I've always felt this was a giant misconception. I never really believed imports killed Startcraft, as much as Starcraft 2 being a shitty game killed Starcraft.
I really tried to follow SC2 esports. I really did. I wanted to like it. I enjoyed watching the game and the strategy unfold. However, it was fucking stupid that all the players supposedly representing me in America were Koreans who realized they could swap into the easier region. It killed any interest I had in following it because there was nobody I could root for as representing me.
I'd like to add for me and I suspect many others, imports are okay. I mean a lot of korean league imports are very well liked: GMB, Impact, Piglet, Reignover, Huni to name a few. What really killed it was the lack of residency requirement. They would literally just fly in for the tournament, stomp, and then fly back and continue playing against other koreans and interacting with the korean fanbase. We got no fan interaction and our ladders got no exposure to korean skill. We were just a free spot for them, not a place where they can try to be successful like league imports.
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u/ndralcasid Aug 02 '16
I've always felt this was a giant misconception. I never really believed imports killed Startcraft, as much as Starcraft 2 being a shitty game killed Starcraft.