Chapter 20: The Gap
There was no way to communicate with the South Korean waiter, so it was naturally impossible to invite him to the United States to play a game.
Although Merlin spent so much money on the Internet, he felt bored after playing these two games.
He didn't come back to South Korea aimlessly, but with a purpose, and his destination was the venue where South Korea hosted the professional league.
Although he is only an American player and does not have any clubs, the team is a relatively loose group. But for him, who has won more than one national championship, it is still easy to ask the StarCraft project team to help him match up to see the competition in South Korea.
As a game company with a strong Takahashi style, Wanhu is not as high as other companies, but very close to the people.
Not to mention that he is a national champion, it is a request from an ordinary player, and if Wan Hu can meet it, most of the time it will be satisfied.
Because it doesn't cost much money to meet the wishes of these players, it can only be said to be a drop in the bucket compared to the players' trust in themselves.
Even, Wanhu's ball game, although it did not get the naming rights of the tournament in the United States, could not harvest those real fans and players, but because of Wanhu's people-friendly style, countless players who like to play video games chose the "unreal" Wanhu game.
Of course, this is not only because Wanhu is attractive, but also because Wanhu's games are really more fun.
Although Electronic Arts has naming rights, from the gameplay to the feel of the game, it is actually following the rhythm of Wanhu.
Because Wanhu Group has many film special effects production tasks, it can be said that its research on physical engines is one of the deepest manufacturers in the world.
The physics engine is particularly important for ball games.
Perhaps, when designing, it is not too important to think that the speed at which the ball will fall and at what speed it will fly.
However, players who always watch real ball games can actually feel the slightest sense of disobedience in ball games.
Electronic Arts is also because of this, although it can allow fans to manipulate their favorite stars, but it can't satisfy the hearts of fans.
Although Wanhu's game is better than the game in Electronic Arts in all aspects, it is also a pity that it lacks a real league title.
Even, there are many fans of ball games who wrote to Wanhu, asking Wanhu to buy the copyright of the league as well.
However, how do you buy it?
As a company settled in from abroad and a latecomer to ball games, it is really not easy to grab a part of the copyright from the hands of Electronic Arts.
Although the United States is a country where everyone is equal in front of money, it is not impossible to get agency rights even if it is doubled the agency commission.
But what if you are an affiliate, how many more copies of the game do you need to sell to earn back?
Wanhu did not ignore the players' unreasonable petitions, but patiently and carefully explained the actual situation and replied.
As for how the fans and players who received the reply were connected, how to march, and how to petition, it is not a matter for Wanhu to take care of.
After the initial shock, Merlin headed to the largest hotel in Seoul.
After the South Korea-Seoul Olympics of that year, Seoul can actually be said to be an international metropolis.
Although the general public's English proficiency is not very good, the waiters in these big hotels do not have a bad level of foreign language proficiency.
Merlin is also one of those bold people who dare to wander the streets just after getting off the plane without understanding the language.
But even so, when he entered the hotel and heard the language he understood, Merlin felt like he was home.
Although the Korean league is not hosted by Manho like the United States, Manho, as the producer and publisher of StarCraft, is also an important co-organizer of the Korean professional league.
Merlin had just finished the check-in procedures at the front desk when a clerk from the Korean Professional Esports Association approached Merlin.
The full name of the Korea Professional Electronics Association is this, but the abbreviation is KeSPA. Such an e-sports organization sponsored by the South Korean government and co-organized by major consortia has a very large voice in Korean video games, and it is also very powerful.
All the professional players are under the management of KeSPA, don't seem to see that Merlin's clerk is very kind, but in the major Korean professional teams, he is also a existence that needs to be touted.
Merlin listened to the young man's English with a kimchi-flavored accent across from him, and he smiled and talked to him.
People in any country speak English with an accent, and he doesn't care about that, knowing that he speaks with an American accent, which was ridiculed by the British a hundred years ago as a country accent.
Merlin was talking to the clerk when he suddenly asked about entering an Internet café to play StarCraft against the people in the Internet café after getting off the plane.
"Are they also professional players? But I'm in the United States, and the information given by Manhu says that the professional players in South Korea train intensively in a fixed venue. Could it be that they only went to the Internet café on vacation?" Merlin asked.
When the clerk of KeSPA heard this, he thought for a moment and said, "Our Korean e-sports is a very professional model, and it is difficult for a professional player to have a long vacation in a year, let alone go to an Internet café to work. I think the players you've seen who are very good at playing StarCraft are probably trainees who have been to a professional team. Because the level was not enough, he was eliminated by the professional team and could only go back to work in the Internet café. ”
"Practice...... Trainees?...... Elimination?" Merlin suddenly became a little incoherent.
Although he doesn't think it's a shame to fail, he loses playing with a person who has been eliminated by the Korean league system, so he ......
Is South Korea so strong?
Thinking of this, Merlin Khan rained down.
Although playing in an internet café and going to play that kind of professional game are two modes.
Merlin is a player who is good at analyzing the strength of his opponent and formulating tactics accordingly.
However, this kind of competition in Internet cafes does not understand each other.
Not only was Merlin unprepared, but neither was his opponent.
In such a situation, Merlin lost neatly, and it can only be said that the opponent's strength is very strong, at least one grade stronger than himself.
Thinking of this, Merlin suddenly asked, "When will I see the Korean professional players in action, I really want to watch it now!"
The clerk replied, "Only on Friday and Saturday will there be open competitions." However, you are invited by Wanhu and are the national StarCraft champion, if you don't feel tired and don't want to rest, you can come to the training base to watch the training game?
"Hmm!" Merlin nodded.