A dancing sun I admit, 5 or 6 months ago I was not a fan of MLG, nor was I a fan of Sundance DiGiovanni. I had just watched MLG Dallas 2011, and I was pissed to say the least. Lag, crappy streams, the works. The Starcraft community was ready to give up hope on MLG.
But Sundance had a vision, he promised that by Columbus the stream would be better, the lag would be better, and the tournament would be amazing. I was skeptical, to say the least. But he offered anyone who paid for Dallas a free HD pass for Columbus. I took it, and Columbus was amazing. Sundance pulled through.
We've just watched the incredible tournament that was MLG Anaheim, and all I can say is the improvement and dedication that MLG and Sundance have shown has been incredible. Yes they've been criticized, but they stuck to their guns and pulled through to deliver the best SC2 lans in the world.
Why did I make this Fanclub? All of the above is excellent, but here was the immediate cause.
On July 29 2011 14:20 iNcontroL wrote: Uhhh if you give me a million dollars I will raise the prizepool??? Wow! That is amazing!
Months ago you gave me shit about the prize pool and now I'm putting a simple and obtainable goal out there for the entire community and you give me shit again - and that's fine. I still respect you and appreciate what you've done and will continue to do for the scene. My question is this - if the number was 50,000 would you take an issue with my approach? How about 15,000? What if I didn't say a thing and just watched my spreadsheets populate with numbers and kept the community in the dark? Shouldn't the people who love this have some insight into what is needed for success?
You're either in or you're out. $30 a year from 100,000 people makes this company a real business and not just a passion project from a guy with a hippy name who refuses to quit. $30 a year from 10,000 people means that we're all wrong and there isn't enough fan support to sustain a business of scale.
Less than a dime a day from less than 10% of the people who visit our site over the course of an event weekend allows me to flip a switch and change next year to a structure that supports 24 live events & 28 meaningful ladders. 52 competitions with nearly 2 million dollars of prize money and stipends.
Again - I don't care if you think I'm an asshole or a money grubbing prick. I just want to find out if what we do is actually meaningful to enough of you to step up.
Some back story: apparently there is a section of seating in the crowd reserved for players, media, team reps, etc. A redditor's cousin won access to this area through some contest. Upon returning from a bathroom break/whatever they noticed a bald guy sitting in their seats. This bald guy was Sundance. Without knowing, they had asked Sundance to move and he happily obliged, without making it known who he was.
I'm in, Sundance is a great guy. He communicates with the community quite openly and it was watching halo 2 on tv that got me into gaming in the first place.
On August 02 2011 08:54 Killerkrack wrote: Yeah sundance is awesome, it was almost impossible to get day9's autograph because of how busy he was so I approached sundance randomly and asked if he could get it for me. He said yes and immediately took my mouse pad back to day9, got the autograph and then contacted me on twitter later that night to return the mousepad to me in the hotel lobby. It was so cool that he went so far out of his way to help out a single fan <3. He also gave his pizza to a friend of mine after overhearing how hungry he was and no I'm not kidding about that.
I found this cute little story on the drama-thread, you should add it to OP
Wait... his IRL first name is actually Sundance? How did that happen, lol. Anyway, he has done a lot for E-sports and cares alot about what the community thinks. Sign me up :D
Wow, I was actually wondering today if somebody would make a Sundance fan club.
Sign me up for sure. I really felt bad for the guy after Dallas, wasn't he going absolutely nuts trying to fix everything, even taking the blame for things he had no control over?
Even if I'm remembering wrongly, I'm definitely a fan. ^^
Can Sundance Giovanni be the "Vince Macmahon" of eSports? Vince Macmahon is the tireless promoter of "pro wrestling" and owner of the billion dollar "WWE". Working 16 hours per day and 7 days per week Vince Macmahon took a bankrupt company in a niche market every one laughed at and made it a billion dollar enterprise.
in 1982 the WWE barely drew 3,000 fans for its choreographed "pro wrestling" competitions.
in 1987, "Wrestlemania" drew 95,000 people...
Will MLG create eSports Version of "Wrestlemania" ? I think its closer than we all realize!
On August 02 2011 08:54 Killerkrack wrote: Yeah sundance is awesome, it was almost impossible to get day9's autograph because of how busy he was so I approached sundance randomly and asked if he could get it for me. He said yes and immediately took my mouse pad back to day9, got the autograph and then contacted me on twitter later that night to return the mousepad to me in the hotel lobby. It was so cool that he went so far out of his way to help out a single fan <3. He also gave his pizza to a friend of mine after overhearing how hungry he was and no I'm not kidding about that.
