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StarCraft 28 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

Addressing Criticisms of the New WCS System

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Highlights of what's changed (for those interested in the full breakdown go here):

-WCS Tournament structure: in HOTS Blizzard ran its own Premier WCS tournaments in the foreign scene, with the highest prize money and WCS points available within that structure--allocating points to non-Blizzard events based only on the size of their prize pool.  In the new system Blizzard no longer runs WCS tournaments itself, instead providing finances to other organizers based on their compliance with WCS rules.  In Korea the only change is the number of Premier tournaments, as there are two GSL and SSL events instead of three each in 2015 (which is still more than just the three GSL's of 2013-14)--additional prize money was also pumped into the Korean scene

-Regional restrictions: the soft passport lock on Koreans (instituted for the 2015 season) became a harder lock, leaving only HydraPolt, and viOLet still participating (all of them in the US)--the change resulted in JaedongForGG, and StarDust returning to Korea. We now know that the reason for the stronger passport restriction came not from Blizzard but from community feedback (where the majority wanted a full passport lock rather than what we have now)

The biggest complaints about the current system--virtually the only complaints--relate to the impact on Koreans.  These are largely emotional reactions so we'll have to unpack them (you can watch ZombieGrub break down as she admits she's only really interested in Koreans).  The arguments:

1) Everything should be best-on-best

The argument here is an objection to Koreans being pushed out of the foreign scene via the new passport restrictions (depending on the person making the argument, either the restrictions should be unchanged from last year or the new system's restrictions are applied too broadly). This is echoed by all the luminaries who have complained about the system--from Stuchiu (Team Liquid), to TotalBiscuit, to Thorin, to ReDeYe (it's a little funny that the middle two have been largely absent from the scene for quite some time).  

This is a bizarre argument, and one ReDeYe has admitted makes no sense but continues to repeat anyway, as you'll see via the link above--if all that matters is best-on-best, then the GSL and SSL are the only tournaments that count. By extension, Koreans who can't make it there aren't accomplishing anything elsewhere by this logic, as IEM and DreamHacks are typically won by Koreans incapable of making runs in Korea, ergo these events have never been best-on-best. It's that simple.

I believe those who espouse this opinion would like to see foreigners compete with Koreans--unfortunately that's pointless given the current state of the foreign scene (part-time players do not beat full-time players--not in StarCraft or in anything else).  For the foreign scene to thrive foreign players need the opportunity to succeed and that's what the new system provides

2) The starving Korean

This narrative comes from all those mentioned above, as well as ZombieGrub, Wolf, and others--what about the mid-tier Koreans who can't make it in the new system?  What's bizarre about this sentiment is that it ignores its corollary: what about the mid-tier foreigners? The unstated implication is that Koreans somehow deserve to make a living at SC2.  

Beyond the problems in logic with this argument, there are also facts running against it--KeSPA recently published the average salary for its players, which is higher than the average household income in Korea. Admittedly the way they calculated it is problematic and certainly there's exploitation going on, but the point remains that good players in Korea make plenty of money just on salary--there's no comparable in the foreign scene (despite some unfortunate uninformed comments made by TotalBiscuit and Thorin on the subject, see the links above).  

That incentive (a good income) isn't going away in Korea, so there will always be new blood pumped into the scene to take advantage of it (particularly given the economic problems for youth in Korea).  While B-teamers may indeed disappear, there will be new B-teamers to replace them. These are self-evident problems with this argument, but again I think it's made from an emotional place--from a fear of what might happen to players they know and to the scene they want to support. To illustrate how devastating the impact of Koreans on foreigners is in terms of winnings, I've included a graph about earnings in the larger foreign events so you can see how it's changed in LOTV (the graph shows the percentage of money that went to foreigners):

 

SC2%2Bgraph.png

 

3) Foreigners need to play on the Korean ladder to get better

This argument is brought up less (Stuchiu and TotalBiscuit spend time on it), but it's an Article of Faith for those in this camp so let's look at it (Stuchiu, link above): "The fastest way to improve as a player is to constantly play against better players over and over and Korea has by far the most depth of any server—that’s inarguable. It’s a great tool for anyone to practice on and one of the reasons as to why Koreans are always so sharp. With the lock down, players that had access to such a tool will naturally devolve."

There's a fundamental problem with this argument (which apparently is 'inarguable'): the evidence actually indicates the opposite--the best foreigners play in Europe, where the ping to Korea is unplayable.  Rather than Europeans going to Korea and becoming the best, instead you see Europeans go to Korea when they are already the best.

4) People will miss seeing Koreans in-person at events

This argument is really about viewership and is made by virtually everyone above; it's another opinion that is at odds with the facts.  In 2014 we saw the most Koreans ever in the WCS system--literally dozens--and it remains the low point for SC2 viewership (see below). Until the changes in 2015, StarCraft was in viewer free-fall--this only changed with the new rule set where fans could see foreigners do well (via the initial passport change in 2015--see the graph below). One obvious point missed when this discussion comes up is that the most popular foreign region is Europe, which has had the fewest Korean incursions throughout.

 

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One of the interesting elements in all of this is that none of those complaining offer an alternative solution for the foreign scene in WCS (perhaps due to indifference)--nothing concrete has been proposed, which is probably why Blizzard was persuaded to go with stronger passport restrictions this year.  I will echo Destiny's comment about it: "People keep mixing this up. Blizzcon/WCS is supposed to produce the best player in the world, HOWEVER, the top 16 players are not supposed to be the 16 best players in the world, they're supposed to represent the regions they came from. There's a huge difference.  For a lot of people, it's more fun than watching 16 Koreans they don't care about.  College football players are nowhere near as good as NFL, so no one would ever watch them play, right?"  

For those unfamiliar with football who might miss the point here, NCAA (college) football is enormously popular (and profitable), despite being inferior to the NFL in terms of skill.  This is exactly why best-on-best has never been the keystone to viewership in the scene and also why having healthy regions is more important than floating mid-tier Koreans who fall out of the GSL/SSL.

The relative success of the system (Waxangel) is even being acknowledged: "WCS 2016 has overcome significant initial opposition to prove that fans are indeed interested in region-locked events."  This seems inarguable and I'm curious to see what ripples the success of the system (if any) has on its critics.

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