They're not the same sport technically. If I want to play a competitive game of baseball, I can go join a league that plays it (or softball, but whatever). I can very easily watch a pro baseball game on TV. I and many other people don't care about the pros, we want to do our tihng, and there's nothing wrong with that.
What I'm really saying with my previous post, is that YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU'RE GETTING WHEN YOU PAY FOR A BASEBALL GAME. I have no idea what I'm getting when I pay for some grassroots tournament. It could be great quality with top-notch commentary, it could be poverty tier with nobody on commentary and a 4G card that can barely sustain the stream. Literally anything could happen, there's no guarantee that if I pay $5 I am going to get a flawless HD stream and solid commentary throughout the event or my money back. That is one issue I have.
I'm going to be brutally honest here -- Goldfish is NOT a commentator. JamesMK is NOT a commentator. Phase 3 is BARELY a commentator. I go to streams and watch tournaments to be entertained. Part of that entertainment is the social aspect of the stream chat, which is what I enjoy the most. The matches on stream are cool too, but frankly if there isn't a high-quality commentator such as Tom Brady on the mic then I honestly don't care about the stream! Without good commentary, I do not feel that paying to watch a major (that I could watch for
free on youtube/twitch archive later) is worth it. I would rather spend a few hundred dollars and go to the event myself than watch the stream for $5.
The social experience is something you can only get in person. And I wholly advocate attending and supporting events. But a REQUIRED entry fee to watch tournaments is NOT the way the community should go, it will only serve to alienate newcomers and will literally prevent growing the community which is what everyone's trying to do these days.
As I've said before, here's some actions I think SHOULD be taken to implement this idea in a move positive way that is less alienating to people:
- Allow a stream quality up to 360p and chat viewing for free users. Ads whenever possible during downtime. Ads during button checks would be ideal.
- Allow a subscriber or per-event ticket paid model, which allows users access to HD quality stream (if available) as well as access to speaking in the chatroom.
- Those that are poverty tier and want to chat while watching the SD stream (like me) can use www.testyourchat.com like people have been doing since the dawn of MLG, and just have two separate internet browser windows open side-by-side.
This way, everyone wins. People who want to stay free continue to stay free. Those who have the cash to spare and want to support the scene by stream monstering instead of going to the events themselves can do so. Forcing a paid model on people has never worked in the past. Again, look at League of Legends. Look at Starcraft. Those are two of the biggest esports in the world right now. They don't pull that shit. Why should we? You all want to grow, right? To become esports? This is a very safe way to push ourselves in that direction.
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