I found this cute little story on the drama-thread, you should add it to OP
On August 02 2011 20:10 Jakkerr wrote: Wait... his IRL first name is actually Sundance? How did that happen, lol. Anyway, he has done a lot for E-sports and cares alot about what the community thinks. Sign me up :D
Sign me up, great guy and amazing contributor to ESPORTS. I wish him and MLG all the best, Columbus and Anaheim were some of the sickest SC2 events up until now.
Seriously, Sundance's undying devotion to making MLG better with every iteration is a true reflection of great character. He's put more into MLG in all possible ways than anyone else I've ever seen in the ESPORTS scene. The man is one of the best things to happen to gaming, and him picking up SC2 can only mean good things for the game in the future. As Anaheim and Columbus showed us, he means business.
The reason why I like Sundance is that he is runnig a business without doing shitty stuff to annoy the community and making up excuses afterwards.
I just hope that the foreign scene steps up to challenge the Koreans - this is what MLG needs to get to the next level and it's not up to Sundance anymore.
I have enormous respect for Sundance. The Rakaka interview gave me real insight. He loves gaming and he is a business man looking to make a sustainable future for e-sports, whilst remaining honest and down-to-earth. I can't say a bad word about the guy from what I've seen so far.
just like anyone else i wasnt impressed by MLG till columbus. i didnt buy a hq pass for anaheim because is was skeptical about it just being a one time thing. but they won me over with anaheim. i will be buying a hq pass for the next event.
so yeah Great job sundance and mlg! you've won me over
On August 03 2011 01:26 taLbuk wrote: Been a fan since his first appearance on Lo3 about a year and a half ago or so. Go Sundance!
yeah i love how involved he is with the community, would like it if more people did things like this.
I know many people do, but there are still many that arent that outspoken in the community, like Jason Lake, but maybe im just looking int he wrong places.
If you look at it from a business point of view MLG is the counterpart to GOM. They are the most important part to push Esports in the West, way more important than any player. The structure creates Esport. Within a well established framework talents grow automatically. Thus this guy is key to everything.
and just to let u know sundie, I'm a big big fan, i love what u have been doing all the way and to make things a little clear, Im the kind of guy who will still be by your side whenever SC2 fails to be the #1 top priority of MLG, or even gets off the map entirely, being this in 2,3, or 10 years
keep up your good/amazing work
I may tweet you this but well: congrats on the job done here this weekend, and thanks a lot for the low quality stream, which is pretty shitty btw, but some of us often don't have access to even "decent" speed/internet
Sign me up, at Anaheim I shook his hand and addressed him directly about seating, and he was completely understanding and eased my concerns. He's a great guy, and he's done a ton for eSports.
definitely a fan! i never thought about attending an MLG a few months ago but after hearing about the events and watching the stream i'm in full support! will be attending mlg orlando for sure!
Registered to sign up for this. I was up front and center for each day of Anaheim, and I got to see him interact with people a lot. He was always approachable, conversational, and had time for each and every person who wanted to talk to them.
Also, he tweeted a link to my blog, and I freaked out. Amazing dude all around, +1 to him.
He is a really cool guy, he spends a ton of time during live events answering so many individual questions on his twitter. He would do anything for anyone if it meant satisfying you as a customer and helping us have the best possible experience we can. Sign me up!
Yah, sign me up, I am a fan. I totally change my view on the guy from when he first came on State of the Game show saying his favorite units is marine to today when he yield his seat to starcraft 2 fans who kick Sundance out of the seat and Sundance give away his pizza to hungry passerby spectators.
Been a fan of this guy since '06 - glad to see this community warm up to him. Most upfront CEO I can think of and a great ambassador for competitive gaming.
Sundance not only loves SC2, the greatest esports game ever made, he also loves other games that I play like Halo and COD. He is not only a good role model for the Starcraft community, but the gaming community as a whole.
I have never been anything but impressed with this guy. He is humble, amazing, and does the smallest things for anyone, even giving them their chairs back (:D) He also responds on twitter to anybody, and goes out of his way to help them. Please sign me up ! He is a totally amazing guy =)
Sundance is awesome. If anyone was going to make SC2 go big in America, it would have been him, and I think it's pretty safe to say that he is succeeding.
I bought the $30 gold pass as soon as I read about the things he's trying to do for the community. Way more upfront and real than any CEO I've ever seen. Classy guy.
Months ago you gave me shit about the prize pool and now I'm putting a simple and obtainable goal out there for the entire community and you give me shit again - and that's fine. I still respect you and appreciate what you've done and will continue to do for the scene. My question is this - if the number was 50,000 would you take an issue with my approach? How about 15,000? What if I didn't say a thing and just watched my spreadsheets populate with numbers and kept the community in the dark? Shouldn't the people who love this have some insight into what is needed for success?
