and encouraging for the promotion of a wider range of Esporting events.
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~ One of many fan-pleasing ceremonies at Dungeon and Fighter League. ~
Unlike StarCraft, Dungeon and Fighter is not bound by excessive adherance to rules. They are observed, but with a large dose of frivolity and simple showmanship that balances out the serious side of the tournaments.
However, all hope is not lost.
The days of seeing Firebathero flailing around on stage to the roar of a thousand fans at Busan and Rock (Ahn Gihyo.) flinging himself off the stage in an impromptu display of testosterone might be over, but there are signs of hope amidst the sober playing field.
The teams, coaches and fans alike keep the spirit of enjoyment through gaming alive during their frequent fan meetings - games are played, gifts are exchanged and discussion with the players is encouraged. Even teams such as STX Soul - who were deemed overly conservative in their approach to their fanbase have opened up and allowed the young people who are so devoted to supporting them to create lasting and positive connections with the team they adore so much.
They may be disappointed and often enraged by the decisions made during matches, but these problems don't seem to be affecting the motivation and passion of the fans who are at the core of StarCraft. The international scene has undergone many changes in the last few months - some motivated by the economic recession and others by the passage of time. Still, as long as there are people who play (and spectate) out of love, determination and force of will the rules are going to be there to be broken. With the advent of StarCraft 2 maybe the Korean scene will recognize as the foreign one is beginning to, that there needs to be a balance between keeping things fair and keeping them entertaining.
(Apologies to anyone who doesn't want to be quoted - just PM me and I'll remove the offending paragraphs.)
Resources:
(Includes links explaining all the full stories behind the rule changes/Ruby and Leta incidents.)
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=92204
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=79737
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=91487
www.youtube.com (all video links.)
www.nevergg.net (all photos.)
