There have been so many roster changes in the last two weeks that they almost deserve a separate post. I’ll try to keep it as clear as possible. I don’t want to link to a new roster before I let you know where all the new players are coming from. Here goes nothin’.
– ForbiddeN didn’t die as an organization, but they parted ways with most of their roster. If you want to learn how to become a respected player, read messiaH’s post about his parting with the team. It reeks of maturity and professionalism.
– verGe didn’t dynamite their whole roster like ForbiddeN, but they did replace two players. The changes won’t take place until after the CEVO season is over because verGe would forfeit if they removed them from the roster.
Talent can’t overcome bad chemistry. They brought in all-star caliber players, and now they’ve had to make more roster moves. It’s a classic example of fixing something that isn’t broken. Or, as it was known in the 90’s, Tim Taylor disease.
– EFG solved their roster issues, temporarily at least. To replace clowN (inactive) and Sunman (8<), they picked up Josh “Dominator” Sievers of 3D fame and Ryan “pham” Pham of LANDodger article fame. There’s a great quote about Pham in the GotFrag article from his former team, United 5. This might be a celebrity marriage: short with a bitter divorce.
– As part of the EFG shake-up they also parted ways with Laurent "Warmach1ne" Keoula. He joined Hyper along with clowN, who had a good interview with GotFrag. The comments from his father were awesome to read. The only way eSports is going to grow is if people believe in it, and it’s good to see clowN’s father encourage his son to follow his dreams.
– VisualGaming died. It was a sad, sad day when I read this. They were LANDodger’s biggest fans. (This is judged, of course, by the number of e-mails they sent me – two. That’s at least twice as much as anybody else. Although I had them fifth on the Pwnage Rankings, they were #1 in my heart.)
– The parting of their old team, combined with other roster moves, allowed VisualGaming to pick up a new team. They picked up the old TeOS squad, which includes Cory “BadappleS” Branagan. Branagan wasn’t going to get much playing time with Hyper after their new additions. MessiaH also joined after leaving Forbidden, and that completes the new VG roster.
– Of course ForbiddeN didn’t sit idly by after parting with their team. They ended up picking up three former verGe players, including the recently released Mike “paradox” Stanowksi. Their lineup looks very impressive on paper, and Jon “Juan” Mumm is an excellent leader. They’re officially one of my darkhorse CGS teams.
– zEx was involved in the roster scramble as well, and they picked up an EFG castoff along with another player. Welcome home, Sunman.
– It’s a new month since I last posted the Week In Review, which means Eximius made more roster moves. At this point, their roster changes are more regular than full moons and PMS.
– Two interesting pickups in the European Source community. Check-six picked up a Swedish team, and H2k Gaming picked up Real-Life Rejects (4th at SHG Open). Although the DirecTV CGS event is thought of as exclusively North American, it’s not. There are plans for CGS events across the globe, and after the regular season the best teams from each region would play each other in the postseason. Before long, we might see more European 1.6 teams switching to Source, or more established Source teams become part of major organizations.
– A little closer to home, Frantic joined a Canadian organization known as NoPression. Originally, I was going to make a joke about French Canadians learning English because pression wasn't a word. Then I found out pression was, in fact, a real word. I have been defeated. Well played, Frantic. Well played.
– Speaking of CGS, they’ve announced that the Buy.com LAN will be their first official qualifier. If you do get the auto-berth entry, you’re entered into the qualifiers for CGS, not the 6-team main event. So it’s a CGS qualifier qualifier. Or something like that. Their FAQ is not very helpful.
Oh yeah, they also have $20,000 in prizes for their Counter-Strike 1.6 tournament. Say what you will about Source and CGS, but it’s clearly a huge news story. The CGS qualifier got the most press. The $20k seemed like an afterthought.
– WSVG released a schedule for their 2007 events. It's not clear what games they're going to be playing yet (read: whether they've chosen 1.6, Source, or both). The events were well done last year, and as mentioned in the article there will be over $750,000 worth of prizes given out -- at least. Sign me up for some of that!
– GotFrag has launched the maiden issue of eSports Magazine. I don’t have much to say about the content, but the nature of the medium is a little strange. Generally print media like newspapers and magazines have been adding online content to combat falling readership numbers. It’s interesting that GotFrag decided to do it the other way, although I don’t think it’s a bad step. ESPN added a magazine after they were well-established online and on TV, and that’s not a bad model to follow.
– NiP released a couple players and replaced them with two Begrip members. When Tentpole originally left Fnatic, he cited their LAN schedule as being too hectic for him. So his decision to join NiP makes sense how?
Confusing as his decision is, the bigger news is the contract dispute over the other member. He signed a contract with Begrip but is now breaking that deal to join NiP. After consulting their lawyers the Begrip organization felt they had a good case against the player. I don’t want to speculate on any of the consequences, but some of the most important steps for eSports center around this dispute. To truly become a professional sport, gaming needs to add agents (or any kind of representation for players when signing a contract), a player’s union, and unified representation for owners, as well. Some early attempts have been made to that effect, but nothing very substantial.
– And finally, the most important news of all. There was a huge Source update. No, they didn’t fix SourceTV. Or the bug that causes a crash when you switch teams. Or the grenade throwing/shooting animation. But rest easy, because we have new text boxes! This update is a little like worrying about the paint job on your sinking ship. For Valve, it’s par for the course.
Have a good weekend everybody. I’ll be back early Sunday to do some predictions for the last round of CEVO-P.