You're either in or you're out. $30 a year from 100,000 people makes this company a real business and not just a passion project from a guy with a hippy name who refuses to quit. $30 a year from 10,000 people means that we're all wrong and there isn't enough fan support to sustain a business of scale.
Less than a dime a day from less than 10% of the people who visit our site over the course of an event weekend allows me to flip a switch and change next year to a structure that supports 24 live events & 28 meaningful ladders. 52 competitions with nearly 2 million dollars of prize money and stipends.
Again - I don't care if you think I'm an asshole or a money grubbing prick. I just want to find out if what we do is actually meaningful to enough of you to step up.
I got the same kind of chills as when I heard John (the Translator's) speech. Sundance is an awesome guy. Huge respect for him and MLG.
Please sign me up! He was really nice whenever I met him. He talked to me about the event and asked me if I had any thoughts on improving to let him know. I appreciate that sort of thing a lot
Also check it out, I have a horse as my icon. I love TL! xD
sign me up. A gentleman and a scholar, this one is. Amazing vision, drive, dedication and most importantly execution. Thanks for all that you do Sundance, we all appreciate your hard work! Buying pass.
He is the fucking man. And to those who said he looked pissed during the one event.... it isn't like he insulted us:
That makes me like him even more. He was pissed that he couldn't provide a great coverage and promised better. He might be making money but a guy like this is great for esports.
Huge fan of Sundance. Been part of MLG since 07. OP, you should add the episodes of the Losers Bracket (vVv podcast) where Sundance talks about how they got to where they are today. They really opened my eyes to what it takes to be in his shoes.
On August 03 2011 10:33 Liquid`Sheth wrote: Please sign me up! He was really nice whenever I met him. He talked to me about the event and asked me if I had any thoughts on improving to let him know. I appreciate that sort of thing a lot
Also check it out, I have a horse as my icon. I love TL! xD
AW, liquid'sheth. Glad to see that horse grace your name
On August 03 2011 10:33 Liquid`Sheth wrote: Please sign me up! He was really nice whenever I met him. He talked to me about the event and asked me if I had any thoughts on improving to let him know. I appreciate that sort of thing a lot
Also check it out, I have a horse as my icon. I love TL! xD
Sign me up! I'm very excited to see his vision for future MLG's, and in such a short time with SC2 MLG has come so far! I can't wait to see what's planned for 2012 =D
Although MLG has suffered ups and downs, I still see their tournament one of the best in the foreign competition, maybe the best. (Well that was bit OT but anyways:D) Sundance has done awesome job with his crew!
On August 03 2011 17:39 PeZuY wrote: Although MLG has suffered ups and downs, I still see their tournament one of the best in the foreign competition, maybe the best. (Well that was bit OT but anyways:D) Sundance has done awesome job with his crew!
Sign me up!
Ups and downs?
He had a down...and has only gone up since. MLG is awesome.
Thumbs up. I enjoy seeing visionary leaders in any field transform a niche market into a giant multimillion/multibillion dollar industry. Esports is so clearly next.
love this guy. I've watched many interviews of him. This guy is the perfect man for the job. I can't think of anyone else I'd want growing and expanding USA e-sports!
On August 04 2011 01:37 SirRobin wrote: love this guy. I've watched many interviews of him. This guy is the perfect man for the job. I can't think of anyone else I'd want growing and expanding USA e-sports!
Sign me up, for sure. MLG has always been an amazing experience (followed it back in the Halo 2 days) and I can't thank Sundance enough for acting as one of the figureheads for the American Esports scene.
I'm an oldschool Sundance fan. I've loved him since 08 man. Halo holds a special place in my heart, as it was my first eSport. Sundance has always been a baller. Even before SC2.
Great posts by Sundance in this thread. Gives details on the MLG stream numbers, talks about transparency, etc.
An excerpt:
As far as the 35 million streams number goes - We release a set of numbers that is ready following the events to capitalize on mainstream media awareness of our efforts. No deception - no lies just a set of data that is provided by our streaming and distribution partners. The takeaway for MLG Anaheim is this - with a schedule which was awful for European viewers and our most stable stream yet - our numbers rose significantly.
This is a good thing. Let's be happy and hope that everyone's views keep going up and that everyone's partners, fans and players continue to be happy.
