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In the last day I have briefly researched this and it's something I wanted to bring to more people's attention to be expounded upon, and that is the use of academies and general communities by professional teams in order to gain more followers and in turn help grow eSports.
Existing Conditions
From what I have found, these exists to an extent, but for the most part I don't feel they are being used to reach their full potential. Some examples of academies include Complexity Academy and Fnatic Academy. Now, these are great additions to their respective teams in their own right, but their roles are, shall we say, narrow? coL Acad is basically a B-Team for Complexity. It does a great job of bringing up and shaping young, new talent for their salaried team, but it could do so much more. Fnatic's academy (as well as others) is basically the same thing. But let's move to the communities.
Obviously, the biggest and best team community is Team Liquid. In fact its so big that it's its own entity and honestly is something different than what I want to propose, but at the same time is the grandest example of what a community can do for a team. So let's throw out some other examples: Team Dignitas and Evil Geniuses. Dignitas has a forum on their website, but there really isn't a community there and for the most part the forums seem dead. As for Evil Geniuses, as well as many other teams, they don't even have a forum/community to speak of. Perhaps they think it would be pointless?
The Spark
Yesterday I noticed the thread about FXOpen expanding to NA and absorbing Team Legion. I previously knew about Legion as a team as well as a gaming community. This community has a SC2 section called The Dark Side, which is being carried over to the new Team FXO home that will serve as an academy for the team. But the big difference between something like Complexity Academy and The Dark Side is that The Dark Side is welcoming to everyone and has within it a structure that allows players of all leagues to take part in competition like clan wars and tournaments, and it's officially recognized by the owners of the team.
So I started wondering if others existed. Oddly enough the first place I went to check this was ROOT Gaming, and that's where I found among their community forums, SEED Gaming Community (which is hilariously awesome, btw). Here is the first post in that thread started this July:
"I remember listening to CatZ Stream, and him (possibly joking) about a ROOT Gaming community, or an academy like Complexity has. But he said that he would call it SEED. I was wondering we could make this REAL!
We could have a SC2 channel:
SEED Gaming
and we could form our own little Clan for all members of the community
Bronze - GM"
Now, I haven't (*huge pun incoming*) dug through that thread yet but it seems the seeds have been planted and its growing(sorry, couldn't resist). So that's what got me thinking how cool it would be for the fans of major teams, and how much more beneficial it could be for the teams themselves to host these communities on their websites. If you are keeping an active community like these on your team's website, that's even more eyes on your sponsor's advertisements, which in the long run is better for everyone.
The Future
Here's my starry-eyed vision of what this could lead to (some of these ideas come from reading The Dark Side and SEED Gaming threads): All your major teams would house a community for their fans. This community (strictly SC2 related) would have a chat channel where they can hang out together in game. The team would select staff members to organize the community and run it according to their teams standards and expectations. In these communities you could have A, B and even C team rosters that would participate in clan wars with other team's communities (SEED Gaming vs Simplicity Gaming anyone?) and possibly even start leagues among them. In these communities you would find in house events, practice partners, casters/streaming, coaching, and for those aspiring gamers the ability to rise through the ranks and earn a spot on the main roster.
To further encourage activity in these communities, the pro players could have regular interactions with their community with things like pro/am 2v2 games, coaching, Q&As, exclusive VODs created just for their community, etc. The possibilities are endless and the benefits for all parties are great.
Of course, all this would only be possible if the demand is there, so what say you?
Poll: Do you want to see your favorite team create an environment like this?Yes (65) 87% No (10) 13% 75 total votes Your vote: Do you want to see your favorite team create an environment like this? (Vote): Yes
(Vote): No
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At Team FXO we have an academy team (TDS - The Dark Side). If you would like to participate in the academy team you can register and apply for the team at teamfxo(dot)com
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vVv Gaming has an Academy team as well. So, these are out there, just gotta look at the right places. 
And what would be even cooler, if all these teams actually assembled and then made a teamleague consisting of their "children" competing. Voila, not only the teams gain more exposure for themselves, but they also help raise the next generation of players => more people into SC2. I think a win situation here, as long as someone is willing to put in the work into it.
