EPT
Clan Revolution wants to contribute to the community and its future. It's natural to want to lift up those who do a tremendous job in organizing events for us all to gather around, be it events we participate in or simply events to watch on stream. ICCup.Face is the head admin of Brood War Clan League (henceforth called BWCL).
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/6vOLjdi.jpg)
Q. Hello iCCup.Face, and thank you for taking time for this interview. These days you're the Head Admin for BWCL (BroodWar Clan League), which has a rich history going well back. But what got you into Starcraft in the first place? And what made you stay?
A: Hi and thanks. Hmm, what got me into SC...In 1996 I was playing the RPG Diablo (by Blizzard), but I was in love with an old RTS named Command & Conquer: Red Alert (by Westwood Studios). If someone has played it, you wouldn't forget the Tesla Coils So when the Blizzard publicized this new RTS StarCraft, I wanted to try the game. I didn’t play SC online until 2004 because I was playing a lot of tournaments in Diablo II (the best amazon pvp-eu), but at the time it was invaded by hackers and dupers, but an Italian friend of mine Sol.Twister told me there was a fun community playing SC, and I moved then.
The best games for me were 3v3 and 4v4 at The Hunter-Gamei. I'm sure I've played more than 12k games there because I had 11k on a single account. All friends were on SC, so I started playing BW very late, like in 2009 when B.Net was dead, and had to move at iCCup. What made me stay is the community of course, but I think the real reason is that this is the best balanced RTS ever made. I've never seen another game with three races totally different in units, buldings, and intrinsic characteristics that preserve a real equilibrium. Also, this game evolved, becoming more difficult over the years in tactic and style—I don't like easy games.
Q: Who did you spend the most time with back then? Any people in particular you wish were active these days as well?
A: During the Battle.Net days we had a very huge Italian community, so I had a lot of friends. We used to play 3v3 with everyone available in channel. I met with two of them irl—was fun to drink together. Maybe the one I missed more afterwards was Sinister. I learned a lot from him. If you didn't kill him in the first 10 minutes, he was almost unstoppable. A similar player I found years later so [influential] like him is Nizzy. At iCCup when I used to play 2v2, maybe the best ally and the one I'm missing more is Pirayaya. I have no news about Sinister, but Piraya appears from time to time to say hi.
Q: Do you think more of them would come back if there were a 2v2 ladder? Do you think some will when it does come?
A: About the inactive iCCup players it's possible. I'm afraid it's late for the older ones...who knows. I suspect Blizzard developers underestimated the importance of the team matchmaking. It had to be implemented at the beginning. The real game is 1v1 sure, but if my intent is to bring as many people as possible into the game, well the team matchmaking would have done the job better. If you are part of a team community, somehow you become attached to the game probably more than you would have if you played only one on one. It's also more approachable for beginners. Just an opinion though.
Q: Yeah, seems like team games take a lot of the nervousness off for many newer players. Are there other things you think is important for the growth of the community, whether it’s things we're lacking, or things we should support more?
A: From my iCCup experience, what helped to increase the game activity (if that was the question) were the daily tournaments. We used to host a lot of ranked tours with rank limit—very fun and very appreciated by everyone. Many times [we] happened to host three or four tours in a day, restricted to D/C, C/B, or B/A, with ladder points as a pay-in and prize. The days we didn’t have time to host, we received a ton of messages: "No tour?", "Why no tour today?", etc. It was gratifying, it meant people came online seeking tournaments. Blizzard could recruit people doing this job for free, with a training program and under a supervisor. The hard thing is to find this last figure; he must be super-trusted, granting admins are trained and act correctly. The rest is easy. Probably it is not Blizzard policy, but I encourage them to do so.
Q: Seems like a nifty idea! When did you become admin on iCCup? And what have your tasks and positions have you taken up over the years? Feel free to be elaborate!
A: As told before, I moved to play iCCup in 2009, and the server activity was not bad—of course, not like the golden age but still having 600 players per day. In 2-3 years the services vanished, the old Head Admin was totally inactive and almost all the sections were not covered. No tournaments, all ladder complaints unsolved, no one banning hackers/abusers, no one following forums. The server was adrift.
