MLG has broken my heart :(

[PMS PyroArcher]

was very disappointed to see there was no halo or COD playoffs on MLG this year, been looking forward to it all year :'( any other gaming events that go on that I can watch online? preferbly one that has instinct playing on halo??? or PMS\H20 :P (nice save me!! haha)

[H2O teaCher]

hahahaha Well good thing MLG will most likely pick up Halo 4 as a title. That will be awesome!!

[Arbee]

Hey PA, I am with ya there! Despite how well MLG has been doing, and how much PC has been blowing up the eSports scene, I really feel like there needs to be some kind of major console representation at major events (I don't full count fighters, as they are kind of their own little world lol). Even though PC gamers like to think they are the center of the competitive scene, console gamers are a HUGE portion of the gaming market, and there really should be some representation there.

I really hope Halo 4, or maybe even CSGO (lol) can take off on console. With MLG's relationship with Treyarch, I would be surprised to not see BLOPS2 get in there next year too.

Also unfortunately, I can't think of any major events that feature these games right now either. It really is a shame.

[H2O Gotham]

Thing is neither halo nor cod could really compare to the numbers that SC II and now LOL were bringing in. The last tournament I went to there were more people competing in halo than there were watching. All of the SCII seating was filled while Halo had like, 20 people watching (including pros).

[XeRoBadkarmA]

Just so you guys do know, they rotate the games out for the playoffs. next season/year they are supposed to have doc and halo back

[H2O Burst]

I just wish they had picked up Gears :\

[Alessandro H2O]

ATM, Starcraft 2 is the eSports giant in NA with LoL just as big. FPS is struggling in the eSports arena.

This may not be the case in the future but, ATM PC is King in eSports.

Let's hope Halo 4 changes this

[XeRoBadkarmA]

as stated, they swap out the games. gears was part of it at one time as was halo and cod. itll all come back soon enough. chill

[H2O Shel]

Last year they had Halo. They also had SC2 and LoL. For a minute they had HoN. They did a Socom tourney for 20k based off Game Battles rankings. They had content 7 nights a week, plus the whole Dr. Pepper house thing and the guys that would remake people's entertainment rooms.

Halo will be back, but it wasn't a rotation thing. It was a money thing. MLG did an "act as if" style approach to the games and shows they offered the players and the fans. They figured (my opinion) that if they brought everything to the table, and if it all did well numbers wise, that the sponsors would come. Then, at the end of the year, when deals with sponsors are tied up based on the previous year's numbers, they cut Halo, GoW, 6 of their shows (including 2 of the biggest shows in eSports), and the following year went to a pay-per-view model for 2/3 of their tournaments. The PPV thing isn't actually a big deal. It works out great, both for the viewers and MLG, but what I believe they were doing is trying to find a financially feasible way to bring more content to the fans. They hold these PPVs in their offices for pete's sake. It's as low budget as you can get while still being awesome.

These money concerns are also why you aren't seeing Day9 and Tastosis at every event like you used to. Last year, each of them brought in $20,000 a tournament, plus air fare, hotel, etc. Now it's DJ Wheat and Husky and Bitter and JP. Just recently you've seen Day9 come back ( I think he's done 1 MLG this year and is doing the TLSL right now) and Tastosis was at the same MLG as Day9, but that's it.

This is something you see happen in all walks of like. People get some encouragement, so they go to the extremes with whatever they're doing. Generally they end up overextending themselves. Honestly, I think we're lucky we still have an MLG to watch. This paired down version is equally awesome though, and far more sustainable. Hopefully the LoL numbers will be strong enough to bolster the SC2 numbers, cause SC2 stream views are through the floor from last year, and LoL has gone up by a factor of 10. DoTA2 will be out soon, and it'll be on tour next year for sure given the money Valve is dumping into it. Halo 4 will be there, the only question is how much room will there be for it. And I'm pretty sure nothing else is going to make the cut. We'll find out next February. Cross your fingers.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing. The reason you don't see more FPSs is that their observer tools suck. Even the new Tribes observer mode, which was built with eSports in mind, doesn't properly convey the game play within the game. Whereas a LoL or an SC2 has tools that do. CS might make it back on tour based solely on its pedigree, but that's it, and it's numbers probably won't last given the existing trends. T:A only made it to NASL because it's a promotional title, meaning Hi-Rez paid for it to be on tour. They even handle the commentary (Fishstix has been doing T:A commentary since the start, and the other guy is T:A's eSports director). I don't see many, if any, FPSs on tour at MLG, Dreamhack, or NASL after this year. Nor at IEM. QuakeCon is probably going to be about it as far as tournaments showcasing pew pew. We'll see though.

