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As we all know, Life has been banned from Starcraft II for a long time now. Caught for Match fixing around 2015-2016, it was a huge moment in Starcraft II for many reasons. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, with a large fine as well. He has been permanently banned from competing in Starcraft II professionally.
Kespa has its notoriety for many reasons among the community, mainly its strict adherence to code and rules. The other seedier, dirtier aspects of Kespa, and the greater betting community around Starcraft II & Brood War, lent itself to sketchy situations.
It was a common practice, kept extremely hush hush and secret within the community. The fact that "Life" has been drilled down by everyone as just some "Match Fixer" is the most egregious offense to this excellently skilled player. Who deep deep down we all love, cherish and miss thoroughly. He was downright Majestic, insane micro, insane awareness, toppling Tyrants regularly, securing multiple trophies at the highest level, Blizzcon no less.
PRIME was a team that had been relegated to match fixing status, why was PRIME, a once venerated team, known for its dominant, though often cheesy Terrans. Every single Terran that came out of that camp in those early days are all now legends, absolute Titans. MKP, Maru, Polt, Byun.
That kind of coaching talent doesn't just disappear, through the years, yes PRIME would lose favor just flat out, MKP started being less competitive and the like, sure. But PRIME would literally lose almost every game, making any win they pulled off, a quick cheap betting buck, the odds simply were stacked this way unfortunately.
Yoda, a sick Terran, pretty soon after he beat First 4-0 in a massive pro tournament IEM, he joined PRIME. All he did in pro league was lose, lose, lose. game after game, quite clearly something was going on.
My argument is this. Are you sincerely going to banish Life after all these years? When Kespa, Blizzard, have all left Starcraft II in the dust and don't give a crap anymore about it. So why are we still allowing these people to tell us that certain players are never allowed to play the game again?
When can Life finally come back huh? I'm not talking crazy, all you guillotine cart pullers just back off your high horses for just a minute this time. Allow Life to play again, if he wishes to play, he should be able to stream, do anything anyone else does. Why does this community's support outright banishment of him in light of all of this?
This is the communities game now, and I vote to allow Life the option to come back if he chooses. Who's with me?
www.fragster.com - An interesting article on his career.
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I am not an expert on this topic, but from what I understand most Korean Progamers would simple not play vs him, because they blame him for the (acceleration of the) downfall of proleague.
Many big corporations pulled back their sponsorships after the scandal, so many of the current pros lost their Teams (partly) because of him.
They would simply not play in competitions where he would sign up.
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I am sure life doesnt care about sc2 anymore
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France12761 Posts
Life was overrated, he is like a worse version of Reynor 
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On November 06 2023 21:52 dbRic1203 wrote:
I am not an expert on this topic, but from what I understand most Korean Progamers would simple not play vs him, because they blame him for the (acceleration of the) downfall of proleague.
Many big corporations pulled back their sponsorships after the scandal, so many of the current pros lost their Teams (partly) because of him.
They would simply not play in competitions where he would sign up.
Yes, I understand, they abandoned him, they don't care. They'd rather keep playing making their meager checks instead of stirring any controversy within this situation. The few sponsors that are left, they cling. Shame, really. Why would they want someone so good coming back too I suppose, jealousy, envy, blame, why invite more competition?
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On November 06 2023 22:09 ChuChuRocket wrote:Show nested quote +On November 06 2023 21:52 dbRic1203 wrote:
I am not an expert on this topic, but from what I understand most Korean Progamers would simple not play vs him, because they blame him for the (acceleration of the) downfall of proleague.
Many big corporations pulled back their sponsorships after the scandal, so many of the current pros lost their Teams (partly) because of him.
They would simply not play in competitions where he would sign up.
Yes, I understand, they abandoned him, they don't care. They'd rather keep playing making their meager checks instead of stirring any controversy within this situation. The few sponsors that are left, they cling. Shame, really. Why would they want someone so good coming back too I suppose, jealousy, envy, blame, why invite more competition?
You are asking people who's lives as progamers were made worse by Life, to risk what little money is left in Korean SC2 for, erm, what exactly?
I am genuinely curious what is the motivation here for Korean SC2 pros to "stir up controversy"?