In 2012 I sent my application to join administrators, [citing] my contribution on the tournament and forum sections—that's been my start. I was recruited by iCCup.s0ldi3r the forum Super Admin, the last survivor since all the other SA were inactive. [Luckily] we had well written guides for everything, so I've been able to learn how to make tournaments alone. Still, the Head Admin and his assistant were inactive and no one had the power to change things, so I started a small rebellion with a public complaint against them that arrived at the boss, Yelloant. A week later we had a new temporary Head Admin iCCup.GeckoXp, and a few months later, one officially—iCCup.S0ldi3r—with GeckoXP as assistant. Here things got better. He promoted me to Tour SA, so I started to recruit admins and increase the number of tournaments. Our record was 190 tournaments in a season, more than two each day, which is great if you consider that a normal tour takes minimum two hours. Thanks again to all my admins for the time spent.
Since the beginning we had a lack of admins everywhere. While hosting tours, I've also learned how to solve ladder complaints, which are forms created by players when the system can't detect the correct winner due to disconnections, bugs, cheats, etc. Once the Tournament section was fixed, I focused on the Ladder section, becoming SA assistant and starting to recruit and train new admins, which was not easy because the ladder procedures were so hard to learn. Then I moved to Counter Abuse section trying to fix this section too. In July 2013 I've been promoted to Head Admin assistant even though I was solely responsible for StarCraft—iCCup.s0ldi3r managed Dota. I did my best managing iCCup in the last five years with some progress...the activity slowly increased. In August 2018 SC:Remastered was released. Then iCCup activity drastically decreased, obviously. I'm still in charge, but there isn't much to do now. Probably this is the end of the era. I'd like to express my gratitude to Yelloant for having kept the server online for free. It's not something you find everywhere, including the dozens of admins I had. Even for those who played iCCUP over the years without knowing who to thank. Nowadays, if we still have a solid foreigner community, the merit goes to iCCup.
Q: True, iCCup has been monumental for the scene! I'm quite impressed with your drive and ability to see things through. Have you always been this way? Do you do a lot of management related work in real life as well?
A: Yes, I've always been able to focus on the problems and plan for better solutions. In real life I'm responsible for a little group of people. The problem is always the same: you need a qualified, expert, and competent boss, or at least a clever one. If you haven't, there’s no way to make things better.
For example, I've read Activision-Blizzard is having problems for that reason, and senior staff members are departing. A source internal to Blizzard pointed out that people are not happy working for Pete Vlastelica, President and CEO of Activision-Blizzard esports. Vlastelica was formerly Content Manager of Fox Sports, and joined Activision Blizzard in 2016. “People are really getting tired of working for Pete Vlastelica. The focus has become commercializing the esports titles instead of making good programs for the community. Many people internally are laying that on Pete, and it has crushed morale among the Call of Duty and Overwatch teams especially.”
The main thing is to have a good boss.
Q: Leadership is certainly important! And you've taken on the leadership for BWCL (BroodWar Clan League) as well. The clans seem to enjoy the participation. Anything good in particular you're happy about with BWCL in its current state? Any challenges you see the need to fix?
A: Well, when the number of teams increase, it's satisfying. Then, what I'm personally proud of is the Clan League system, which I've built alone using Google Sheets; it works automatically, so it's more complex than what it seems at first look. There are actually no alternatives around sites, except iCCup, but it's full of bugs and not directly under our control. Many things could be done to improve BWCL and make it a top event: prize pool, customized site with private developers, weekly and professional cast of best games, advertisements on the main platforms, etc. It's something that would require people who won't work for free. I've already served as admin for events with money involved, but BWCL is a foreigner tournament, and as you know, BW outside Korea is not remunerative, so it's hard to find people investing money. I'm probably the worst person to send around begging for money, but if anyone wants to sponsor the project, you’re welcome to.
Q: Assuming you had funding, what would be the first project you'd commence regarding BWCL? And how would you prioritize the needs of the league in general for the future?
