EPTIf staff will forgive the shameless plug, I work in a social media and marketing capacity for Team Fallacy, you may not know us but I am working on that. We are a high level team consisting of high masters and grandmaster level players that if I know has heart. However at the highest levels of any business, heart does not equate to a getting into the black or even covering many of the basic costs of operating a team. As we test the waters ourselves, I am just learning myself the sheer will it takes to make it in this industry.
At any given point and time there are those who, while they enjoy the game ultimately are more readily cynical about the current state of the broader Starcraft and eSports as pertains to revenue and ROI, conversely there exist the idealistic to a fault seemingly refusing to acknowledge some baser realities of the economic environment. Actually, the truth lies somewhere in the haze but through all this uncertainty there is a group of individuals who push for more on both our behalf as consumers as well as the teams they represent.
These are the movers and shakers of eSports: the tournament administrators, event organizers, team managers who dedicate countless hours to this community, often getting little more than the satisfaction of knowing that at the end of the day they pushed eSports and their respective teams a little bit further. I wouldn't dare count myself among their ranks just yet, but their persistence which really drives our industry.
The people I have met along my brief foray into competitive administration and play are simply put: the hardest working and most dedicated individuals I have had the good fortune to call friends and coworkers.
In many respects what we are trying to build in eSports is a house on shifting sands (sometimes shady ones
). The business, competition, and highest levels are constantly moving and adapting at a speed that compared to other industries is mind boggling. Yet we as a community of viewers, players (amateurs and professionals alike), and administrators are constantly rising to meet the occasion. To me, this is a source of immense pride. When I sat down to write this, it was not my intention to write the, 'feel good,' eSports commentary of the season, nor do I think I have done so. After all ESports don't happen in a vacuum and from the most casual viewer to the most involved management and players we all play an integral role at every level.
Finding like minded gamers is always click away, and high level play exists in hundreds of games that we, primarily as Starcraft enthusiasts, pay little attention to but they don't always have what we have: Persistence.
Respect how far we've come, acknowledge that there is still a very long way to go, and take comfort in the fact that there are those out there, likely including you, who refuse to let this house collapse. Because it wasn't until very recently that I myself came to even remotely understand what effort they put into this thing called eSports.
My gratitude and appreciation to all of you. I have much to learn, and even more to give.
