Hey again everybody!
Fresh off the conclusion of the IGN Proleague 4 (Starcraft 2 / League of Legends Tournament) and I have to say it went pretty well, but more so on day 3 than the first two days. So long story short the production itself had some issues mainly in the sound department. On day 1 and 2 there were times where they would cut to commercials and you would still hear the mics and people talking, in addition to one incident where you could only hear the caster/commentator in one of your speakers instead of both. I commend David Ting (General Manager, eSports and VP of R&D at IGN) for his swift actions in replacing the sound tech there by Day 3 in which the streams went a lot more seemlessly and with very little error, if any.
Other things I want to bring up in terms of the production choices and what not was the decision to use KPOP during filler and commercial time. I think there are definitely some people that enjoyed it, however I can imagine that the mass majority didn't really care for it. I enjoy kpop, but when it got repetitive it kind of bothered me. Also, it appeared that all the League of Legends fans were subject to this too. The schedule seemed pretty rough as well with a lot of back to back games. Imagine if NesTea beat Squirtle and had to play ALive right after. He would've had to play at least 15 games in a row (more or less) to win it all or potentially more.
Now the good! It was nice to see megumixbear get a shot at hosting and interviewing. She was definitely a little nervous due to it being her first time I believe hosting in front of such a large crowd, but she did a good job. She has in game knowledge that with refinement of delivery can go a long way in the future. Good job to CatzPajamas on his success this weekend both casting and hosting. He trully has a commentators voice and it's nice to see his progression in this last year. Definitely shout outs to the rest of the hosts/translators/casters too including Anna Prosser, Rachel Seltzer, Apollo, Wolf, Doa, Khaldor, HD, PainUser, Smix, Lani, Lil' Susie, and anyone else I missed. Gratz to FnaticRC.ALive for his huge victory.
GSTL (Global Starcraft 2 Team League) a part of GOM.tv in Korea partnered with IPL for this venue. It was an amazing production minus the faulty connection problem (controversy) in the game with MKP (MarineKingPrime) and Squirtle. Crazy to see MKP win 4 games in a row (including his re-game with Squirtle) to secure the championship in season 1 of the GSTL for his team Prime.
NASL (North American Star League) makes it return this Wednesday with Season 3 promising to bring bigger and better things. $150 incentives for each match, making each match that much more important. Also, Sunday show matches that will have 2 players flown out to compete for a $2000 prize pool at the Irvine BarCraft @ AntHill Pub. This season they have added new casters (Frodan, RotterdaM and MrBitter), a Hollywood Producer, the return of the Korean players and more live content than they ever had before. This trully promises to be a much better season than ever before and I'm looking forward to it.
One week 'til MLG Spring Arena 1 (Major League Gaming) where the top 8 from MLG Columbus Winter Championships (minus NaNiwa who is attending DreamHack Stockholm) will be competing for seeding into Spring Arena 2 and also for a prize pool of over $10k. Will we see rematch three of MKP and DRG, in which DRG finally gets his revenge? Will HuK find a way to rise above all the rest of the Koreans (being the only foriegner)? I'm so pumped! I hope HuK can fight his way into at least the top 3 that would be amazing. I wouldn't mind rematch #3 either!
That's it for now. Sorry for the wall of text. I'll try to get pictures next time! eSports!!!!
GL HF GG
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