On September 14 2012 01:14 MinistryOfWin wrote:In response to the Team Liquid forum post by Samuli "Fuzer" Romppanen and the public debate surrounding it, we, the Ministry of Win, would like to shed some light on the facts regarding the matter at hand.
With utmost sadness we have observed some of the details being released, at times partial and without proper context. This should have not happened under no circumstances and we fully acknowledge our managemental shortcomings in that regard. There have been words said in the heat of the moment unbecoming to what we aspire to be, and certainly below the required standards that we would like to set for ourselves as a part of the e-sport community.
There are several concerns that have been pointed out that we would like to address below.
1. First and foremost Samuli "Fuzer" Romppanen or any other guest of the house has not been, or will be stopped from pursuing a professional e-sport carrier beyond the Ministry of Win by means of a legal document or a verbal agreement. Players absolutely can and will join teams, pro-houses, will also participate in tournaments and other e-sport ventures.
2. Ministry of Win does not enforce on players the amount of hours they have to stream. It is a part of a business contract and both parties negotiate an agreement. We understand that players have come to the house for the sole purpose of perfecting their skills and thus we do not exact the agreed hours to the last detail. Most players view streaming as a key income source for themselves and so we give them the best opportunity to profit from it. Thanks to the strategic partnership between the Ministry of Win and Twitch.tv the CPM ratio is superior to that of an individual streaming on one’s own. Furthermore the players that had no Twitch.tv partnership prior to joining the house obtain a possibility to start monetizing their exposure instantly omitting the regular Twitch.tv partnership acquireing process.
3. The fee of 2 500 PLN (circa €600 or $785) is charged up front for full months of all inclusive stay in the house. This is the first consideration the players are presented with before coming to the house. Please note that the Ministry of Win is not a hotel thus all operations, including guest departures and arrivals, food and supply purchases, etc..., are planned and partially executed at least a month ahead with accordance to the players stay roster.
4. We are aware of the issues regarding food, that the players have risen and are looking to resolve them as soon as possible. Since the house has not yet been fully manned with players with frequent changes the provisioning schedule was the hardest to keep up to date.
Since the public has been exposed only to the last and most fierce statements we feel compelled to put them into perspective and disclosing the bigger story. As correctly identified by many members of the public, the key error on our part was allowing Samuli to come to the house before agreeing together on all the fine parts of the contract and signing it.
Samuli expressed his interest in joining the Ministry of Win. In order to meet his expectations we decided to invite him in and let him experience the house-life first hand, so that he could make a more educated decision with regards to the contract. A monthly fee of 2 500 PLN has been established, paid up front each month, which has been delivered in cash by Samuli on arrival to the house. Soon after the Ministry of Win contract has been presented to him negotiations and consultations began.
Finally all the amendments proposed by Samuli have been fully incorporated into the contract and the final version has been submitted for his approval on Saturday the 8th. By that time the second month payment has already been concluded. Samuli refused to sign the agreed contract containing his amendments and requested another consultation period.
This has been received as a stalling tactics and brought unnecessary and unprofessional tension to the conversation, which in retrospect could have been avoided especially on our side. Leading a company revolving around people requires unwavering patience and calm especially in tense situations and this is a major lesson for us in all our future dealings. Words unbefitting a gentleman have been said, fences have not been mended and as a result on Tuesday the 11th Samuli has been asked to either sign the contract or leave until 22:00. Upon announcing that he chose the latter, a refund for the remaining days has been offered and turned down.
In conclusion, the Ministry of Win would like to apologize the whole e-sport community, the players, the viewers, everyone related to the Starcraft 2 scene and especially we apologize to Samuli "Fuzer" Romppanen. Mistakes have been made and unfortunately time cannot be turned back. We are aware that as professionals, we should not let emotions take control over us and the whole situation should not have happened in the first place. After all we are here to support and help e-sports grow.
We are making an effort to prevent such a situation from ever happening again. A revised wording of the contract is being developed and a more clear contractual procedure devised. We hope that other players will benefit from existance of our house and our e-sport venture will help advance their careers. Virgil said “Hard work conquers all” — so we will do our best to make it happen.
To compensate the community more than one hundred pages of drama on the Team Liquid forum and numerous further posts all around the Internet, please take comfort in those quite lovely kittens photos.
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.d-esports.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/logo_png_twitter.png){kind=logo}
