[IGN] StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Scheduled for First Half of 2013 - Page 6

You realize that WC3 is dead only because it's over 10 years old right? Also, last that I heard the viewership for SC2 was going down as less people play the game. Most of the people that watch SC2 play SC2 and SC2 isn't a very spectator friendly nor fun game to watch compared to a MOBA game.

SC2 isn't as big as it used to be and it's popularity will only continue to go down with only the BW players and some SC2 players watching the pro games while the majority watch the much more fun LoL and DOTA matches.

where in the world did you hear viewership is going down? Husky and HD post a video every few days and I see thousands of views happening. SC2 is still a big game because of the new variety of units in HotS and eventually LotV (Legacy of the Void). SC2 players aren't playing multiplayer as much because it is a huge learning curve and it is hard to learn. Look at custom games, there are millions of people playing those, but not professionally.

CS Pre-Source is a game thats 9 years old that's still very much alive. Brood War is a game that is 10+ years old that was alive until OSL/KeSPA players transitioned onto SC2 with a Hybrid league.

Age of a game has nothing to do with a game being dead or alive.

Just because there are LESS players playing the game doesn't mean lower viewerships. You'd be surprised how many people are involved with the community and don't play the game because they don't have the time for it. Being good at StarCraft requires a lot of practice and time invested into the game.

You are making stuff up saying that SC2 isn't a spectator friendly game. You obviously don't know what you're talking about because a large portion of viewers don't even play the game, they watch it because it's fun to watch. Some people even prefer watching SC than playing the game. There are also a lot of subscribed streams (MLG, NASL, GSL, OSL, etc) each having their own way of a subscribed stream. There is a free stream, some purely PPV, some purely FREE.

http://esfiworld.com/news/nasl-s3-finals-push-sc2-earnings-over-5m
http://www.d-esports.com/5499/ipl-4-sets-record-for-highest-viewer-count/
http://sc2earnings.com/?year=2012

Just because you don't like watching SC2 doesn't mean everybody else dislikes watching it. Everybody has their own taste in what game is considered 'entertaining' or 'spectator friendly.' If you watch quality casted games hosted by known casters (for example: Artosis, Tasteless, Apollo, djwheat, day9, and so forth) most of them break it down into little pieces.

In Europe, eSports is HUGE over there especially with Dreamhack. Bits of the event are broadcasted on national Swedish TV. Not to mention the amount of cash that is flowing in the SC market with sponsors. Intel, Monster Energy, Kingston HyperX, Redbull, Razer, ESET, Kaspersky, etc are ALL in the market.

If SC was such a dying game then why would these companies invest into these tournaments, organizations when they won't receive a ROI because it's a "dead game?".... please stop talking without facts.

As far as player retirements, people come and go. Some players will retire, the "up and comers" will make a name for themselves as many of them have this year. SortOf, JonnyRecco are some of the many.

Australian eSports is starting to rise as well with the uprise of moonglade's performance during the MLG Dallas tournament.

In the end, no game is dead. StarCraft 2, League of Legends, CS... whatever game you're into, their success is contributed towards the topic of E-Sports. Bashing one game does you no good. Don't like the game? Oh well... go support the game you love, but dont bash another game and say that it's dead when it isn't. Quality over Quantity.
Edit: http://www.gomtv.net/gomstage/vod/71293/?set=1&lang= -- check out the crowd. SC2 is dead eh eh eh?
I agree with SC2 being a huge learning curve. That is why some people prefer watching it over playing because they simply don't have the time to get a build down or to maintain their APM. Not playing SC for a couple of days get you out of your groove and you feel like you have to start all over but with determination, it is possible. Just requires a lot of work and training.

As far as custom games, yeah a lot of people play custom games but the arcade is definitely not 100% great as compared to Battle.net 1.0. If your game is up on top then it stays up on top whereas new maps aren't really played as much because it isn't widely known or found. Just a flaw of SC2 Bnet.
Edited by zephiK - 11/8/12 at 11:03pm

SC2 B.NET interface was updated awhile back for custom games and many other maps are getting attention now in comparison to the stagnation caused by the old interface.

