The CGS - Soapbox

[Sabre0001]

Warning - For your own safety, read in parts and be warned that a wall of text is approaching. As a result, this post is rated "N" as in "Suitable for Nobody" - this post has been pent up for quite a while and is finally escaping!

So we have seen two seasons of the CGS, and I can't post this on the forums because I would probably be stoned for pointing any criticism in that direction (who knows though, I may take that risk!). When the CGS and the idea of it was first announced I couldn't have been happier - finally, people outside the top 5 in the world in their respective game could pick up a wage, and there would be some stability...But all is not what I originally thought.

Wages - Yipee! Finally players get paid....Not a fantastic wage (as far as I'm aware) but a wage nonetheless with the opportunity to increase it through performance bonuses. However, there are some bothersome traits to this wage. Firstly, coming into Season II there was a new structure proposed whereby each team had one franchise player, five protected players and then drafted players. And there was a wage hierarchy all of a sudden.

BUT, it was only the franchise player (i.e. the best of the best on that team) that got a wage rise (and a slight one at that). ALL other players got wage cuts - when you consider that LA and Chicago pretty much kept their original teams, something is amiss.

Season - All seemed like a great idea...But there is one problem with the "season structure" - only the US region actually gets to play what some would call a season with games against all players. Not only this but they get to play in a setup similar to what is used for the finals. What do the other regions get? A LAN weekend......same as any regular tournament.

Coverage - We were promised so much - DirectTV, SKY, Eurosport, etc...But wait, what's this? A catch?! Firstly, it is only Region 1 (what region? Oh yes, the American one...) that is broadcast live. Take a look on the CGS page or your TV listings and you see the CGS finals (is it even broadcasting that stage yet) - seems great - but these ended months ago. Interested? No, not really - would other "sports" broadcast the biggest event months later. And yet, they continue to promote the website during the show - the website that will showcase how much of a joke the broadcast schedule is.

Not only this, but the only channels you can watch it on are the ones you pay for. I don't have Sky and don't plan to get it...And no, the CGS is not enough - if I don't have it for F1, rugby and soccer, I'm not going to get it for this!

FINALLY (within this section - the rant continues! ) I was able to watch some of the American season...But only until DirectTV decided that it was time to show coverage - a couple of weeks into the Season. Suddenly the actual fans were left without CGS coverage (unless you count blogs / recaps which I do not - suddenly Region 1 turns into other regions...) unless you lived in the States and had DirectTV.

The Games - As stated, the CGS arrived and I thought "stability at last" - the one thing that is needed in the West for any eSport to be given a chance to take off (people look at Korea and ask how? The answer is OBVIOUS - Starcraft has been used for ten years, regardless of graphics or new games, etc).

But I was quickly proven wrong - after one season PGR 3 was dropped for Forza Motorsports. If PGR 4 wasn't good enough, stick with PGR3 I would have thought...But instead a switch was made and one of the greatest duos in PGR (Chicago) was decimated in Forza.

And people complained when rules were changed - ok so CSS is a little less exciting when teams are given loads of money and there are fewer rounds, other games got their own rule changes - not too detrimental overall.

But then the coverage of the games - CSS suffered from an over use of third person (/overall scene) shots which actually makes the game harder to follow. Then CSS coverage was significantly cut to only show half the game with a brief recap midway through because "ratings suffered". But yet FIFA continues to be shown in full (this is a point made by others - I actually like the FIFA) while Forza is pretty much decided in one corner...


So the CGS - overall purpose is to appeal to a "casual market" which seems to be non-gamers. But yet, gamers and actual fans of the CGS are isolated and ignored. Regardless of what people think are the best games to use, gamers and fans are left without coverage because DirectTV start showing (and if you are outside the States you have no coverage anyway so you start to follow the US), are left with substandard game coverage and only have a Season if in the US.

From my own experience with the CGS I know more about and of the American players and team makeup than any other region. I don't want to watch the VODs now - not as exciting when I know the result. I prefer CSS coverage in full (and first person) - while I don't play I can appreciate the skill, have some understanding of what is going on and find some games to be very exciting. The coverage thing really gets my goat (in case you didn't realise) - even if I lived in the States, something like this is not enough for me to subscribe over...And you would think you would want as many channels to reach the end consumer as possible.