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On November 06 2023 22:34 Fubika24 wrote:Show nested quote +On November 06 2023 22:09 ChuChuRocket wrote:On November 06 2023 21:52 dbRic1203 wrote:
I am not an expert on this topic, but from what I understand most Korean Progamers would simple not play vs him, because they blame him for the (acceleration of the) downfall of proleague.
Many big corporations pulled back their sponsorships after the scandal, so many of the current pros lost their Teams (partly) because of him.
They would simply not play in competitions where he would sign up.
Yes, I understand, they abandoned him, they don't care. They'd rather keep playing making their meager checks instead of stirring any controversy within this situation. The few sponsors that are left, they cling. Shame, really. Why would they want someone so good coming back too I suppose, jealousy, envy, blame, why invite more competition? You are asking people who's lives as progamers were made worse by Life, to risk what little money is left in Korean SC2 for, erm, what exactly? I am genuinely curious what is the motivation here for Korean SC2 pros to "stir up controversy"?
When does basing your moral and ethical decisions about a "Once Upon A Time" good friend who was a huge inspiration to the entire community for years, t'ill this day, around the almighty dollar a good idea. Life was just a damn kid man, 19 at the time when he got caught. Its because he's their friend that they should embrace him, give him enough respect, honor him. Give him a chance to at least apologize and to redeem himself. How excited would old school Sc2 players feel if he came back? It would be awesome.
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The elephant in the room? What room are you in? I loved the guy, ever since he was tearing it up in ewm weeklies, but come on
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On November 06 2023 22:09 ChuChuRocket wrote:Show nested quote +On November 06 2023 21:52 dbRic1203 wrote:
I am not an expert on this topic, but from what I understand most Korean Progamers would simple not play vs him, because they blame him for the (acceleration of the) downfall of proleague.
Many big corporations pulled back their sponsorships after the scandal, so many of the current pros lost their Teams (partly) because of him.
They would simply not play in competitions where he would sign up.
Yes, I understand, they abandoned him, they don't care. They'd rather keep playing making their meager checks instead of stirring any controversy within this situation. The few sponsors that are left, they cling. Shame, really. Why would they want someone so good coming back too I suppose, jealousy, envy, blame, why invite more competition?
How do you know he would be any good now?
Just look how all the returnees from the military struggle to get back to their old level. Sometimes for years.
And they most likely played some SC2 in their abscence.
Meanwhile Life probably never toughed the game again and simply moved on, living a normal life somewhere as far away from esport as possible
I honestly doubt, he d come back even if ESL and GSL would announce tomorrow his ban would be lifted
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op is having trouble accepting the game is slowing down and wants to make up storylines and controversy lol
you gotta find something in your life to fill the void homie
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First of all: Not one single day in my Life have I ever "missed" Life. I don't care that much for GSL/SSL, in the two WCS Finals he was in I was rooting for his opponents (MMA and sOs) and in Proleague I didn't care for StarTale or KT at all.
So why the heck would I miss a guy who was stupid and greedy enough to matchfix?
Furthermore, I'm pretty sure all these years Life would have been allowed to stream, though he might have to do it on Twitch, dunno if Afreeca banned him aswell. He was only banned from competitive Starcraft, doesn't mean he couldn't touch the game at all. He never did, should tell you something. As far as I know, Savior for example occassionally streams Broodwar for fun or atleast did so in the past.
It is also really doubtful how much impact he still would have. Every korean that came back from the military struggled, only a few ever reached their former level - why would Life be able to come back after eight, coming up to nine years? He would probably crash out in the next GSL qualifier 0-4 and never try again. And that is saying that there will be a GSL next year...
I also doubt any WTL-team would sign him, not that he is even good enough to be in one.
Lastly, as far as I remember, Prime wasn't banned from the league, they simply went bankrupt.That tends to happen when your headcoach and like half your of thin lineup is matchfixing. Sponsors don't really like to be associated with that...
I don't know what Life is doing right now, but Liquipedia tells me he is 26, so I hope he managed to get a degree and/or good job and is living his life (no pun intended) away from Starcraft. I don't know the korean society that well, but I imagine there is still a lot of judgement against him, atleast from those that in any capacity care about SC2, but I truely hope he got passed that. And if he really wants to compete again...he should give Stormgate a chance. Not because I think it is the better game, but because there he would have an actual chance to come back.
