Today, GomTV, the popular Korean video streaming service that broadcasts professional StarCraft matches online, announced the formation of the "Global StarCraft II League," a worldwide circuit that will bring the best Terran, Protoss, and Zerg players together in matches that will be streamed live over the Internet. Whether you're looking to take your Terran marine rush against Korea's finest Zerg players, or just watch high-level StarCraft II play, the newly formed GSL seems designed to fulfill both needs, providing an enjoyable StarCraft experience to players regardless of what they're looking for.
Here's how it goes down: Every month, the GSL will hold an open StarCraft II tournament to determine player placement within the upper or lower leagues of the circuit. Once placement has been allotted, the GSL begins its qualifying matches in earnest with daily StarCraft II matches streamed on GomTV. Those players who advance through the tournament will compete for a grand prize of 100,000,000 Korean won (around $85,000) as well as secured placement in future GSL tournaments.
As you can see, between the serious prize money and the various ways to participate or watch the matches, Korea and the GSL are not screwing around with its E-Sports. These are not friendly tournaments, and one look at the list of provided GSL rule set reveals just how serious this competition looks to be. Here's the list of infractions that will disqualify you from the tournament.
- A friend notification appears during the game.
- You received a message from a person during the game.
- You chat (besides surrendering).
- You act violently towards the players or the audience.
- You fail to arrive 15 minutes before the game.
- You take longer than 15 minutes to set up.
And the craziest regulation of all:
- GomTV can deny your participation if you are found unfit to be a gamer.
So, folks, given all the current StarCraft II fever centered around the game's release, are you guys interested in watching or participating in high level StarCraft play? And, more importantly, can you figure what kind of person is unfit to be a gamer? What would you have to do at a StarCraft tournament that would deem you unfit to game?