EPTAt first, the Spades affair greatly troubled me. Yet another witch hunt, I despaired. What a dreadful community we find ourselves a part of. And though I still have reservations about how we conducted ourselves in the latest episode of the soap opera we call esports, I got over it. While the idea of mob justice does continue to trouble me, I find myself not caring much one way or the other as to whether the man is or isn't a maphacker. I fear more for those accused in the future who may be innocent, as it seems increasingly likely that Spades isn't. Regardless, that is immaterial to the purpose of this blog. This blog's intention is to examine the question that few, in our collective ire over potential maphacking, seem to be asking. Just who the hell is this drolets guy, anyway?
From my cozy position in my basement and my unenviable status as a neurotic insomniac, I have been attempting to answer this question for myself. Limited in resources as I am, I am only able to gather so much information on our enigmatic whistleblower. (For the sake of simplicity, I shall be referring to our mystery poster using masculine pronouns.)
At first, I believed his username to be pronounced as an English word, with the last syllable pronounced like "let's." However, a Google search yielded a great deal of Quebecois, as "Drolet" is apparently a surname there, albeit an evidently uncommon one (seen at http://www.droletsisters.com/ and http://www.lesdenisdrolet.com/ ). When adding some quotation marks to narrow down the querry, I received, in addition to news about the latest hacking accusation, a single other Starcraft related entry ( http://www.aprenderstarcraft2.es/usuarios/drolets/track ), a user going by the name of "Drolets" on a Spanish Starcraft website. This person's last posting under that account name was May 22 of this year. In one of his posts, he actually writes in English, confirming his ability to be the culprit.
As to the TL Drolets, little is known. A Team Liquid moderator confirmed that the user's IP matched no other users ( http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=342350#2 ).
E:
On June 06 2012 00:01 RaGe wrote:
I'd like to note that his IP actually does match other TL accounts. NrGMonk is still an inexperienced banling and didn't really use the full IP matching functionality we have.
The mods have a decent idea of who it is, and are discussing whether or not to reveal this information. It's likely we'll make a statement on the entire situation (not just the drama itself, but also the way it was handled) in the coming days.
I'd like to note that his IP actually does match other TL accounts. NrGMonk is still an inexperienced banling and didn't really use the full IP matching functionality we have.
The mods have a decent idea of who it is, and are discussing whether or not to reveal this information. It's likely we'll make a statement on the entire situation (not just the drama itself, but also the way it was handled) in the coming days.
He registered on May 29 ( http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/profile.php?user=drolets ), 4 days after the pertinent Showmatch thread was posted in the SC2 Tournaments section ( http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=339927 ). His one and only post is the thread in question. He claims to have been given the replay pack in question after asking for it, though he does not specify who gave it to him.
So, with nothing to go on, I shall examine his post. Foremost, his English is passable for a forum post, but imperfect. Beyond mere typographical errors and the occasional, though not ubiquitous, substitution of "u" for "you," there are numerous sentences which are constructed awkwardly, suggesting he is a nonnative English speaker.
Notably, he uses many prepositions in a manner that a native speaker would generally not.
• Apparently, he is maphacking on Starcraft II too or that is the sensation I had ("on Starcraft II" instead of "in Starcraft II")
• I understand there can be hackers on low levels ("on low levels" instead of "at low levels" or "in low levels")
• This is what I found on the replays ("on the replays" instead of "in the replays")
• however, he leaves all his hellions on his natural ("on his natural" instead of "at his natural" or "in his natural")
• Despite having his army on LucifroN's natural (same as above)
• again, he unsieges all his tanks on the natural (same as above)
• JUST in the moment where the medevaks appear on the minimap ("in the moment where" instead of "at the moment when")
These kinds of errors are indicative of an inexperienced English speaker, not a native speaker typing lazily or carelessly. Specifically, the repeated usage of variations of "on his natural" instead of the more natural sounding "in" or "at," for which there are even more examples than what I listed, is a large part of what convinces me that this person is a nonnative speaker. As Felnarion mentioned, Spanish uses "en" for both "in" and "on." Other languages, like French, have separate words.
• as if he knew 100% sure cloack banshees weren't comming
• would be obvious to think that LucifroN's army is comming behind
• the position LucifroN's drop is comming
• he doesn't see LucifroN's drop comming
There are, again, more of this exact same error than I care to list. Though I'm sure this is a mistake native English speakers make as well (especially given that this is the Internet, and there are thus many instances of the similarly spelled "cumming"), to be made repeatedly throughout the post is suspect. In fact, he never spells it correctly. Even the worst spellers generally get it right accidentally from time to time.
