[Dox]

Originally Posted by ToR.Arnor

The community needs to continue to grow to the point where Blizzard has to support it and it becomes financially viable/sustainable to do so.

There is no such thing as sustainability. They don't turn a profit from this.

Originally Posted by CarbonTwelve

regardless of the past, the SEA SC2 scene has all but been abandoned by Blizzard.

Melodramatic much? We miss out on 1 year of Blizzcon/WCS and suddenly Blizzard has abandoned us? I'm really uncomfortable with the pseudo-precedent that has been set by Riot/Valve. Suddenly the publishers are expected to grow the scenes while the rest of us just sit back disgruntled or spoonfed. It's great to see these companies growing their own games, but it's taking responsibility away from the community. And I know it's just going to get worse and worse as new generations of gamers enter the industry and take it for granted.



Some more (purely speculative) food for thought: Blizzards plans for WCS 2013 were locked in before the 2012 financial year had ended. Which meant budgets had been allocated and anyone who has worked in project management will tell you - that means any revisions to the plan get pushed over to next FY. With the recent addition & reshuffling of the Blizzard eSports team and a new financial year, I think it's very likely that we'll see them take some very positive direction between now and 2015. Something else to consider is that when WCS was conceived, they didn't really have an eSports team. What was merely an afterthought 12 months ago now has a dedicated team driving it. Those additional resources are gonna mean a world of difference.

I know it's easy to mindlessly kick up a tantrum and whinge about how nothing is changing, but you have to consider it from Blizzard's angle. The amount of money Riot is sinking into Australia would have blindsided them, and they can't just pull money from a non-existent budget and follow suit. It's not that simple. They have multiple franchises to support, and it's safe to say they currently have 6+ titles (Legacy of the Void, WoW XP, D3 XP, Titan, Hearthstone, Blizzard DotA) in development. I'd expect WCS to become a lot more generous, accommodating and competitive over the next two years.

In my line of work, we've been caught off guard by market competitors (technology, services, marketing) on numerous occasions. It was critical for us to keep up with our competitors, and we had the resources to match/exceed them. But our budget for the year had already been exhausted, so we had to wait until the new financial year before we could charge out the gate at full speed.

I guess all I'm saying is, don't expect immediate change. And don't be so bloody fickle.

Quick Comments

	Zepph:	BOOM SON!
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