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I was speaking with a friend today about the conflict between Kespa & Blizzard, and I would like to know more about the situation.
At times I prefer to watch StarCraft rather than play it. My friend brought to my attention that GOM TVs decision to support blizzard has led to their ultimate demise, which saddens me as they were the only venue to broadcast professional games with English commentary; I was looking forward to watching professional StarCraft 2 e-sporting with English commentary from Nick "Tasteless" Plott, and Super Daniel/Rage Man.
Does it look like any resolution will be reached ? Although before that is answered I would like to know what has already transpired.
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Can you give me some information on how GOM's support of Blizzard killed GOM TV?
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On March 06 2010 19:40 buhhy wrote: Can you give me some information on how GOM's support of Blizzard killed GOM TV?
i believe it was cause kespa owns the rights to the players or somethign like that and forbade them from playing. something like that i believe.
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Blizzard sponsoring GOMTV for the GSL 3 was pretty much them trying to get into the esports scene. Kespa, having a monopoly over the market pretty much pressured the teams into not playing (the teams make up Kespa) which resulted in fewer teams participating in GSL 3.
This pressure led to the cancellation of GSL S4, because there weren't enough teams that wanted to participate. In doing so, Blizzard never got the chance to make their own share in the esports scene and Kespa remains the sole entity.
Sucks as a fan, because there would be more matches, but from a business point of view, Kespa did what it had to to prevent a threat.
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I like Kespa because it's kind of like a trade union in a way for us fans. I don't know if that's the best comparison to make.
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On March 06 2010 23:22 DanceDance wrote: I like Kespa because it's kind of like a trade union in a way for us fans. I don't know if that's the best comparison to make. For fans? That's an interesting opinion. I've always viewed it as looking out for the interests of the teams/sponsors.
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
"KESPA" didn't pressure the teams...the teams ARE kespa. OGN and MBC pressured the other teams because GOM is obvious competition. Whats funny is that CJ owns a controlling share of GOM and now OnMedia (OGN Parent Company). You would think that would alleviate some of the stress, but apparently not LOL
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Actually, the conflict between KeSPA and GOM started well before tensions between Blizzard and KeSPA came to the surface.
As Tasteless explained in his interview for polygon reVue, the unique thing regarding Korea is it's well developed IT infrastructure. The result of this is that internet television can compete fairly well with cable television. As you are probably aware, KeSPA is primarly run by OGN and MBC, both cable television stations, whereas GOM is an internet television station. So when GOM TV started their own StarLeague, they essentially invaded into the territory that was previously exclusive to OGN and MBC.
From here, we can only speculate what exactly happened, since noone really confirmed anything. However, I think it would be a fair guess that KeSPA (i.e. OGN/MBC) either eventually or from the very beginning perceived GOM as a threat. Although the GOMTV StarLeague was the weakest individual league for the time of it`s existance, it had a very generous prize pool and a lot of potential for growth (especially since it was the only league to open itself to people outside Korea). So when GOM partnered with Blizzard, it was basically the final straw which forced KeSPA into shutting down the GOMTV StarLeague before it would become a serious competitor.
That said, however, I think all these moves are basically attempts by KeSPA to try and force Blizzard into directly dealing with them rather then enter the Korean scene through other means. The fact is, KeSPA is rather desperate for another successful e-Sports title and they will have to reach some sort of agreement with Blizzard if they hope OGN and MBC to have first dibs on the StarCraft II scene. If they allow GOM to kick off the StarCraft II scene in Korea instead, they stand to lose a lot (especially since that would mean they have no jurisdiction over SC2 progamers).
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On March 06 2010 23:22 DanceDance wrote: I like Kespa because it's kind of like a trade union in a way for us fans. I don't know if that's the best comparison to make.
I think of Kespa less as a trade union than as a sort of eSports chaebol.
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On March 07 2010 00:01 Tom Phoenix wrote:+ Show Spoiler +Actually, the conflict between KeSPA and GOM started well before tensions between Blizzard and KeSPA came to the surface.
As Tasteless explained in his interview for polygon reVue, the unique thing regarding Korea is it's well developed IT infrastructure. The result of this is that internet television can compete fairly well with cable television. As you are probably aware, KeSPA is primarly run by OGN and MBC, both cable television stations, whereas GOM is an internet television station. So when GOM TV started their own StarLeague, they essentially invaded into the territory that was previously exclusive to OGN and MBC.
From here, we can only speculate what exactly happened, since noone really confirmed anything. However, I think it would be a fair guess that KeSPA (i.e. OGN/MBC) either eventually or from the very beginning perceived GOM as a threat. Although the GOMTV StarLeague was the weakest individual league for the time of it`s existance, it had a very generous prize pool and a lot of potential for growth (especially since it was the only league to open itself to people outside Korea). So when GOM partnered with Blizzard, it was basically the final straw which forced KeSPA into shutting down the GOMTV StarLeague before it would become a serious competitor.
