StarCraft Cheating Scandal Rocks Korea

dotarray writes with this snippet: "The largest scandal in e-sports history is currently unfolding in Korea, with revelations that a number of current pro gamers are involved with match setups and illegal betting. While the gamers are unnamed at this point, the story is said to touch many A-list StarCraft celebrities, including sAviOr, Ja Mae Yoon, one of the best-known and most successful players of all time."

Comments

Oh my goodness

[socceroos]

My world has fallen to pieces!

Name is wrong - Jae Yoon Ma

[Anonymous Coward]

His first name is Jae Yoon, and his surname is Ma. Typically written in Korean with the surname first, as Ma Jae Yoon. Ja Mae Yoon is wrong.

Re:A-list? What?

[Some.Net(Guy)]

In Korea, video gaming is a professional sport. These guys they mention are bigger celebrities to Koreans than, say, LeBron James is to Americans. You think I'm joking or exaggerating, but I assure you I am not.

This is why I only play D&D (3rd ed.)

[BadAnalogyGuy]

I played Starcraft for a while, and I was very impressed with how balanced the gameplay was and how thought out the interface was. Blizzard did a great job making that game.

But it really stifles the creativity of the player by restricting actions to a very specific set of pre-programmed actions. You *must* farm for Vespene gas. you *must* collect crystals. There is little room for true creativity and adventuring. Today's FPS games are actually getting better at allowing this kind of freedom.

But to really get the most out of a game, you have to use your imagination. There's nothing more challenging than interacting with your friends and working out puzzles with nothing more than paper, dice, and pewter figurines. Dungeons and Dragons (and other clones of it) is the ultimate game because it removes artificially created limits and depends completely on how much you are invested in it.

If people are cheating and rigging game competitions, it's only because there is something to rig. Try cheating in D&D and you'll find that you only cheat yourself.

BadAnalogyGuy (aka Black Leaf)

As long as it's not Boxer, I'm ok

[phantomfive]

Here's a weird quote from the article:

As part of Korea's human rights laws, it is illegal to release criminals' names - they can only be implied - which means that as the police have now gotten involved, we may never be officially told who was involved in this drama.

You can't know criminals' names in Korea? Kind of weird.

Re:As long as it's not Boxer, I'm ok

[Anonymous Coward]

"You can't know criminals' names in Korea? Kind of weird."

It has it's positives i.e. vigilante justice and not getting ones life ruined if accused of a heinus crime (pedophelia, sexual assault, etc).

In america I find the fact they publish the names of sex offenders grotesque because rehabilitation and re-entering society to lead a normal life is impossible, this vigalante mob justice has never sat well with me.

Re:As long as it's not Boxer, I'm ok

[rebot777]

It's most likely you can't know alleged criminals names for their protection. A concern I have with current US society is the media's influence on our views of 'alleged criminals'. If you're in a high profile case and it turns out you're not guilty the inertia of public opinion against you for being accused can haunt you for the rest of your life. I believe these laws are in response to such situations.

Re:As long as it's not Boxer, I'm ok

[Cimexus]

I doubt they have an equivalent. Even in other ~Western~ countries there is often no equivalent of such a registry. It's one of those things I always found a bit odd about America actually.

Where I live, you either don't release a serious criminal who is going to have a tendency to re-offend, or tabs are kept on them in other ways (house confinement, surveillance, radio bracelets etc.). I mean sure, the people who live nearby to the to-be-released sex offender will be notified and have a right to object to/block the offender moving into that area. But that doesn't extend to the whole world being able to punch in a random address and see who's around.

I'm not American so I may have misinterpreted what the Registry actually does. If so I apologise. But my impression was that ~anyone~ can search for nearby offenders ~anywhere~, even if that location has nothing to do with them.

When money is involved

[Kitkoan]

Some people will do anything to get even more money. Its also possible that some of the Starcraft players are seeing a dead end of their time playing gaming professionally. As in they might not be that great at most RTS games, but amazing at Starcraft. And with Starcraft 2 coming along closer and closer, it might be the writing on the wall for Starcraft 1's viability. Cash out while they can and all?

Re:Who cares?

[Fluffeh]

Actually, if I was betting on the outcome of a contest between two people, I would sure as hell care if they were fixing the outcome and I wouldn't say I am stupid.

Oh, I get it, you just wanted a first post and had nothing better to post than racism. Guess who looks stupid now?

Re:A-list? What?

[Anonymous Coward]

Probably because his name is typically written in Hangul?

Re:A-list? What?

[EvanED]

A couple posts (e.g. the top one on this page) dispute it's at that degree of popularity:

bjornkavist:

You over estimate the popularity of Starcraft. Since this is a Starcraft site that covers pro BW from a foreign stand point it seems like the biggest thing in the world. When sadly, when compared to Hockey in Canada, or Football in the States, its no where near as popular. Yes people know about it, tons do, compared to other countries but Koreand definately dont breathe Starcraft.

PanzerDragoon:

I would say SC is most comparable to MMA in the states; a niche sport with a decent sized hardcore fanbase, but not wide casual appeal.

Re:A-list? What?

[syousef]

Speaking as a non-American... who the f**k is Lebron James???

Who knows. I haven't heard of him either. Best guess based on this story: He probably plays Warcraft instead of Starcraft.

I Feel So Betrayed...

[Comatose51]

I feel so betrayed. This must be how Tassadar felt when Aldaris arrested him upon his return after discovering the key to slaying the Overmind. It is as though I am Kerrigan abandoned by Acturus Mengsk to be captured by the Zergs. Today I am Jim Raynor, a warrior cut loose from his own people.

Re:A-list? What?

[bennomatic]

Gretzky? Wasn't he the guy who played on the LA Kings?

Re:A-list? What?

[crossmr]

mainly because you're a tool. Here is what a search of him in Korea looks like:
http://search.naver.com/search.naver?sm=tab_hty&where=nexearch&query=%B8%B6%C0%E7%C0%B1&x=0&y=0

news sites, images, magazine covers, videos, etc

Re:A-list? What?

[Abcd1234]

That's it, you're going on my foe list... :)

Re:In a way it's nice..

[Punto]

instead, you're part of the demographic that cares about "Dancing with the stars". Congratulations.

Re:In a way it's nice..

[kiddygrinder]

It must suck to be a part of the subset of those who care enough about not caring to make sure everyone knows how much they don't care.