[nirvAnA]

By Sundance DiGiovanni

For $20 you get a full weekend of nothing but the absolute best StarCraft 2 in the world. That’s roughly the same cost as a trip to the movies (with a stop at the concession stand), a large pizza, a small venue concert, or a round of drinks. Don’t want to buy anything without seeing it first? We agree, and we wouldn’t ask you to. You should know exactly what you’re getting. We’ll be streaming the first match from the Main Stream and each of the three gameplay streams on Friday and Saturday for free. And the Dr Pepper MLG Ultimate Access Stream (more info on this soon) will be free to all, without an Arena pass, all weekend long. Go check out a full demo of the premium streaming page and we promise you’ll be hooked for the entire weekend.

IMO sundance makes a very valid argument. We have been getting a free ride for quite awhile, the MLG experience has always been amazing and high quality and it is well worth paying even $20 for. I see him as someone just trying to make his business sustainable, so it can keep going on and doesn't go bust after 1-2 years when all the "sponsorship money" dries up.

However I do think they have to rework the way they have spent their money. Spending 100k on flights/accommodation for 32 invited players just so they can play live only 20k for prizes is NOT the way to go. Would very much have it the other way around, 100k for prizes, 20k on accommodation/tickets. Hell the best model imo would be 30k Prizes, 20k accomodation, 20k to MLG for admin / bandwidth expense etc and the other 50k is sponsor money wisely saved for the future, or since that money is not used, there isn't the need to charge viewers and everyone watches HD free.

Everything done TSL3 style (which was all online and AMAZING) and perhaps only the finals / Top 4 done live. I still fail to understand the obsession with having tournaments done offline since there are so many more viewers ONLINE then there are offline and they must see the mandatory commercials, overlays etc that sponsors care about and the live audience can simply choose not to see.

Lastly, I do agree with Alex/Breadfan that $10 is a much better pricing, especially since this is their first time ever. They should have aimed to start low if anything so people are more receptive of the idea and upscale if necessary, not the other way around.