$4,000 BaseTradeTV Map Test Tournament - Page 13

if my information is correct, rifkin was apparently messaged by an important contact with privileges incl. communication to forward a message to the players after the dasan game and ask if we were taking it seriously - something along this nature, in the player chat. this indicates that someone higher-up involved with the tournament expressed concerns regarding our maps/series and intervened in the middle of it to notify players. this type of behavior can have a negative influence on some players and is unprecedented at least to me in online tournaments.

nobody with an authority/organizer/communication privilege to players or casters should interfere with the gameplay of players or suggest them to play or not play a certain way - directly OR indirectly. because you manipulate/fix the match or insult by doing so. uthermal-snute went all the way to game 9, we were taking the series seriously but yesterday an authority decided to use their privilege to make a move in the very middle of a series. uncomfortable for me to witness as a player and greatly reduced my performance.

so just wanted to clear that up. i don't want to have beef with this anonymous authority but one should really think twice before intervening through casters next time: You have to be able to tell the difference between a failed strategy and someone taking their hands off the keyboard before you take action. And on a general basis, being involved with a tournament should not grant you a strategy hotline to the players in the middle of a series. If anything all you end up doing by intervening most of the time like this is ruining the flow of nature and integrity of competition (accidental mild "matchfixing").

in 5+ years of online starcraft i have never had an unknown official working on the tournament questioning performance in the middle of a series through a caster. if authority gameplay intervention might be a thing on the rise i'll speak up against it whenever it happens because it's not okay no matter how good the intentions are. let the players play the way they want even if it means they show the worst series of all time. freedom to play to win in the way you like. if games should play a certain way, use special formats like minimum 4 base and 15 minute no rush, not the golden standard play to win.