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this isn't a knock on anything, because any prize for any event is awesome, but isn't it funny how pretty much every bw player will jump through hoops for a little money.
think about it.. 1st place for SC2GG Star League is $250, let's say that qualifying for the ladder takes ~100 games, average game length 15 mins, so that's around 25 hours strictly of playing, not even counting finding games, etc. if that's all it took to get $250 then I'd say it's a pretty good return on investment (depending on your age I guess) - $10/hour , but then there's the final tournament and all this other crap so really you end up spending like 100 hours of your life to maybe not even get 250, or anything.
The prize for the top player will equate to getting paid $2.50 an hour. Might as well go work at McDonalds?
But a tournament like SCL or whatever brings out the very best players (most of em) for even such a small amount. Why do they do it if it's such a small return on the time invested?
are bw players not rational? or is it the love of the game?
 
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I should go work at McDonalds instead of browsing Teamliquid in my spare time
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Calgary25954 Posts
On March 19 2009 01:21 Xeris wrote:
are bw players not rational? or is it the love of the game? Is this a serious or rhetorical question?
So basically your question is why do people not extract the maximum monetary value from every moment of their existence?
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Korea (South)11568 Posts
i used to jump on any chance to play in a tournament for money. now I don't really care about the money since I started playing poker.
I think it brings out the better players, which lets players of lesser skill get a chance to play with top foreigners which can be quite an experience.
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Korea (South)11568 Posts
On March 19 2009 01:24 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On March 19 2009 01:21 Xeris wrote:
are bw players not rational? or is it the love of the game? Is this a serious or rhetorical question? So basically your question is why do people not extract the maximum monetary value from every moment of their existence?
I know this guy who is graduating at a commerce school in may, who literally thinks about everything he's doing and the opportunity cost. He day trades, and goes to school. He will stop hanging out with his friends because he could instead be making a couple hundred of dollars messing with his portfolio. There are people who try to extract the maximum monetary value at any given time.
I doubt many people are like him though.
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Braavos36362 Posts
it's pretty obvious, bw players love playing bw and they are looking for excuses to mass play it.
if you're going to apply this sort of logic to recreational activities, why do we do anything then? i watch tv but get $0 thats a $0 per hour return, are people rational!??!
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A pretty stupid question, I mean... people play it for fun for even 0$ a day. It's not like even the pros are divas who only play 2 games a week with the most special players. They play it for fun. If they get some money for their troubles, they'll earn some money and develop their skills in playing competitively. It's also thrilling to play for something that actually matters.
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You seemed to have nailed it spot on from an ECONOMICAL perspective. But that's the only perspective you chosen to view the prize money through.
Keep in mind the 250$ could also equate to something much more depending on where the winner comes from (due to exchange rates). $250 USD might not seem like a lot to an American or Canadian player, but to a player from another country, 250$ USD could easily translate into a much more lump sum. But that's just the economical perspective as mentioned.
Some players enjoy BW for what it is - a recreational pasttime. Others enjoy it for the competition and not everyone is motivated by money to play BW. Some players may be, but there is nothing wrong with that at all - if they win some prize for doing something they enjoy, great. If they don't, that's okay too.
Again, the prize money may only add a little extrinsic benefit to what some players arguably want more from winning SC2GG StarLeague and other ladders like it - recognition. For an unknown player seeking some recognition (which they may or may not value more than the prize money itself) this is a great opportunity to showcase their talents and let their skills be known to others.
But like you said, if your thought process in regards to playing this ladder competitively is to reach the money - then maybe there are other plausible alternatives like working at McD's. But to the casual gamer and the like who are not interested in the prize money rather the recognition or the love of competition, then nothing else comes close 
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United States5770 Posts
You got $0 from writing this blog, and judging by the length it probably took you over five minutes.
Are you rational?
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THE REAL QUESTION IS.... IS YOUR MOTHER RATIONAL DURAN?! IS SHE?!?!?!
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The opportunity for money just spices up something they wanted to do anyways.
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I think its because, we play practice games for no money at all. We will jump through hoops to get the fame that comes with the 250$. We want the "omg ur so cool you won that tournament worth 250!!" Because we all know that a tour worth any money is better then a tour worth no money.
So being able to say "hey I won that" is awesome. It gives you a greater high then just normally playing practice games. So to sum up my mini-rant, its cuz we like the fame that comes from winning a tournament worth money, not so much the money itself, altho the money is a nice bonus.
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how do you come up with 100 hours?
25 hours for the ladder games.
then in the final tourney its 4 series (top16,top8,top4,final)
which consists of 3+3+3+5(?) games so 14 games.
14games*15 minutes = 210 minutes = 3,5 hours.
so overall it would be 25+3,5 hours = 28,5 hours
YOu can say you waste time finding games and waiting for opponent @ final tour and stuff but i dont think thats more than 4 hours total.
So in the end you have about 32 hours and not 100 hours.
How you get 100?
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If anything prizes undermine instrinsic motivation to play bw through the process of overjustification, which also explains why players like Savior and Nada can reach huge slumps after big achievements.
People are not doing it for the money, these prizes are only appealing to the players who are younger than 15.
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I agree with what Chosen said.
Not that it is even a remote possibility, but winning an event like the sc2gg starleague, or even making the top 16 for that matter, would be the highlight of my sc career easily. Getting recognition from the community that many of us have been active members of for many years is worth quite a bit.
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On March 19 2009 01:24 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On March 19 2009 01:21 Xeris wrote:
are bw players not rational? or is it the love of the game? Is this a serious or rhetorical question? So basically your question is why do people not extract the maximum monetary value from every moment of their existence?
Really, I don't think this is even blog worthy lol
It's pretty obvious it's a love of the game, and that's just a little bonus. I don't think most people are playing with intention of getting any kind of income from a game.
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If I got paid to do whatever I love to do as my job, I would be a happy man
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it was kind of rhetorical , just some random thought I had before i went out to get breakfast. chill.
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Because Starcraft isn't to make money it's to have fun and the money is simply icing on the cake.
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On March 19 2009 01:56 Typho0n wrote:
If I got paid to do whatever I love to do as my job, I would be a happy man
You would not be so happy if they would pay you very little money ( barely able to survive amount).
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EPT
