We are thrilled to announce Core Gaming’s official public launch. We are excited to contribute positively to the TL community and we are very thankful for the opportunity to make this introductory post. This post serves as a brief introduction to Core’s vision and principles, while also serving to nullify erroneous rumors and specious assertions made previously.
Best, Justin [Neuro] On behalf of the Core Community
Core is a semi-professional gaming community comprised of 300 registered members who play SC2, DOTA2, and LoL. The ‘Core of Core’ originated from an SC2 arcade game called Aeon of Storms.
Core Gaming is a limited liability company owned in part by CorePRO Design LLC and has distributed equity amongst our management figures. Justin (me) owns the majority.
Core is financed by its sponsors: CorePRO Design LLC, FundSponge , and Cellaflora. CorePRO is a company I started last month with a few buddies of mine to consolidate our consulting services under one company – this also serves as the conduit whereby management funnels personal funds into Core Gaming. FundSponge is a company run by Jason ([Core]PeaSea) that assists groups, both large and small, with fundraising by setting up their own amazon.com stores. FundSponge provides both monetary and technical assistance to Core. Cellaflora is our current primary sponsor. They are a professional software firm that provides monetary assistance to Core.
All of our servers, websites, graphics, and video production are fully funded through August 2014. All of our players have contracts through November 1st, 2013 with contract renegotiations scheduled for mid-October. We do have personal assets set aside to fund players through August 2014, though ideally we would want to get enough external funding to where management does not have to use their own money. The salaries we provide will be supplemental income and not primary income for our players. Roughly 60% of the funds used for compensation are set aside for merit-based pay.
No. At this stage, Core managers are prohibited from profiting from Core Gaming. All money that funnels into Core goes directly to the players and the web infrastructure. Managers will, however, be reimbursed for expenses directly related to their line of work, but not for labor or services rendered. For example, if our video producer needs to purchase a licensed template for an upcoming tournament, Core will purchase the license on his behalf, but will not pay him to produce the video.
Our managers are professional individuals who have full-time occupations outside of Core Gaming. We love eSports and especially Starcraft II. This has always been a passion that we wanted to pursue and we finally hit a critical point where our interests aligned and we saw an opportunity to support a team. We love our community and our players, and we enjoy every minute that we get to help Core grow.
Core has one roster with a cap of 18 players. We currently have 12 players with 6 of them receiving a monthly salary. However, all players are treated equally whether they are salaried or not. All players sign the same contracts, with the only difference being who receives a salary and who does not. Of course, non-salaried players receive more lenient time allocations. As for selection, Core uses a combination of Power Rankings and the Core Challenger Series (CCS). The power rankings (scroll down) are tabulated by management up until the point of signing and have 6 primary categories: Tournament performance, ladder activity, major wins, worth ethic, attitude, and stream. Players receive points in each of these categories. Points are reassessed on a weekly basis after each player submits a brief weekly summary of his or her SC2 activity and performance. These points are then added to the player’s performance during the CCS. The CCS is a two week round robin tournament that takes place from October 12th and October 26th. Players receive points based on where they finish in this tournament and these points are added to the points from their power rankings. Per roster availability, those spots are filled by the players with the highest point totals. Interested? Apply here
Core actually has two websites. One website is our public face, www.coreprogaming.com which is dedicated to the professional teams and our sponsors. Our second website is our private community website, which supports our active forums, files, replays, arcade games, mock economy, tournaments, rankings, and statistics. This website is open for any person to join. Content on this site is strictly moderated. Go to www.coreprogaming.com and click the “Join/Login” button to join the community website.
Yes, Core has an active private TeamSpeak server for its members. To access the teamspeak, join the Core community and an email will be sent to you with the server information.
All players receive custom stream overlays and graphics upon request. All players are eligible to receive gear on an as-needed basis. For example, Edge needed a new mic, so we bought him one. OneTrickPony needed a webcam, so we bought him one. JonSnow needed a new mouse, so we bought him one. Sonic needed a headset, so we bought him one. Etc etc.. Salaried players get first priority for gear allocations, but non-salaried players also receive gear on an as needed basis. Core also has a private players area which, among other things, houses our career center. We have a robust network of companies that provide part-time, work-from-home job opportunities. These jobs are posted in the players area if players would like a chance to supplement their income by completing computer-related work in the comfort of their home. We also provide players with resume assistance, scholarship application assistance, and job placement assistance. What do we mean by this? If a player is interested, say, in computer engineering. We will arrange a contact between that player and a recruiter, have an expert review their resume, assist them with any cover letters or documentation, and then the rest is up to them. We do not promise players careers or jobs, but we do our best to provide them with any support they need outside of Starcraft.
All players are paid by the 1st of every month. They submit a PayPal request directly to Core Gaming and receive payment that same day. All players have been paid for August and September already.
Do you take any of the players’ stream revenue and tournament winnings? + Show Spoiler +
Core is primarily a merit-based performance team. We cover tournament entry fees on a case-by-case basis. Twice per month, Core hosts a ‘CoreHouse’ tournament, which is a round robin between Core players (both salaried and not salaried). Prize pools range from $25-100 depending on funding for that month. Players receive their prize money immediately following the conclusion of the CoreHouse. There are also other built-in incentives. For example, every time a player hits top 5 GM, they receive $25. This is valid once per month. Starting in mid-September, we will host a monthly $100-200 show match between two Core players or one Core player and another player. With the new contracts on November 1st, base salaries will be relatively modest, with most extra funding going towards merit pay. All Core players, salaried or not, are eligible for merit pay. Starting November 1st, we look to expand the merit pool to total $300-500 per month. Nothing you can buy a car with, but some nice extra cash on the side.
Per our budget, we will send all qualified players (both salaried and non-salaried) to intra-country premier tournaments. In other words, we do not yet have the funds to fly a European or Korean player to the U.S for them to play in a tournament. On a quarterly basis, we do, however, have the funds to fly one or two players from New York to Los Angeles and provide them with accommodations for a premier tournament. We will take travel on a case by case basis, but will definitely guarantee local travel to be subsidized. For example, if you live in Maryland and there is a LAN in New York that you qualified for, we will coach bus you there and pay for your hotel and food.
Yes. Players have 100% open access to all management figures, including myself. This includes skype, email, and phone with a guaranteed response to all inquiries within 5 hours. We are all partners working together to make Core the best it can be and I see no reason why we all should not be treated fairly and given the respect we deserve.
Yes. This team is under development and in the try-out stages, but is not relevant to discuss in this Starcraft II thread. We will make a post in the League forums once the team is ready to launch.
Are you recruiting any new players for your Starcraft roster? + Show Spoiler +
“My experience with Core has been great so far. The management is an extremely professional and passionate group that has some awesome plans for the future. The players on the team are also very passionate and together we are going to have one of the best rosters in NA.”
“I really like Core because of the team itself and our managers give me the motivation and help I need to improve my play style. Also, I really like having the teamspeak and skype, it’s really helpful to keep up the communication and to get to know all the players.”
“Team Core has a mature environment full of people who can be relaxed and serious when needed to be. They have been reasonable and professional about my recruitment process. The managers listen to us players and act upon it with a response that improves the team.”
“I really enjoy working with the Core Gaming Team Management. They have done a tremendous job in giving exposure and bringing business to my site. They have really given me faith in what the eSports community can do for my site. I can't wait to see what new opportunities might come up to benefit us both in the future.”
“I've been in Core gaming since the beginning of the sc2 roster. I helped negotiations with our CEO and the setup of Core gaming in terms of producing a roster. All of our players were paid upfront the day they decided to join the pro team and sign our contracts, even before all the logistics of the team were fully worked out. I can personally vouch for the legitimacy and devotion of Core gaming and all its players. We now have a strong roster and hope to help our players grow and achieve greater feats and hope we provide all the support necessary for these players.”
Core Live Stream Event Saturday, September 14th at 10pm EST Show Match and Live Skype Video Q&A with Core Players & Management Hosted by: Ravi (Details to Come)
Phenomenal way to introduce your team, and I love that everything is so open and honest. I think it's unfortunate that we've gotten to the point where this is kind of necessary for new teams of relatively unknown players/managers, but I think you guys rose to the challenge pretty well.
Regardless of how things progress, I don't think anyone could say you guys suffer from a lack of effort.
This thread has a lot of information but it lacks the one most important thing. I have no idea who's on your team (outside of the testimonials/if there even are more members) and what race they play
On August 31 2013 03:20 atrox_ wrote: This thread has a lot of information but it lacks the one most important thing. I have no idea who's on your team (outside of the testimonials/if there even are more members) and what race they play
Click the "Roster" Spoiler tag under the video for the roster or visit coreprogaming.com , all players and their races are on the front page. Let me know if you have any other questions.