A: Of course, the prize pool is important for the players, but I would prioritize the stream. A weekly date with expert or pro casters, inviting special guests to help comment on the games and give tips to evolve the style of the players involved. This would also help the fan to improve. If you do it with constancy, you increase the followers and more people will be passionate about the BWCL [and want to play in it].
In general, the needs of the league are the needs of the team-leaders, I do what’s possible to have all the requests done.
Q: Is there anything people can do on a voluntary basis? How many people are currently volunteering for BWCL admin staff, and what roles could realistically be filled?
A: We are five admins, all volunteers: Vincent as streamer, Freakling as mapmaker, Fischei as league admin, GeckoXp as supporter, and me as coordinator. Anyway, we usually discuss everything together or at least I encourage them to do so. As said before, I'd like to get a better stream coverage. Vincent did an excellent job, and he used to cast every week a few seasons ago, but it's a hard job and takes a lot of time, so he is going to cast only the playoffs lately. If anyone with broadcast skills would like to enjoy with a weekly stream, they are welcome. No need to cast 3-4 hours a week, just to select the best games. I'd also like to recruit at least one more league admin. If me and Fischei are both offline when problems arise, players won't get any support in real time. A news admin, following the important matches and posting a summary on TL.net would also be appreciated.
Q: Hopefully someone will rise to the occasion! You current admins were also able to detect cheating in the previous season, where I understand there was a case of account sharing? Were you tipped off, or was this discovered through any anti-cheating efforts/routines?
A: Almost all the calls are done by opponents, then it's our duty to check it out. In that specific case, one of the leaders helped us by providing evidence of the violation. Respect. Fortunately, we can count the cheating calls in one hand for the last four seasons, and not all were confirmed. It's natural that players check each other when they meet to play. It's physiologic and a good thing for the league.
Q: Coming to the end of our interview, is there anything you'd like to say or address to the community in general?
A: If you don't like an aspect of the BW scene, do not only blame; do something to improve things. Thanks for the interview—it was unexpected.
Epilogue: A big thanks to iCCup.Face for taking the time for this interview. We're looking forward to future seasons of BWCL and hope more people will join the admin team to keep moving forward. We would also like to thank TL.net for helping us with the formatting.
Questions by: ReV Clan
Editors: EsportsJohn
Graphics: BullDog[ReV]
Q. Hello iCCup.Face, and thank you for taking time for this interview. These days you're the Head Admin for BWCL (BroodWar Clan League), which has a rich history going well back. But what got you into Starcraft in the first place? And what made you stay?
A: Hi and thanks. Hmm, what got me into SC...In 1996 I was playing the RPG Diablo (by Blizzard), but I was in love with an old RTS named Command & Conquer: Red Alert (by Westwood Studios). If someone has played it, you wouldn't forget the Tesla Coils So when the Blizzard publicized this new RTS StarCraft, I wanted to try the game. I didn’t play SC online until 2004 because I was playing a lot of tournaments in Diablo II (the best amazon pvp-eu), but at the time it was invaded by hackers and dupers, but an Italian friend of mine Sol.Twister told me there was a fun community playing SC, and I moved then.
The best games for me were 3v3 and 4v4 at The Hunter-Gamei. I'm sure I've played more than 12k games there because I had 11k on a single account. All friends were on SC, so I started playing BW very late, like in 2009 when B.Net was dead, and had to move at iCCup. What made me stay is the community of course, but I think the real reason is that this is the best balanced RTS ever made. I've never seen another game with three races totally different in units, buldings, and intrinsic characteristics that preserve a real equilibrium. Also, this game evolved, becoming more difficult over the years in tactic and style—I don't like easy games.
Q: Who did you spend the most time with back then? Any people in particular you wish were active these days as well?
A: During the Battle.Net days we had a very huge Italian community, so I had a lot of friends. We used to play 3v3 with everyone available in channel. I met with two of them irl—was fun to drink together. Maybe the one I missed more afterwards was Sinister. I learned a lot from him. If you didn't kill him in the first 10 minutes, he was almost unstoppable. A similar player I found years later so [influential] like him is Nizzy. At iCCup when I used to play 2v2, maybe the best ally and the one I'm missing more is Pirayaya. I have no news about Sinister, but Piraya appears from time to time to say hi.
