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Keeping this short as I can.
You know, I always say that. And I always end up writing a novel Charles Dickens would be proud of. But here goes:
I'm stepping down from head of Map of the Month. What you need to know is that the MotM Staff and the ESL are taking my responsibilities. The Staff will be responsible for the Map Selection, and the ESL will be putting together showmatches to play on the monthly Map Pool. I'll let the MotM Staff explain more in the weeks to come. Hopefully, this will lead to new, awesome things for the mapping community, and will expand MotM to Europe, where I know many of you are from!
Its been a blast this last year, it really has. And look at just how much the community has grown. We now have Community maps in many major tournaments, multiple mapmaking teams, an Sc2 mapper on the TL staff, and of course the two current Mapping Contests. Activity is an an all-time high, and there's more to come! Its really been awesome growing right alongside all of you, and the future just looks better and better.
So, why am I stepping down? There are a lot of reasons why, but it boils down to a couple main ones.
- I don't have time.
Since August, I've sacrificed my academic success to keep this tournament going. I know it seems like running an 8 man tournament wouldn't be a ton of work, but it really is, especially for one person who has never been very organized. The wake up call for me came when I realized that I had a 35 in History. I was just putting time that I didn't have into this game.
- Passion. Or, a lack thereof.
Time to be honest here. I love StarCraft. I love TeamLiquid. I love mapmaking. I don't love StarCraft II. I can't explain it. I just don't feel the same passion for SC2 that I do for BW, mapmaking, or TL. StarCraft II does not inspire me. Maybe that's just that it has to live up to 12 years of Hype. But it just... doesn't "do" it for me. I always have a stream on (I even have an order of preference: Tyler>Jinro>Ret>Hero>TLO>HayprO>Destiny>HuK>iNcontroL>CatZ), but I just don't get the rush that I get from watching BW games. For example, HuK's win didn't mean nearly as much to me as Jangbi's win over Fantasy.
- My general health is degenerating.
Even just watching SC2 is very stressful for me. I think this is a good thing, because it shows how much the SC2 community means to me, but I can't watch more than a few games at a time without needing to go do something to relax myself. This seems contradictory with the above point, but theres a difference between an adrenaline rush and stress that affects how I feel. The enhanced stress has caused a rapid deterioration in my general well-being since I went back to school, and I've spent the last two months on more drugs than I can count, with infections, viruses, muscle issues, and more.
So, that's why I'm stepping down. I must say, its been a blast! I've made a lot of friends through MotM, and I've learned a lot of lessons. And I'll still critique any map if you send me a pm or skype me, and I've come up with a way to stay active in the community: I'll be releasing custom lighting sets from time to time, I've got 2 that I'll release this week. But this is it for myself in Map of the Month. Thanks to the MotM Staff - Flop, monitor, Barrin, LSPrime, ProdiG, BoomStevo (wherever you are), and Dimfish; thanks to NullCurrent, Superouman, Plexa, and really just all of you guys who make this forum what it is.
Take Care,
Jack "iGrok" Dickerson
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ESL putting the tournaments together should be a good thing for publicity though.
I hope you start feeling better. Make school your top priority and try not to think too much about SCII to keep your stress level down. I've been feeling the same way about SCII and have only made one map since the start of school :/
Take care of yourself!
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Take care and good luck with everything!
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I had a feeling something was up when we did our interview on MapCraft and it's definitely a shame to see you go. You've been nothing but a huge benefit to the Mapmaking community and SC2 as a whole and I hope one day you get sucked back in like I did ;D
I know I went through a lot of the same notions as well. My academic success was failing, I was short on time as it was, SC2 just doesn't get the same rise out of me as BW or Quake (it still doesn't but it's better than it was 6 months ago) and I was becoming more and more stressed every day. Hopefully you can find a way to make things work a little better and still be a part of the community in some way but if not I completely understand and respect your decision and wish you nothing but the best.
On November 01 2011 10:55 Barrin wrote:
*** ♥ iGrok 4ever ***
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♥
Best wishes iGrok, take care!
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Igrok ♥ you will miss us all.
And you were I think the first to organize something of this great and I hope your influence will continue in MoTM and in the map making scene.
You are a great example to us and I hope the best of luck in your studies which are even more important because it makes us who we are in the future.
I hope everyone will remember you in the history books of sc2 of map making. I hope someone else will take the torch that you are letting us and lead us like you did.
Take good care :D
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The first comment I ever got on one of my maps was from iGrok:
On June 21 2011 07:31 iGrok wrote:
Dear god please spoiler those images!
I like the name though - analysis to come ^^
The analysis never came. 
In all seriousness though: The friendliness of the initial replies really helped me out as I was pretty nervous to show my work off to a foreign community.
MotM has always been incredible. Some of the coolest maps I've ever seen have come from the motm pool and it's always been a great motivation for me. Unfortunately the iGrok era is over, I hope the new staff live up to the legacy.
Good luck iGrok.
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You made a lot of things happen and you did it well. I can only wonder how far we would have been today if you didnt start it in the first place.
When I tell my grandchilden about my career as a map maker I'm gonna tell them "it all started with iGrok.."
See you around.
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gl iGrok, I'm looking forward to some awesome custom lightings now : )
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GL in ur life iGrok and dont worry, History is History 
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Good luck iGrok, and thanks for everything.
Your work has meant a lot to a lot of us.
Hopefully we can suck you back in when HotS comes out
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For some who says he wasn't very good at organizing I'm under the impression that you did organize a lot ^^
Take care. I hope you find a way to do the things you like to do and is commited to, within the limits of what's healthy.
MotM showmatches sounds awesome, but surely the tournaments will go on as well?
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thanks for pushing competition and quality in sc2 mapping through your work in motm. you are a big part of this mapping community, what you did means a lot to many of us.
i hope we see you back with some crazy rabbid like shaped maps in hots.
all the best!
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After working with you on MotM for almost a whole year now this is of course very sad. I'm not saying it is a big surprise since for months you've been working so much for it and first signs of a burn out regarding this hobby have already been there months ago. I know you'll still be there if we need you and I hope we can some day get to the place with community maps you've been working for so long.
Cu around and I still got a little surprise lying around somewhere^^
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Blazinghand
United States25563 Posts
I hope your health recovers quickly! MOTM has been great under your stewardship and I'm sure will continue to be good into the future.
I think it's a good decision to focus on your academics-- there's only a certain part of your life you can spend doing that, and it's good to get it right.
Best of luck! :D
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I got only a lone chance to talk to you on Skype during one of the stim.tv meetings, but everything you even consider in terms of opinions are right on the money. A spot-on person, loved your map stuff, no-one could have done it better!
<3
mouzKael
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You are awesome iGrok, thank you for all you did with MoTM!
Best of luck to you in your studies and such ^^!
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Best of luck iGrok. Hope you get better soon and thank you for everything you have done for this community.
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EPT
