[HotS] Blurred Lines: Heroes and the FGC Text by TL.net ESPORTS





Blurred Lines

Liga HOTSEA and what we can learn from the FGC

Written by: Koznarov





Heroes of the Storm isn’t the first game lacking the esports support of its developer. In fact, many games never have this kind of support and develop great communities anyway. Most of these games have something in common: they are fighting games.



In the Fighting Games Community (FGC), games usually have a long lifespan because even if players move on to newer games, they keep playing the old titles from time to time anyway. In fact, these games still appear in some tournaments as side events. As a complement for EVO (Evolution Championship Series), AnimEVO brings back old games alongside current ones that didn’t make it to the main event. In its 2019 edition, AnimEVO gathered more than a thousand players.



You may wonder, how can the FGC organize all these events, especially for games without any player base nowadays? Through self-financing. Most fighting games events have an entrance fee that allows players to join the tournament and stay in the venue playing and training with other competitors. However, only one out of many contenders can become victorious. But that isn’t a barrier for people to join. Many still go to experience the adrenaline rush of competition and to meet other people with similar hobbies.





Oh, I didn't even notice those were there.





Could this finance model be adopted by Heroes tournaments? In fighting games players stand for themselves instead of being part of a team, so it’s their own decision to join a tournament and to pay the fee. They don’t need to convince their teammates, so it’s clearly easier for them.Luckily, we don’t need to theorize about this matter. There’s already a tournament with this system in the Heroes scene.





Liga HOTSEA



Since 2017,



The system seems to work! They’re currently in their eighth season, and teams keep joining the open division. The league consists of a double round-robin Bo5 series followed by playoffs, where the winner takes 50% of the prize pool and the rest is split between second through fourth (30%, 15%, 5%). Moreover, a most valuable player is chosen in each one of the two round-robin stages and is given additional prize money. Though teams must have four Spanish players or people living in Spain, the fifth doesn’t have a nationality restriction.











HOTSEA may not be known outside its country, but there they’ve made an effort to reach a wider audience by partnering with a





The Competitive Mentality



Heroes of the Storm has a great amateur scene. There are more than a hundred teams in the Heroes Lounge and Nexus Gaming Series leagues, and Malganyr’s Nexus Cup gathered more than 50 teams even with a regional player requirement. However, most of the teams seem afraid to aim higher. We’re not talking about becoming professionals, just joining the highest tier tournaments. Out of potentially a hundred teams, only ten signed up for HeroesHype Cup 3 in Europe and only six in its North American counterpart.



Blurring the line between pros, semi-pros, and amateurs is something necessary to keep the scene alive without big sponsors. We need to get to the point where, like the FGC, “everyone competes”. This is already happening in China, the healthiest region in terms of competitive Heroes. There, more than 30 teams joined the qualifiers for both Gold Series Heroes League seasons. They would have to face BTG, CE, SPT or TheOne, but it doesn’t matter; they just want to have a good time. But it needs to happen overseas in our Western region too.











We need to step up as a community. If you want to join the HeroesHype cups, check their site for the dates of their next tournaments, both for











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Header image: via Reddit



Heroes of the Storm isn’t the first game lacking the esports support of its developer. In fact, many games never have this kind of support and develop great communities anyway. Most of these games have something in common: they are fighting games.In the Fighting Games Community (FGC), games usually have a long lifespan because even if players move on to newer games, they keep playing the old titles from time to time anyway. In fact, these games still appear in some tournaments as side events. As a complement for EVO (Evolution Championship Series), AnimEVO brings back old games alongside current ones that didn’t make it to the main event. In its 2019 edition, AnimEVO gathered more than a thousand players.You may wonder, how can the FGC organize all these events, especially for games without any player base nowadays? Through self-financing. Most fighting games events have an entrance fee that allows players to join the tournament and stay in the venue playing and training with other competitors. However, only one out of many contenders can become victorious. But that isn’t a barrier for people to join. Many still go to experience the adrenaline rush of competition and to meet other people with similar hobbies.Could this finance model be adopted by Heroes tournaments? In fighting games players stand for themselves instead of being part of a team, so it’s their own decision to join a tournament and to pay the fee. They don’t need to convince their teammates, so it’s clearly easier for them.Luckily, we don’t need to theorize about this matter. There’s already a tournament with this system in the Heroes scene.Since 2017, HOTSEA has been a regular league for the Spanish Heroes scene. Besides hosting their own league, they have also broadcasted many international tournaments from the HGC to the Masters Clash and Division S. Their premier division includes eight teams which have to pay an entrance fee of €50 per team. New teams coming from their open division through the crucible don’t need to pay anything. The result is a prize pool that stays the same and is completely self-funded.The system seems to work! They’re currently in their eighth season, and teams keep joining the open division. The league consists of a double round-robin Bo5 series followed by playoffs, where the winner takes 50% of the prize pool and the rest is split between second through fourth (30%, 15%, 5%). Moreover, a most valuable player is chosen in each one of the two round-robin stages and is given additional prize money. Though teams must have four Spanish players or people living in Spain, the fifth doesn’t have a nationality restriction.HOTSEA may not be known outside its country, but there they’ve made an effort to reach a wider audience by partnering with a Spanish esports and gaming site to publish weekly reports of their league so people can easily keep track of what’s going on. They even partnered with esports bars to stream their games there.Heroes of the Storm has a great amateur scene. There are more than a hundred teams in the Heroes Lounge and Nexus Gaming Series leagues, and Malganyr’s Nexus Cup gathered more than 50 teams even with a regional player requirement. However, most of the teams seem afraid to aim higher. We’re not talking about becoming professionals, just joining the highest tier tournaments. Out of potentially a hundred teams, only ten signed up for HeroesHype Cup 3 in Europe and only six in its North American counterpart.Blurring the line between pros, semi-pros, and amateurs is something necessary to keep the scene alive without big sponsors. We need to get to the point where, like the FGC, “everyone competes”. This is already happening in China, the healthiest region in terms of competitive Heroes. There, more than 30 teams joined the qualifiers for both Gold Series Heroes League seasons. They would have to face BTG, CE, SPT or TheOne, but it doesn’t matter; they just want to have a good time. But it needs to happen overseas in our Western region too.We need to step up as a community. If you want to join the HeroesHype cups, check their site for the dates of their next tournaments, both for North America and Europe . If you want to check how Liga HOTSEA is doing, you can watch their games Monday to Thursday at 22:00 CEST on their Twitch channel . As Cloaken used to say, we’ll see you in the Nexus.