On August 31 2013 03:10 coldscars wrote: Core Fighting !!! We have a strong roster and a great community, we are a team you need to look out for See you guys on the ladder ^-^
i saw you and i got blocked (twice) l0l0l0l0l0l000l
I have been with Neurotic since the start... We have had our disagreements and well I have raged at him quite a bit (Even left for a short while).... But I came back because of the great opportunity and community Core had to offer (Neuro also understood my behavior somewhat and let me redeem myself and I got back to being an Admin). Moreover, Neuro's dedication far exceeded my expectations and I wouldn't have been able to achieve what he has done even though he knows I hate to admit it. Love the community and I'm glad it has made it this far and I'm sure it will keep getting better.
The people we have in Core are dedicated, good players. I am truly proud.
Core strong! Been a part of this since the idea during Aeon of Storms. Neuro has an amazing work ethic, a beloved community and plenty of haters hoping he fails- all the right parts to a successful team!
On August 31 2013 04:11 Antylamon wrote: I'm glad to eat my words about Core being a scam. I'll give you guys a second chance. Best of luck to everyone involved!
I have been in Core for a while, and there is no barriers between gm and low level players. Keep asking and you will receive the answers to increase your skill. Glad to join the team :D
Core has the management that every gaming organization really needs! They are very accessible by members of the community, push through any obstacle to achieve success, and more importantly they honestly care about each and every member of the community! I can't wait to see Core go far!
On August 31 2013 04:24 weasle117 wrote: Core has the management that every gaming organization really needs! They are very accessible by members of the community, push through any obstacle to achieve success, and more importantly they honestly care about each and every member of the community! I can't wait to see Core go far!
Thank you for the support! Don't forget anyone can be a part of Core just follow the link and join a part of something that can really help elevate eSports
First off, thanks to everyone for the positive comments and support, "fanboys" or not
It's been a pleasure to be a part of Core since the start. At the end of the day, everyone here is passionate about gaming. I think we all share a common goal. We'd all love to see eSports grow in the US and all over the world. Core is just another step on that road that we're all walking together.
I'd really love it if you gave a simple biography for each player. This should be a standard thing. I don't even know if the players you have recruited are Masters or GM, for example. And having to go to a different site to find out who's on the team? Kinda obnoxious.
Still, I like me some cannon rushes so gogo wbc and core!
I didn't read anything much past the OP of the "Core a scam?" thread, so I'm really skeptical, but still. Good luck.
On August 31 2013 04:41 Komentaja wrote: I'd really love it if you gave a simple biography for each player. This should be a standard thing. I don't even know if the players you have recruited are Masters or GM, for example. And having to go to a different site to find out who's on the team? Kinda obnoxious.
Still, I like me some cannon rushes so gogo wbc and core!
I didn't read anything much past the OP of the "Core a scam?" thread, so I'm really skeptical, but still. Good luck.
We will definitely include bio's for each player in the future ! Thanks for the suggestion
On August 31 2013 04:41 Komentaja wrote: I'd really love it if you gave a simple biography for each player. This should be a standard thing. I don't even know if the players you have recruited are Masters or GM, for example. And having to go to a different site to find out who's on the team? Kinda obnoxious.
Still, I like me some cannon rushes so gogo wbc and core!
I didn't read anything much past the OP of the "Core a scam?" thread, so I'm really skeptical, but still. Good luck.
I'm not sure how anyone can be skeptical. Every single thing in the "Core a Scam" thread is put to rest inside of this post. It's sad that the community is so jaded by past occurrences but is understandable. If you decide to actually read the OP in it's entirety you will know someone had to much free time and decided to try and take down someone else's idea and hope for a successful team/gaming community. Furthermore you can literally connect directly with admins of Core for any further hesitance. Everything is in the open, we have nothing to hide.
I don't know why would anyone pick up this fruttis guy, he is known in the polish community as a constant balance whiner ( funny enough he switches between T and Z ), on forums, chat channels etc., also he's quite bm.
On August 31 2013 05:04 SearchEU wrote: I don't know why would anyone pick up this fruttis guy, he is known in the polish community as a constant balance whiner ( funny enough he switches between T and Z ), on forums, chat channels etc., also he's quite bm.
Fruttis has actually been really awesome and a great teammate Haven't had any issues yet
On August 31 2013 05:04 SearchEU wrote: I don't know why would anyone pick up this fruttis guy, he is known in the polish community as a constant balance whiner ( funny enough he switches between T and Z ), on forums, chat channels etc., also he's quite bm.
Fruttis has actually been really awesome and a great teammate Haven't had any issues yet
Well, he just plays it nicely for the team then, maybe that will change him , was a hell of an asshole that one .
I am proud to represent Core Gaming and to be on the management team. Core has come a long way thanks to contributions from many people, Core would be nothing without the great people that make up the community. Justin is as hard working as they come, you can expect only the best from Core and its members.
We will continue as management to dedicate our time and efforts to improving our great community. As Justin has stated, we do this because it is what we enjoy, and we are passionate about it. We are glad to have such a great roster and look forward to future additions as well as our LoL team.
We welcome all players who have similar interests and who wish to contribute to our community. Core, in its short lifespan, has become known for its outstanding community and BM free environment, which in turn fosters great teams such as we have now.
I've also been a part of Core for the last half year or so and can personally say it's been fantastic! Not only have their been countless hours of fun games with friends, but Neuro has put on all sorts of entertaining raffles, he's organized our website to give us a great forum to communicate and plan events, and of course he's managed Teamspeak with an ever growing population of awesome gamers.
So looking forward to our pro teams competing in upcoming events! And like many other people have said, wbc is awesome!!!
Quite honestly still finding anything involving Nanocloud hard to believe... (its not open for discussion, i dont want to cause a scene here) Good luck though.
i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Decent? Not a single person on this team has a decent tournament result. It's a little strange to be giving salaries to players who can't even be considered up and comers.
Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
On August 31 2013 11:03 Days wrote: Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
nanocloud is no longer with team core, they kicked him out after founding out he doesn't uphold the idea of fair play..
On August 31 2013 11:03 Days wrote: Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
nanocloud is no longer with team core, they kicked him out after founding out he doesn't uphold the idea of fair play..
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Actual Kodo, it shows that our members are proud of our community and choose to show their support publicly. The ability to mobilize a supportive base is essential to a sustainable community.
On August 31 2013 11:03 Days wrote: Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
nanocloud is no longer with team core, they kicked him out after founding out he doesn't uphold the idea of fair play..
On August 31 2013 11:03 Days wrote: Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
nanocloud is no longer with team core, they kicked him out after founding out he doesn't uphold the idea of fair play..
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Decent? Not a single person on this team has a decent tournament result. It's a little strange to be giving salaries to players who can't even be considered up and comers.
Our goal is to take what we consider up-and-coming semi-professional talent and help reach their potential. We have all become a very close-knit group of friends now and I couldn't ask for a cooler team Tournament results are not our focus in the development stage of this group. You start with the right personalities which help stabilize your community, then you get incremental increases of funding to secure the best talent later on.
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Decent? Not a single person on this team has a decent tournament result. It's a little strange to be giving salaries to players who can't even be considered up and comers.
Our goal is to take what we consider up-and-coming semi-professional talent and help reach their potential. We have all become a very close-knit group of friends now and I couldn't ask for a cooler team Tournament results are not our focus in the development stage of this group. You start with the right personalities which help stabilize your community, then you get incremental increases of funding to secure the best talent later on.
Nanocloud is not exactly the right personality you are looking for if you want to stabilize a community.
On August 31 2013 11:03 Days wrote: Goodluck to Core, bunch of strong players on the roster that I play against on ladder. I just hope nanocloud doesn't ruin you guys. Wish you all the best, except nanocloud.
nanocloud is no longer with team core, they kicked him out after founding out he doesn't uphold the idea of fair play..
Cell can't be nanocloud, because if he's trying to save his reputation why does he need to change his name to cell? by chaning his name he basically gave up on whatever reputation he had, and attempt to have a new start. An example of someone trying to save their reputation would be TT1 and Testie, both notorious hackers who stick with their name, they ask for the community's forgiveness and takes all the shit that goes their way by random noobs like me, but in the same time held their head up high and let their game do the talking. Now that's how real man should act and the way to salvage a reputation.
On August 31 2013 12:30 SigmaoctanusIV wrote: Good Luck Don't know any of your Players but I hope to see some good new Fresh Blood owning it up in all of our lovely NA tournaments...
