EPTTime to Decide
When it comes to my SC2 life, a damn lot of things have happened in the past few days. It seems like everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong.
A few days ago, the ladder was going great. I was top 25 masters on Korea server, and was in a good mood overall. Then the next day came.
Losses after losses got racked up. Everything from proxy bunker with reapers to idiotic ZvZ games where one muta decides the game. You'd see it all in my losses that day. I went to work out to rid my mind of worries. Coming back, I played somewhat better, but in no way did I regain my status prior to this unfortunate streak. I go to bed frustrated.
The next day started off like any standard Saturday. I eat some cereal and jump back to my computer. Something, however, was not quite right in my team's skype channel.
I open Skype to find hundreds of messages in the team chat, which is not unusual for me. I live in the US, but my team is European, so the timezone creates a lot of chatter when I am asleep.
Reading through the messages, I find that some argument has gone on. A member notorious for some aggression towards others seems to have spawned some conflict with a teammate who is usually very friendly.
Continuing to skim the text, I find that my team leader steps in, frustrated from the incessant argument. He claims that the aggressive member has gone too far, and removes him from the channel.
Reading further down, I find that the remaining members begin conflicting with our leader. They say that our leader has been abusing his position for months, and not let our players have a say in the management of the team.
Our leader opposes this, stating that he's warned the aggressive member countless times and that this was the final straw. He felt it was necessary, because the member was creating a bad environment in the chat.
Continuing to read, I see that the member has been officially kicked from the team. Officially removed.
--Wait, time to intervene with my comments on my aggressive teammate.
I've known him for close to a year now, and despite occasionally arguing with him, we got along quite well. He gave me countless tips on how to improve my ZvT and ZvZ, and provided me with many thought-provoking conversations, always challenging my ability to argue coherently.
I grew close to him, as I have to all the members on my team. I appreciated him and enjoyed his conversations. But now, it appears... he's been removed.
I couldn't believe it. I was so sad. Since it had only been a few minutes since I woke up, I frantically began typing in the chat, asking questions upon questions about why he was removed. I tried desperately to convince our team leader to reconsider his removal by questioning his reasoning and asking what methods he used to certify that removal was the right decision.
He held steadfast, and stood by his decision.
Devastated, I tried to talk to my friend in private. I think a quote sums it up quite well:
"It's probably not apparent but this team means so much to me it's crazy..."
That quote rang in my head. I knew my friend was a dedicated, skilled player that was of high value to the team despite some arguments, and this statement backed that up for me.
I talked to him for what felt like hours (though it was probably only a half hour). We droned on and on about our leader's decision and if it was warranted. He claimed that the leader had made multiple false claims to try to remove him, and that they never liked each other from day one.
I then converse with some of the remaining members. One of them in particular said that this would probably make him leave the team, as our leader has had a history of misjudgments and poor decisions.
To sum it up, the team leader has re-recruited a guy known for hacking (and then commented on an argument between the hacker and someone who reported him) and told us to tell people after ladder matches to check out the team. Both of these things were very frustrating and made many members doubt his leadership capabilities.
Going back to my friend who wanted to leave, I told him all of the things that our leader had done in the past. Again, after posting several more things our leader said in private, he says:
"I just stopped there, because it's more than enough for me to leave the team."
Were we going to lose another member and good friend of mine? It seemed so. He was very adamant about leaving, and felt that our leader was corrupt and was a control freak of sorts.
It seemed like our team was falling apart, but I didn't find out the horror of what was to come until I woke up the next morning.
Frantically returning to the channel to look through messages, I found out that our team was congregating to either force our leader to switch management or quit the team altogether and form a new one.
This shocked me, as I was not prepared to make some massive decision regarding to who's side I would pick. Ignoring this thought, I hoped for the best result, which would be better management with the same old team.
We chose the best talker on the team, a guy from England, to talk to our leader directly with the whole team listening in an effort to convince him that the management must change or the team would disband. My heart was racing from the concept. It truly was shocking to me.
Hours passed and never did our team leader come online. Eventually, I had to go out for a few hours. I was worried that I'd miss the big moment--I did.
A few hours later, I came back to find my worst fears confirmed. Sifting through the chat, the whole team had confronted the leader. Unable to come to an agreement, the team was split.
Those who wanted to stay with the leader, remained in the channel. Those against him left and created a new one.
Only five or six people remained with our former leader, while the rest left. I was not sure where to go, who to talk to, or what side to be on. It felt like a thousand chains were perpetually pulling me in every direction--I was unable to do anything.
To me, it is clear that the former members of the team were very emotionally invested, as was I. These people felt like close real life friends, as if I had lived with them for years in a gaming house. And now, the team was being divided, and I was unsure if I could stay on both sides. Right before he left, one of the members said:
"Guys, you have all been a major part of my social life over the past few months (nearly years). Without you, I wouldn't be doing what i'm doing right now. All of you are awesome people, and I wish you all the best if luck with whatever you do, be it SC2 or otherwise."
Now, I was the only one left to decide what team to pick. Should I stay with my leader or go with my close friends without a clear path for the team?
I knew my leader was capable of getting pretty good players, possibly around GM level. He also has some structure and planning as to the direction of the team. But could I forgive his past mistakes and how poorly and aggressively he recently treated a lot of the members? He felt as if many of them simply want a "friend club" and not a real, competitive/semi-competitive team. In reference to my friend asking if the aggressive member could ever come back, our former leader said:
"Out of the question.This is a team, not a school class. If you want to improve and play your always welcome, if you behave, of course. If you just want to talk and have fun, you can just as well do that elsewhere?"
The new team was comprised completely of my close friends who I appreciate and enjoy talking to. They, however, seem to not like the idea of me not rooting myself in either team and simply playing for both. They also don't have a clear path or plan for how to get sponsors or gain publicity, whereas the main team at least has some sense of that.
What do I do? Shall I go with the team leader who promises new management, strong opponents to improve my play, and some direction, or shall I join the team of some of my best friends with a friendly environment?
Tomorrow the new team will talk about their plans for the future. I will talk to my team leader and all of my close friends.
I'm torn. I can't decide. I don't want to decide.
But it's time to decide.
-Icy
