[Eddie]

There were some good positive things from the weekend, but overall, i am truthfully quite disappointed

Let's start with the good

- Massive thanks to Blizzard for giving us 3 WCS seeds, very generous given the size of our region
- Really nice prizepool for a qualifier, with money going deep down to 8th place
- Fantastic casters and good stream numbers
- There were some great breakout performances on Day 1 + Day 2
- Interesting that a lot of people talk up Australia as being easily the dominant nation in the region, yet only had 2 players in the top 8
- Return of some past greats, and returns from 'retirements'

However there's a lot to be disappointed about.

For what should have been one of the biggest SC2 tournaments of the year, only rivalled really by Oseanic StarCraft 2 Championship (SCS) in terms of $'s and prestige, it fell short.

Unrealistic registration requirements.

Setting a requirement on having to be current Masters+ on SEA (rarely played server), or NA shows lack of knowledge and understanding of the SEA player base. It's fine for KR, NA + EU where those home servers are heavily populated by native nations, and they have a massive player base competing for Masters + GM leagues. The SEA scene is small, and doesn't have the same level of professionalism that the other regions have. Many of our top players work or study. There are also internet/lag issues which make certain servers extremely difficult for some people.

We know who the majority of our Masters level players are, why make them jump through hoops?
Most SEA players regularly join tournaments and get their news through SC2SEA, and can signup with a quick post. We know who they are.

Having the new ladder season reset just before your tournament wasn't ideal, and out of your control, but this also reflects why such emphasis on current league placement is an issue for SEA.

I believe there was a significant number of players who didn't make the requirement who had signed up to play, and were denied participation! Several players have come to me expressing concern about the early closure of registrations, and the above mentioned league screening process.

Another concern/query is why have ACL involved at all? They are the best in the business at running a LAN circuit, but this is an online event, focused exclusively on SC2, a game they don't really commit time and resources into. If i'm not mistaken it's Baldie doing at least 90% of the work. Why not go to him directly? He's great at what he does, i'm by no means having a shot at him, just failing to see what ACL brings to the table. I'm sure Maynarde + Zepph or any other caster don't mind what channel they cast on.

Having people signup through ACL seemed like an unnecessary process.

The turnout for stage 1 was extremely discouraging. Above mentioned signup process and league screening no doubt contributed, but to only have 41 players in an event as prestigious, high in $ value, and exposure as this is should have been, is disgraceful! 20% were no shows.

The expectation i would have set for Stage 1 would be 60 minimum, with goals for 80+. Easily achievable with promotion and the $'s and exposure which were on offer.
The result was pretty much the turnout we get for our weekly $10 Cups... So something clearly went wrong, and is probably largely attributed to the signup and screening process.

Some of this blame must fall back on the players though. The event dates and information were published clearly in advance, so that's not the issue. Given the $'s and what else was on offer, i'd expect all competitive players to have pencilled this weekend in on their calendars, set alarms, etc. Even if you're half serious about your SC2 and just in it for some fun, this was a big tournament to play in! For those on sponsored teams who didn't show, i can only imagine managers and sponsors would be disappointed. It's an online tournament, easy to play in. These guys fly you around the country to more 'casual/fun events', it's about giving a bit back to them as well. Most schools are closed over Xmas/early January so that shouldn't have been an issue, and it was held on a weekend, which is best for the majority. No doubt some people have legitimate reasons for not playing, i'm just talking about the big picture.

Day 2 seemed very rushed. I think this was a massive wasted opportunity. Piggybacking off the popularity of Blizzard, WCS, and NA, it was a great chance to showcase our top players, and make it a big day full of stories. It's an online tournament, which is very different to LAN. You don't have to power through a bracket before the venue closes. Players are at their homes, have access to food and facilities, and it's very easy for them to fill in down time.

I may be wrong, but i believe these were the only series casted:
Iaguz vs Fighto
RedArchon vs Petrify
Petraues vs RedArchon
Probe vs PiG
Probe vs Enderr
Enderr vs PiG
PiG vs KingKong x3

Why skip over so many good series?
There were no other major events competing.
You want people to stay watching as long as possible, especially at barcrafts, where there is sponsorship, and sales to be made.

You were fortunate that PiG had a fantastic comeback to draw it out to a second best of 3 series, which extended the day, but that is not always the case.
Slowing things down, allowing all players, and most series to be casted would have been a greater reflection about what the event was about, and created more hype leading into the finals. Or you could have run a second stream for greater game coverage.

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I'm really happy for the players who qualified, and for those who had breakout performances, however i can't escape the feeling of disappointment and lost opportunity.

I really hope these issues are addressed for next time, as i know i'm not the only person to have such thoughts. I'm happy to help out or consult if the organisers/Blizzard would like my help, as i have an enormous amount of experience running SC2 tournaments, i'm not just pointing at problems and then running away. Otherwise there are others who would be keen. Get the community involved more.

Thanks for the tournament, was great for SEA, just could have been a little bit better

Quick Comments

syfChadMann:

good post, mostly agree.