Thank you, we are hoping to host a tournament or two ourselves, but I'd like to play in a few first so we can see what works and doesn't work tourney-wise.
I've really gotten into supporting Core and all its players, its really rewarding to watch something grow from being so small to something so big, its awesome to see the players grow and support them!!! GO CORE!!!!
Core is a really nice page about gaming community, I was there playing the arcade game from SC ( Not as core member) when Neuro was introducing and organizing tournaments. He had detractors and supporters on all his work and maybe he still has.but he has a really strong ambition in what he does, I don't know about his goals ( Tournaments...) but with hnice job all good things will come.
Good luck to this team. Man, got to give props for Neuro for working so hard on this announcement.
And oh boy, Nanocloud... Seriously? This guy argues like a kid, placing blame on other people and making himself the victim. It's fucking disgusting -_-
It really hurts that a fellow "Bioengineer" focusing on neuroscience would argue like that...
On August 31 2013 14:21 psyghtt wrote: I've really gotten into supporting Core and all its players, its really rewarding to watch something grow from being so small to something so big, its awesome to see the players grow and support them!!! GO CORE!!!!
On August 31 2013 14:28 Takeray wrote: Core is a really nice page about gaming community, I was there playing the arcade game from SC ( Not as core member) when Neuro was introducing and organizing tournaments. He had detractors and supporters on all his work and maybe he still has.but he has a really strong ambition in what he does, I don't know about his goals ( Tournaments...) but with hnice job all good things will come.
Best luck to Core and Neuro.
Both first time posters one after another showing support for Core. That isn't unusual....
I have decided to look into Nanocloud's "presentation of evidence". I thought he would open up his skype and present chatlogs from there. But nope, he instead shows a team liquid page of his presumably forged conversations. That's just pathetic from him...
EDIT: FUCK, I wasted my first zealot post on this loser!
Yes, I won't lie how jumpy his critics were, but sadly, at least, his critics have a good reason to really distrust him.
I am [Core] Ironsights, member of Core from before it was Core and the primary Moderator on the community forum. I can verify many of these "Post: 1" posters as members of our community and players of the games we all play and love. they might be new to team liquid, but they came here to show support for the community they are a part of.
I have personally spoken with Cell about what happened in the past and am willing to work with him in the future. Mistakes were made all around in the past, and one guy shouldn't be forced to bear the burden of all of these mistakes, when many of them were not his to begin with. Until the man gives me a reason not to trust him, I will stand beside him.
Our "fanboys" are us, they are our players and our friends. If they flocked to the site to promote our community, how is that something to frown upon? The journey of a thousand miles and the trip next door both start at the same place: the first step. This is our first step into the wild world of esports and we are all hoping to enjoy the journey. Whether we become something amazing or are lost in the sands of time is irrelevant, what matters is that we are here, now, and doing something as opposed to nothing.
It humbles me to see so many of our members taking the time to be here, in this thread, and it makes me smile to see our community laying itself bare on the altar of the existing kings. Come what may, no one can say we didn't try.
I am proud to show my support for Core, and I hope that only the best arrives as the future becomes the present and the present fades into the past.
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Actual Kodo, it shows that our members are proud of our community and choose to show their support publicly. The ability to mobilize a supportive base is essential to a sustainable community.
dude i am 2x smarter than you'll ever be. don't ever try to correct me you'll just sound stupid. spamming a forum saying how awesome your team is...explain to me how that shows any professionalism. its a sad attempt to bump a TL thread. please kid, don't talk about sustainable community with me with your 30 person community.
Seriously... I hate drama, but NanoClouD seems to enjoy the hell out of it. After reading his post concerning the ordeal with sMi, I'm pretty disgusted. The lies that this guy says and the way he twists words is pretty sickening. What's even worse is that people fall for it and back him up. I can pull a NanoClouD too and go all gung-ho with Skype chat logs if we have to play that game.
Sorry if this derails your thread, I do hope that a number of your players do really well for themselves, but there are some within your organization that are rotten to the core and will only be a serious burden to you.
NanoClouD wrote: Anderson was part of sMi since the broodwar days and everyone on sMi vouched he was a real person. It turns out Aidan was close friends with Anderson
Anderson was on sMi for a short stint back in BW. Some of the guys did know him from back then and because of that history and how long he spent playing with them before the whole thing started, he gained their trust.
NanoClouD wrote: Anderson typed up contracts, the head owner of smi for years(Tim “dirtybird” bowen) approved the contracts, and the players signed them.
This is completely untrue. I never saw the contracts that the players signed, the salaries the players would be getting, etc. I saw a VERY early version of the contract and noticed it was very amateur.
NanoClouD wrote: Over the course of a few days, we all were getting worried about Anderson’s behavior. He could never provide receipts, would get upset when we asked when gear was coming in, never understood how to pay us via paypal, western union, or other methods, and we could never speak with Kelly dawn. Yes he was on skype, but he never joined a skype call, we could never find anything about him on the web etc. Then later we emailed Razer and found out they never had an employee by the name of Kelly Dawn. Anderson’s excuse at that point was that Kelly Dawn is not his real name, and that as a rich billionaire he does not like giving his real identity away……..
I could provide some really long chat logs about all of this. I was the one who emailed Razer and made phone calls all over the place to try to bust Anderson and Kelly.
NanoClouD wrote: Why was the owner of sMi so trusting of this Anderson fellow?
You know damn well I wasn't "so trusting of...Anderson." Over the course of a number of weeks I had mentioned my worries about Anderson and Kelly, even from the first day that you and I met and spoke via a Skype call. And if I was so trusting of Anderson, why would I have done everything in my power to expose him to everyone on Skype that night and make a TL post about the whole ordeal?
NanoClouD wrote: For example, Kelly Dawn threatened to sue Sonic for leaving the team to send a message to the other players. Obviously this was a lie, but even the threat of that I imagine caused stress.
In which I told him he couldn't and defended Sonic's actions for leaving.
NanoClouD wrote: We players still feel like smi had more to do with the scam than they let on. It is beyond me that an owner of a team would bring someone into their organization without running backround checks. A simple skype call would suffice. Rather, the owner stated he was too busy at the time to really look into it. A bad excuse. He also yelled at members for asking too many questions. For example, Sonic again was yelled at and called immature for asking where the gear promised to him was and when he was going to get it. The sad reality is, Anderson Barrett and the team owner of smi, Tim Dirtybird Bowen live VERY CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER. It would be a simple drive over to see if this Anderson Barrett guy is real and if he had gear.
Wow... sMi had nothing to do with the scam attempted by Anderson Barrett. How can I do anything if I was away on hiatus from managing at the very beginning of all of this? I never stated that I was too busy to look into it... In fact I did everything in my power to find out what the hell was going on.
Sonic wasn't "yelled at", he was told he was being immature. Yes, I said that. He was acting very dumb and questioning me in a conversation where I was explaining that I was doing everything in my power to find out what was going on with Anderson and Kelly. I can provide the Skype chat logs for this and I'm sure you can too considering you seem to love to bring those up whenever you possibly can.
Yes, Anderson and I do live fairly close to one another. He lives in Frisco, TX and I live in Allen, TX. That is about 20 minutes apart from one another. However, I didn't know his address and you know for a fact that I attempted to meet up with him a number of times to confirm the gear was real and other things, but he kept making excuses for why we couldn't meet up.
I believe that the true stupidity shown here was assuming that you are smarter than someone you have never met... Does not make much sense to me. Any way, Core is an awesome community that helps each other and supports each other. Justin is a great guy with a great sense of humor! He tries hard and has done a fantastic job. He is dedicated and once he sets his mind to something he gets it done, well. Go Core
This Core community reaks of nonsense. I can't find anything about these sponsor companies besides their web pages. No one I've read has done business with these people. If these are brand new companies, why would they put so much money into a low level SC2 pro team when they can't profit off of it? It makes no sense. None of these players are going to be getting any results because there is far more high level talent out there so it'll be damn near impossible to convince any major sponsor to put money into this team to recruit better players. Also, why give such low level players salaries? Many top level pros don't even make salary.
On August 31 2013 09:26 KoDo wrote: i can count maybe 10 posts not made by Core members, stop spamming your own thread talking about how a team you are on is real strong and promising. doesn't make you look tons professional.
with that said, i think it's a decent team maybe with some potential. we'll see
Decent? Not a single person on this team has a decent tournament result. It's a little strange to be giving salaries to players who can't even be considered up and comers.
Our goal is to take what we consider up-and-coming semi-professional talent and help reach their potential. We have all become a very close-knit group of friends now and I couldn't ask for a cooler team Tournament results are not our focus in the development stage of this group. You start with the right personalities which help stabilize your community, then you get incremental increases of funding to secure the best talent later on.