Q: Do you think more of them would come back if there were a 2v2 ladder? Do you think some will when it does come?
A: About the inactive iCCup players it's possible. I'm afraid it's late for the older ones...who knows. I suspect Blizzard developers underestimated the importance of the team matchmaking. It had to be implemented at the beginning. The real game is 1v1 sure, but if my intent is to bring as many people as possible into the game, well the team matchmaking would have done the job better. If you are part of a team community, somehow you become attached to the game probably more than you would have if you played only one on one. It's also more approachable for beginners. Just an opinion though.
Q: Yeah, seems like team games take a lot of the nervousness off for many newer players. Are there other things you think is important for the growth of the community, whether it’s things we're lacking, or things we should support more?
A: From my iCCup experience, what helped to increase the game activity (if that was the question) were the daily tournaments. We used to host a lot of ranked tours with rank limit—very fun and very appreciated by everyone. Many times [we] happened to host three or four tours in a day, restricted to D/C, C/B, or B/A, with ladder points as a pay-in and prize. The days we didn’t have time to host, we received a ton of messages: "No tour?", "Why no tour today?", etc. It was gratifying, it meant people came online seeking tournaments. Blizzard could recruit people doing this job for free, with a training program and under a supervisor. The hard thing is to find this last figure; he must be super-trusted, granting admins are trained and act correctly. The rest is easy. Probably it is not Blizzard policy, but I encourage them to do so.
Q: Seems like a nifty idea! When did you become admin on iCCup? And what have your tasks and positions have you taken up over the years? Feel free to be elaborate!
A: As told before, I moved to play iCCup in 2009, and the server activity was not bad—of course, not like the golden age but still having 600 players per day. In 2-3 years the services vanished, the old Head Admin was totally inactive and almost all the sections were not covered. No tournaments, all ladder complaints unsolved, no one banning hackers/abusers, no one following forums. The server was adrift.
In 2012 I sent my application to join administrators, [citing] my contribution on the tournament and forum sections—that's been my start. I was recruited by iCCup.s0ldi3r the forum Super Admin, the last survivor since all the other SA were inactive. [Luckily] we had well written guides for everything, so I've been able to learn how to make tournaments alone. Still, the Head Admin and his assistant were inactive and no one had the power to change things, so I started a small rebellion with a public complaint against them that arrived at the boss, Yelloant. A week later we had a new temporary Head Admin iCCup.GeckoXp, and a few months later, one officially—iCCup.S0ldi3r—with GeckoXP as assistant. Here things got better. He promoted me to Tour SA, so I started to recruit admins and increase the number of tournaments. Our record was 190 tournaments in a season, more than two each day, which is great if you consider that a normal tour takes minimum two hours. Thanks again to all my admins for the time spent.
Since the beginning we had a lack of admins everywhere. While hosting tours, I've also learned how to solve ladder complaints, which are forms created by players when the system can't detect the correct winner due to disconnections, bugs, cheats, etc. Once the Tournament section was fixed, I focused on the Ladder section, becoming SA assistant and starting to recruit and train new admins, which was not easy because the ladder procedures were so hard to learn. Then I moved to Counter Abuse section trying to fix this section too. In July 2013 I've been promoted to Head Admin assistant even though I was solely responsible for StarCraft—iCCup.s0ldi3r managed Dota. I did my best managing iCCup in the last five years with some progress...the activity slowly increased. In August 2018 SC:Remastered was released. Then iCCup activity drastically decreased, obviously. I'm still in charge, but there isn't much to do now. Probably this is the end of the era. I'd like to express my gratitude to Yelloant for having kept the server online for free. It's not something you find everywhere, including the dozens of admins I had. Even for those who played iCCUP over the years without knowing who to thank. Nowadays, if we still have a solid foreigner community, the merit goes to iCCup.
Q: True, iCCup has been monumental for the scene! I'm quite impressed with your drive and ability to see things through. Have you always been this way? Do you do a lot of management related work in real life as well?
