Diamond Profile Blog Joined May 2009 United States 9882 Posts Last Edited: 2011-02-18 22:26:59 #1



I have been thinking about a "Neutral Server" rule. It would be highly situational and have to be set up before hand but for tournaments like TSL 3 and other showmatches might help.



For example let's say in TSL 3 Tyler gets matched up against oGsMC



(This is all made up and just an example. NOT a real scenario)

Tyler has access to NA, EU, and KOR and lives in NA

MC has access to NA, EU, and KOR, and lives in Korea



Playing the match on NA would give the lag advantage to Tyler.

Playing on KOR would give the lag advantage to MC.

Playing on EU would give them both lag and would be the closest way to duplicate it for both.



The match would be played on EU.



Also of course there would have to be a "home server" for the tournament where everyone has to have access to it, and if no Neutral Server can be found you default to that server (ie: TSL 3 would more then likely use NA for a home server).



I'm sort of curious what everyone thinks about this as it's sort of a weird scenario. You would basically be handicapping both players. Is this destroying the integrity of the game in some way? Is this just a plain bad idea?



I would LOVE to hear what some pros also think of this.



Thanks everyone!



So this is an idea I have been having for awhile regarding hosting showmatches and such. There is always the issue on cross server matches that one person will have much less lag then another. This always leads to the crying after the match "player a only lost because of lag, player b would not have won otherwise!" While obviously an exaggeration this is something I think creates an unnecessary advantage to one player.I have been thinking about a "Neutral Server" rule. It would be highly situational and have to be set up before hand but for tournaments like TSL 3 and other showmatches might help.For example let's say in TSL 3 Tyler gets matched up against oGsMC(This is all made up and just an example. NOT a real scenario)Tyler has access to NA, EU, and KOR and lives in NAMC has access to NA, EU, and KOR, and lives in KoreaPlaying the match on NA would give the lag advantage to Tyler.Playing on KOR would give the lag advantage to MC.Playing on EU would give them both lag and would be the closest way to duplicate it for both.The match would be played on EU.Also of course there would have to be a "home server" for the tournament where everyone has to have access to it, and if no Neutral Server can be found you default to that server (ie: TSL 3 would more then likely use NA for a home server).I'm sort of curious what everyone thinks about this as it's sort of a weird scenario. You would basically be handicapping both players. Is this destroying the integrity of the game in some way? Is this just a plain bad idea?I would LOVE to hear what some pros also think of this.Thanks everyone! NOTE: THIS DOES NOT REQUIRE ANYTHING FROM BLIZZARD. PLEASE READ THE OP MORE CAREFULLY Ballistix Gaming Global Gaming/Esports Marketing Manager - twitter.com/esvdiamond

Rialz Profile Joined October 2010 Brazil 177 Posts #2 I think that's fair and neutral. I like it. But i am no pro, or nowhere near qualified to judge that.

Wolf Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Korea (South) 3276 Posts #3 It's obviously a great idea. The question is, will Blizzard or another team ever be able to implement something like this? Commentator http://twitter.com/proxywolf

DeltruS Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Canada 2164 Posts #4 Kr to EU connections are completely unusable from what I've heared, while US to EU is not. Maybe the Chinese servers will serve as a better bridge.



I'd really just like to see Bliz offer a 5$ subscription fee to get premium connections to KR, not sharing the same server with other SC2 players. http://grooveshark.com/#/deltrus/music

Diamond Profile Blog Joined May 2009 United States 9882 Posts Last Edited: 2011-02-18 21:33:47 #5 On February 19 2011 06:30 Wolf wrote:

It's obviously a great idea. The question is, will Blizzard or another team ever be able to implement something like this?



Huh? Doesn't require anything on Blizz's part. Just having access to multiple servers. Most players and teams seem to have multiple accounts on multiple servers so I can't imagine it would be that off the charts hard. Also the organizer could have some extra player accounts for this purpose. For example if iCCup TV had a match where both players had NA and KOR but that's it, we lend out our two EU accounts.



Again just a raw idea, thanks for the opinions !



