South Koreans Aren't Playing StarCraft II

[thebighead01]

snip

Ah, true. Couldn't work that out of your first post.

The way people have to set up tournaments now is hilarious.

lol, i know. they thought they could cash in on this hugh, no, guaranteed fan base and it back fired on them. I'm guessing this was activision's idea. they have a reputation of trying to squeeze every last penny they can from gamers. they must have been salivating at the prospects of south korea...lol

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well with the gimped multiplayer I can see why people are reluctant, in StarCraft you could set up a match or a tournament however you wanted it, and in SC2 Blizzard owns all of that, not only do they have you strung on a monthly fee, but if you want to make tournaments that will cost you extra...
They really intend to milk the SC community for all it's got, and if Koreans do switch over then they may just have the cash-cow that trumps World of Warcraft.

 

[Nautical Honors Society]

$30 Million to Blizzard is less than one month of WoW, i think they will be fine.

OT: I am sure they will start turning over to SCII eventually.

 

[Aeshi]

but starcraft didn't get frighteningly popular until a few years after release (and after brood war)!
Starcraft 2 has only been out a few months. After Heart of the swarm and ESPECIALLY after legacy of the void, you'll see starcraft 2 outstrip scarcraft 1.

imo, anyway

I agree with this.

I'm still getting SCII for christmas, the only flaw the game has (that I've heard of) is bad multiplayer and who gives a f*** about that?

 

[moogaman]

Well with the gimped multiplayer I can see why people are reluctant, in StarCraft you could set up a match or a tournament however you wanted it, and in SC2 Blizzard owns all of that, not only do they have you strung on a monthly fee, but if you want to make tournaments that will cost you extra...
They really intend to milk the SC community for all it's got, and if Koreans do switch over then they may just have the cash-cow that trumps World of Warcraft.

There only exists a monthly fee for SC2 in Asia, and it's optional. Asian players can choose to straight up buy the game like most other countries, or they can get the game for free and pay a monthly fee to play it. I believe the monthly fee is only about 6 bucks and at any point if they change their mind they can upgrade their account and buy the game at a discounted price, $40 I believe.

 

[John Funk]

It's actually slowly moving in Blizzard's favor; the major networks - and some of the superstars - are starting to switch over.

It's probably not nearly as quickly as big blue would have liked.

I hope it never gets big. Blizzard needs to be taught a lesson about making a choice between more money or intense international recognition. Honestly, there's something wrong when the sequel to the game that has been the staple of LAN parties everywhere now slaps you in the face with a mandatory internet matchmaking service.

Quite frankly, I don't blame them for switching over at all. I *like* a lot of things about the new Battle.net. There are some things I don't like, too, but I don't blame them for trying. If someone else is getting rich off of something *you* created, it's hardly unfair for wanting to get in on the action.

 

[TyrunnAlberyn]

Well with the gimped multiplayer I can see why people are reluctant, in StarCraft you could set up a match or a tournament however you wanted it, and in SC2 Blizzard owns all of that, not only do they have you strung on a monthly fee, but if you want to make tournaments that will cost you extra...
They really intend to milk the SC community for all it's got, and if Koreans do switch over then they may just have the cash-cow that trumps World of Warcraft.

There is no monthly fee for SC2 and there has never been one. Nowhere in the article do I read that hosting a tournament for SC2 will have Blizzard demanding money from you, they do however want you to ask for their permission. Edit: Okay, apparently I am mistaken and there is some sort of "get the game free, but pay a monthly fee"-plan in certain regions. Still, in Europe or the US you pay for the game, no fee at all.

As for all the people talking about "gimped multiplayer" and similar terms, the only thing that's missing is LAN support and if you have a half-decent internet connection that's no issue. I've had no issue with battle.net so far, although I must admit I'm far from a pro-gamer (and I should add that my current computer is at the very mimimum of system specs for SC2, yet I've had less issues with that game than with several older games that would seem less hardware intensive, Civ 4 for example).

 

[Lord Honk]

Man, if I tell you Americans "Well, y'know, football seems great, so I added 3 players to each team, 2 more balls in the game, and it's played on a circular field in underwater domes", yeah, that'll go over smoothly xD
Blizzard established a standard for 12 years, people are gonna stick with it, for better or worse.

 

[Fearzone]

Heh. Activision-Blizzard strikes again. Maybe too it is because SC2 is a well-crafted but "just okay" game.

 

[DeathsHands]

Well, that's actually hilarious.

 

[Zer_]

StarCraft 2 will move to the front lines eventually. It's not about massing the best units (like Dragoons) anymore. It's about planning out your strategy. There is a lot more variety in the tactics used in competitive StarCraft 2 than there ever was in competitive StarCraft.

 

[Bravo315]

Ah but you all got to remember, most games (especially PC) are never appreciated in their own time. Just wait until Starcraft 3 comes out - SC2 will be a classic gem to everyone while they're moaning about the latest release

 

[Excludos]

If these numbers are accurate, I am really surprised. Seeing as the tournament scene in korea has already switched over a lot to sc2 (with big help from superstars like SlayerSBoxer, who just placed third in the recent GSL..which again has a price pool of over $170.000).

Most other big stars has already states that they are going to switch to sc2 as soon as their contracts end.

This is an interview of Jaedong a month back:
How do you see the future of StarCraft: BroodWar and will you change to StarCraft 2?
- I will definitely change to StarCraft II as I feel that StarCraft 2 is having a higher status then StarCraft: Broodwar. We will see more international tournaments in SC2 compared to StarCraft: Broodwar and this will make the change natural for me. I want to build my reputation abroad and reach out to the international audience but when I decide to change game I can not say, it can be today, it can be tomorrow it can be in a couple of years.

So with this information, like I said, those numbers surprise me.

EDIT: I guess, like most people have said: The lack of lan and crossrealm play really was blizzard shooting themself in the leg, feeling good about it, and then shooting the other.

At least they have promised us to fix it..but meanwhile, some people will stick to BW I guess.

EDIT2: At least blizzard will earn a lot of money by suing OGN and Kespa..

 

[Twilight_guy]

So Blizzard is making no money because Korean's don't want to pay for the game? (Correct me if I'm wrong, here).

 

[greenflash]

So Blizzard is making no money because Korean's don't want to pay for the game? (Correct me if I'm wrong, here).

they do not like battle net 0.2 is why.

 

[beema]

Ha! Eat it Blizzard. Go Korea