Am I too much of a gamer? Or do I have better business sense than some of these professionals? (I also may not submit this because I did apply for a job )

[Oisinjm]

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

Season - All seemed like a great idea...But there is one problem with the "season structure" - only the US region actually gets to play what some would call a season with games against all players. Not only this but they get to play in a setup similar to what is used for the finals. What do the other regions get? A LAN weekend......same as any regular tournament

I really enjoyed the rant you made some good points and pretty much summed up why so much people hate the CGS but as for the US region only getting a season I'm pretty sure the UK and European teams are in talks with the CGS about getting a season of their own. I read it in an interview with the Salvo manager on cadred.

[Kinetic^]

Nice post. By nice, I mean long!

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

So we have seen two seasons of the CGS, and I can't post this on the forums because I would probably be stoned for pointing any criticism in that direction (who knows though, I may take that risk!). When the CGS and the idea of it was first announced I couldn't have been happier - finally, people outside the top 5 in the world in their respective game could pick up a wage, and there would be some stability...But all is not what I originally thought.

Tbh, you should post this on the main site. They have actually listened to some of what has been said on the forums, some. I think the main one is the allowance of the CSS teams to play 1.6 although even at that there doesn't seem to a consistent level of competitive allowance as there was teams withdrawn from the GotFrag Revival Tour for some reason. You can be sure that Jason Lake had a hand to play in this as well.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

Wages - Yipee! Finally players get paid....Not a fantastic wage (as far as I'm aware) but a wage nonetheless with the opportunity to increase it through performance bonuses. However, there are some bothersome traits to this wage. Firstly, coming into Season II there was a new structure proposed whereby each team had one franchise player, five protected players and then drafted players. And there was a wage hierarchy all of a sudden.

The pay in the first season was $2,500 per month. While I do still talk to some of my former team mates and other CGS players, I've never asked about money so I can't advise on what it's like now. That sounds like sweet money for playing games...however, it's dollars and atm the dollar may as well be monopoly money! There was months when I got circa €1,600 and others where I got as much as €1,800. Had the CGS been around before George W Bush got into office it would be sweet money.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

BUT, it was only the franchise player (i.e. the best of the best on that team) that got a wage rise (and a slight one at that). ALL other players got wage cuts - when you consider that LA and Chicago pretty much kept their original teams, something is amiss.

I don't know what the deal is with the franchise player is. I mean if they're going to be changing games then that position in the team has the potential to change every year which creates a sense of instability for people who follow it. At the moment, there are 4 out of 6 potential franchise players who play DOA in the North American Region (3 male & 1 female). There is serious talk of Soul Calibur 4 taking over from DOA which might not be a bad thing but where does that leave those 4 franchise players?

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

Season - All seemed like a great idea...But there is one problem with the "season structure" - only the US region actually gets to play what some would call a season with games against all players. Not only this but they get to play in a setup similar to what is used for the finals. What do the other regions get? A LAN weekend......same as any regular tournament.

The lack of playing time as an entire franchise for teams outside of North America is a joke tbh. You can take a read of this article over on coL's site. You either make a go at all regions or you just make it a North American league. Don't do a half assed job for everyone else.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

Coverage - We were promised so much - DirectTV, SKY, Eurosport, etc...But wait, what's this? A catch?! Firstly, it is only Region 1 (what region? Oh yes, the American one...) that is broadcast live. Take a look on the CGS page or your TV listings and you see the CGS finals (is it even broadcasting that stage yet) - seems great - but these ended months ago. Interested? No, not really - would other "sports" broadcast the biggest event months later. And yet, they continue to promote the website during the show - the website that will showcase how much of a joke the broadcast schedule is.

Not only this, but the only channels you can watch it on are the ones you pay for. I don't have Sky and don't plan to get it...And no, the CGS is not enough - if I don't have it for F1, rugby and soccer, I'm not going to get it for this!