Your business model is fucked. Tournament results are everything to maintaining a stable SC2 team. If you have a bunch of players who don't win anything, you're done. No sponsor wants to fund a losing team. Look what happen to Quantic, NEX, NHoseo, Zenith, ItsGosu, FXO-NA, etc. You should have recruited high level players to attract sponsor attention and then expand down to lower level players if at all.
You say that a large health community well give you sponsorship attention. While true, all of your players are complete unknowns or better yet they have a bad reputation (nanocloud, cell) so why would I want to be apart of a community they run or are a major part of?
Too many players with truly-low post count 'supporting' this Core Gaming. Good luck, to 'em, but that does not make me one believing in the true support.
On August 31 2013 16:31 lolfail9001 wrote: Too many players with truly-low post count 'supporting' this Core Gaming. Good luck, to 'em, but that does not make me one believing in the true support.
I think its gotten to the point where this should be closed for self-promotion. Lots of fake accounts being made to promote something that runs counter to TL.
I am a first poster here in TL not in many other forums. You can search my name at Lol (EU) I think NA acc was deleted, HoTs ( EU and NA), Steam and other several games. I am writing not as part of Core Staff or so though I am registered there time ago by other hand I am not speaking about if community is big/ small or players are good or bad. I am speaking about the effort these guys are doing to E-sports and a place to join with funny or serious gamers ( even just a little). And this is the reason I created an Acc to TLiquid. Maybe I had one time ago but I think probably not,
As Far as I know, team will be bigger and team will be good. But some guys want to create the biggest and best players community from nothing.
I dont like where this is headed by the last page of posts. This isnt the thread for arguments, I'm quite annoyed by all the first posters of a community that was very recently formed, though.
Interesting posts here but not as caustic as I expected just a reminder that we are doing the live stream September 14th at 10pm EST where we will do a show match and introduce our players and management - there will also be a live Q&A which should be cool. I am trying to get all of our players involved in TL since many of them have never posted before, so I hope to facilitate more engagement that way.
I think we can definitely do some give aways as well, but I'm not sure at this point. Overall, I appreciate all of the supportive comments today, especially from those who are from core and brand new to TL.
This is sooooo funny to watch....all you TL fanboys getting riled up! I'm surprised Kadaverbb hasn't shut this down yet?Where's my fave deutsche mod when you need him?
On August 31 2013 16:23 DirtyBirD wrote: Seriously... I hate drama, but NanoClouD seems to enjoy the hell out of it. After reading his post concerning the ordeal with sMi, I'm pretty disgusted. The lies that this guy says and the way he twists words is pretty sickening. What's even worse is that people fall for it and back him up. I can pull a NanoClouD too and go all gung-ho with Skype chat logs if we have to play that game.
Sorry if this derails your thread, I do hope that a number of your players do really well for themselves, but there are some within your organization that are rotten to the core and will only be a serious burden to you.
NanoClouD wrote: Anderson was part of sMi since the broodwar days and everyone on sMi vouched he was a real person. It turns out Aidan was close friends with Anderson
Anderson was on sMi for a short stint back in BW. Some of the guys did know him from back then and because of that history and how long he spent playing with them before the whole thing started, he gained their trust.
NanoClouD wrote: Anderson typed up contracts, the head owner of smi for years(Tim “dirtybird” bowen) approved the contracts, and the players signed them.
This is completely untrue. I never saw the contracts that the players signed, the salaries the players would be getting, etc. I saw a VERY early version of the contract and noticed it was very amateur.
NanoClouD wrote: Over the course of a few days, we all were getting worried about Anderson’s behavior. He could never provide receipts, would get upset when we asked when gear was coming in, never understood how to pay us via paypal, western union, or other methods, and we could never speak with Kelly dawn. Yes he was on skype, but he never joined a skype call, we could never find anything about him on the web etc. Then later we emailed Razer and found out they never had an employee by the name of Kelly Dawn. Anderson’s excuse at that point was that Kelly Dawn is not his real name, and that as a rich billionaire he does not like giving his real identity away……..
I could provide some really long chat logs about all of this. I was the one who emailed Razer and made phone calls all over the place to try to bust Anderson and Kelly.
NanoClouD wrote: Why was the owner of sMi so trusting of this Anderson fellow?
You know damn well I wasn't "so trusting of...Anderson." Over the course of a number of weeks I had mentioned my worries about Anderson and Kelly, even from the first day that you and I met and spoke via a Skype call. And if I was so trusting of Anderson, why would I have done everything in my power to expose him to everyone on Skype that night and make a TL post about the whole ordeal?
NanoClouD wrote: For example, Kelly Dawn threatened to sue Sonic for leaving the team to send a message to the other players. Obviously this was a lie, but even the threat of that I imagine caused stress.
In which I told him he couldn't and defended Sonic's actions for leaving.
NanoClouD wrote: We players still feel like smi had more to do with the scam than they let on. It is beyond me that an owner of a team would bring someone into their organization without running backround checks. A simple skype call would suffice. Rather, the owner stated he was too busy at the time to really look into it. A bad excuse. He also yelled at members for asking too many questions. For example, Sonic again was yelled at and called immature for asking where the gear promised to him was and when he was going to get it. The sad reality is, Anderson Barrett and the team owner of smi, Tim Dirtybird Bowen live VERY CLOSE TO ONE ANOTHER. It would be a simple drive over to see if this Anderson Barrett guy is real and if he had gear.
Wow... sMi had nothing to do with the scam attempted by Anderson Barrett. How can I do anything if I was away on hiatus from managing at the very beginning of all of this? I never stated that I was too busy to look into it... In fact I did everything in my power to find out what the hell was going on.
Sonic wasn't "yelled at", he was told he was being immature. Yes, I said that. He was acting very dumb and questioning me in a conversation where I was explaining that I was doing everything in my power to find out what was going on with Anderson and Kelly. I can provide the Skype chat logs for this and I'm sure you can too considering you seem to love to bring those up whenever you possibly can.
Yes, Anderson and I do live fairly close to one another. He lives in Frisco, TX and I live in Allen, TX. That is about 20 minutes apart from one another. However, I didn't know his address and you know for a fact that I attempted to meet up with him a number of times to confirm the gear was real and other things, but he kept making excuses for why we couldn't meet up.
Jesus!!! I'm so sorry to hear! I can't believe in NaNoCloud would take advantage of your situation. Why can't Core really look into this matter?
To Core Admin (specifically IronSights) Look, I understand that we all have our own schedule, but it's imperative to spend some of your personal time when you have a person with bad PR to undergo a serious investigation especially going through "troll posts" on Team Liquid. To dismiss the allegations is extremely irresponsible. I may not have a business degree, but I have been the President/Representative of the college organization I was a part of. And I learned the hard way that keeping someone untrustworthy can ruin the organization you represent. As much as I wish the best, such gesture does not mean that you are not immune to scrutiny from this community
On August 31 2013 18:48 Chinnro wrote: This is sooooo funny to watch....all you TL fanboys getting riled up! I'm surprised Kadaverbb hasn't shut this down yet?Where's my fave deutsche mod when you need him?
GL to Core! Fight the machine...
I just find it suspicious for a player to register on TL just to wish luck to random team.
On August 31 2013 18:48 Chinnro wrote: This is sooooo funny to watch....all you TL fanboys getting riled up! I'm surprised Kadaverbb hasn't shut this down yet?Where's my fave deutsche mod when you need him?
GL to Core! Fight the machine...
I just find it suspicious for a player to register on TL just to wish luck to random team.
This 1000x times. Especially players of the team with 0 posts registering and commenting on the topic saying how great the team is and how good they will be, it's a shot in the foot in my opinion.
The low post count guys are new to competitive gaming, most of them having been recruited from AoS. They are entering the esports world for the first time, and rather than welcoming them and showing them the ropes many of you are dismissing them as fake or insulting them for being here. This saddens me.
As for Nano, I will not discuss this here further. If the naysayers are correct and he turns out to have fooled us all, I will be one of the first admitting to you all that I was wrong to trust him. Until that day comes, if it ever does, I will not look down on him for his past, especially when it never effected me.
As for our players not being "good enough"...we are just starting. I am terribly sorry that we don't have the buying power to get ahold of huk and idra yet, but then again we aren't even competing in real tournaments yet...we are just a group of gamers all getting together to have fun, play games, and see if we can make something happen. Sort of like this fun little site that was started years ago by a group of starcraft fans that wanted to bring news of esports to the wider world...and I think we all know how that little start up turned out.