A: Yes, I've always been able to focus on the problems and plan for better solutions. In real life I'm responsible for a little group of people. The problem is always the same: you need a qualified, expert, and competent boss, or at least a clever one. If you haven't, there’s no way to make things better.
For example, I've read Activision-Blizzard is having problems for that reason, and senior staff members are departing. A source internal to Blizzard pointed out that people are not happy working for Pete Vlastelica, President and CEO of Activision-Blizzard esports. Vlastelica was formerly Content Manager of Fox Sports, and joined Activision Blizzard in 2016. “People are really getting tired of working for Pete Vlastelica. The focus has become commercializing the esports titles instead of making good programs for the community. Many people internally are laying that on Pete, and it has crushed morale among the Call of Duty and Overwatch teams especially.”
The main thing is to have a good boss.
Q: Leadership is certainly important! And you've taken on the leadership for BWCL (BroodWar Clan League) as well. The clans seem to enjoy the participation. Anything good in particular you're happy about with BWCL in its current state? Any challenges you see the need to fix?
A: Well, when the number of teams increase, it's satisfying. Then, what I'm personally proud of is the Clan League system, which I've built alone using Google Sheets; it works automatically, so it's more complex than what it seems at first look. There are actually no alternatives around sites, except iCCup, but it's full of bugs and not directly under our control. Many things could be done to improve BWCL and make it a top event: prize pool, customized site with private developers, weekly and professional cast of best games, advertisements on the main platforms, etc. It's something that would require people who won't work for free. I've already served as admin for events with money involved, but BWCL is a foreigner tournament, and as you know, BW outside Korea is not remunerative, so it's hard to find people investing money. I'm probably the worst person to send around begging for money, but if anyone wants to sponsor the project, you’re welcome to.
Q: Assuming you had funding, what would be the first project you'd commence regarding BWCL? And how would you prioritize the needs of the league in general for the future?
A: Of course, the prize pool is important for the players, but I would prioritize the stream. A weekly date with expert or pro casters, inviting special guests to help comment on the games and give tips to evolve the style of the players involved. This would also help the fan to improve. If you do it with constancy, you increase the followers and more people will be passionate about the BWCL [and want to play in it].
In general, the needs of the league are the needs of the team-leaders, I do what’s possible to have all the requests done.
Q: Is there anything people can do on a voluntary basis? How many people are currently volunteering for BWCL admin staff, and what roles could realistically be filled?
A: We are five admins, all volunteers: Vincent as streamer, Freakling as mapmaker, Fischei as league admin, GeckoXp as supporter, and me as coordinator. Anyway, we usually discuss everything together or at least I encourage them to do so. As said before, I'd like to get a better stream coverage. Vincent did an excellent job, and he used to cast every week a few seasons ago, but it's a hard job and takes a lot of time, so he is going to cast only the playoffs lately. If anyone with broadcast skills would like to enjoy with a weekly stream, they are welcome. No need to cast 3-4 hours a week, just to select the best games. I'd also like to recruit at least one more league admin. If me and Fischei are both offline when problems arise, players won't get any support in real time. A news admin, following the important matches and posting a summary on TL.net would also be appreciated.
Q: Hopefully someone will rise to the occasion! You current admins were also able to detect cheating in the previous season, where I understand there was a case of account sharing? Were you tipped off, or was this discovered through any anti-cheating efforts/routines?
A: Almost all the calls are done by opponents, then it's our duty to check it out. In that specific case, one of the leaders helped us by providing evidence of the violation. Respect. Fortunately, we can count the cheating calls in one hand for the last four seasons, and not all were confirmed. It's natural that players check each other when they meet to play. It's physiologic and a good thing for the league.
Q: Coming to the end of our interview, is there anything you'd like to say or address to the community in general?
A: If you don't like an aspect of the BW scene, do not only blame; do something to improve things. Thanks for the interview—it was unexpected.
Epilogue: A big thanks to iCCup.Face for taking the time for this interview. We're looking forward to future seasons of BWCL and hope more people will join the admin team to keep moving forward. We would also like to thank TL.net for helping us with the formatting.
Questions by: ReV Clan
Editors: EsportsJohn
Graphics: BullDog[ReV]