Huh? Doesn't require anything on Blizz's part. Just having access to multiple servers. Most players and teams seem to have multiple accounts on multiple servers so I can't imagine it would be that off the charts hard. Also the organizer could have some extra player accounts for this purpose. For example if iCCup TV had a match where both players had NA and KOR but that's it, we lend out our two EU accounts.Again just a raw idea, thanks for the opinions On February 19 2011 06:32 DeltruS wrote:

Kr to EU connections are completely unusable from what I've heared, while US to EU is not. Maybe the Chinese servers will serve as a better bridge.



I'd really just like to see Bliz offer a 5$ subscription fee to get premium connections to KR, not sharing the same server with other SC2 players.



Well a bit of experimentation would be needed to see what the the best set ups.



Well a bit of experimentation would be needed to see what the the best set ups. Ballistix Gaming Global Gaming/Esports Marketing Manager - twitter.com/esvdiamond

echO [W] Profile Joined July 2010 United States 1493 Posts #6 On February 19 2011 06:30 Wolf wrote:

It's obviously a great idea. The question is, will Blizzard or another team ever be able to implement something like this?

Do we need Blizzard to implement this? As long as competitors have an account to access all three realms we don't need Blizzard to step in here? Or am I mistaken as to what the OP is saying. Do we need Blizzard to implement this? As long as competitors have an account to access all three realms we don't need Blizzard to step in here? Or am I mistaken as to what the OP is saying. "Or a school bus over a bunch of kids" - Tasteless --- “A man's errors are his portals of discovery.” - James Joyce

SolHeiM Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Sweden 1262 Posts #7 Obviously a NA player vs a Korean should play on the EU realm as it will give neither player a significant advantage over the other. Both will be playing with lag and it evens the playing field. They'll play worse, but it won't be unplayable and lag doesn't change the "epicness" of games in any way. Playing with a bit of lag won't make the top players of this game look like Bronze league players.



But I don't think it should be a forced rule, I think it should be up to the players to decide what server to play on and if they can't decide on what realm to play on, (to use the players in your example) if Tyler refuses to play on Korean because oGsMC wants to play on Korean, and MC refuses to play on NA because Tyler wants to play on NA, the "Neutral Server" rule should be enforced. Not that I think Tyler and MC would be that petty, but that's what I think.

prodiG Profile Blog Joined January 2010 Canada 2015 Posts #8 The FPS side of e-sports has been doing this for 10+ years. It works, and I am definitely all for it in SC2. ESV Mapmaking Team || http://twitter.com/prodiGsc || Real talk, I don't have time to sugar-coat it for you sir

Poonchow Profile Joined September 2010 United States 56 Posts Last Edited: 2011-02-18 21:57:48 #9 This solution sounds like a reasonable one for large tournaments that have a lot of players from all over the world, but ideally it should not be necessary. You can try to ask the players which servers they have the least lag on, (do a PingTest.net to Europe and NA and SEA etc.) to see if which server seems like the best choice for both players. It might take extra time, but should be the best solution.



I think there is something seriously broken in Blizzard's battlenet code, unless they are intentionally making it super laggy for cross-realm people. I've played HoN, Wc3, and many other games on European and Asian servers with little to no lag at all. I don't understand why Blizzard can't make crossrealm support and do it well. The only explanation I can see is that Blizzard intentionally makes it shitty for NA or KR players to connect to EU servers to discourage bypassing their non-cross-realm platform, or the way the players are trying to connect to the different servers is inefficient or suboptimal.

.Aar Profile Joined September 2010 Korea (South) 2116 Posts #10



This sounds like a very good, simple idea. Can't figure out why it wasn't thought if earlier. On February 19 2011 06:56 Poonchow wrote:

I think there is something seriously broken in Blizzard's battlenet code, unless they are intentionally making it super laggy for cross-realm people. I've played HoN, Wc3, and many other games on European and Asian servers with little to no lag at all. I don't understand why Blizzard can't make crossrealm support and do it well. The only explanation I can see is that Blizzard intentionally makes it shitty for NA or KR players to connect to EU servers to discourage bypassing their non-cross-realm platform, or the way the players are trying to connect to the different servers is inefficient or suboptimal.



