EL PROBLEMA DE KOREA
I'll start off by saying that the title may not be appropriate, but I couldn't think of a better name for it.
The GSL Super Tournament was recently announced, and it was to the community's dismay that only two non Korean players will be participating. This is by choice, there were many foreign players who were invited -- but they all chose not to go. There are several reasons for this, which I will explain. Next, I will go into a bit of detail as to what I believe is the problem, and potentially, how it can be fixed.
GSL Super Tournament
The Super Tournament is a one month long affair. It begins the week of MLG Columbus. This in itself presents a problem, and GOM tried to fix it by saying "we'll let you play your first round match, then play in MLG, then continue the tournament." The caveat is, GOM does not pay for any of the flights. So think about it: any non Korean's flight cost to Korea is $1,200 - $1,800 most likely. You need a ticket to Korea, then to MLG, and then back to Korea. That's almost $3,000 in flight cost, not to count the massive amount of jet lag that will result and more than likely lead to poor enough play to have anyone who would dare to go through that journey be eliminated early from both tournaments.
The second problem is that foreign players were notified of the tournament just about a week and a half ago. Moving to Korea is no small task, there are a LOT of things a team needs to do in order to make a trip to Korea. Funding this trip isn't a simple task, letters and proposals need to be written to sponsors in order to secure extra funding, flights and possibly VISAS need to be arranged, and a plan needs to be planned and executed. The fact that GOM notified foreign players basically three weeks before they would need to actually go to Korea leaves teams and organizations a VERY limited time to make accommodations. Personally, this is why Fnatic decided not to send its players -- we didn't receive enough advance notice to get everything ready.
The same thing happened for the GSL World Championships. Everything was so rushed and felt "last minute," and we didn't get enough out of the trip.
Sure it's amazing to see foreigners in Korea, and everyone loved all the footage of the pros at the GOM house practicing and having fun, but spectators don't get to see or know about the behind the scenes organizational stuff that makes working with GOM and getting people to Korea really difficult.
What can GOM do to help?
Notify teams/players far in advance, for starters. If today I got an email from GOM saying that they wanted to include some non Korean teams in the July/August version of the GSTL, it would be really easy for Fnatic to send a team of 4-5 people. Since going to Korea is such a huge move, teams really need more than a few weeks of notice. If we are given 1, 2, or even 3 months of advance notice, I can almost guarantee you'd be seeing more foreign players in the GSL Super Tournament and other future events.
Why are the foreigners leaving Korea
It's way too difficult to live the Korean life unless you are in Code S. The journey to qualify for Code S is not worth the time and energy it would take to have players live there. Yes, GOM has a "foreign" house, so players wouldn't have to worry about housing, but there are so many other factors to consider: acclimating to culture, time zone, and most importantly, practice. A player who doesn't have good practice partners or schedules will not be successful in Korea. The GOM house doesn't provide this. The house is made available, and then players are left to their own devices to practice.
Most of the Korean pro houses are full -- I know because when discussing sending Fnatic players to Korea, the major problem was where/how would the players get good training. We looked into moving into pro houses, but most are full. Spending a lot of money to send people to live in Korea just to practice on the Korean ladder is not productive.
The next big problem is that you have to make a lot of sacrifices by living in Korea. In order to play in any foreign events, you have to wake up at 3-4am to participate, unless you play in the few that make crazy schedule allowances for players in Korea. When you factor in: the amount of time it takes getting used to being in Korea and the lack of good practice, prospects look grim. Why sacrifice playing in almost every European/NA event for working through several months to have a shot at getting to Code S? Think of Haypro for example (this is purely speculative about his actual mindset/decisionmaking): he could probably win a majority of the weekly cups on EU/NA -- which could net him probably $500 per week if he was really proactive (or more, just look at the Tournament Wrap Up Threads). That looks pretty appealing to me rather than continuously trying to go through Code A, which is insanely difficult to win.
Why don't foreign players come to Korea?
The reasons are very similar to what I listed above. Even the GSL/MLG "exchange" program is not going to work. Assuming that non Korean players actually win MLG now, very few of them would actually volunteer to go to Korea as evidenced by the most recent State of the Game episode. Again: giving up playing in European and American events, living in a house of people you don't know and a brand new culture, and needing at least 2-3 GSL events to even be in good enough shape to have a shot at Code S (you're looking at a 6 month commitment to have a realistic shot at doing well in any Korean event)... why would anyone but the most die-hard, such as Jinro and HuK, make that decision. They wouldn't.
What can GOM do to help?
In my opinion there are two potential solutions here.
1) Make Code A an online tournament. If it was online, foreign participation would increase dramatically. It doesn't even need to be an open system, it could be done entirely on application and GOM could accept only the best/most qualified foreigners who apply. It could also be done during Korean hours and on the Korean server; this could be somewhat of a bittersweet revenge for Koreans, let the foreigners play at 3-4am for a change! This would work because foreigners would only have to worry about going to Korea if they qualified for Code S.
2) Invite foreigners directly into Code S. A good exchange program would be to invite a first placed foreign player at MLG to Code S. This way there is a huge incentive now for a foreigner to actually go to Korea. In fact, as mentioned on State of the Game, a direct Code S invite does appeal a lot more to foreign pros than a Code A invite. This way, you actually get foreigners to Korea -- if they lose in Code S, they might be more tempted to stick around to play through Code A to qualify again for Code S. Getting them directly into Code S is sort of like a "foot in the door" method and might increase the chances of foreigner retention in Korea.
What else?
Korea is amazing. I've watched all the GSL final events, and love them. The foreign fans love the Korean tournaments. If the GSL wants to become truly global however, more concessions need to be made to make the highest echelons more accessible to foreign players. It can't be a one way street. So far, no Korean has ever had to qualify for a foreign event, but every single foreign has had to qualify for a Korean event. This is a big problem!
If Koreans are continuously invited to foreign events and don't have to qualify, there will be no real incentive for Koreans to give any concessions to foreign players. I'm in no position to gauge the attitude or mindset of the people being GOM/GSL's decisionmaking, but I truly believe that by opening up their tournament format and making it more friendly to foreign players, the GSL will truly achieve its mission statement and be THE global Starcraft 2 tournament.
They have made strides by opening up a foreign house, helping to cover costs for the GOM World Championships, and with the idea of the exchange program, but more needs to be done. I think with enough feedback, commentary, and communication with GOM, we can help bridge the gap between Korea and the World, not just in terms of skill, but also in terms of events.