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But do any of these academy teams actually have anything to offer? Ive been waiting for another col academy tourney forever. or for a community to join with a decent team to rise out of.
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TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k!
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On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k!
That'd be nice, but from my nearly 4 months experience of running an Academy team, it always falls down on people on wanting to do something, but then realizing it actually requires certain level of commitment & work, so they decide to leave it alone. But, I still believe that the possibilities of this are simply awesome. Teamleagues, partnerships between the Academy teams, practices in between the teams. That is what could help this community, certainly far more than all this negativity floating around here recently. Just IMO.
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On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k!
I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol...
Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/
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On October 31 2012 05:31 KiF1rE wrote:Show nested quote +On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k! I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol... Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/
I dunno, the Z33k teamleague is actually seeming really successful at the moment. 16 teams have made the playoffs out of the initial 40 registered teams, and there's a decent chunk of change on the line. It's actually really exciting, and definitely really good for the scene. More people should check it out!
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On October 31 2012 05:33 Zennith wrote:Show nested quote +On October 31 2012 05:31 KiF1rE wrote:On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k! I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol... Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/ I dunno, the Z33k teamleague is actually seeming really successful at the moment. 16 teams have made the playoffs out of the initial 40 registered teams, and there's a decent chunk of change on the line. It's actually really exciting, and definitely really good for the scene. More people should check it out!
well I wasnt refferencing the league itself, it was more of the team and players, like every time I tried esea or something, after a point we just started forfeiting matches since I was the only player showing up on our roster =/
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We overhauled TDS with the merger of FXO. Even before then, we had masters though. We talk with the NA team everyday as well as play with them in customs and teams. So its not just those days specifically for pro/community days that we interact with them.
Not if we set it up like MLG or ESEA, with actual goals like money or something.
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I know you guys hate WOW. but this kinda reminds me of a WOW guild, your top players are your usual raiding part of the guild, people into pvp are the team players/UMS players. Then the rest are just there to level up and have fun, bronze to masters.
I always think an academy is such a good idea, i love the complexity one, where they get a computer etc and if they win inhouse academy tournaments they can win spots at mlg etc. Even gosuuser got moved to the real complexity team, i like the fostering talent idea.
But i do love your idea of a community representing teams, i love the idea. Imagine a silve/gold/platinum league Teamliquid squad or something like that. But if big teams had small teams for each league or something like that and hosted results on there site it would really improve the competitiveness in each of the league. I guess this would be on the community side to be trusted and put in the work to live up to the teamliquid brand. I dunno, it seems like a good idea just the amount of work makes it seems too much.
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On October 31 2012 05:35 KiF1rE wrote:Show nested quote +On October 31 2012 05:33 Zennith wrote:On October 31 2012 05:31 KiF1rE wrote:On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k! I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol... Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/ I dunno, the Z33k teamleague is actually seeming really successful at the moment. 16 teams have made the playoffs out of the initial 40 registered teams, and there's a decent chunk of change on the line. It's actually really exciting, and definitely really good for the scene. More people should check it out! well I wasnt refferencing the league itself, it was more of the team and players, like every time I tried esea or something, after a point we just started forfeiting matches since I was the only player showing up on our roster =/
Yeah, I totally get that. I know I've experienced the same thing with SC2Clans league and Sc2Tour, where our opponents started vanishing - and it's because mid tier NA teams are CONSTANTLY in flux. There are a few that are stable and have been around, but generally teams open and close at the drop of a hat.
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On October 31 2012 05:41 Bourne wrote:
I know you guys hate WOW. but this kinda reminds me of a WOW guild, your top players are your usual raiding part of the guild, people into pvp are the team players/UMS players. Then the rest are just there to level up and have fun, bronze to masters.
I always think an academy is such a good idea, i love the complexity one, where they get a computer etc and if they win inhouse academy tournaments they can win spots at mlg etc. Even gosuuser got moved to the real complexity team, i like the fostering talent idea.
