What is life like for a Starcraft foreigner? OSL. MSL. Proleague. SuperFight. eSports Seoul Festival. Courage. What do these events have in common? Prestige. Money. Fame. Korean only. Aside from the World Cyber Games, foreigners have very little to train for. For the vast majority of foreigners, this is the only meaningful event on their calendar. Of course, there are small tournaments and leagues held by various organizations that foreigners use to pass the time; however, these are inadequate substitutes for genuine e-sports events.
Adolfo “eVaDe” Castillo, a regular World Cyber Games competitor, comments, “[There is] a lack of offline tournaments. There is really only WCG, with maybe one other LAN tournament a year.”
Tom “FroZ” Whittier, a player well known for his outstanding performances in the World Cyber Games, expresses similar concerns. “There's not many opportunities to prove yourself [in the foreign Starcraft scene],” says FroZ.
Starcraft foreigners are stuck hiding in the background of mainstream eSports. In stark contrast, Warcraft III players compete in countless international LAN events each year. In addition to many large-scale offline competitions, Warcraft III players enjoy the unique and influential WC3L.
Where are the Warcraft III style leagues? The Warcraft III Champions League (WC3L) is the most competitive of the many existing Warcraft III team leagues. This league sends the top Warcraft III teams to Europe every season for a live LAN final. In the Warcraft III community, teams live and die based on the success of their qualification into the esteemed WC3L. The existence of a league of this caliber and influence is a giant boost to the lifeline of the international Warcraft III scene. Starcraft lacks such a boost. Starcraft teams lack motivation and organization as a result.
Cheaters
Cheating issues also persist as an ongoing problem for the community. A very high percentage of foreign Starcraft competitions are held online. This allows for people to cheat in a plethora of different ways.
Dan “Artosis” Stemkoski has been a part of the foreign Starcraft community for a long time. He has seen cheaters come and go over the years and still cites it as a serious problem. Dan comments, “There is a lot of dishonesty going around that doesn't get dealt with. Normally get away with a slap on the wrist if anything at all.”
The foreign Starcraft community certainly does have a long history of being extremely lenient with cheaters of all sorts. People that have been caught cheating are still sought after to play on high-level foreign teams. Recently, many players have been investigated for map hacking; however, this has done little more than given the cheaters publicity. In other gaming communities, a player who is caught cheating often loses everything from his sponsor to his teammates.
From the outside looking in
Another serious problem for the Starcraft community is the psychologically troubling effect of being an outsider looking in. Everyone likes to be involved in the action. There isn't much action on the sidelines.
” have no way to play in Korea's nice amateur leagues and tournaments,” says Artosis. The Korean gaming community seems to make it a point to remain isolated from the rest of the World.
Greg “IdrA” Fields is a player who has made quite an impression on the foreign scene in recent years. He tells us, “Outside of Korea nothing comes close to the culture they have. I try to follow the pro-gaming scene but it's nearly impossible to really be a part of it.”
With IdrA's recent win in StarCraft SuperStars, perhaps things will be changing for at least one foreigner.
It is a difficult situation for foreigners. No matter how hard a foreigner trains or how many tournaments and leagues he wins, he is still stuck at second best behind an entire community of elite gamers. Ordinarily, this would kill the competitive spirit of a community.
The community that never says die
As Starcraft player and broadcaster Nicolas “Tasteless” Plott observes, “[the foreign scene] is still highly competitive, even if this scene lacks money tournaments people are still obsessed with being the best.”
While World of Warcraft players enjoy high paying, highly publicized tournaments, Starcraft foreigners walk amidst a barren wasteland of big-time money tournaments. While Warcraft III cheaters are punished worse than most felons, Starcraft hackers are recruited by competitive teams. Mediocre Counter-Strike teams snatch sponsorships on a whim. Mainstream press celebrates children playing Halo 2. People have even made money playing Guitar Hero. Yet, Starcraft persists outside of Korea.
Starcraft players do not jump around from game to game looking for an easy win.
Starcraft foreigners are warriors
These individuals battle each other via the most demanding real-time strategy game ever made. And they do it without hope of reward. Why do they do it?
“Starcraft is a game for those who want to be challenged. I feel like a man when I play Starcraft,” Tasteless remarks. This brings us to an interesting realization. Starcraft is self-rewarding. The very act of playing a game of this quality is a rewarding experience in and of itself. This is why it does not matter that the foreign scene is hanging on by a thread with close to one LAN tournament a year. It does not matter that online ladders are sporadic.
Starcraft lives on.
Nick “Testie” Perentesis has enjoyed a degree of success in the foreign Starcraft scene that very few others can claim to rival. His reason for sticking with Starcraft over the years echoes what we have all come to realize. ” is a fast paced, intense, and balanced game. And to this day, [it is] the most in depth RTS that exists in my opinion.” Gamers like Testie are in the business of challenging themselves to the max. Starcraft is that challenge.
Chad “Goon” Tracy has been operating a community website called Starcraft University for the past six years. His website is dedicated to helping newcomers to the Starcraft community develop as gamers. Chad credits Starcraft itself for the sustained traffic his website receives. “It's the pure love of the game. I mean, this game has so many strategic options that it is almost impossible to completely conquer every aspect of the game…Starcraft is one of those games that just never gets old. It's a classic.” Chad believes that pure love of the game trumps any problems the community surrounding the game brings about. “It's like your favorite book or your favorite shirt. You just can't give it up,” Chad says.
Starcraft players are doing more than just playing an old game. They are making a statement. Starcraft is worth it.