• before scanning he already starts to build a bay for defending against cloack-banshee
• as if he knew 100% sure cloack banshees weren't coming
• he isn't making any kind of cloack-banshee prevention as he did on the first game
Every instance of "cloak" is instead rendered "cloack." As the sounds that "k" and "ck" make in English are identical, this would seem to be a common problem for one learning English.
On June 05 2012 22:48 Felnarion wrote:
Some more facts, further solidifying the Spanish root of the speaker:
This line.
Neither is a word not often used for a native English speaker, but commonly used in other languages to denote a negative. Reading that in English is somewhat awkward (though perhaps correct) because it's just not used in that sense. Romance languages (French and Spanish specifically, maybe others) would add a "ni" to a list such as this, denoting "neither"
http://us.battle.net/sc2/es/search?q=cloack
Also search "cloak" on the Spanish version of the site.
Shows that "cloack" returns almost double the hits of "cloak" While on the English website, over 13,000 instances of cloak occur and only 200 or so cloack. Analysis of the French site indicates no favor over one or the other, both appear equally regularly.
Some more facts, further solidifying the Spanish root of the speaker:
This line.
Neither is a word not often used for a native English speaker, but commonly used in other languages to denote a negative. Reading that in English is somewhat awkward (though perhaps correct) because it's just not used in that sense. Romance languages (French and Spanish specifically, maybe others) would add a "ni" to a list such as this, denoting "neither"
http://us.battle.net/sc2/es/search?q=cloack
Also search "cloak" on the Spanish version of the site.
Shows that "cloack" returns almost double the hits of "cloak" While on the English website, over 13,000 instances of cloak occur and only 200 or so cloack. Analysis of the French site indicates no favor over one or the other, both appear equally regularly.
• Look how he watches whole LucifroN's army
Native speakers would always say "Lucifron's whole army" and would be unlikely to accidentally transpose the two words.
• Spades doesn't see ANYTHING, but he sieges his tanks right in the elevation
What the poster describes as an "elevation" would almost always be called a "cliff" or simply the "high ground" by a native speaker. Further, a native speaker would likely describe the position the tanks were on as "on the cliff," rather than "in" it. The etymology of "elevate" comes from Latin, whereas "cliff" shares its origin with other Germanic languages. So, it may be that our mystery poster speaks a Romance language like French or Spanish and when reaching for an English word to describe what he was looking at, came up with a Latin cognate (elevation) instead of the more natural-sounding Germanic word (cliff).
• JUST in the moment where the medevaks appear on the minimap
• 5 seconds after that LucifroN lift half of his units into 2 medevaks, then Spades select all his vikings and moves forward to try to kill the unseen medevaks.
• he changes the direction up to 3 times in less than 5 secs as LucifroN moves his medevak
"Medevak" can be short for "Medizinische Evakuierung," the German phrase for "Medical Evacuation." However, the German SC2 client names the unit "medivac," so, given no other German-related evidence, I do not believe our mystery man to be German-speaking. This is, however, certainly the kind of mistake anyone learning English might make, again displaying our poster struggling with the similar sounds of the hard "c" and "k."
• after asking for the replays and analyzing them there's no doubt.
"Analyzing" is the predominant American and Canadian spelling, whereas "analysing" is used throughout the rest of the Commonwealth. It's also possible he just spelled it incorrectly, which appears to be the case. Further, as Spanish user TheConquereer pointed out, "analizar" is the Spanish word for analyze, which renders this bit of evidence fairly ambiguous.
In general, the post is not particularly well composed, albeit readable, consisting largely of run-on sentences with nary a semicolon in sight, while colons themselves are used only to separate titles and to format time. In addition to those listed, there are numerous spelling and grammar errors, particularly relating to verb tenses.
