- Is BW dead outside of Iccup?
- Are there old BW pros coming back to the game?
- Is SC2 still popular? (amateur + pro scenes)
- Could the Shield Battery concept resurrect BW?
- Is the rumor of an official Blizzard SC:BW HD remake plausible?
The State of StarCraft Brood War
Forum Index > BW General |
ProTech_MediC
United States498 Posts
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ProMeTheus112
France2027 Posts
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duke91
Germany1458 Posts
On August 29 2016 07:48 ProTech_MediC wrote: [*]Is BW dead outside of Iccup? [*]Are there old BW pros coming back to the game? [*]Is SC2 still popular? (amateur + pro scenes) [*]Could the Shield Battery concept resurrect BW? [*]Is the rumor of an official Blizzard SC:BW HD remake plausible? I apologize if some of these questions seem dense... I am completely out of the loop. Thanks in advance! 1) no, Fish server has 100.000+ users online most of the time 2) All the time. SC2 pros "retire" to stream BW and compete in tournaments. Those SC2 pros who are still playing SC2 were either former ESF players who couldn't cut it in BW, or can still squeeze out some money from SC2 tournaments. This will change however when proleague will return to BW as it is rumored. I guess then the korean SC2 scene will consist of mostly former ESF players i.e. those who are still not retired. 3) no, its peak was 2011. BW streamers have an order of magnitude more viewers. If you don't include obvious viewbotters in SC2, it's even more. Look at the (offline) peak numbers http://afreecabw.appspot.com/ . The most a SC2 streamer can get nowadays is 3k (scarlett) but not consistently. Winter has 1k consistently, but he viewbots. The highest real average for SC2 streamers are below 1k. SC2 altogether most of the time don't even get more than 2k in total viewers on twitch. 4) yes, many said to become active. Most people couldn't find games fast enough and port forwarding is a hassle. SB fixes that 5) yes | ||
Chris_Havoc
United States582 Posts
2) Only in Korea so far. 3) Yes, but the Korean scene is slowly dwindling. 4) Potentially, as could the rumored Brood War HD remake from Blizzard. 5) Yes, and the rumors of it are growing by the week. | ||
FyRe_DragOn
Canada2048 Posts
The koream Fish Server is by far the most popular but was recently locked to make it Korean-only. this is only partially true. Anyone can make an account and play on fish. However if you want to play ladder you must verify your account with a korean cellphone #. Melee and UMS games are still available to everyone, and so are ladder games, you just have to find a korean friend to help you out with a ladder account. Most top foreigners have worked around this and are still playing on fish. | ||
ProTech_MediC
United States498 Posts
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toriak
Slovakia477 Posts
On August 29 2016 10:37 ProTech_MediC wrote: Thanks for the fast responses. What would be the easiest way to install BW and appropriate plugins/launchers to begin playing non-ladder 1v1 and 2v2 games? mca64launcher | ||
looknohands119
United States815 Posts
2. A ton of them are! The best thing about Starcraft is that very few folks actually retire altogether from the Esport they merely switch from one form to another, from SC2 to BW and back again. Recently tons of previously actually retired Korean players have been coming back to BW as well. 3. Yes, I'd say its more popular now than at any other time than right after WoL release and its growing, albeit slowly. Its still dwarfed by some other Esports but when you look at Starcraft as a whole (SC2 + BW) its still quite respectable. The games haven't really shrunk in player base or prize money in a significant way, its just that other Esports have now grown past them in size. Blizzard is also doing a TON to support the game now and there will be even more support come next year. Starcraft also has FAR more stability and market maturity than any other Esport. The only other Esport that comes close is CS:GO. 4. Its helpful, especially now that FISH is region locked, but I think the thing that will make the difference is the rumored Blizzard plan to push SC2 and BW big time side by side next year to retake market share from Riot and Valve. For example BW: HD and the rumor of a BW Proleague (the original assertion that the new BW Proleague would replace the SC2 one have been debunked but the rumor is that there will be a Proleague for each of the two sides of Starcraft next year run side by side). If I were a betting man, I'd assume this means a massive outpouring of funds from Blizzard on behalf of Starcraft. They are also likely to begin pushing recruitment of casual players much harder next year in addition to the increase in Esports structure and support (ladder revamp, WCS improvements, automated tournaments, etc...). They said at the latest community summit that 2017 will bring with it a massive change in market strategy for both sides of Starcraft. 5. For BW: HD, its almost a given at this point and a Blizzcon announcement seems VERY likely. Can't say any more than that. How they provide access/distribute it and how they remake BNET for it are questions with far less certain answers. Its an exciting time for Starcraft as a whole! :D | ||