Excalibur_Z Profile Joined October 2002 United States 11881 Posts #2 The sentiment of this article is on point. Too many players enter tournaments only when there's nothing to lose or an enormous prize pool, but the FGC has always been about competition over personal profit. However, there are significant differences between a FGC tournament and something like Liga Hotsea. When players attend an FGC tournament, they're usually traveling and staying at a venue for several days, meaning they've saved up hundreds or thousands of dollars essentially to go on vacation. The vibe is different, where you're there to meet people and hang out, and you get a lot of opportunities to run sets with dozens of players in either a casual or money-match atmosphere. There's a sort of psychological "safety net" where sure you're going to compete, but even if you go 0-2 in your pool, you still have fun because you're there chatting with likeminded players over drinks or food, watching some good competition together with a crowd, and improving through playing a variety of opponents in casual offline play.



I played in the AHGL for HotS and Dota, both online tournaments played for charity. We'd have practice matches a few times a week, scrim with practice teams to develop drafts, and have weekly lunch meetings where we'd go over replays to optimize our strategy, tactics, and team cohesion. It got pretty exhausting for a lot of our players who each had different expectations of commitment. When I went to compete in some FGC tournaments, it felt way more chill because the games are 1v1 and only take a couple of minutes. In HotS you're dedicating multiple hours with each match because they're Bo3 or Bo5 with breaks between games to review or refresh. But at the end of the day, you're still just playing online, so you give a halfhearted "gg" to your team and your opponents and return to the solitude of your bedroom. Online fighting game tournaments are similarly distant in feel. There's something unique about every competitor being physically present that makes them more willing to contribute to the pot knowing they're going to lose because the rest of the trip will justify the expense. Moderator

xpdeus Profile Joined October 2019 5 Posts #3 I love fighting games and it would be pleasure to watch FGC tournaments

dbRic1203 Profile Joined July 2019 Germany 1422 Posts #4 This totally works. Not only in e-sports, but Sports in general, there are a lot of competitions without any price pool at all.

I for my selve train 5 to 10 Times a week and dedicate about half of all my weekend a year to a sport, where I pay for every entry, my accomodation, the travel and the Equipment. I didn t win a single € from that all my live, while doing it for allmost 15 years now and having multiple national and european title to my name, and some grand 2nd and 3rd places at world championships as well.

It s all "just" for the live of the sport and the Adrenalin of competition. MaxPax | Reynor | Clem

Garbels Profile Joined July 2010 Austria 648 Posts #5 But is it a team sport?

For me if I would enter a tournament I would need to feel at least mildy competent.

For hots that would mean training with others at the same time wich has who also have a desire to attend the same tournament. Meaning a lot of extra hurdles.

dbRic1203 Profile Joined July 2019 Germany 1422 Posts #6 On November 04 2019 20:13 Garbels wrote:

But is it a team sport?

For me if I would enter a tournament I would need to feel at least mildy competent.

For hots that would mean training with others at the same time wich has who also have a desire to attend the same tournament. Meaning a lot of extra hurdles.

I compete in both, single and team competitions. But more serious in team competition. My single races are pretty mutch only at the end of the season, when there s not much going on. I compete in both, single and team competitions. But more serious in team competition. My single races are pretty mutch only at the end of the season, when there s not much going on. MaxPax | Reynor | Clem

Slydie Profile Joined August 2013 847 Posts #7 On November 04 2019 06:01 dbRic1203 wrote:

This totally works. Not only in e-sports, but Sports in general, there are a lot of competitions without any price pool at all.

