Team Academies/Communities - Page 3

On November 01 2012 06:24 ExPresident wrote:
Good thread, but I think a lot of teams already do academies or community groups, they just don't get a lot of attention. A community isn't a community without its members and we need teams that are accessible by everyone. I think a big problem we have is so many people expect to be paid for playing when it just isn't feasible. It is also, in my humble opinion, why we see new teams pop up with decent rosters only to fade away fairly quickly, due to the pressure of contracts they can't afford to maintain.

At any rate, to add to what others have said, my team, NOOB Gaming (No One Owns Better) http://www.noobgaming.org, also has a community group. We do things a bit different tho than most teams with the way our community group operates that I think benefits them. Many of these plans start Nov. 1st as our team is fairly young. We have an 8 member A-Team of Masters and above, a 30 man B-Team of Platinum and above, and then a C-Team which is our community group.

On November 1st, after a successful test month, we start our "Activity Ladder". A-Team members and B-Team members are required to participate and any Gold league C-Team player or above can participate if they wish. C-Team members are not required to participate. If any Masters or above B-Team player outscores an A-Team member at the end of the month they can take that A-Team members position, and the last 10 B-Team positions are also up for grabs by C-Team members who can outscore members of the B-Team. The members earn points by simply playing. We award various points for tournament wins, playing in clan wars, showing up as a sub for clan wars, just participating in tournaments, and even playing fellow members in best of 3's. Attending practices also earns points for the members and they simply claim the points via a submissions form on the site.

What this allows us to do is build a strong team off of members who stick with us overtime. We allow them to be involved by participating in the Ladder at a very low level (Gold) and also play higher level members to earn points, which works for both of them and gives them good experience. Through this they could essentially move from a casual Community Group member to an A or B team position through activity and practice. The system works very well.

At any rate I think it would be good for teams to do stuff like this as it promotes a better community and gets more people involved. Having a community group is essentially a player farm for teams, just like we see in professional sports. It should be no different here.

long live e-sports!

On November 01 2012 07:06 WarEagle wrote:
I also think I saw someone mention teams not wanting to be officiated with a community that could possibly make them look bad, hurt their image with sponsors, etc. I don't really believe that. I mean Team Liquid already has the largest SC2 community and therefore already practically houses practically every BM person that exists in the social Starcraft stratosphere and you don't see it hurting their image. A simple 'the actions and views of our Official Community/Fan Club members is in no way affiliated with the Official Team' agreement upon signing up for the community would cover all the bases for teams and their sponsors.

From the casual side, thats the part I never truly understood. As im not a casual and never have been, so I dont know what thats like at all. I honestly dont know the value from a casual wanting to be a direct part of a community from either perspective the team or the person. I honestly would love to hear a well thought explanation from someone on that. I do know its more of a direct way for a fanbase to connect, but thats about it.

On November 01 2012 09:41 alarm921 wrote:


For a casual, the social aspect of the game is probably just as important as the game itself. Belonging to a community give things to look forward to (inhouse tourney, clan wars or just chat channels in general etc), and since B.net 0.2 is designed make players feel as isolated as possible, the appeal of belonging in a community becomes stronger. As a non-casual, you would probably feel that the time not spending to improve is a waste of time but for casual, these social aspects give us the motivation to continue playing and hopefully improve.

From the team point of view, my guess is that more traffic = more exposure, which might = attract potential sponsors.

On November 01 2012 08:14 KiF1rE wrote:

From a competitive player thats been in competitive gaming for almost 20 years now, its just disappointing that there isn't an easier step to go pro or even get the smallest help. As far as im aware the only "true" academy is with complexity but they are restricted on who they let in, and havent ran a recruitment tournament in forever. Sure FXO started their community/academy, But I just seem lost on that from a professional perspective, What if I dedicate myself to their program? Will I get a contract, team house, practice partners and the ability to truly make it? as I just dont see that. I see a NA roster with a few former teammates and a team that never wanted me in the first place when they took one of our players on my former team and then soon after we got picked apart by several teams, and I was the one left teamless and naturally bitter. The bitterness I regret but its all business I guess, Its not going to change my 8 hour a day practice schedule that im already on, its not going to stop me from winning every local lan I attend, and its not going to stop me from attending atleast 2 MLG's next year. But it sure would be nice to feel like im just not spinning my wheels and going in circles day in and day out. Which is why I feel a serious academy team like the col academy is such a serious part of esports that we need to see more of, And be more open so the professional scene can grow as a whole. A team like that gives purpose and a goal and a way to truly achieve your dreams.

On November 01 2012 20:17 Freezer_au wrote:
We at Team oGaming went down this road with an academy of diamond ranked players hand picked to play in the sc2clans.org clanleague. By seasons end 5 of the 8 players in our academy had progressed to master rank I feel it is vital for the competitive teams to cater for the casual lower skilled players that do not always get the chances in any lime light.

On November 02 2012 00:46 bullseyel wrote:


We don't seem professional because we want the players to have fun and professionalism should blend with that. Yeah, people can have fun. But we want them to push themselves into new levels. We don't tell them they have to practice for 8 hours a day because we don't need to. They do it themselves. They're motivated enough to push themselves. With a fun environment like that, people will do it themselves without you having to make them. Every time I login, I always see at least a few masters, laddering or practice and its only 2pm EST when practice is 7hrs away.
We are only as serious as you want us to be. If you want to practice for 8+ hours, then do so. We have people who do that and would practice with you. But for the people who are not that serious about being a pro, and just want to improve in the game in general, we have those people too. Who just stick around for the environment and find partners when they want to.

Im sorry for the past and the actions that left you bitter. Im not trying to convince you to join TDS, you will do what you want. But if you do want to come in and practice with my players, you can. Im not stopping you. The Mission for TDS is to help players improve in SC2 in general. If people want to take it seriously, then by all means, do so. We will help anyway we can.