+ Show Spoiler [Unlikely given new information.] +
CONCLUSIONS
Another possibility could be that, as the Drolets poster on the Spanish website, our mystery poster is himself a Spaniard, perhaps even the same person. Though Spades is unlikely to draw much of a crowd to a showmatch, LucifroN, one of the few Spanish pro gamers, would certainly stir up interest among Spanish Starcraft players. Perhaps Drolets really is just a concerned SC2 spectator. It could also explain his TL registration date. Maybe he registered after finding the showmatch thread, but decided not to post. That definitely makes sense, but it leaves even more questions unanswered. Why did he feel that Spades was hacking when not only did he lose the showmatch, but no one else seemed to notice? Is Drolets some sort of SC2 Rain Man? How exactly did he obtain the replays? He says he asked for them, but who did he ask? Why has no one come forward? Martijn Mumbles, the man who casted the event, appears outraged at the whole affair ( http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=342248¤tpage=68#1346 ) and has demanded TL reveal the poster's identity, so it seems unlikely he was the one who gave out the replays. Why has Drolets not posted since he created the thread?
E: There were also Spanish casters for the event. However, neither of those listed in the event thread ( http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=339927 ) match any of the names from LucifroN's team ( http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Karont3_e-Sports_Club )
E2: On Liquipedia, this Drolets fellow has been editing and creating articles relating to Spanish players (http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Special:Contributions/Drolets ). Interestingly, he edited an article related to the Spanish website I first found him on. A blog respondent, netherh, has, by way of methods I do not fully understand, determined that the replays originated from Lucifron's computer ( http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=342492¤tpage=2#22 ).
Given this information, it would appear that the Drolets from "Aprender Starcraft" and the Drolets in question are one and the same. The question still remains: Just who is this guy? And where did he go? Is he a friend of LucifroN's? Given that I doubt Luci would edit Liquipedia under a pseudonym, or at all, I think it's unlikely that Drolets is Lucifron, but the possibility still exists.
Aprender is also listed as Lucifron's former team in the one of articles Drolets edited, which creates another potential connection between the two. ( http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Aprender )
E3: Not much has changed. The most accepted theory is still that Drolets is a low-ranking member of the Spanish SC2 scene. His motive, how he came to his conclusions, and why he has remained silent have yet to be explained. It is possible he is a devoted fan of Lucifron, but some sort of vendetta against Spades has yet to be ruled out.
A few other users have taken up the chase. In particular, Promethelax has examined some users' posts in threads relating to the Spanish SC2 scene. While I am hesitant to point fingers to anyone in particular, you can find his post here. Poster petered expands on his analysis.
It has also been proposed that "Drolets" may be the work of several individuals in collusion. Given the speed at which the hacking allegations were posted after the tournament, it is possible multiple people worked together to scan the replays and then had one person write up their findings and post it on TL. Could Drolets be a patsy, a mere fall guy used as a pawn by the organizers of vast Spanish conspiracy to out Spades as a maphacker? It's definitely possible. Why else would they use an extant TL account, one with ties to the Spanish community both on this site and on others? Surely making a new one would be safer for those involved.
Of course, if we go down that route, this whole business with the Spanish scene might be one big red herring meant to throw us off the scent. Could Spades have had an arch nemesis in the NA scene? A careful, calculating person who, for months, has been setting up a trail of false evidence to enact vengeance on Spandes and then misdirect the blame onto the Spaniards? Spanish poster Toxi78 mentions that Drolets uploaded an incorrect photo of Spanish player IeZaeL, which seems strange for someone interested in that particular scene. An honest mistake from an genuine Spanish SC2 fan, or a slipup from our vigilante mastermind? While the replays were evidently from LucifroN's computer, the poster claims to have asked for them, a detail that seems suspiciously vague. Who, if not a friend or member of the Spanish scene could simply ask Lucifron for the replays and actually receive them? A fellow progamer with a grudge against Spades? Why would such a person use a pseudonym? Indeed, the thread was closed initially and only reopened after a few pro gamers came forward to voice their opinions on the matter.
The most intriguing part of all this for me has been the rapidity at which it happened. The showmatch began on Sunday at 21:00 CET and ran for (using the length of the relevant TwitchTV videos as a guide) roughly 2 and a half hours. The OP in question was posted on Monday at 21:22 CET. That leaves less than a day for whoever our mystery poster is to realize the hacking, collect the replays, analyze them, write his findings, and post. While certainly possible, it seems very unlikely. No one else seemed to believe Spades was hacking. How many people in the Spanish, or European scene as a whole, even knew much about Spades? How likely is it for this random person to even exist, much less be observant enough and so sure of himself to post such accusations?
Note: this was written for purposes of my personal entertainment. Give my assertions and conclusions no more credence than you would a show about aliens on the History Channel.
. 
