"Due to the event's expansion ESL has decided that the game does not have enough worldwide appeal."
The season will start at Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany this August and culminate with a Global Final at CeBIT 2009 in Hanover, Germany. Throughout the season ESL plans to hold continental / regional EM championships and global challenges similar to the EM Los Angeles tournament last year.Perhaps the most important change this season is replacing Warcraft 3 with World of Warcraft 3v3. Next to Counter-Strike 1.6, WC3 was a flagship game for EM in the first two seasons. Due to the event's expansion ESL has decided that the game does not have enough worldwide appeal. Counter-Strike 1.6 5v5 will remain a game for Extreme Masters III.
ESL plans to provide extensive IPTV coverage of all nine EM events.
Really bad for wc3 though, or atleast quite bad, els which always supported wc3 is now letting it go pretty badly, first letting go of IFNG @ german eps and now this, what's next, no more lan finals for wc3l?
What about you start by naming some legendary European and American WoW gamers that won WCG and ESWC?
Ah wait...
( Tod, Sase, HoT, Grubby, Happy, Xyligan )
now tell me, how many people have a realistic chance from asia to get top 3 at a major tournament compared to 2004?
7 maybe?
I'd say sky th fly moon lyn Soju Infi TeD, after that there really is a gab as well and you can call every player who wins a huge surprise, ofcourse there are many players great like fov remind reign soccer, xia0t, sai and bla but to call them top favorites for a major title now isnt really realistic anymore either, and if you go like that, i would REALLY like to see tier 2 asian players playing vs tier 2 european, i bet your surprised bout the outcome, atleast i know it will be SO much closer than everyone thinks
WoW sucks as an esports game and the only argument for it are the 10 million people playing it worldwide. Of which 9 millionshave never heard of esports before and do not care.
Where are the Americans these days? Where are the Swedes? Where are the Norwegians? Is it just me, or has the number of top players from Europe and America fallen?
To answer your question in whole, there has never been a big number of Americans who could reach the top, only a handful of American players have ever been able to do well in Warcraft. So the lack of American presence is no new thing. European players on the other hand have been able to place among the top 4 countless times in countless tournaments. With every European Warcraft legend stepping out, we have a new one who comes in and eventually takes up the empty spot.
Couldn't agree more.
Aether was not bad, Hazeem too, stop counting here though...
Is this the beginning of the end for w3? :(
http://www.sk-gaming.com/content/16874-Baschi_Esport_cant_support_two_RTS_games
WoW sux
well, WoW will fail as an esports game anyway.
ESL = Electronic sport lame
gogo use more games for nerds mb next tournaments will be for WOW and LINEAGE or tibia ! xD
Quake, the game which "created" the esports itself, has in particular year literally 2-3 events. Now you know how we feel about it. Such a shame.
and to carmac, american wc3 players like sonkie, longwalk and shriek are more competitive than those in 2004 in my eyes. it is true that wc3 is dying in north america though, because of the increasing number of console games. swedes? dowaq, liild.c etc.? norwegians? wc3 here has never been as popular as it is in other european countries. one creo does not necessarily mean it is popular. if you only fix your eyes on retired players and write articles of "wc3 has to die" every now and then instead of taking a look at the newcomers. yes, it is dying or at least it looks like it is.