I don't have the time to make or read long drawn out posts like you but Brood War has been dead for over 5 years now....same with cs 1.6 both games only had a pro scene which was/is very small.

Also, I was Masters beating GM players as terran and I know for a fact that many of my friends that played (at a master level mind you) have stopped playing due to the poor decision making skills of the two sc2 balance rs not to mention that Koreans have taken over the game (I have nothing against them) and the game has become an who can get carpel tunnel spam fest that isn't about strategy anymore.

SC2 used to have way more viewers and the viewers have gone down since the past year there's no doubting that. The players such as TLO, Idra, Select, QXC, Destiny, and many other US players were the ones that brought in the most views in tournaments now that they're out of the equation for the most part viewership and interest has gone down drastically and will continue to do so as the game becomes even more of an Carpel Tunnel Spam Fast game vs a strategic game such as DOTA or LoL.

Part of the reason why the viewership has dropped and those players that I mentioned have dropped SC2 is because of the money.........SC2 has very little offerings in prize money compared to the big dog games such as DOTA 2 and LoL.

Now SC2 is so boring to watch it's the same standard strategy's every game nothing new going on....same old units and HOTS isn't changing much hence why there isn't as much interest in it as you'd expect.
Edited by Mwarren - 11/8/12 at 11:52pm

sc2 is not dead, not at all. ppl will stop playing for soo manny reasons, and mostly is because of the time required to reach and stay a desire level (league) and keep pushing towards, i really enjoy whatching sc2 matches all day long, and is fun and excitiment to whatch those crazy games (example, squiertle vs mvp game 4 finals)

if for you is now boring thats ok.. there are many as you, but sc2 is not dead

This means we'll probably get it before SC3 comes out.

Right, cause watching how Team A managed to hide in a forest and ganked Team B laning heroes is definitely so much more diverse. I played HoN for over a gear and while it had it;s moment, it's also the same thing every game. Sure, instead of 3 races you have 50 heroes, but then once you chose a hero you build it the same way every time, with maybe 1 or 2 items being picked to counter certain things, while still getting must have base items (hence why they are called base).

Thing is while what Valve and RIOT are doing is smart, the big money prizes come directly from developers pumping money into tournaments. In contrast SC2 is self-sufficient and tournaments doesn't require Blizzard to shell out 1 mill in prize money to make a splash.

You mention that quite a few times and it's funny, cause in MOBA games people don't play with 100500 APM contantly clicking like idiots. I mean i understand why they are doing it, which doesn't change the fact that effective APM is much smaller that whole APM just as it is in SC2.

Also i personally prefer SC2 cause it offers 1v1 as well as team games, cause when I played HoN nothing was more frustrating than playing pub games and getting every other game people who don't understand what they are doing resulting in a definitive loss. Having the ability to play 1v1 when you alone determine the outcome is a good alternative to team games. Sure playing MOBA games with a preset team is whole other ballgame and is much more enjoyable.

Judging from your posts in general, it seems that you are more into MOBA games than SC2, which is fine, seems like your taste switches, after all it's 2 completely different genres. Why do you need to justify you switch with claiming SC2 being bad? And is it is, please name any other RTS game that is better than SC2 rigth now, cause there are none.

I've watched more SC2 then LoL games, so I will probably sound a bit ignorant. But I think the diversity in LoL is limited to the choice of heroes. As Nowyn stated. After that, what the champion does is static. And team dynamics aren't that wildly fluctuating. Can someone tell me if the overall strategy differs more then deciding to gank early or not and to go for snowball items yes or no?

It's clear you can admire a player's skill, which you can do in any e-sport. MOBAs do have the team play thing op top of that. Which is a plus.
Blizzard could easily throw money at tournaments. I'm surprised they don't. I mean, don't tell me they have less money then Riot

It still isn't a perfect system at all. I go in Snipers Pro mod and sit there for like 10 minutes without a game happening and it is featured.
Brood War hasn't been dead lol. Just because it isn't very active in the states doesn't mean that it's dead. OSL is huge in South Korea, OSL doesn't attract many foreign viewers, it's more of an local thing. But now that OSL is expanding onto SC2 more, it is starting to attract foreign viewers including a English stream. CS 1.6 hasn't been dead; last year, it was featured at DreamHack and other various events.

http://store.steampowered.com/stats according to Steam Stats at this time, it is the 3rd most played game. Game is obviously not dead, a game doesn't have to have competition to declare whether or not a game is "dead." Most people still prefer 1.6 over Source and Global Offensive.