The coverage was shìt, no possible way you can sugar coat it. Season 1 wasn't too bad but the follow up season was shockingly poor.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

FINALLY (within this section - the rant continues! ) I was able to watch some of the American season...But only until DirectTV decided that it was time to show coverage - a couple of weeks into the Season. Suddenly the actual fans were left without CGS coverage (unless you count blogs / recaps which I do not - suddenly Region 1 turns into other regions...) unless you lived in the States and had DirectTV.

Another thing that is really irritating is that there are no source TV ips. The CGS is aimed at kids and non-gamers so they wouldn't actually have CSS so they wouldn't actually lose viewers by providing these.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

The Games - As stated, the CGS arrived and I thought "stability at last" - the one thing that is needed in the West for any eSport to be given a chance to take off (people look at Korea and ask how? The answer is OBVIOUS - Starcraft has been used for ten years, regardless of graphics or new games, etc).

But I was quickly proven wrong - after one season PGR 3 was dropped for Forza Motorsports. If PGR 4 wasn't good enough, stick with PGR3 I would have thought...But instead a switch was made and one of the greatest duos in PGR (Chicago) was decimated in Forza.

The move away from PGR was down to a couple of reasons. The stuff like wallbashing and chicane jumping wanted to be avoided. Then there was also the lack of spectator view in PGR4 which left Forza Motorsport 2 as the only option.

As for the Chicago duo getting raped, FM2 is extremely competitive even though up until now there has been no world competitions that it was featured in.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

And people complained when rules were changed - ok so CSS is a little less exciting when teams are given loads of money and there are fewer rounds, other games got their own rule changes - not too detrimental overall.

None of the 4 games contained rules that people were originally happy with. People adapted. Collisions were a new thing in PGR/FM2, 1 round at a time in DOA apparently stopped continuity for the person who won the round, the long ball rule in FIFA changed the game completely and the MR9 rules for CSS meant more aggressive play from the off.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

But then the coverage of the games - CSS suffered from an over use of third person (/overall scene) shots which actually makes the game harder to follow. Then CSS coverage was significantly cut to only show half the game with a brief recap midway through because "ratings suffered". But yet FIFA continues to be shown in full (this is a point made by others - I actually like the FIFA) while Forza is pretty much decided in one corner...

Apart from watching the bits on the CGS site, I've not actually seen show (including my own) ever. I found FIFA to be my least favourite to watch, then DOA, then PGR/FM2 and CSS probably being my fav.

Originally Posted by Sabre0001

So the CGS - overall purpose is to appeal to a "casual market" which seems to be non-gamers. But yet, gamers and actual fans of the CGS are isolated and ignored. Regardless of what people think are the best games to use, gamers and fans are left without coverage because DirectTV start showing (and if you are outside the States you have no coverage anyway so you start to follow the US), are left with substandard game coverage and only have a Season if in the US.

From my own experience with the CGS I know more about and of the American players and team makeup than any other region. I don't want to watch the VODs now - not as exciting when I know the result. I prefer CSS coverage in full (and first person) - while I don't play I can appreciate the skill, have some understanding of what is going on and find some games to be very exciting. The coverage thing really gets my goat (in case you didn't realise) - even if I lived in the States, something like this is not enough for me to subscribe over...And you would think you would want as many channels to reach the end consumer as possible.

Am I too much of a gamer? Or do I have better business sense than some of these professionals? (I also may not submit this because I did apply for a job )

The CGS TV shows are made for non-gamers and it's made by non-gamers. There really should be no doubt about that. It's not for the gamers and never has been. It's about ratings and the more ratings there is, the more revenue comes in. If you read through any of the CGS threads on GotFrag you'll find a lot of "CGS Fails" and when it comes to pleasing gamers, it does. Jason Lake moved his family to LA to be closer to coL, bullshìt......he'll be a part of the CGS organistion within a year or 2, which will hopefully be a good thing.

The thing is, not even the managers and players are entirely happy with how CGS runs things.......but they're getting paid so they're content to continue with it and I can't blame them tbh. I wasn't happy with everything when I was there but I was getting paid to game, so I couldn't complain that much.

CGS is not all that different from the likes of WCG. CGS is after ratings so that it can more revenue, WCG (aka Samsung) is after mainstream coverage so that it can see Samsung plastered everywhere and hopefully turn it into revenue. Alternative approaches but both with the same goal.