That said, however, I think all these moves are basically attempts by KeSPA to try and force Blizzard into directly dealing with them rather then enter the Korean scene through other means. The fact is, KeSPA is rather desperate for another successful e-Sports title and they will have to reach some sort of agreement with Blizzard if they hope OGN and MBC to have first dibs on the StarCraft II scene. If they allow GOM to kick off the StarCraft II scene in Korea instead, they stand to lose a lot (especially since that would mean they have no jurisdiction over SC2 progamers).
Wow, thank you for putting it so clearly.
For starters I did not even know that GOM was owned by CJ.
Why is KeSPA so proud? They should really approach Blizzard themselves if they had wanted first dibs on the SCII scene.
I mean, after all the internal failings with refereeing and player treatment, these dufflebags just shut Blizzard out like that and put on airs which they cannot afford. Why doesn't any one of them see the value of making friends instead of enemies?
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On March 07 2010 00:15 sArite_nite wrote:Why is KeSPA so proud? They should really approach Blizzard themselves if they had wanted first dibs on the SCII scene.
Actually, as far as I know, the two have had talks and it has not been working out, hence why Blizzard is trying approach the TV stations and the teams seperatly. I think what KeSPA is hoping to achieve is to try and force Blizzard to agree to terms that are more favourable for them then what was offered so far.
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Well no one in Korea even likes Kespa. I am Korean and I visit this Korean gaming website from time to time, and any topic regarding Kespa that's posted always turns into a hate-thread because most people perceive Kespa as corrupt.
Here is the thing.
Starcraft got big and turned into an e-sport because of MBC and OGN, television stations. Kespa did not even exist. Once the Starcraft scene got big, Kespa was formed and they demanded loyalty from these stations because they own the players or something...
Clearly Kespa isn't for players though, if you know about Jaedong's FA incident. They are there for team sponsors to have profits, and make profits themselves. In fact, I think a lot of Kespa representatives are figures from the team sponsors.
Now they made up a rule and forbid all teams to contact with Blizzard directly, and they have to be granted permission and stuff... It's really retarded and sad to see this sort of reaction from Kespa regarding SC2. In many years, Kespa hasn't done anything back for the community. They collect fees from TV stations, and collect money from 'would-be progamers' who want to earn their rights to be officially called 'pro-gamers.'
Kespa is nothing but a hindrance to Blizzard, players, TV stations and us audiences at this point. They did not grow Starcraft scene. They contributed 0, nada (pun intended)
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What is the legal status of Blizzard in Korea ? As the game is their IP.
It also seems weird to me that the players don't organize into a union to prevent unnecessary monetary loss; from what it sounds like KeSPA is caged taxation.
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What does people in korea think of starcraft2 so far?
Edit: Some coverage would be nice
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Watch Artosis' interview with Hanni, Tester and Sea.Really.
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I don't know much about Kespa, but I don't really blame Blizzard for wanting a slice of the pie. Seriously, they deserve something if Starcraft 2 is being played professionally on television.
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On March 13 2010 14:46 alexanderzero wrote: I don't know much about Kespa, but I don't really blame Blizzard for wanting a slice of the pie. Seriously, they deserve something if Starcraft 2 is being played professionally on television. . They already get free advertisement of their game what more do they need. It's not like they need more money, they make like 50 billion on WoW already.
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On March 07 2010 02:06 lynx.oblige wrote: Watch Artosis' interview with Hanni, Tester and Sea.Really.
Do you have a link?
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On March 13 2010 15:49 Probe. wrote:Show nested quote +On March 13 2010 14:46 alexanderzero wrote: I don't know much about Kespa, but I don't really blame Blizzard for wanting a slice of the pie. Seriously, they deserve something if Starcraft 2 is being played professionally on television. . They already get free advertisement of their game what more do they need. It's not like they need more money, they make like 50 billion on WoW already.
I'd rather Blizzard be in charge than KeSPA. Better yet, a real gamers' union instead of a fake one.
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On March 13 2010 15:49 Probe. wrote:Show nested quote +On March 13 2010 14:46 alexanderzero wrote: I don't know much about Kespa, but I don't really blame Blizzard for wanting a slice of the pie. Seriously, they deserve something if Starcraft 2 is being played professionally on television. . They already get free advertisement of their game what more do they need. It's not like they need more money, they make like 50 billion on WoW already. Yeah but a large portion of people playing starcraft competitively probably aren't doing it with a bought copy of starcraft. And then there are the tonnes of PC bangs all over the world that just use one copy over and over.
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