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StarCraft16 years agoGosu "GosuGamers" Gamers

Interview with SpaceDominator

With the BlizzForums Invitational finally starting I decided to sit down and have a quick interview with the man in charge, SpaceDominator.



The man behind the tournament is United States Kevin "SpaceDominator" McCrumb. When he's not playing games he's hosting tournaments and he does this well and often. He already has hosted small and large tournaments through Blizzard Gaming Night. Without further delay, here is the short interview with SpaceDominator.

Could you tell us who you are and what your main job is at StarCraft Legacy?

- My name is Kevin McCrumb and I am currently the head of the StarCraft Legacy Strategy Section. I am from Ann Arbor, Michigan and have been around the game of StarCraft since the original beta back in January, 1998. In addition to my work at StarCraft Legacy, I also have run several smaller tournaments and a few larger tournaments through Blizzard Gaming Night.

How long have you been organizing and managing tournaments for now?

- I've been organizing and managing tournaments off and on for the last several years. I began by organizing an event called Beat the Staff at StarCraft Millennium in which the community would get the opportunity to compete against the SC:M staff in a friendly competition. It helped to build a better relationship with the community and gave the community an opportunity to get to know the people who run the websites that they visit frequently. This event ultimated turned into Blizzard Gaming Night at StarCraft Legacy which served the same purpose. The types of tournaments I have run are numerous as well, ranging from a competition based off of the television series Survivor to running a version of "The Weakest Link." So I've been doing it for a good long time.

I see, that is quite a long resume then. So then in your entire history of organizing such large events, where does the Blizzforum Invitational rank in importance/significance to you?

- The unique aspect of the BlizzForums Invitational Tournament is the fact that we are giving away a very nice set of prizes to the winners. In that regard, it is easily the most significant tournament that I will have hosted over the years. However, the aspect that makes this tournament special is the fact that we have received interest from some of the elite players of the game of StarCraft. In addition it is great that we will have players of all skill levels competing in the competition. It is a wonderful opportunity for the community to get to see these players up close and personal and to also give some players the opportunity to compete against them. This tournament is easily one of the most ambitious, but with the help that I have from great people such Rain], Zorak and many others from BGN, it should be one of the most successful.

Since you speak about the uniqueness of the prize, I want to ask, where is the funding for the prize coming from?

- United StatesRedCloak, one of StarCraft Legacy's administrators has generously donated the prizes for this particular competition.

That's very generous of Redcloak, had you tried to find other sponsors before hand or was the tournament built around the prize?

- When Redcloak brought the fact that he had some really nice prizes that he wanted to give away, I wasn't expecting the tournament to get the attention that it has. I originally placed a goal of getting 64 members, expecting to only get 32. The tournament was built around the prize in a sense, but it was also a larger scaled concept for a tournament that I had always wanted to run. So to be truthful, the idea of looking for other sponsors really never crossed my mind.

I think if you had tried you probably could've gotten 256 players to register seeing as how tournaments like these don't come around often to the StarCraft community. Saying that, what do you think of the current situation of events such as invitationals or public tournaments in the StarCraft tournament right now? Is there too little support, too little attention paid to it?

- This is a very interesting question. I think one of the benefits of the announcement of StarCraft II is that it gave a lot of people a renewed interest in the game of StarCraft. I know for example, several individuals who have come back to playing the game of StarCraft on a more regular basis just because of that announcement. I also know as well that there are a ton of great players who play the game of StarCraft who don't get the same opportunities to compete on the same level as that of some of the professional organizations that are out there. I personally feel that there is a great market out there to host tournaments such as an invitational tournament or public tournaments that will get quality players if given the right opportunity. However, the problem lies in the fact that it is hard to get dedicated players to participate in these tournaments and this discourages many people from hosting them. I've always felt that there has been too much of an emphasis on the pro level of StarCraft, that in a sense you forget that there is a large common body of good, solid players who deserve some attention as well. After all, college football in the United States is extremely popular despite the professional NFL success. So why can't there be public tournaments that receive the same type of success and coverage?

That is a very good question that you bring up. Do you think that this tournament will help to improve the situation that you are talking about?

- There is no way that a single tournament could really ultimately do that. However, it could potentially serve as a starting point to doing so. I think it's wonderful to see that we have some well known pro's such as Nony and Idra who have signed up for this tournament. In addition, I've always felt that if the common StarCraft player can actually find a way to relate to the pro's, they'll be more apt to follow the scene just that much closer. So in a sense, I think more tournaments on this level, can only help both the professional scene and the overall general public StarCraft scene.

Can we expect Blizzforums and SCLegacy to host more tournaments like this in the future?

- Of course there's the possibility for more tournaments like this in the future. However, what's the fun in revealing all of our future plans now?

Haha k, well that's all the questions i have. thanks for the interview and i look forward to seeing the results of this tournament

- Thanks to you as well. It should be a great tournament!

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