What happens when someone in code S decides not to compete in the next tournament. Is it an automatic win for the player they are scheduled against for do they find an alternate. Will Idra lose his code S immediately?

thats what they said about the other guys getting free wins

i play custom games vs ai to get cool avatars and **** but when i play them on gsl maps they dont count towards the achievement stuff, anyone know why?

I assume this is at least related to incontrol's "big announcement" coming up. Looks like they (EG w/... Pokerstars?) are going to try to blow the GSL prize pool away and steal all the talent.

I can't honestly see that being the case. It would take a ton of money to "blow away" the GSL payouts. I'm not saying it's not possible, but I can't wrap my mind around that. I mean why would a potential sponsor or group of sponsors spend that much money?

One, they don't need to. MLG has shown that. Spend just enough to make it lucrative for desired pros to play. (See disparity between Halo and SC). In other words, if you can spend 50k and get all of the best NA Players to show, why spend 60k? Sponsors want to see Player A, Player B, etc. Spend the minimum to get them.

Two, pro gaming just isn't that popular here. Not as a spectator sport and the depth of talent just doesn't exist either.

I'm not saying it can't grow but it hasn't yet.

PokerStars could see this as a step towards entry in a legal US online poker presence.
IF that was the case, it would be worth whatever Stars would spend.

The game has sold 4.5 MILLION copies. Watching SC2 online, especially in NA, is wildly popular. People who play SC2 are very likely to gamble. Sony (although they may be exclusive) and their competitors are likely very interested to sponsor it.

This other company called Blizzard will also probably throw lots of $$ at it.

GSL payouts really aren't that high. It wouldn't take much to make it more lucrative to play here.

Look at how well G4 has done. Look at how much ****** women's basketball they have on TV that barely anyone watches but companies still endorse, throw money at and televise. Yes, I realize that there's a caveat there that it makes a company look good with equality, but this would open it up to a brand new demographic.

Now I'm not saying it will be on TV (although I think it will be in the future, at least on some PPV or G4 or something), but making a webcast profitable really can't be that hard. Freaking Dynasty averages 3k viewers on his channel these days. Day9 gets 10-15k. Husky pulls 200+k an upload. There's a lot of $$ sitting out there.

If HuskyStarcraft can make 6 figures (and he definitely does make at least 100k), then why can't a NA league offer at least 100-200k/yr in prizes? Think about how much bigger than Husky they could be (and Husky is about as big as it gets "mainstream" when it comes to games).

Name other games that have similarly sized tournament payouts. I can't think of any.

Cod sold 5.5 ish million copies in 1 day, so what?

Blizzard may get involved, that's fine. Doesn't change the motivation. Look, the reason to throw money at the GSL is because it is lucrative to become the premiere Starcraft 2 league in Korea. They have the best players, more fans and a culture that is more appreciative of gaming. Starcraft matters there in ways that it doesn't here. Plus there's the fear of competition. That doesn't exist here.

I don't know who Dynasty is. Husky probably does make in the low 6 figures/year. 1xx,xxx. That's fair. At least based on the numbers I'm familiar with regarding Youtube partnerships. I'm not exactly sure.

Also the GSL offers almost 2 million in prizes per year right?

-----

EDIT: My mistake. 1.4 million. Source: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/view...opic_id=190136
This might also be of interest. http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/view...opic_id=192214

2nd link sort of proves my point. They don't make that much money, and it won't take much to lure them over here.

Also, just because CoD sold millions of copies and isn't huge isn't erally relevant IMO. That is not a spectator game. You cannot easily watch it; the play isn't so varied to teh casual observer; and it is just not enjoyable to observe a match.

More little kids probably play soccer than any other sport in the US, but you don't see it on TV. Why? Because NAs don't find it entertaining to watch.

However, SC2 is easy for even the casual observer to watch and enjoy, is easy to catch all teh action and allows for varied and exciting play.

Now I'm not saying they'll come out of the gate blowing everyone away, but I think a long term plan which includes building popularity, getting exposure and proving to sponsors it's worth it could win the day internationally.

My main point was about it exceeding the GSL in prizes. I don't see that happening.

What do you mean they don't make that much? 18 of the 20 are GSL players. That's not just for the GSL, that's all starcraft players in the world.

If you are saying that luring players away won't cost much, then that reduces to what I said before. Pay the minimum to get the players you want. Which is easily less than GSL level pay.

The gaming industry just isn't as big here. I'm not saying there isn't potential for growth, but investing more than the GSL has in NA seems very very risky to me. And unnecessary considering you can achieve similar results with significantly less.

I dunno, I guess we'll see, should be interesting. /shrug

(2:14:33 PM) : omg
(2:14:34 PM) : dude
(2:14:36 PM) : so
(2:14:42 PM) : idra announced he's coming back to US
(2:14:43 PM) : or w/e
(2:14:44 PM) : right?
(2:14:50 PM) : well it turns out that he told gom long before
(2:14:54 PM) : and he knew before the ceremony
(2:14:59 PM) : where he picked his group
(2:15:15 PM) : so he picked his group knowing he was leaving / not participating in march GSL
(2:15:26 PM) : so he chooses the group right next to MVP's group, A
(2:15:35 PM) : because in the next round group A plays B (IdrA's group)
(2:15:42 PM) : and then clide makes it even better
(2:15:51 PM) : by putting Zenio in Idra's group also
(2:15:57 PM) : AND someone made it even BETTER
(2:16:03 PM) : by putting MC in group A
(2:16:17 PM) : so the winners of group B will have to probably face MC and MVP
(2:16:26 PM) : idra ****ing trolled the **** out of those two
(2:16:27 PM) : LOL

well played idra, well played

Thats awesome stuff if true.

haha yeah its true he talks about it on SotG

wow, I never realized husky could make that kind of cash with his video's.

Why else would he beg for subscribers?

what i really don't understand is why so many people like watching his videos lol.

Yea, I'm also surprised that he makes that kind of money.

well it's pretty easy to figure out youtube ad revenue since a lot of their payment info is public now. i mean with just the naked eye 150+k/video over so many videos with ads running before and popping up during = big $$$. someone on TL ran the #s i think and figured it to be possibly north of 150k.

you guys know im a huge husky fan. still dont understand why y'all hate. he's sc2's gus johnson!

although for a big tournament or something he definitely needs a color guy (like a day9, artosis, tasteless, etc.) to give the in depth info about the game.

I think if you put him into a big tournament you'll attract some more casual gamers (ldo he'd announce it on his youtube) but you risk alienating the more hardcore fans. I think this is why he hasn't done much tourney casting since that one mlg.

he just needs to do strictly play by play with a good chemistry with someone who knows his **** and he'd be fine imo.

they tried to force the him and HD thing, but they just didnt mesh well and HD is boring.

Whatever happened to HD? Man, that guy rubbed me the wrong way.

Don't play for 6 weeks, play 6 games vs 3000 diamonds who are "evenly matched"

FU bnet

Back in the beta i liked him but now i cannot stand him at all.. he's just very irritating to listen to. Over-emphasizes things all the time and tries to add drama for no reason and overall doesn't seem to know much about the game. Nice guy but not that great.

I cannot TOLERATE people cast game who obviously don't know the game. They need to be at least masters level or else they won't know "timings" and ****