r_gg Profile Joined August 2015 141 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-21 06:17:06 #1

China's GHL bans Koreans,

Team Snake lose Sponsorship

by r_gg



More unfortunate news hit for Team Snake, and possibly Team DK too. In what appears to be an effort to protect their domestic scene, China's Gold Heroes League is banning all Korean players from participating in their upcoming season 2. Because of the lack of Chinese tournaments they can participate, Team Snake has stopped their contract with their Korean Heroes team.



The six-man team consisting of kinnu, ttst, kong, mongD, Jeongha, and duckdeok is now back to their old name: Team AsD. Despite being one of the most accomplished teams in Asia, with 1st place in



In a post on Korea's Inven Board,





Hello? This is AsD's Kinnu.

Our contract with Team Snake has terminated, so I'm back here as Team AsD.



Koreans have been banned from participating in Gold League S2, and because it has become difficult for us to be involved in the Chinese scene, we terminated our contract with our sponsor.



We want to thank Team Snake for all the support they have given us so far, and thank you for all the fans who have cheered for us.



We are looking for new sponsors, so please contact us at bk1126@naver.com if you are interested.



P.S. The ban on GHL isn't just a ban on a team of five Koreans, but a ban on any Korean players.



When the news of



Considering the fact that Gold Heroes League decided to ban both the winner (Snake) and runner-up (DK) of the previous season, it seems likely that China's GHL is trying to protect their domestic teams from getting overwhelmed by foreigners. It is yet unclear how Team DK will be affected by these decisions, but the prospect of the team retaining their sponsorship after BlizzCon and WCA is grim.



China was one of the few hopes Korean competitive teams had for securing a well-paying sponsor. Unfortunately, the overwhelming success of Snake and DK seems to have backfired. With China out of the picture, the Korean teams now have to hope for their local scene to pick up steam and have big-name companies to start investing in Heroes.







Gold Heroes League Season 1 Results





More unfortunate news hit for Team Snake, and possibly Team DK too. In what appears to be an effort to protect their domestic scene, China's Gold Heroes League is banning all Korean players from participating in their upcoming season 2. Because of the lack of Chinese tournaments they can participate, Team Snake has stopped their contract with their Korean Heroes team.The six-man team consisting of kinnu, ttst, kong, mongD, Jeongha, and duckdeok is now back to their old name: Team AsD. Despite being one of the most accomplished teams in Asia, with 1st place in GHL Season 1 , 2nd place Storm League Season 2 , and 3rd place in HSL 2015 , the team had to have their contract terminated.In a post on Korea's Inven Board, Snake's captiain kinnu wrote When the news of Cloud 9 getting invited to Gold Heroes League Season 2 came out, people were anticipating a tournament where they can see NA, KR and CN get represented. It is unfortunate that none of the Korean teams will get to participate in it. With Gold Heroes League out of the picture and failing to qualify for WCA, it seems like we won't get to watch Team AsD play till next year.Considering the fact that Gold Heroes League decided to ban both the winner (Snake) and runner-up (DK) of the previous season, it seems likely that China's GHL is trying to protect their domestic teams from getting overwhelmed by foreigners. It is yet unclear how Team DK will be affected by these decisions, but the prospect of the team retaining their sponsorship after BlizzCon and WCA is grim.China was one of the few hopes Korean competitive teams had for securing a well-paying sponsor. Unfortunately, the overwhelming success of Snake and DK seems to have backfired. With China out of the picture, the Korean teams now have to hope for their local scene to pick up steam and have big-name companies to start investing in Heroes. Writer

Wuster Profile Joined May 2011 1974 Posts #2 That's some sad news. The Korean scene is squeezed enough as it is, with competition with LoL, only one spot for Blizzcon, ect. Now China is closing off (hopefully other leagues won't follow suit?).

Ramiz1989 Profile Joined July 2012 7627 Posts #3 That has to be one of the stupidest crap I have ever seen... "I've been to hell and back, and back to hell…and back. This time, I've brought Hell back with me."

Wuster Profile Joined May 2011 1974 Posts #4 On October 21 2015 01:33 Ramiz1989 wrote:

That has to be one of the stupidest crap I have ever seen...



And yes, some people want Blizzard to do that with WCS! And yes, some people want Blizzard to do that with WCS!

Raven068 Profile Blog Joined September 2011 United States 89 Posts #5 I sympathize since that really sucks for Snake and DK. That said it would really solve alot of problems if fan viewership around the Korean scene grew with LotV. >< www.youtube.com/Omega068

IceHism Profile Joined February 2010 United States 1881 Posts #6 I'm not sure how to feel about region locking. It helps develop a regional scene and made sc2 a lot more enjoyable to watch for a lot of people in the west but It reeks of xenophobia and it kind of proves that the people there can't git gud.



Though there isn't much of a reason to git gud if no one is watching..