But i do love your idea of a community representing teams, i love the idea. Imagine a silve/gold/platinum league Teamliquid squad or something like that. But if big teams had small teams for each league or something like that and hosted results on there site it would really improve the competitiveness in each of the league. I guess this would be on the community side to be trusted and put in the work to live up to the teamliquid brand. I dunno, it seems like a good idea just the amount of work makes it seems too much.
lolwut
As far as I'm aware there are no academies offering something like that, unless you get promoted to the main team.
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On October 31 2012 05:35 KiF1rE wrote:Show nested quote +On October 31 2012 05:33 Zennith wrote:On October 31 2012 05:31 KiF1rE wrote:On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k! I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol... Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/ I dunno, the Z33k teamleague is actually seeming really successful at the moment. 16 teams have made the playoffs out of the initial 40 registered teams, and there's a decent chunk of change on the line. It's actually really exciting, and definitely really good for the scene. More people should check it out! well I wasnt refferencing the league itself, it was more of the team and players, like every time I tried esea or something, after a point we just started forfeiting matches since I was the only player showing up on our roster =/
This is a common problem among the more 'minor, semi-pro' teams trying to break into the scene. That's why I think that having academies based upon the existing structure and guidelines of the more prominent teams it will have a better chance to succeed. The rosters would be huge compared to the 5-8 man rosters a lot of independent teams have, so fielding a roster on any given day would much easier.
And it is true that it would be a lot of work, but the beauty of it is that the academy wouldn't just be for the players. The staff who run it and the casters who stream events are also showing off their skills in hopes of one day being apart of the main team, so running successful events, even at a lower level, would be important to them.
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so true wareagle. Why I want to join something with an infrastructure that could support me in practice one day and not be gone the next. But none of those academy programs are open admittance...
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This is a common problem among the more 'minor, semi-pro' teams trying to break into the scene. That's why I think that having academies based upon the existing structure and guidelines of the more prominent teams it will have a better chance to succeed. The rosters would be huge compared to the 5-8 man rosters a lot of independent teams have, so fielding a roster on any given day would much easier.
And it is true that it would be a lot of work, but the beauty of it is that the academy wouldn't just be for the players. The staff who run it and the casters who stream events are also showing off their skills in hopes of one day being apart of the main team, so running successful events, even at a lower level, would be important to them.
We've set up clan wars that did not go through, simply because the other team did not have enough players. Its sad but it happens. Our roster alone for TDS, we have at least 20 players and the beauty of it is, is that they all volunteer to help each other out. If a player wants help with something, other players openly help out even when we are not practicing.
TDS is in no means perfect but it is continually evolving based on what the community and players want. When i thought of overhauling TDS and making it an academy, the thing I based it on was CoL academy but allowing all players to participate and join.
And Wareagle is right, its not just about the players who want to be pro but the staff who want to reach the pro level as well.
If more teams committed to these academies, the possibilities of helping Esports even having its own leagues within would be amazing as it will help amateur and semi pro teams get a feel of the Esport scene and recognition from the actual pro teams.
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On October 31 2012 06:09 bullseyel wrote:
We've set up clan wars that did not go through, simply because the other team did not have enough players. Its sad but it happens. Our roster alone for TDS, we have at least 20 players and the beauty of it is, is that they all volunteer to help each other out. If a player wants help with something, other players openly help out even when we are not practicing.
TDS is in no means perfect but it is continually evolving based on what the community and players want. When i thought of overhauling TDS and making it an academy, the thing I based it on was CoL academy but allowing all players to participate and join.
And Wareagle is right, its not just about the players who want to be pro but the staff who want to reach the pro level as well.
If more teams committed to these academies, the possibilities of helping Esports even having its own leagues within would be amazing as it will help amateur and semi pro teams get a feel of the Esport scene and recognition from the actual pro teams.
Your the only open one, But in terms of my goals and in terms of practice, I just don't feel I would fit in that academy situation with your team. Unless you opened your practice to your KR roster as well or something else changed. Especially since I was technically already rejected to the LGN team once a long time ago.