2Pacalypse-
Croatia9353 Posts
You'll be sad to hear that thebgh.com also shut down. I still remember when we first set it up and worked on it, good times. PS. you should sign up for ShieldBattery | ||
ninjaH
6 Posts
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Greg_J
China4408 Posts
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LukePizza
2 Posts
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Glioburd
France1898 Posts
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insitelol
845 Posts
Bisu, s2, Sea, Kal etc don't count cause they never really made a BW to SC2 switch in the first place. Tried it for few months (some more some less) > didn't like it > returned to BW. | ||
EsportsJohn
United States4882 Posts
On August 29 2016 21:10 insitelol wrote: Erm.. Don't really know where did you guys got TONS of korean pros swiching from sc2 to bw. The most notable one is ofc Flash. Being a god himself he definitely can't weight as much. The other relevant pro i can point out is Effort. That's it. TWO are not TONS. Bisu, s2, Sea, Kal etc don't count cause they never really made a BW to SC2 switch in the first place. Tried it for few months (some more some less) > didn't like it > returned to BW. All of them made at least a 6 month commitment to play another game for 10 hours a day every day. I'm not sure how that's not a real switch. <3 effOrt, though he broke my heart by quitting SC2 just when he was becoming a god. | ||
FlaShFTW
United States9607 Posts
On August 29 2016 21:10 insitelol wrote: Erm.. Don't really know where did you guys got TONS of korean pros swiching from sc2 to bw. The most notable one is ofc Flash. Being a god himself he definitely can't weight as much. The other relevant pro i can point out is Effort. That's it. TWO are not TONS. Bisu, s2, Sea, Kal etc don't count cause they never really made a BW to SC2 switch in the first place. Tried it for few months (some more some less) > didn't like it > returned to BW. EffOrt, ZerO, and soon to be Jaedong would like to have a word with you. | ||
amazingxkcd
GRAND OLD AMERICA16375 Posts
On August 29 2016 21:18 SC2John wrote: All of them made at least a 6 month commitment to play another game for 10 hours a day every day. I'm not sure how that's not a real switch. <3 effOrt, though he broke my heart by quitting SC2 just when he was becoming a god. The alien zerg always returns to his true home | ||
NoS-Craig
Australia3075 Posts
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insitelol
845 Posts
On August 29 2016 21:18 SC2John wrote: All of them made at least a 6 month commitment to play another game for 10 hours a day every day. I'm not sure how that's not a real switch. Still not convincing enough. They were forced to do that. Didn't succeed/liked the game and quit. Jaedong is only a rumor and tbh according to his recent (~2 last years) attitude he is just plain burnt-out / tired. If he really wanted to come back to BW he could have done loooooong ago, he had no strict contract obligation (pretty sure EGs could sort this all out, or even gave no fck), nor results/passion for Sc2, if only he REALLY wanted it. But it's obvious that he didnt. So no. Jaedong is off the list. My original post was the response to obvious over-exaggeration of sc2 pros switching to bw on regular basis. That's just plain wrong. I'd even say there is no such thing. Also taking into account that bw and sc2 are so similar and are the only RTS titles present. 7-8 players who played bw for years with success were forced to try a very similar game, played it for, okey, not 3 but 6 months and then went back to bw (also considering how dense and immensely competetive sc2 pro scene is) can be called anything but constant switching. | ||
B-royal
Belgium1330 Posts
On August 29 2016 22:07 insitelol wrote: Still not convincing enough. They were forced to do that. Didn't succeed/liked the game and quit. LOL. Of course they switched BACK to brood war or are they still playing Sc2? The fact that they didn't like the game is even more telling! And Jaedong is obviously playing brood war. They were right about Flash, they are right about Jaedong. | ||
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