Every time that I think it isn't possible for me to have a higher opinion of Sundance, he does something amazing. He deserves to be as well liked as Day[9] or Tastosis :D
Much like the OP, I was quite disappointed by the performance at Dallas, and that was basically the first MLG I watched. However, the way Sundance handled the situation and the way following events worked out has totally made him one heck of a baller in my eyes. Sign me up!
Sign me up. Sundance, I'm buying an HD pass next MLG for sure. And if you guys make hoodies with the MLG logo but with a mouse at the center instead of a console controller, I'll buy one of those too. Thank you for hosting the best SCII tournament (and Halo tournament for that matter) in the world.
On August 03 2011 10:33 Liquid`Sheth wrote: Please sign me up! He was really nice whenever I met him. He talked to me about the event and asked me if I had any thoughts on improving to let him know. I appreciate that sort of thing a lot
Also check it out, I have a horse as my icon. I love TL! xD
Your avatar isn't a horse, its a stallion.
And yes, Sundance is gosh darn awesome.
Its a stallion with a bw high templar movement animation. Psionic Stallions fuck yeeaah!
Sign me up. Sundance is contributing a helluva lot to Sc2 and esports growth.
On a side note, more people would be willing to spend their annual $30 subscription fee if the website were more intuitive and had vods in a neatly packed format (ie gomtv).
I pay for the membership, but I NEVER watch any of the vods simply because of how you can't even access half of them.
Sundance and MLG crew seem to be doing everything right. At least they listen to the community more than any other big company/event organizer in e-sports.
On September 01 2011 14:49 Nagano wrote: Sign me up. Sundance is contributing a helluva lot to Sc2 and esports growth.
On a side note, more people would be willing to spend their annual $30 subscription fee if the website were more intuitive and had vods in a neatly packed format (ie gomtv).
I pay for the membership, but I NEVER watch any of the vods simply because of how you can't even access half of them.
Well shit, this thread has convinced me to start buying passes for MLG and become a fan of Sundance. Hopefully he attains success and he stays the same person. Sign me up.
On September 01 2011 14:49 Nagano wrote: Sign me up. Sundance is contributing a helluva lot to Sc2 and esports growth.
On a side note, more people would be willing to spend their annual $30 subscription fee if the website were more intuitive and had vods in a neatly packed format (ie gomtv).
I pay for the membership, but I NEVER watch any of the vods simply because of how you can't even access half of them.
And yes - I lurk all of TL looking for feedback... it's an obsession.
Ooo I like the new new. Curiously I didn't actually notice the white bar with the "Pro Circuit" button at first haha, so integrated into the header it is o.o. But, nice to use once I noticed it.
And yes - I lurk all of TL looking for feedback... it's an obsession.
seeing as u lurk...
Tasteless and Artosis are far and away the best broadcasting team appealing to every one from hard core players down to people who've never played SC2.
Please keep DJWheat off of the commentators booth. He might be good in another role as host or the video summary guy. He does not belong in the class of Day[9], Artosis, and Tasteless.
JP Mcdaniel is not as knowledgeable as the previous 3 i mentioned but does a fantastic job of letting his co-caster's in depth knowledge shine. For any one at Diamond League or lower JP Mcdaniel does a great job.
so your top 4 broadcasters are Artsosis, Tasteless, Day[9], and JP Mcdaniel.
DJWheat's heart is in the right place.. but he is just not as good as these 4.
And By The way... i'm waiting for an MLG event in a Domed Stadium with 90,000 fans. something like this....
And yes - I lurk all of TL looking for feedback... it's an obsession.
seeing as u lurk...
Tasteless and Artosis are far and away the best broadcasting team appealing to every one from hard core players down to people who've never played SC2.
Please keep DJWheat off of the commentators booth. He might be good in another role as host or the video summary guy. He does not belong in the class of Day[9], Artosis, and Tasteless.
JP Mcdaniel is not as knowledgeable as the previous 3 i mentioned but does a fantastic job of letting his co-caster's in depth knowledge shine. For any one at Diamond League or lower JP Mcdaniel does a great job.
so your top 4 broadcasters are Artsosis, Tasteless, Day[9], and JP Mcdaniel.
DJWheat's heart is in the right place.. but he is just not as good as these 4.
And By The way... i'm waiting for an MLG event in a Domed Stadium with 90,000 fans. something like this....
DayJwheat is awesome, IMO the best way to go about would be by having - Tastosis, and then Day9, Husky, djWHEAT and JP all mixing and matching. that way there should always be a game being livecasted, and all my favourite people are commentating
On September 03 2011 05:51 woob wrote: DayJwheat is awesome,
he misses too much during a game. does he have any professional training as a broadcaster?