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On October 31 2012 05:50 WarEagle wrote:Show nested quote +On October 31 2012 05:35 KiF1rE wrote:On October 31 2012 05:33 Zennith wrote:On October 31 2012 05:31 KiF1rE wrote:On October 31 2012 05:15 bullseyel wrote:
TDS has Clan wars going on all the time, They have one on the 4th for the diamond+ players and one on the 12th for BSG players. FXOpen already has it set up so that players will be able to have pro/community days to play with or against the pros.
Academies such as TDS truly allow people from low leagues like bronze to reach their full potential and to become Pro players if they put in the work. Who knows, there may be the next Flash in one of these academies but we wont know unless we do something like this. This is definitely a great idea.
A team league is possible but it would definitely need cooperation from all the staff of each team to be able to set it up. As well as a moderator/arbiter so no foul play/hacking/cheating will happen. If it was possible to set it up in ESEA or MLG or something, would be even better because the structure was already there. Hell, we could even set it up in Z33k! I thought TDS was diamond and under... atleast thats what it was when you guys set up clan wars with my former team. But thats one of my biggest issues with stuff like that, you have a pro/community day? that's so divided, Id rather just practice with pros 8 hours a day lol... Teamleagues have never worked out for any team ive been on, so much inactivity after a certain point =/ I dunno, the Z33k teamleague is actually seeming really successful at the moment. 16 teams have made the playoffs out of the initial 40 registered teams, and there's a decent chunk of change on the line. It's actually really exciting, and definitely really good for the scene. More people should check it out! well I wasnt refferencing the league itself, it was more of the team and players, like every time I tried esea or something, after a point we just started forfeiting matches since I was the only player showing up on our roster =/ This is a common problem among the more 'minor, semi-pro' teams trying to break into the scene. That's why I think that having academies based upon the existing structure and guidelines of the more prominent teams it will have a better chance to succeed. The rosters would be huge compared to the 5-8 man rosters a lot of independent teams have, so fielding a roster on any given day would much easier. And it is true that it would be a lot of work, but the beauty of it is that the academy wouldn't just be for the players. The staff who run it and the casters who stream events are also showing off their skills in hopes of one day being apart of the main team, so running successful events, even at a lower level, would be important to them.
This is true. Again, there are great examples of teams that endure and have solid, active rosters, but there are so many more that just can't keep it going. Academy's are great, but again, there's still limited access and a lot more players (even at high masters) than such academy teams could support right now. The existing teams that exist I think just need to expand and try to take on more players, perhaps. I'm not sure.
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On October 31 2012 06:36 Zennith wrote:
The existing teams that exist I think just need to expand and try to take on more players, perhaps. I'm not sure.
I totally agree with this. And more european and korean teams need to start having north american counter parts.
It's all about sustainability, and like most sports that sustainability comes from the individuals who love the sport but will never touch the field. But those people feel like they are more than just fans, they are apart of the team.
Imagine if EG decided tomorrow to start EG Academy, open to all levels of play, and was organized and moderated by someone on the EG staff. Tons of people would flock to their website to join up. And it would be nothing for one of their sponsors like steel series to later say 'throw an open tournament for your academy members' and put up a mouse and keyboard for prize. Sponsors sales go up, teams get more sponsors, and the fans suddenly have a deeper connection with their favorite team. Not to mention that other teams will not want to be left out to dry and they will start their own similar venture, and suddenly the teams are competing against each other for fan-ship. And when that starts happening, well that's when the fun really begins. LoL and Dota players will be running back to SC2 so fast, heads will be spinning.
And the beauty of it is the monetary investment needed to start it all off is next to nothing.
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On October 31 2012 06:41 WarEagle wrote:
And the beauty of it is the monetary investment needed to start it all off is next to nothing.
well the cost of it still isn't free, The people organizing said team on a major organization would still have to invest time, and if the org is paying them already, they have to pay them to run that as well.
Trying to find that post about where if checksix started something like that it would cost way to much and potentially break the team. it was several months ago and cant find it =/ But it did contain another point, that the academy/community members would also reflect on the brand, And without a way to control the brands image from that standpoint, It could lead into issues as well.
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EPT