Please, let me clarify: at this time we have no expectation of fielding the next Marine King who takes the world by storm...we are no where near that level, and likely won't be for years to come. Remember, the mightiest of Oaks was once a humble acorn.
Oh, and one last note: there is a strong chance we wouldn't have announced ourselves on this site except that we discovered our community being attacked and called a scam. After that happened, we felt as if we needed to declare ourselves in an effort to set the record straight. This was never intended as self promotion, only a clarification that we are not a scam.
On August 31 2013 19:50 Ironsights wrote: The low post count guys are new to competitive gaming, most of them having been recruited from AoS. They are entering the esports world for the first time, and rather than welcoming them and showing them the ropes many of you are dismissing them as fake or insulting them for being here. This saddens me.
As for Nano, I will not discuss this here further. If the naysayers are correct and he turns out to have fooled us all, I will be one of the first admitting to you all that I was wrong to trust him. Until that day comes, if it ever does, I will not look down on him for his past, especially when it never effected me.
As for our players not being "good enough"...we are just starting. I am terribly sorry that we don't have the buying power to get ahold of huk and idra yet, but then again we aren't even competing in real tournaments yet...we are just a group of gamers all getting together to have fun, play games, and see if we can make something happen. Sort of like this fun little site that was started years ago by a group of starcraft fans that wanted to bring news of esports to the wider world...and I think we all know how that little start up turned out.
Please, let me clarify: at this time we have no expectation of fielding the next Marine King who takes the world by storm...we are no where near that level, and likely won't be for years to come. Remember, the mightiest of Oaks was once a humble acorn.
Oh, and one last note: there is a strong chance we wouldn't have announced ourselves on this site except that we discovered our community being attacked and called a scam. After that happened, we felt as if we needed to declare ourselves in an effort to set the record straight. This was never intended as self promotion, only a clarification that we are not a scam.
To your defense, you want to show your form of community support, which is fine for certain scenarios such as publicity and absolving guilt. However, I will lay down the abridged version of what's going on because you seem to be very busy:
TL's stance: - The Bash Against the 1st posters: TL does definitely have its share of idiots, but "trolls", as you have labeled the devoted critics of the scam thread in Nanocloud's AMA, are actually very well contained. TL looks down on the first posters because anyone can be a troll or be a part of shameless self-promoters (which I am not saying you are). To limit troll incidences, TL has very strict (and yes douchey) rules in dealing with them. For more information, check out:
So, my advice is you should really do your homework before you make claims about how this community "saddens you". After all, you got to know your foes before you go into battle.
- The Distrust: Again, TL community members are very skeptical of your business model (I won't go into details because I am no expert in business) and your inclusion of Nanocloud (I could go into much detail, but I will instead talk about him based on the current situation later). For the business part, I will admit that it's going to take time to see whether your model is a success or not, but to TL's defense, you guys have not responded to the skepticism with a technical discussion of how your model can be success. Instead, your responses were more of playing the innocent card and "you want more information, just come talk to us". These responses are extremely unprofessional, which have done little to absolve your guilt.
As for Nanocloud, I am very surprised that you would make the argument of not looking into a person's past especially if that person has not done anything with you. For a recently born organization, I truly think that you are making a completely unwise move. You can argue that everyone deserves a second chance, but here's the problem. Nanocloud made no sense of apologies but made additional untrustworthy testimonies against others (have you read the comments from DirtyBird, the manager of sMi, in this thread?). Again, it's your move, and I am having a hard time of trying to give you guys the benefit of a doubt when I feel that you guys aren't taking this community's concerns (especially mine, which is based on real life experience) very seriously.
Why Your Defense Does Not Hold: The defense I have applied for Core is NOT practical for this situation. For example, if a clothing business was implicated for using sweatshops, which is heavily looked down upon the modern world for its abusive disregard for human rights, having employees and customers that are supportive of the business to express their enthusiasm for the company does not persuade the community distrusting the company to disregard the fact that the company is using sweatshops as part of its business.
Now, Core is not implicated for sweatshops, but it has been met with skepticism (from the ones I have mentioned) that is similar to the level of the company utilizing sweatshops. The reason for this is that such allegations seriously undermine your credibility. To persuade the audience to look at the other way, you may need to, in this case, give concrete proof that your organization is not connected to such allegations. All-in-all, you need to connect some loose ends and chaff the weed from the crop.
To show my good will:
My advice as a person with executive/leadership/administrative experience is to seriously work on your Public Relations.
How? Here's the run down:
1) Study the surrounding community and figure out their stance 2) Don't be so dismissive of people's criticisms 3) To dispel skepticism, illustrate in technical terms of how your team and its model will work instead of relying on "just come talk to us" response. 4) Work on your professionalism. 5) MOST OF ALL, treat everyone especially who despise you with respect.
OR: You can hire someone who can be your PR!
That's all I've got on the top of my head. But if you guys want more information/details, I will gladly help!
Or if you want more professional help in the eSports team, just study ROOT GAMING's history and hopefully try to get some advice from them because they have a pretty colorful background (like the incident with Destiny) and are now a mainstream NA team.
On August 31 2013 19:50 Ironsights wrote: The low post count guys are new to competitive gaming, most of them having been recruited from AoS. They are entering the esports world for the first time, and rather than welcoming them and showing them the ropes many of you are dismissing them as fake or insulting them for being here. This saddens me.
As for Nano, I will not discuss this here further. If the naysayers are correct and he turns out to have fooled us all, I will be one of the first admitting to you all that I was wrong to trust him. Until that day comes, if it ever does, I will not look down on him for his past, especially when it never effected me.
As for our players not being "good enough"...we are just starting. I am terribly sorry that we don't have the buying power to get ahold of huk and idra yet, but then again we aren't even competing in real tournaments yet...we are just a group of gamers all getting together to have fun, play games, and see if we can make something happen. Sort of like this fun little site that was started years ago by a group of starcraft fans that wanted to bring news of esports to the wider world...and I think we all know how that little start up turned out.
Please, let me clarify: at this time we have no expectation of fielding the next Marine King who takes the world by storm...we are no where near that level, and likely won't be for years to come. Remember, the mightiest of Oaks was once a humble acorn.
Oh, and one last note: there is a strong chance we wouldn't have announced ourselves on this site except that we discovered our community being attacked and called a scam. After that happened, we felt as if we needed to declare ourselves in an effort to set the record straight. This was never intended as self promotion, only a clarification that we are not a scam.
Your players are pretty good, I watch sonic play against polt on his stream many times and there were a lot of good games. I saw WBC slaughtered his way into MLG championship bracket and left bloody korean corpses everywhere, any time his cannons sniff their direction. You can count the amount of foreigners that were able to get into MLG championship bracket since the koreans started showing up with just the ten fingers on your hands.
as for nanocloud, even if you will not discuss him here, you have seen the evidence I show you guys, both his own words about his disregard to fair play by boosting player's account (I can't make up this evidences of quoting ppl's own words, TL admin would have banned the shit out of me if I try to pull shit like that even if i'm a 10 year + vet here on TL) and replays that prove his own account got boosted into gm, if you can't make a judgement when I went through the trouble to put one plus one together it means you refuted to answer two against overwhelming facts.
and on your last note, no one would have called you guys a scam if nanocloud was not part of your team.
On August 31 2013 19:50 Ironsights wrote: The low post count guys are new to competitive gaming, most of them having been recruited from AoS. They are entering the esports world for the first time, and rather than welcoming them and showing them the ropes many of you are dismissing them as fake or insulting them for being here. This saddens me.
As for Nano, I will not discuss this here further. If the naysayers are correct and he turns out to have fooled us all, I will be one of the first admitting to you all that I was wrong to trust him. Until that day comes, if it ever does, I will not look down on him for his past, especially when it never effected me.
As for our players not being "good enough"...we are just starting. I am terribly sorry that we don't have the buying power to get ahold of huk and idra yet, but then again we aren't even competing in real tournaments yet...we are just a group of gamers all getting together to have fun, play games, and see if we can make something happen. Sort of like this fun little site that was started years ago by a group of starcraft fans that wanted to bring news of esports to the wider world...and I think we all know how that little start up turned out.
Please, let me clarify: at this time we have no expectation of fielding the next Marine King who takes the world by storm...we are no where near that level, and likely won't be for years to come. Remember, the mightiest of Oaks was once a humble acorn.
Oh, and one last note: there is a strong chance we wouldn't have announced ourselves on this site except that we discovered our community being attacked and called a scam. After that happened, we felt as if we needed to declare ourselves in an effort to set the record straight. This was never intended as self promotion, only a clarification that we are not a scam.