I love how Tasteless makes the game sound like a boxing match or UFC fight. Because it really is a 1 on 1 battle.
"He is getting rocked by those Siege Tanks but at this point there is nothing he can do..."
Tasteless and Artosis keep it fun.. .but when it really gets down to the crunch they can analyze better than any other english speaking broadcasting team.
On September 04 2011 18:52 CoR wrote: all is great at mlg i only think when i read the money they make etc perhaps improve the pricepool ^^ from 5k first to like 20k first xD
rather than having big prizepool and static infrastructure, i like what Sundance is doing in having small prize pool and GROWING infrastructure. Sure, you can do a bit of both, but its still nice to see some long-term thought rather than one huge tournament once in a long while.
And yes - I lurk all of TL looking for feedback... it's an obsession.
seeing as u lurk...
Tasteless and Artosis are far and away the best broadcasting team appealing to every one from hard core players down to people who've never played SC2.
Please keep DJWheat off of the commentators booth. He might be good in another role as host or the video summary guy. He does not belong in the class of Day[9], Artosis, and Tasteless.
JP Mcdaniel is not as knowledgeable as the previous 3 i mentioned but does a fantastic job of letting his co-caster's in depth knowledge shine. For any one at Diamond League or lower JP Mcdaniel does a great job.
so your top 4 broadcasters are Artsosis, Tasteless, Day[9], and JP Mcdaniel.
DJWheat's heart is in the right place.. but he is just not as good as these 4.
And By The way... i'm waiting for an MLG event in a Domed Stadium with 90,000 fans. something like this....
I LOVE how you state your opinion as it is fact. In fact, I loved it so much, that I think I'll do the same...'Your opinions about DjWheat are moronic'...I feel smart now!
On September 03 2011 05:51 woob wrote: DayJwheat is awesome,
he misses too much during a game. does he have any professional training as a broadcaster?
I love how Tasteless makes the game sound like a boxing match or UFC fight. Because it really is a 1 on 1 battle.
"He is getting rocked by those Siege Tanks but at this point there is nothing he can do..."
Tasteless and Artosis keep it fun.. .but when it really gets down to the crunch they can analyze better than any other english speaking broadcasting team.
If you think Tastless is better then DjWheat you don't listen to tastless much, he contributes far less then tastless does, he just parrots and artosis goes yeah your right and provides the in depth analysis
Sundance is a great guy, you should hear his storys that we were talking about during Raleigh. Needless to say is that he is a great dude and really enjoys what he is doing.
If this guy gets SC2 on ESPN I will be forever grateful of him for helping ESPORTS! Seriously though, this guy does a ton and makes mlg so awesome. Sign me up!
I'm happy that MLG and ESPORTS are in the hands of this man.
No matter what happens, Sundance, you work your ass off and tell it like it is. I couldn't have any more respect for someone. If SC2 or MLG fails, then I don't think there's anybody out there that could have saved it.
Hm, last post from 4,5 months ago - time to get this boy up again... EDIT: just realized the last post before this is from me as well lol.
God you have balls of steel, Sundance. Love you for trying to grow this and admitting mistakes. Going to support your MLG arena ambitions, please keep trying but consider to adjust a lot of things for the next arena especially in terms of pricing and handling your long time supporters, us gold members. Still a fan.
I love that he acknowledged the mistake he made and came out so bluntly with it - in public. Huge props - sign me up!
Good luck in the future and a more lucky hand with announcements/business decisions. The content itself as far as I know, was always good(except for Dallas ).
MLG and TSL3 launched me into my love of SC2. Thank you Sundance for making MLG Providence amazing and I hope to see the same awesome tournaments online and in person. See you at MLG Columbus
I never understood the hate about this whole situation but what do I know, I'm not a doctor. I will however be buying this Arena pass to support MLG & Sundance this year. Nice job on Lo3 tonight. You have my support.
I've definitely a fan. Not many have the audacity and vision to try to achieve their vision of the industry. Esports has stagnated into this "home-grown" feel in the west, and I really admire your drive to bring competitive gaming on to a whole new plane of publicity and scope. I hope you'll succeed, Sundance.
Still don't understand how this got to be as huge as it is. Sundance justified his decision, wasn't trying to "sell it", just giving facts, and was honest. Better interview than many other higher-ups would have given in his position.
Won't be purchasing a pass (not strictly related to money either) but I still think this all got blown way out of proportion and good on ya for standing by it.
Hey, I really want to send Sundance an email about this past weekend, but I can't seem to find what his email address is. Was wondering if anyone had it. If you could PM it to me or post it that would be incredible. Thanks!
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