Source
r/starcraft•
CopperKat

I know LoL is a dirty word here, but has anyone else been watching the Riot run LCS?

[Question]

Riot started a league that does a lot of things we've wished for in NA/EU, but haven't really achieved with weekend tournaments. A long-term weekly format where the stakes still feel high. The start of every broadcast recaps the team stories, rivalries, and upsets and include tons of player interviews. Before every match there's always a little video piece to give it some context.

They also salaried the teams that qualified, and helped them set up houses. This bridged the gap from really good amateurs to pros, a gap that's getting larger and larger in SC2.

I doubt Blizzard has the money to do this themselves, but I dunno maybe they could help set it up? Could NASL take some notes from the format?

Posted Feb 23, 2013, 6:29 AM UTC

025
[deleted]•

LCS pisses all over anything Blizzard has done thus far with eSports and quite frankly it's a wake-up call to step up their game.

18
jiublingAxiom•

Blizzard isn't even trying to be what Riot is to LoL though. At least, they don't appear to be from anything they have said or done.

3
bluefish211Terran•

I don't think Blizzard's strategic direction is the same as Riot's. If Blizzard makes it a long term vision to really make e-sports big, then I would see more involvement.

I don't see it as a wake-up call to do anything.

1
jtixs•

I thought it had been agreed that LoL and Sc2 are very different games and therefore a comparison between Riot and Blizzard is kind of meaningless.

-3
[deleted]•

I didn't agree to that.

5
NatarmStarTale•

LoL and SC2 may be very different games, but the role of Riot and Blizzard are not different. Riot is incredibly involved in the active growth of LoL. Their LCS is very well produced, and fosters talent all over the world. The fact that they have teams on SALARY to play professionally shits on anything Blizzard does alone. The main problem of playing video games professionally outside of Korea is the size of countries and the cost of living. Riot is singlehandedly taking on that burden so that the best players can rise to shine, and the up-and-comers can give it their best and have their time in the lime light. Blizzard has had WCS. That's basically it. But guess what? The seeding system was flawed (Germany had direct seeds to the finals, and Sweden had seeds to Europe finals). The finals production was severely lacking. And along my previous point, IT WAS ALL ESTABLISHED PROFESSIONALS. LCS has that. LCS also has Vulcan. LCS has the new coL team. They have GGU. They have GIANTS, Dragonborns, so many up and coming teams that foster growth and innovation within the scene. Blizzard has yet to do anything close to that. So if anyone "hates" LoL, give props to Riot for doing what Blizzard fails to.

3
jtixs•

basically what I mean is that the success of riot and the success of LoL as an esport are very closely connected whereas blizzard is still going to sell millions of copies of the next WoW expansion regardless of the success of Sc2.

Sc2 has pretty much turned to the community and other organisations to drive sc2 esports on and blizzard is just something we can whine about when it is a slow news day.

2
FoBuNiT73Axiom•

he is taking about "e-sports" promotions, player exposure and making a good living for the pros. Not the actual game.

1
jtixs•

Sc2 and LoL are different "e-sports" though so I don't see what the point of comparing them is.

0
FoBuNiT73Axiom•

now I can argue with that argument

1
oneshotkillSlayerS•

burn the witch!

6
GlonSC2Glon•

"his bridged the gap from really good amateurs to pros, a gap that's getting larger and larger in SC2."

agree with this a lot.

3
T_StebbinsMVP•

Blizzard won't do that because they don't make a ton, if any money of off e-sports. Riot thrives off of it and has a perfect game to live off of e-sports, an easy, fun and team-based game. Something that anyone can play and get really into because that pro plays the hero I like, so I'll watch and see cool shit.

With starcraft, it is all the community, especially in BW (blizzard helps now more, dont get me wrong, but they do not keep it alive and do dirty shit like Riot) Also, you can be inspired by players like league players, but in the end, you will never be able to pull of the shit they do well because this game is infinitely more difficult than league mechanically speaking.

1
TheNthMemory•

LCS is basically CGS "done right". Keep all the players near LA to save on travel costs, let teams keep their old sponsors in addition to gaining Riot as a sponsor, it's basically the best thing that's been done in Western e-sports and I think you have to acknowledge that even if you don't like the game.

And you don't have to like LoL to "support e-sports" but you shouldn't shit on the things Riot is doing right.

1
Robotick1Protoss•

I doubt Blizzard has the money to do this themselves

Pretty sure Blizzard as a lot more money than Riot

1
qqsharpTeam Grubby•

Riot is owned by a giant (as in just as big as ActiBlizz that Vivendi wants to sell anyway) Chinese internet company, Tencent. They have potentially a shitton of money to put into the game.

1
CopperKatOPTerran•

Blizzard maybe, but money allocated to one title- Starcraft II? Probably nowhere near as much. Riot only has one game to support, and it happens to be the most played game in the world at the moment (not joking, look it up). And as qqsharp mentioned, they're owned by a huge company who also has a ton of capital. So yeah, the amount of money they're able to put into e-sports specifically is probably way more.

1
jtixs•

not really into pokemon

0
CopperKatOPTerran•

Wow, forget this subreddit. E-sports are all interconnected. What's happening right now is embodying a lot of what we've wished for in SC2 for a long time. Including a governing body that isn't someone like KeSPA.

It's sad no one is looking at this and wondering how SC2 could keep up/benefit from the huge risk being taken by Riot. If something this big works, it has an effect on e-sports as a whole.

-5
jtixs•

I don't represent the whole subreddit so it is a bit unfair of you to insult the whole of r/starcraft because of my hilarious response.

3
LacksIdentityPartner Marketing - compLexity Gaming•

my hilarious response

Yeah, not quite. Appealing to the circlejerk by name-calling LoL does not make you a master of wit, unfortunately.

-2
jtixs•

It amused me for quite a long time.

I don't really care about LoL, hence why I stay on the starcraft subreddit not the League of Legends subreddit.

3
Balla24KT Rolster•

http://xkcd.com/178/

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

3