Not everyday you can read about Beckham's and Idra's retirement all on one website.
The author graced us with his presence, check out the link for the full article!
Cheese is a cheap strategy. The very greatest players are bonjwa. Personalities are referred to by their in-game IDs rather than name. And then there's BM – bad manners, and one of the many things Greg "Idra" Fields is famous for.
Fields specialised in Terran during his Brood War days, but was one of the most dominant Zergs in Starcraft II.
Fields is polite, extremely articulate, and until a fortnight ago was one of the highest-profile and highest-paid professional gamers in the world. This is not wholly unrelated to the fact that he's also responsible for some of the most outrageous outbursts in eSports, and not the cool kind of outrageous.
He once opined that a nice chap called David Kim, for being one of Starcraft II's balance designers, should be raped with a tire-iron. In March, he wished cancer on an opponent while livestreaming – which was, of course, seen and spread by everyone watching. Alexander Garfield, the CEO of Fields' team Evil Geniuses, assured fans there would be no repeat.
Shortly afterwards, following a frustrating showing in the early rounds of Blizzard's new Starcraft II World Championship Series, Fields visited the forums at Team Liquid, the biggest community hub for the game, and went for certain fans. "You're all a bunch of fucks," he wrote in a thread concerning team EG. "It just so happens I get paid to treat you as such. It's fucking awesome."
This happened on 7 May, and the remarks rapidly spread online. It was a moment that posed eSports, and particularly Team EG, an uncomfortable question. Sean "Day [9]" Plott is a major Starcraft II personality and caster – as well as a former North American Brood War champion. "Right when Idra left the Polt game and then shortly thereafter made that post, I was having a conversation with a friend, and I said there's a 99% chance he gets kicked for this. No chance he doesn't get kicked for this. But it was still so crazy to me that the next day it did happen."
Sean ' Day [9]' Plott: ‘I think all the deep analysis for what it means for eSports comes down to 'well you can't be a jerk, no matter where you're working.'’
On 9 May Team EG announced it had fired one of its biggest faces.
lol generally you quote certain sections of the article ... You don't link and then post the ENTIRE article as well you should post your opinion.
Aside from the general bitching, its in the right forum at least now, it's a really well written article from someone who actually sounds like they understand the industry. I enjoyed it.
"Not the fans and genuine supporters of eSports, but the ones who are just there for the drama mongering. And in a way I did, and still do, get paid to treat them like shit because that's what they find entertaining, that's what they tune in to watch and get off on."
hmm. Quite an interpretation to his contract. I can't imagine it saying anything even along the hyperbolic or sarcastic lines of "treating them like shit for entertainment". That just doesn't sound like a good person at all
On May 21 2013 07:35 Hitch-22 wrote: lol generally you quote certain sections of the article ... You don't link and then post the ENTIRE article as well you should post your opinion.
Aside from the general bitching, its in the right forum at least now, it's a really well written article from someone who actually sounds like they understand the industry. I enjoyed it.
+1
Not cool to stop traffic from going to their site.
On May 21 2013 08:02 Stanntis wrote: Hi TL. I wrote this article. Just wanted to thank you for taking traffic away from the site that paid me to do so. GG WP.
Thanks for the post. It is good to see papers starting to pick up on Esports. I am also torn about the Idra issue. I really enjoy watching him play and commentate, but also understand where a company like EG cant afford the bad press. I hope he stays around Esports for a long time to come.
Well written article, Stanntis. Much more in touch with the scene than one could expect from a mainstream publication, and you interviewed all the right people. I do have to say that you got the timeline wrong, though. The post was before the games were aired. I don't blame you for it - it's become an unfortunately widespread bit of misinformation. I wish it would stop, though.
I actually posted about this earlier in the SC2 thread, as I wasn't sure it justified a thread of its own - but I guess it does, really. I first found the article on the Guardian Android app - it was one of the featured stories for the US news section, which kind of surprised me when I stumbled across it! Really quite prominent, which is nice.
It's nice to see this kind of stuff published by the Guardian, especially since Rock, Paper, Shotgun (PC games blog run by various PC Gamer UK staffers) only even mention StarCraft II once in a blue moon.
Nice article, the most surprising part is that this is getting coverage in a publication as prestigious as The Guardian. Whatever you think about Idra, this just underlines the point that he makes for good copy, as they say in the biz. He's the Sean Avery of e-sports (for you NHL fans.)
I like the professionalism of the article. Good piece of journalism and I'll gladly support The Guardian if they continue discussing pro-gaming in this manner.
On May 21 2013 11:59 kakaman wrote: What's funny is people were curious of BM people in esports. The only difference is, in real sports, if you can play, you can get away with it lol.
On May 21 2013 11:59 kakaman wrote: What's funny is people were curious of BM people in esports. The only difference is, in real sports, if you can play, you can get away with it lol.
He was banned for eight months because of that, so I have no idea what you're talking about.
Yeah he was banned by the FA, not Man U. It's like saying MLG banning Greg or something like that. Also, United did not let him go, which is what EG did to Greg.
On May 21 2013 11:59 kakaman wrote: What's funny is people were curious of BM people in esports. The only difference is, in real sports, if you can play, you can get away with it lol.
He was banned for eight months because of that, so I have no idea what you're talking about.
Yeah he was banned by the FA, not Man U. It's like saying MLG banning Greg or something like that. Also, United did not let him go, which is what EG did to Greg.
Yeah, success lets you stay. Kinda like Suarez at Liverpool not getting tossed from the team.
Just to put things into perspective here, this article was not written as praise or acknowledgment of the hard work and accomplishments of anybody in esports. It was about how one of the most popular Starcraft 2 players outside of Korea is a former top player turned troll magnet who got fired for his nerd rage and disrespect towards other players and the SC2 community. Is this the kind of exposure esports needs? Why are people proud of this?
Great article, but you probably made a mistake with the url of Real Talk's video, when you said "Two days after being fired, Fields announced his retirement in an interview", problem is that the said video is one year old :p
On May 21 2013 08:02 Stanntis wrote: Hi TL. I wrote this article. Just wanted to thank you for taking traffic away from the site that paid me to do so. GG WP.
Does it? I would bet that the opposite is the case.
On May 21 2013 08:02 Stanntis wrote: Hi TL. I wrote this article. Just wanted to thank you for taking traffic away from the site that paid me to do so. GG WP.
Does it? I would bet that the opposite is the case.
I believe the original post either didn't link the original article or quoted the entire article (thus eliminating the need for people to visit it). It has since been edited.
EPT
? And thanks for bringing this article to my attention 
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/d3DWWs8.png)