The game isn't about strategy? SC is a game based on the fundamentals of: decision making, micro, macro, knowing builds and how to execute as well as how to counter and prepare for it. As far as health problems, it isn't just exclusive to gamers, it's exclusive to everybody. There are plenty of pro gamers in SC who don't get affected by health problems because they are aware of it and take precautions to prevent it.

SC2 having more viewers in the past? Proof? SC2 is at it's peak point and constantly grows. As I mentioned before about IPL breaking record viewers.

IdrA out of the equation? Definitely not. Most koreans continue to notice him as a top foreigner player and continues to remain as one of the highest earning players with a HUGE fan base. IdrA 2-0'd Grubby at MLG Dallas as well as taking a game off of TaeJa with a possible 2-0 but because of Blizzard';s new patch having a larva bug causing him to not be able to build a new hatch.

TLO: Most hard working player and trains in Korea. Very relevant still, won 2GD Invitational
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/ASUS_ROG_The_GD_Invitational#Group_Stage
http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/2012_DreamHack_Open/Bucharest#Group_Stage_.231_.28Ro64.29
able to get to the playoffs bracket before being taken down by Nerchio.

QXC: No comment... never considered a top contender as a top foreigner. Nice guy.

Destiny: He is never a top player, if anything he is an controversial player. He doesn't even play SC2 all the time, been playing LoL, DayZ. He shouldn't even be considered there because he was NEVER EVER considered a top foreigner.

Select: Retired to go back to his original roots, DOTA.

.... sheth taking a game off the OSL champion, WCS Asia champion, 4th place GSL Code S (before being taken down by Mvp) Rain and almost having the second game to 2-0 him.

Naniwa (who you failed to mention) two times GSL Code S Ro8, beating Flash 2-1 and then 4-3 in the second series (extended) being two rax'd by Flash on Tal'damir which isn't played very much nowadays.

Stephano.. huge name as a top foreigner and is the top foreigner.

You failed to mention all these players but yet you have the audacity to mention Destiny, Select? what a joke. You are obviously out of the scene for awhile, don't make stuff out of your a** when you fail to prove the facts.

Prize pool doesn't mean anything. GSL Code S has the same prize pool of $48K and is the league known for it's highest amount of production and quality of games. The reason why LoL has so many viewers is because it is a free-to-play game and is advertised more within the LoL client. DOTA2... well because it's a Valve title and has a lot of hype within the community. There are more SC2 tournaments than LoL or DOTA2.

SC2 has tournaments every weekend pretty much. http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Main_Page
Lone Star Clash 2
> 10 Nov
< 11 Nov

WCS World Championship
> 17 Nov
< 18 Nov

IEM Singapore
> 22 Nov
< 25 Nov

2012 DreamHack Winter
> 22 Nov
< 25 Nov

IPL Season 5
> 29 Nov
< 02 Dec

WCG 2012
> 29 Nov
< 02 Dec

Not to mention, you mention prize pool. $1M is divided by the team. Not everybody gets the same amount, yes it is probably more than placing first at a SC2 event. But that portion is also taken from their sponsors depending on their contract.

http://sc2earnings.com/player/514/jung-yoon-jong
$68K in <6 months and more to come as he is attending WCS.

In the end, all of these games are eSports calling a game dead is nonsense. It is putting eSports on the map. Claiming one game dead just looks bad when it isn't.
There is room for SC2 and LoL. There is no rule saying there can be only one game and that's it.

Sports: Baseball, Basketball, Golfing, Soccer, Football, Hockey........ they are all there. No one in U.S. claims soccer is dead because it is less popular here than international countries. Just stop being a child and saying a game is dead because it has less viewers and that you personally don't like it. People like it, just not you. Just like how those people probably dislike watching LoL. Support the game you love, don't bash other games. Just wish them the best of luck and in the end, it will put eSports bigger on the map.
Edited by zephiK - 11/9/12 at 9:07am