Now that I think about it.. this feels true. I played DotA on various servers for a year or two and never noticed too much difference between latency per region. Now that I think about it.. this feels true. I played DotA on various servers for a year or two and never noticed too much difference between latency per region. now run into the setting sun, and suffer, but don't mess up your hair.

Flaunt Profile Blog Joined May 2010 New Zealand 781 Posts #11 Korea has good, not great, but good ping to SEA and so does US. I'm pretty sure that would be a lot better than Europe for them. What? You seek something? You wish to multiply yourself tenfold, a hundredfold? You seek followers? Seek zeros!

ptbl Profile Joined January 2011 United States 4792 Posts #12 On February 19 2011 07:07 Flaunt wrote:

Korea has good, not great, but good ping to SEA and so does US. I'm pretty sure that would be a lot better than Europe for them.



Yeah, I'm thinking SEA would be a compromise. I remember Huk saying that SEA's latency from Korea wasn't too bad compared to the other servers. Yeah, I'm thinking SEA would be a compromise. I remember Huk saying that SEA's latency from Korea wasn't too bad compared to the other servers. Don't mind me

Neo.NEt Profile Joined August 2010 United States 785 Posts #13 I don't think any of us really know what it would take for Blizzard to implement any of this. That being said, it's tough for us to say what they should do. Apologize.

Barbiero Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Brazil 4900 Posts #14 On February 19 2011 07:07 Flaunt wrote:

Korea has good, not great, but good ping to SEA and so does US. I'm pretty sure that would be a lot better than Europe for them.



That would be an option for a neutral server.



I'm totally into this, it is definitely a way to make the game fair.



But wasnt TSL a tournament that required presence? or am I just completly wrong? That would be an option for a neutral server.I'm totally into this, it is definitely a way to make the game fair.But wasnt TSL a tournament that required presence? or am I just completly wrong? ♥ The world needs more hearts! ♥

trancey_ Profile Joined May 2010 Germany 728 Posts #15 On February 19 2011 07:07 Flaunt wrote:

Korea has good, not great, but good ping to SEA and so does US. I'm pretty sure that would be a lot better than Europe for them.

Of couse but in OPs example they both do not have access to SEA. Of couse but in OPs example they both do not have access to SEA.

Kantutan Profile Blog Joined February 2010 Canada 1319 Posts #16 Sigh, people saying Blizzard has anything to do with this need to read the OP more carefully. Anyways, yes there will still be different latencies for players since US -> EU != KR -> EU as stated above. They mention using SEA instead but I guess you'd have to figure out what to use for EU/KR and NA/EU then.

Barbiero Profile Blog Joined September 2010 Brazil 4900 Posts #17 there isn't any real server for NA/EU or EU/KR so, imo, the players should play in both KR and NA servers respectively to address that. ♥ The world needs more hearts! ♥

Wolf Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Korea (South) 3276 Posts Last Edited: 2011-02-18 22:18:19 #18 OH NEUTRAL SERVER .. "RULE"



I thought you meant neutral servers in general. I feel like an idiot for reading your entire post and still misunderstanding. Commentator http://twitter.com/proxywolf

Rabiator Profile Joined March 2010 Germany 3939 Posts #19 For a tournament it should be clear on which server it is goiong to be played and all responsiblity for any lag involved falls on the player. If someone from Korea is willing to risk losing because of lag and still participates in a tournament on the NA server then that is his own risk / problem (unless disconnects or so cause a delay in the schedule). I dont think we need anything other than lag-free global access to all servers for everyone and we shouldnt be considering any other solution because it may keep this eventual goal from ever being reached. If you cant say what you're meaning, you can never mean what you're saying.

Piski Profile Blog Joined April 2010 Finland 3460 Posts #20 So if NA vs EU server players play they have to play on KOR that lags for both of them even more? Feels kinda weird. I don't think they will ever find a completely balanced solution, it will always favor someone

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