To your defense, you want to show your form of community support, which is fine for certain scenarios such as publicity and absolving guilt. However, I will lay down the abridged version of what's going on because you seem to be very busy:
TL's stance: - The Bash Against the 1st posters: TL does definitely have its share of idiots, but "trolls", as you have labeled the devoted critics of the scam thread in Nanocloud's AMA, are actually very well contained. TL looks down on the first posters because anyone can be a troll or be a part of shameless self-promoters (which I am not saying you are). To limit troll incidences, TL has very strict (and yes douchey) rules in dealing with them. For more information, check out:
So, my advice is you should really do your homework before you make claims about how this community "saddens you". After all, you got to know your foes before you go into battle.
- The Distrust: Again, TL community members are very skeptical of your business model (I won't go into details because I am no expert in business) and your inclusion of Nanocloud (I could go into much detail, but I will instead talk about him based on the current situation later). For the business part, I will admit that it's going to take time to see whether your model is a success or not, but to TL's defense, you guys have not responded to the skepticism with a technical discussion of how your model can be success. Instead, your responses were more of playing the innocent card and "you want more information, just come talk to us". These responses are extremely unprofessional, which have done little to absolve your guilt.
As for Nanocloud, I am very surprised that you would make the argument of not looking into a person's past especially if that person has not done anything with you. For a recently born organization, I truly think that you are making a completely unwise move. You can argue that everyone deserves a second chance, but here's the problem. Nanocloud made no sense of apologies but made additional untrustworthy testimonies against others (have you read the comments from DirtyBird, the manager of sMi, in this thread?). Again, it's your move, and I am having a hard time of trying to give you guys the benefit of a doubt when I feel that you guys aren't taking this community's concerns (especially mine, which is based on real life experience) very seriously.
Why Your Defense Does Not Hold: The defense I have applied for Core is NOT practical for this situation. For example, if a clothing business was implicated for using sweatshops, which is heavily looked down upon the modern world for its abusive disregard for human rights, having employees and customers that are supportive of the business to express their enthusiasm for the company does not persuade the community distrusting the company to disregard the fact that the company is using sweatshops as part of its business.
Now, Core is not implicated for sweatshops, but it has been met with skepticism (from the ones I have mentioned) that is similar to the level of the company utilizing sweatshops. The reason for this is that such allegations seriously undermine your credibility. To persuade the audience to look at the other way, you may need to, in this case, give concrete proof that your organization is not connected to such allegations. All-in-all, you need to connect some loose ends and chaff the weed from the crop.
To show my good will:
My advice as a person with executive/leadership/administrative experience is to seriously work on your Public Relations.
How? Here's the run down:
1) Study the surrounding community and figure out their stance 2) Don't be so dismissive of people's criticisms 3) To dispel skepticism, illustrate in technical terms of how your team and its model will work instead of relying on "just come talk to us" response. 4) Work on your professionalism. 5) MOST OF ALL, treat everyone especially who despise you with respect.
OR: You can hire someone who can be your PR!
That's all I've got on the top of my head. But if you guys want more information/details, I will gladly help!
Or if you want more professional help in the eSports team, just study ROOT GAMING's history and hopefully try to get some advice from them because they have a pretty colorful background (like the incident with Destiny) and are now a mainstream NA team.
Otherwise, best of luck!
Did you read the OP? It has triple the amount of information than teams normally put out when they launch. It's no doubt a response to all the skepticism that was thrown their way before they even went official. They provide a shit ton of links. Also Justin has been nothing but professional in his communication with the posters here and the other thread, even when the tone got ugly. As for Ironsight, he seems to be just a forum moderator for their forum? He is not their PR guy. Also, that Nanocloud dude has a thread where you can ask him whatever you want it seems, I am not saying he's a stand up guy, I honestly don't know, all I know is this community is way too happy to instigate a witch hunt whenever they smell an opportunity to do so. We will see in time what the core brings to the table, it's a noble idea in my eyes, the NA scene needs new blood, new talent, and new opportunities.
I should probably note, that I am in no way affiliated with the team, their message board, infact I first heard of their venture last week.
On August 31 2013 19:50 Ironsights wrote: The low post count guys are new to competitive gaming, most of them having been recruited from AoS. They are entering the esports world for the first time, and rather than welcoming them and showing them the ropes many of you are dismissing them as fake or insulting them for being here. This saddens me.
As for Nano, I will not discuss this here further. If the naysayers are correct and he turns out to have fooled us all, I will be one of the first admitting to you all that I was wrong to trust him. Until that day comes, if it ever does, I will not look down on him for his past, especially when it never effected me.
As for our players not being "good enough"...we are just starting. I am terribly sorry that we don't have the buying power to get ahold of huk and idra yet, but then again we aren't even competing in real tournaments yet...we are just a group of gamers all getting together to have fun, play games, and see if we can make something happen. Sort of like this fun little site that was started years ago by a group of starcraft fans that wanted to bring news of esports to the wider world...and I think we all know how that little start up turned out.
Please, let me clarify: at this time we have no expectation of fielding the next Marine King who takes the world by storm...we are no where near that level, and likely won't be for years to come. Remember, the mightiest of Oaks was once a humble acorn.
Oh, and one last note: there is a strong chance we wouldn't have announced ourselves on this site except that we discovered our community being attacked and called a scam. After that happened, we felt as if we needed to declare ourselves in an effort to set the record straight. This was never intended as self promotion, only a clarification that we are not a scam.
To your defense, you want to show your form of community support, which is fine for certain scenarios such as publicity and absolving guilt. However, I will lay down the abridged version of what's going on because you seem to be very busy:
TL's stance: - The Bash Against the 1st posters: TL does definitely have its share of idiots, but "trolls", as you have labeled the devoted critics of the scam thread in Nanocloud's AMA, are actually very well contained. TL looks down on the first posters because anyone can be a troll or be a part of shameless self-promoters (which I am not saying you are). To limit troll incidences, TL has very strict (and yes douchey) rules in dealing with them. For more information, check out:
So, my advice is you should really do your homework before you make claims about how this community "saddens you". After all, you got to know your foes before you go into battle.
- The Distrust: Again, TL community members are very skeptical of your business model (I won't go into details because I am no expert in business) and your inclusion of Nanocloud (I could go into much detail, but I will instead talk about him based on the current situation later). For the business part, I will admit that it's going to take time to see whether your model is a success or not, but to TL's defense, you guys have not responded to the skepticism with a technical discussion of how your model can be success. Instead, your responses were more of playing the innocent card and "you want more information, just come talk to us". These responses are extremely unprofessional, which have done little to absolve your guilt.
As for Nanocloud, I am very surprised that you would make the argument of not looking into a person's past especially if that person has not done anything with you. For a recently born organization, I truly think that you are making a completely unwise move. You can argue that everyone deserves a second chance, but here's the problem. Nanocloud made no sense of apologies but made additional untrustworthy testimonies against others (have you read the comments from DirtyBird, the manager of sMi, in this thread?). Again, it's your move, and I am having a hard time of trying to give you guys the benefit of a doubt when I feel that you guys aren't taking this community's concerns (especially mine, which is based on real life experience) very seriously.
Why Your Defense Does Not Hold: The defense I have applied for Core is NOT practical for this situation. For example, if a clothing business was implicated for using sweatshops, which is heavily looked down upon the modern world for its abusive disregard for human rights, having employees and customers that are supportive of the business to express their enthusiasm for the company does not persuade the community distrusting the company to disregard the fact that the company is using sweatshops as part of its business.
Now, Core is not implicated for sweatshops, but it has been met with skepticism (from the ones I have mentioned) that is similar to the level of the company utilizing sweatshops. The reason for this is that such allegations seriously undermine your credibility. To persuade the audience to look at the other way, you may need to, in this case, give concrete proof that your organization is not connected to such allegations. All-in-all, you need to connect some loose ends and chaff the weed from the crop.
To show my good will:
My advice as a person with executive/leadership/administrative experience is to seriously work on your Public Relations.
How? Here's the run down:
1) Study the surrounding community and figure out their stance 2) Don't be so dismissive of people's criticisms 3) To dispel skepticism, illustrate in technical terms of how your team and its model will work instead of relying on "just come talk to us" response. 4) Work on your professionalism. 5) MOST OF ALL, treat everyone especially who despise you with respect.
OR: You can hire someone who can be your PR!
That's all I've got on the top of my head. But if you guys want more information/details, I will gladly help!
Or if you want more professional help in the eSports team, just study ROOT GAMING's history and hopefully try to get some advice from them because they have a pretty colorful background (like the incident with Destiny) and are now a mainstream NA team.
Otherwise, best of luck!