Incognoto Profile Blog Joined May 2010 France 10199 Posts #7 is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh eso-community.net | Age of Empires 3 Community Forum ! | maru lover forever | I LIVE IN USA NOW http://i.imgur.com/EZPrgbW.png

Ramiz1989 Profile Joined July 2012 7627 Posts #8 On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. "I've been to hell and back, and back to hell…and back. This time, I've brought Hell back with me."

Daryl_117 Profile Joined October 2015 3 Posts #9 On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.

digmouse Profile Blog Joined November 2010 China 5661 Posts #10 On October 21 2015 07:55 Daryl_117 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.

Pretty much this. Pretty much this. Translator If you want to ask anything about Chinese esports, send me a PM or follow me @nerddigmouse.

r_gg Profile Joined August 2015 141 Posts #11 On October 21 2015 07:55 Daryl_117 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.



Yeah, even Korean community aren't reacting too harshly about the decision and says it's frustrating but understandable. They are more sad about the lack of major Korean sponsors or how the decision wasn't made earlier so AsD could sign up for HCOT season 2 that is happening in Korea right now. Yeah, even Korean community aren't reacting too harshly about the decision and says it's frustrating but understandable. They are more sad about the lack of major Korean sponsors or how the decision wasn't made earlier so AsD could sign up for HCOT season 2 that is happening in Korea right now. Writer

jimmy2472 Profile Joined October 2015 1 Post #12 That's unfortunate, hopefully T1, Rolster or some big name company begin to sponsor the KR teams

zev318 Profile Joined October 2010 Canada 2294 Posts #13 On October 21 2015 07:55 Daryl_117 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.



why dont they ban chinese sponsors from sponsoring koreans then? why dont they ban chinese sponsors from sponsoring koreans then?

DarkPlasmaBall Profile Blog Joined March 2010 United States 38921 Posts #14 On October 21 2015 01:33 Ramiz1989 wrote:

That has to be one of the stupidest crap I have ever seen...



China afraid of better competition. It's really sad x.x China afraid of better competition. It's really sad x.x "There is nothing more satisfying than looking at a crowd of people and helping them get what I love." ~Day[9] Daily #100

Daryl_117 Profile Joined October 2015 3 Posts Last Edited: 2015-10-21 17:07:05 #15 On October 21 2015 11:10 zev318 wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 07:55 Daryl_117 wrote:

On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.



why dont they ban chinese sponsors from sponsoring koreans then? why dont they ban chinese sponsors from sponsoring koreans then?





As the newest information from NetEase (Chinese local partner), they didn't ban Koreans. They wanna make GHL a local tournament and set up a new tournament between CN/KR top teams in Jan 2016. Snake club may lose their patience, because Snake didn't make it to show up on WCS and WCA. The termination has nothing to do with NetEase, it's sponsor's choice. As the newest information from NetEase (Chinese local partner), they didn't ban Koreans. They wanna make GHL a local tournament and set up a new tournament between CN/KR top teams in Jan 2016. Snake club may lose their patience, because Snake didn't make it to show up on WCS and WCA. The termination has nothing to do with NetEase, it's sponsor's choice.

Daryl_117 Profile Joined October 2015 3 Posts #16 On October 21 2015 10:05 r_gg wrote:

Show nested quote +

On October 21 2015 07:55 Daryl_117 wrote:

On October 21 2015 06:07 Ramiz1989 wrote:

On October 21 2015 04:20 Incognoto wrote:

is this more of the "koreans are too good at the game so let's prevent them from playing vs us" ?



sigh

Definitely looks like it...



I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure. Definitely looks like it...I am that's exactly why it feels so horrible to me, the eSport scene for this game is still in development, the game is too young and needs as many tournaments as possible. Banning Koreans(that are currently the best) not only cut the viewers but also prevents the Chinese scene from growing and their teams from improving. They are not good as Koreans and certainly won't get anywhere near their skill level just by playing among themselves, that's for sure.



No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future. No exactly. Koreans took 1st and 2nd place in the first season that is preventing the Chinese scene. You may not understand this, let me explain it. When Koreans came in, one point was that they can force Chinese teams to improve themselves, that's true and they did it. However, as a team game, sponsorship is very important to the development of HOTS now. Chinese sponsors prefer to support Korean teams than Chinese teams because Korean team are too strong in GHL and some new team can't get chance to be attractive to sponsors. That's definitely a disaster to Chinese scene. BTW, ban Koreans in GHL doesn't mean there is no stage for KR/CN scene in China. There will be some other tournament involving CN/KR teams held by NetEase in the future.



Yeah, even Korean community aren't reacting too harshly about the decision and says it's frustrating but understandable. They are more sad about the lack of major Korean sponsors or how the decision wasn't made earlier so AsD could sign up for HCOT season 2 that is happening in Korea right now. Yeah, even Korean community aren't reacting too harshly about the decision and says it's frustrating but understandable. They are more sad about the lack of major Korean sponsors or how the decision wasn't made earlier so AsD could sign up for HCOT season 2 that is happening in Korea right now.



I do think they got the news in early time. You should try to contact DK.Kr to confirm all the information. I do think they got the news in early time. You should try to contact DK.Kr to confirm all the information.