[Alessandro H2O]

Originally Posted by H2O Shel

Last year they had Halo. They also had SC2 and LoL. For a minute they had HoN. They did a Socom tourney for 20k based off Game Battles rankings. They had content 7 nights a week, plus the whole Dr. Pepper house thing and the guys that would remake people's entertainment rooms.

Halo will be back, but it wasn't a rotation thing. It was a money thing. MLG did an "act as if" style approach to the games and shows they offered the players and the fans. They figured (my opinion) that if they brought everything to the table, and if it all did well numbers wise, that the sponsors would come. Then, at the end of the year, when deals with sponsors are tied up based on the previous year's numbers, they cut Halo, GoW, 6 of their shows (including 2 of the biggest shows in eSports), and the following year went to a pay-per-view model for 2/3 of their tournaments. The PPV thing isn't actually a big deal. It works out great, both for the viewers and MLG, but what I believe they were doing is trying to find a financially feasible way to bring more content to the fans. They hold these PPVs in their offices for pete's sake. It's as low budget as you can get while still being awesome.

These money concerns are also why you aren't seeing Day9 and Tastosis at every event like you used to. Last year, each of them brought in $20,000 a tournament, plus air fare, hotel, etc. Now it's DJ Wheat and Husky and Bitter and JP. Just recently you've seen Day9 come back ( I think he's done 1 MLG this year and is doing the TLSL right now) and Tastosis was at the same MLG as Day9, but that's it.

This is something you see happen in all walks of like. People get some encouragement, so they go to the extremes with whatever they're doing. Generally they end up overextending themselves. Honestly, I think we're lucky we still have an MLG to watch. This paired down version is equally awesome though, and far more sustainable. Hopefully the LoL numbers will be strong enough to bolster the SC2 numbers, cause SC2 stream views are through the floor from last year, and LoL has gone up by a factor of 10. DoTA2 will be out soon, and it'll be on tour next year for sure given the money Valve is dumping into it. Halo 4 will be there, the only question is how much room will there be for it. And I'm pretty sure nothing else is going to make the cut. We'll find out next February. Cross your fingers.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing. The reason you don't see more FPSs is that their observer tools suck. Even the new Tribes observer mode, which was built with eSports in mind, doesn't properly convey the game play within the game. Whereas a LoL or an SC2 has tools that do. CS might make it back on tour based solely on its pedigree, but that's it, and it's numbers probably won't last given the existing trends. T:A only made it to NASL because it's a promotional title, meaning Hi-Rez paid for it to be on tour. They even handle the commentary (Fishstix has been doing T:A commentary since the start, and the other guy is T:A's eSports director). I don't see many, if any, FPSs on tour at MLG, Dreamhack, or NASL after this year. Nor at IEM. QuakeCon is probably going to be about it as far as tournaments showcasing pew pew. We'll see though.

[PMS PyroArcher]

hmmm I get what your saying, if they dont have the money to cover it then they simply wont end of the day MLG is a business, if I was them id do the same thing, just a shame because I really enjoyed it, I dont like SC2 i mean I can understand why others enjoy it, but its just not something that personally interests me ah well theres always youtube!

[Sheryl PMS]

That sux to hear such things.... I guess I'm glad to have gone and played in MLGs 2006 - 2008 while they still had Halo going strong. I have noticed over the years that new games were being implemented after I stopped going. I even went to an Anaheim MLG a year or two ago to see VBall, and saw how much had changed since my last MLGs. I agree, that hopefully Halo 4 will change things for Halo... I feel it is why MLG got big in the first place.

[H2O Rosycrazyman]

There was a lan last weekend and some pro teams played in it check it out on YouTube type in arena gaming and it should pop up and to be honest it was better than an mlg event cuz there was so much trash talking so each series was good

[H2O Shel]

MLG was most certainly built on the back of Halo. I imagine it was a sad decision Sundance Giovanni (CEO of MLG) had to make.

[Arbee]

Soooooooo..... Halo 4 open tournament announced for MLG Dallas. Whos gonna play?

[PMS Chaser]

Before it's released?.. This is going to be very interesting to watch! I might even go to see it.