Did you read the OP? It has triple the amount of information than teams normally put out when they launch. It's no doubt a response to all the skepticism that was thrown their way before they even went official. They provide a shit ton of links. Also Justin has been nothing but professional in his communication with the posters here and the other thread, even when the tone got ugly. As for Ironsight, he seems to be just a forum moderator for their forum? He is not their PR guy. Also, that Nanocloud dude has a thread where you can ask him whatever you want it seems, I am not saying he's a stand up guy, I honestly don't know, all I know is this community is way too happy to instigate a witch hunt whenever they smell an opportunity to do so. We will see in time what the core brings to the table, it's a noble idea in my eyes, the NA scene needs new blood, new talent, and new opportunities.
I should probably note, that I am in no way affiliated with the team, their message board, infact I first heard of their venture last week.
First of all, I did read the post. It's pretty good! But I have already substantiated my first point when the Core Administrator was confused by TL's response.
Also, for the finance part, I may not be a business expert, but this financial sponsorship is based on small start-up companies from them. Given, Team Liquid progaming was first funded by Little App Factory, but Team Liquid already had a solid financial foundation from their forum ads (if I remember correctly) and now through paid membership. So far, a lot of people in this forum express skepticism because we have seen how a lot of big names such as New Ho Seo to name a few has fall off because of lack of MAJOR sponsorship. Even, ROOT Gaming temporarily disbanded because of the lack of major sponsorship. Start-ups can work, but sustainability is a different matter.
As for the professionalism part, Neurotic did his part right. However, when it comes to dealing with skepticism such as the issue with Nanocloud and their current business model, Core, in my opinion, did not a good job of handling the matter. Also, have you seen how NanoCloud deals with his accusations in his AMA? More finger pointing. I am not saying that Core Gaming is bad, but it has a lot of fundamental flaws that raise eyebrows.
All-in-all, quantity does not trump quality.
Finally, IronSights may not be the PR person, but for a start-up organization with credibility issues, you got to demonstrate professionalism and make sure people don't find any more holes inside you. That's the basic concept of administrative damage control.
And definitely, it's admirable to see new NA startups, but after seeing sMi's unfortunate scam and other bad events, you really can't blame the people for being so distrusting.
On August 31 2013 21:46 JacobShock wrote: Also, that Nanocloud dude has a thread where you can ask him whatever you want it seems, I am not saying he's a stand up guy, I honestly don't know, all I know is this community is way too happy to instigate a witch hunt whenever they smell an opportunity to do so. We will see in time what the core brings to the table, it's a noble idea in my eyes, the NA scene needs new blood, new talent, and new opportunities.
It's not a witch hunt if he proudly admitted what he has done and tried to use it to prove he has mad sc2 skills to boost people into GM.
On August 31 2013 21:46 JacobShock wrote: Also, that Nanocloud dude has a thread where you can ask him whatever you want it seems, I am not saying he's a stand up guy, I honestly don't know, all I know is this community is way too happy to instigate a witch hunt whenever they smell an opportunity to do so. We will see in time what the core brings to the table, it's a noble idea in my eyes, the NA scene needs new blood, new talent, and new opportunities.
It's not a witch hunt if he proudly admitted what he has done and tried to use it to prove he has mad sc2 skills to boost people into GM.
Can you give the boosting accusation a rest already? I think a lot of people are more concerned about other things than his "boosting" claims, although his lies of claiming not to be boosting are pretty bad, which is sadly one of the many lies he has posted.
On August 31 2013 21:46 JacobShock wrote: Also, that Nanocloud dude has a thread where you can ask him whatever you want it seems, I am not saying he's a stand up guy, I honestly don't know, all I know is this community is way too happy to instigate a witch hunt whenever they smell an opportunity to do so. We will see in time what the core brings to the table, it's a noble idea in my eyes, the NA scene needs new blood, new talent, and new opportunities.
It's not a witch hunt if he proudly admitted what he has done and tried to use it to prove he has mad sc2 skills to boost people into GM.
Can you give the boosting accusation a rest already? I think a lot of people are more concerned about other things than his "boosting" claims, although his lies of claiming not to be boosting are pretty bad, which is sadly one of the many lies he has posted.
I kept pionting this out because this is the single thing where no amount of finger pointing nor lies can clear him, everything else he can lied his ass off but this is self owned. He pushed his own shit in big time. Just like how testie own himself by taking a screenshot with his map hack on and then posted it on the internet.
jesus can you guys give this nanocloud accusation a rest? you already posted the same stuff over and over on other threads already , i dont see the point in spamming this thread as well.
On August 31 2013 22:59 coldscars wrote: jesus can you guys give this nanocloud accusation a rest? you already posted the same stuff over and over on other threads already , i dont see the point in spamming this thread as well.
CS, just let them say what they want it has 0 effect on us.
A few people brought up the point: how will you get sponsors and make money if your team members don't go far in tournaments? Well that's a good question. Basically, our target sponsors are medium sized businesses who simply want initial exposure into esports and are not necessarily looking for some set ROI target. As I've tried to make clear in the OP, management has fully funded everything until August 2014, with our without substantial sponsorship support. This is not a money making venture. This is a hobby for us because esports is something we do on the side.
Our sponsors currently cover 24% of our monthly operating costs and management covers the other 76%. Three weeks ago, this figure was 0% sponsors 100% management, so we are on the right track to sustainability!
We've constructed quite detailed marketing presentations and we're currently reaching out to our personal/professional networks in search of business partners.
All in all, I'm excited and extremely optimistic to see what the future holds for us.
On August 31 2013 22:59 coldscars wrote: jesus can you guys give this nanocloud accusation a rest? you already posted the same stuff over and over on other threads already , i dont see the point in spamming this thread as well.
CS, just let them say what they want it has 0 effect on us.
A few people brought up the point: how will you get sponsors and make money if your team members don't go far in tournaments? Well that's a good question. Basically, our target sponsors are medium sized businesses who simply want initial exposure into esports and are not necessarily looking for some set ROI target. As I've tried to make clear in the OP, management has fully funded everything until August 2014, with our without substantial sponsorship support. This is not a money making venture. This is a hobby for us because esports is something we do on the side.
Our sponsors currently cover 24% of our monthly operating costs and management covers the other 76%. Three weeks ago, this figure was 0% sponsors 100% management, so we are on the right track to sustainability!
We've constructed quite detailed marketing presentations and we're currently reaching out to our personal/professional networks in search of business partners.
All in all, I'm excited and extremely optimistic to see what the future holds for us.
Hmm, ignoring a former employer's major complaint on one of your employees. There's nothing wrong with that.
As for finances, well, looks like this is mainly being paid out of their pockets. I haven't seen that model work in the eSports scene before, but we will see.
On August 31 2013 22:59 coldscars wrote: jesus can you guys give this nanocloud accusation a rest? you already posted the same stuff over and over on other threads already , i dont see the point in spamming this thread as well.
CS, just let them say what they want it has 0 effect on us.
A few people brought up the point: how will you get sponsors and make money if your team members don't go far in tournaments? Well that's a good question. Basically, our target sponsors are medium sized businesses who simply want initial exposure into esports and are not necessarily looking for some set ROI target. As I've tried to make clear in the OP, management has fully funded everything until August 2014, with our without substantial sponsorship support. This is not a money making venture. This is a hobby for us because esports is something we do on the side.
Our sponsors currently cover 24% of our monthly operating costs and management covers the other 76%. Three weeks ago, this figure was 0% sponsors 100% management, so we are on the right track to sustainability!
We've constructed quite detailed marketing presentations and we're currently reaching out to our personal/professional networks in search of business partners.
All in all, I'm excited and extremely optimistic to see what the future holds for us.
GL GL
Really like your approach.
More power to you and all the best fpr the future... will follow closely...
Hey Guys so i read through the whole thread and i really just want to say to the guys like BlackPanther and all the other "haters" (for lack of better term) to just give Nano a chance and not immediately think were a scam. Give Nuero a chance to answer all of your questions and comments because hes a nice guy and will explain everything. Final thing: Just because its first post doesnt mean we dont read these things and give our own response. We just dont post it... Yea this is my first post BM that if you want i dont think any of us really care if you dont like our "activity" on TL. I have been part of Core for about 3 months and if i thought Nuero was planning to scam 15 guys i think i would notice.
On August 31 2013 22:59 coldscars wrote: jesus can you guys give this nanocloud accusation a rest? you already posted the same stuff over and over on other threads already , i dont see the point in spamming this thread as well.
CS, just let them say what they want it has 0 effect on us.