I for my selve train 5 to 10 Times a week and dedicate about half of all my weekend a year to a sport, where I pay for every entry, my accomodation, the travel and the Equipment. I didn t win a single € from that all my live, while doing it for allmost 15 years now and having multiple national and european title to my name, and some grand 2nd and 3rd places at world championships as well.

It s all "just" for the live of the sport and the Adrenalin of competition.



As you mention, there are some extremely dedicated amateurs who still lose money on their hobby. While this is true, having a viable fulltime pro possibility tends to make wonders for the level of any activity. Sure, an amateur can occasionally do better than a pro, but it tends to be the exception. As you mention, there are some extremely dedicated amateurs who still lose money on their hobby. While this is true, having a viable fulltime pro possibility tends to make wonders for the level of any activity. Sure, an amateur can occasionally do better than a pro, but it tends to be the exception. Buff the siegetank

dbRic1203 Profile Joined July 2019 Germany 1422 Posts #8 On November 05 2019 06:58 Slydie wrote:

Show nested quote +

On November 04 2019 06:01 dbRic1203 wrote:

This totally works. Not only in e-sports, but Sports in general, there are a lot of competitions without any price pool at all.

I for my selve train 5 to 10 Times a week and dedicate about half of all my weekend a year to a sport, where I pay for every entry, my accomodation, the travel and the Equipment. I didn t win a single € from that all my live, while doing it for allmost 15 years now and having multiple national and european title to my name, and some grand 2nd and 3rd places at world championships as well.

It s all "just" for the live of the sport and the Adrenalin of competition.



As you mention, there are some extremely dedicated amateurs who still lose money on their hobby. While this is true, having a viable fulltime pro possibility tends to make wonders for the level of any activity. Sure, an amateur can occasionally do better than a pro, but it tends to be the exception. As you mention, there are some extremely dedicated amateurs who still lose money on their hobby. While this is true, having a viable fulltime pro possibility tends to make wonders for the level of any activity. Sure, an amateur can occasionally do better than a pro, but it tends to be the exception.

Yeah, that is defnatly true.

But it s still possible to keep an semy high Level even without an pro environment. Especially when there is an somewhat closly related sport, that takes similar skilles, wich has a pro scene.

I started as a kayaker, wich is an olympic sport and is decently structured in germany. You re not getting rich with it by any means, but when you re on national Team Level, you can get into a Sports Programm in the army or the Police, where they pay you for doing your sport, as long as you perform well.

At some point I realised, I m never going to make it to the olympic, so I quit that and switched to Dragon Boat racing. There is zero funding and pretty much no structur, even the organisation on European level is lead by volunteers, but it s still a decent competition, as most of the top athlets have an professional kayaking/ canoeing or rowing Background.

I m pretty sure the same would be possible in e-Sports as well. If someone isn t making any money as a pro and has to go amateur, je might Switch to an game with an amateur-only scene, where he can still See success and keep up with the top. Yeah, that is defnatly true.But it s still possible to keep an semy high Level even without an pro environment. Especially when there is an somewhat closly related sport, that takes similar skilles, wich has a pro scene.I started as a kayaker, wich is an olympic sport and is decently structured in germany. You re not getting rich with it by any means, but when you re on national Team Level, you can get into a Sports Programm in the army or the Police, where they pay you for doing your sport, as long as you perform well.At some point I realised, I m never going to make it to the olympic, so I quit that and switched to Dragon Boat racing. There is zero funding and pretty much no structur, even the organisation on European level is lead by volunteers, but it s still a decent competition, as most of the top athlets have an professional kayaking/ canoeing or rowing Background.I m pretty sure the same would be possible in e-Sports as well. If someone isn t making any money as a pro and has to go amateur, je might Switch to an game with an amateur-only scene, where he can still See success and keep up with the top. MaxPax | Reynor | Clem

EsportsJohn Profile Blog Joined June 2012 United States 4833 Posts #9 This is getting way off topic, but what is a Dragon Boat? Strategy

dbRic1203 Profile Joined July 2019 Germany 1422 Posts #10 On November 05 2019 17:38 EsportsJohn wrote:

This is getting way off topic, but what is a Dragon Boat?

Sorry that s probably entirely my fault, I just tried to give insight from another perspective, as I ve made that transition from pro to amateur athlet and know a lot of people, who went the same path.

Anyways, here is a Video from our Last world champs. Unfortunatly there wasn t anything in YouTube.

https://www.facebook.com/306426159439470/posts/2363807970367935/?sfnsn=mo Sorry that s probably entirely my fault, I just tried to give insight from another perspective, as I ve made that transition from pro to amateur athlet and know a lot of people, who went the same path.Anyways, here is a Video from our Last world champs. Unfortunatly there wasn t anything in YouTube. MaxPax | Reynor | Clem