A few people brought up the point: how will you get sponsors and make money if your team members don't go far in tournaments? Well that's a good question. Basically, our target sponsors are medium sized businesses who simply want initial exposure into esports and are not necessarily looking for some set ROI target. As I've tried to make clear in the OP, management has fully funded everything until August 2014, with our without substantial sponsorship support. This is not a money making venture. This is a hobby for us because esports is something we do on the side.
Our sponsors currently cover 24% of our monthly operating costs and management covers the other 76%. Three weeks ago, this figure was 0% sponsors 100% management, so we are on the right track to sustainability!
We've constructed quite detailed marketing presentations and we're currently reaching out to our personal/professional networks in search of business partners.
All in all, I'm excited and extremely optimistic to see what the future holds for us.
You guys own the startups though so you still don't have any external sponsors putting money into your group.
Whatever, I'm done arguing about this. We'll see how you guys turn out in 3 months time.
Best of luck to you all! I hope this team can go far.
With that said, I am a bit surprised with the decision to make nanocloud the operations director. He has lied to the community in the past and is quite poor with PR. I understand that you all are giving him a second chance. It would probably be in your best interest to keep him out of Core's public relations and have him just work internally. Even if his intentions are purely positive, he has an ability to stir up controversy.
On September 01 2013 05:21 [Core] Rockets wrote: Hey Guys so i read through the whole thread and i really just want to say to the guys like BlackPanther and all the other "haters" (for lack of better term) to just give Nano a chance and not immediately think were a scam. Give Nuero a chance to answer all of your questions and comments because hes a nice guy and will explain everything. Final thing: Just because its first post doesnt mean we dont read these things and give our own response. We just dont post it... Yea this is my first post BM that if you want i dont think any of us really care if you dont like our "activity" on TL. I have been part of Core for about 3 months and if i thought Nuero was planning to scam 15 guys i think i would notice.
Classy.
Constructive criticism = hate.
I'm done. I just remembered that you cannot communicate with such naiveté. Oh, how silly of me.
On September 01 2013 05:21 [Core] Rockets wrote: Hey Guys so i read through the whole thread and i really just want to say to the guys like BlackPanther and all the other "haters" (for lack of better term) to just give Nano a chance and not immediately think were a scam. Give Nuero a chance to answer all of your questions and comments because hes a nice guy and will explain everything. Final thing: Just because its first post doesnt mean we dont read these things and give our own response. We just dont post it... Yea this is my first post BM that if you want i dont think any of us really care if you dont like our "activity" on TL. I have been part of Core for about 3 months and if i thought Nuero was planning to scam 15 guys i think i would notice.
I don't think there are many people claiming that your whole team is a scam; people are simply pointing out that this Nano guy is very, very shady.
pretty fishy indeed. and according to their website, here are his responsabilities :
I think there's some big confusion in regards to the first time posters. Core basically originated from a former clan known as Axis that mainly played AoS- which is a SC2 arcade game. It was a strong community that had fun on TS. Justin (Neuro) wanted to expand his site and TS he created into something more and being interested in eSports he saw an opportunity and thus Core was born. He created a team and is working on a LoL team. The majority of the 1st time posters play the AoS game and wanted to come by and support Justin and his work in creating Core
The idea behind Core is to create a supportive gaming environment for our players to participate in and hopefully elevate their game play over the span of their time in Core.
Out of all the "Hey it's our new team trying to make a name for ourselves" threads I've seen and read in the past, this one certainly looks the most professionally done and marketable... and that's a pretty badass team trailer you got there.
Well of all things going from roots, this surely seems to have a strong kickstarter. If everything continues going in the right direction it can grow large.
Good luck Core. As skeptical I have occasionally been of Nanocloud, he has good intentions and is not a bad person, so I hope he puts that to use and this team succeeds.
On September 02 2013 17:29 HawaiinStyle wrote: This team looks like it can overtake EG and ROOT. Great looking team and I cant wait to see it prosper ^^
On September 02 2013 17:29 HawaiinStyle wrote: This team looks like it can overtake EG and ROOT. Great looking team and I cant wait to see it prosper ^^
On September 02 2013 17:29 HawaiinStyle wrote: This team looks like it can overtake EG and ROOT. Great looking team and I cant wait to see it prosper ^^
ROOT, maybe...
EG? HAHAHAHA! What are you on?
Root???? Come on...
Minigun and Sage could do an all-kill.
^.^ It's always good to dream, hopefully in the near future we will be able to get to that level. I think Core is a team with a lot of potential and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Update: We will making an announcement next week with some of our new SC2 players Pretty cool stuff. We also hope to launch our league team then as well.
I'd also like to thank everyone who submitted team applications - we've received a lot of responses and we will give you more details in an email tomorrow. You should have all received an email yesterday confirming your submission.
I wish Core all the best. Despite all the drama these people keep trying to bring to the team they are staying positive. Not a lot of things are going well in the SC2 scene so lets support these new up and coming teams instead of bashing the management based of some "he said she said" situation. Good Luck Core!
On September 03 2013 13:29 PeterDLai wrote: For what it's worth, two of their players (JonSnow and Carnage) are in the final 8 to qualify for WCG to represent USA. Bracket
My biggest issue with this entire process of Core Gaming lies with the "sponsors" you reportedly have.
1. Core Pro Design LLC is a company YOU made. So not only are you running a Starcraft 2 team, you are also running a major company. One of those tasks is daunting enough, I fear that both at once is nearly impossible.
2. FundSponge... Basically this is you getting money from your players to fund your team.
3. CellaFlora. Another internet start up made of people that are coding and hoping they make it big with apps. However, there is nothing to say how much they can offer you (seems very new and young) or how sustainable they will be. Never mind that the apps market is now incredibly saturated.
Finally, this entire thread being created as a rebuttal towards the accusations laid against you almost one month ago. A team needs credibility and proof of sustainability to be given a shot in leagues in SC2. No team league that involves pro teams would associate with you until you have proven those two criteria have met on a lasting scale. Which brings me to a final point:
What are your achievements? I go to your liquipedia page (not an official liquipedia page mind you but one stuck in NanoCloud's userspace) and everything is under construction. Wouldn't it have been smarter to let your results introduce you before the official introduction when you have next to nothing? It's a work in progress, creating an sc2 team. EG and ROOT weren't built in a day.
Regardless I hope my fears are unfounded, and you don't become yet another North American "team" that has a lot of talk but fizzles out within a month. However, this model looks incredibly unsustainable and more geared towards "wishes and dreams" than an actual shot at becoming a professional team.
On September 04 2013 04:19 XTStarFire wrote: My biggest issue with this entire process of Core Gaming lies with the "sponsors" you reportedly have.
1. Core Pro Design LLC is a company YOU made. So not only are you running a Starcraft 2 team, you are also running a major company. One of those tasks is daunting enough, I fear that both at once is nearly impossible.
2. FundSponge... Basically this is you getting money from your players to fund your team.
3. CellaFlora. Another internet start up made of people that are coding and hoping they make it big with apps. However, there is nothing to say how much they can offer you (seems very new and young) or how sustainable they will be. Never mind that the apps market is now incredibly saturated.
Finally, this entire thread being created as a rebuttal towards the accusations laid against you almost one month ago. A team needs credibility and proof of sustainability to be given a shot in leagues in SC2. No team league that involves pro teams would associate with you until you have proven those two criteria have met on a lasting scale. Which brings me to a final point:
What are your achievements? I go to your liquipedia page (not an official liquipedia page mind you but one stuck in NanoCloud's userspace) and everything is under construction. Wouldn't it have been smarter to let your results introduce you before the official introduction when you have next to nothing? It's a work in progress, creating an sc2 team. EG and ROOT weren't built in a day.
Regardless I hope my fears are unfounded, and you don't become yet another North American "team" that has a lot of talk but fizzles out within a month. However, this model looks incredibly unsustainable and more geared towards "wishes and dreams" than an actual shot at becoming a professional team.
Hey man, thank you for your concerns and your advice regarding our launch. We look forward to being an asset to the SC2 community and hopefully achieve some things to put on that liquipedia page
Must have missed this a few days ago, but I'm glad that Core has a chance to prove themselves after the accusations against them . Can't wait to see how Core does!
On September 02 2013 17:29 HawaiinStyle wrote: This team looks like it can overtake EG and ROOT. Great looking team and I cant wait to see it prosper ^^
ROOT, maybe...
EG? HAHAHAHA! What are you on?
Root???? Come on...
Minigun and Sage could do an all-kill.
onetrickponey is a god among men. he would all kill eg/root
EPT![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ZnG2Nac.png?1)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/ohXNTEQ.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/3ivfbqV.png)
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/uECzV0j.png)
What is Core Gaming?![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/4e1WHA0.png?1)