I personally would still judge him though.
Oh and sorry, but I doubt that all korean progamers are "friends"...you shouldn't assume that my man.
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China6327 Posts
Why would anyone still in this circle, from all the pros that left, to the many that retired in the years after the scandal, care about the person that put a firm foot on the neck of the thing they make a living on?
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People can hate him, but he's a free man, he served his prison sentence and should be able to do whatever he wants. Though were it to the 'community' he would never be allowed back or even to play another game, they'd want something which is worse than life sentence(in terms of time), essentially. You can't even mention Avilo many places and he was never sentenced or anything, people are just daft on the internet.
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On November 07 2023 00:10 ejozl wrote:
People can hate him, but he's a free man, he served his prison sentence and should be able to do whatever he wants. Though were it to the 'community' he would never be allowed back or even to play another game, they'd want something which is worse than life sentence(in terms of time), essentially. You can't even mention Avilo many places and he was never sentenced or anything, people are just daft on the internet.
1)Life never went to prison. His prison sentence was suspended for three years.
2)If you think people reactions to avilo is "daft"...yeah, no.
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Mexico2170 Posts
The only reason I'd like to see Life back is because I love the idea of redemption. At the end of the day it's not like he killed someone or anything like that.
He was an Amazon player that I have no doubt would have won plenty of other tournaments. Also, he might have had a couple of friends so I imagine he kept some of those.
As for why he didn't stream or anything after, I guess it was shame and fear of being shunned, but there are rumours that he played in some online chinese tournaments.
As wether or not he'd be good now, I'm not sure, but certainly at his peak he was better than Serral, rogue and reynor.
Personally I wouldn't mind seeing him back. In fact I'm very curious about him and other retired pros. But I don't think tournament organizers and players would want the controversy attached to letting him play.
It would be so cool if someone could get information about him or other pros. Like what is Mvp doing? I heard he was from a poor family and he used to send money from his winnings to them. How is nestea? I heard he got married. What did Life do with his life?
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Canada8988 Posts
On November 07 2023 00:10 ejozl wrote:
People can hate him, but he's a free man, he served his prison sentence and should be able to do whatever he wants. Though were it to the 'community' he would never be allowed back or even to play another game, they'd want something which is worse than life sentence(in terms of time), essentially. You can't even mention Avilo many places and he was never sentenced or anything, people are just daft on the internet.
He can play SC2 as much as he wants, he just can't enter competitions to make money out of it. Which is more than fair, if I defraud a company for tens of thousands of dollar. I don't expect them to hire me again once my sentence is done.
Also, pretty sure he never served a day of prison.
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We have League of Legends players who have scandals that are arguably worse than match fixing but they are still allowed to compete globally. I see no reason why Life doesn't deserve a second chance. I don't buy the whole "players doesn't want to play with Life" argument one bit. Him coming back won't save the scene but to still ban him is absurd.
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well, op, i think accusing the entire prime team of match fixing with zero evidence doesn't really make a strong argument for allowing a known match fixer to compete for money again.
On November 07 2023 00:10 ejozl wrote:
You can't even mention Avilo many places and he was never sentenced or anything, people are just daft on the internet.
mentioning avilo in the same breath as life, truly incredible. i dont think we need to worry about an avilo match fixing scandal.
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On November 07 2023 02:54 geokilla wrote:
We have League of Legends players who have scandals that are arguably worse than match fixing but they are still allowed to compete globally. I see no reason why Life doesn't deserve a second chance. I don't buy the whole "players doesn't want to play with Life" argument one bit. Him coming back won't save the scene but to still ban him is absurd.
Then maybe Life should start League of Legends and hope that Riot treats him otherwise, but the rules are pretty clear. If you are 19-years old (at the time), the highest earning player at the moment and a world-champion, you should have the mental capacity to not do one of the two things in the game that earns you your lifehood that are so distained it will get you banned for life...
Nothing about that is 'absurd'.
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There is no unilateral organization in SC2 that could welcome Life back even if he wanted to come back and we have zero real indication that he does. Remember that Blizzard doesn't have full control over everything that happens in SC2 anymore, they have outsourced all of that.
SC2's pro scene is a loose collection of other organizations that only kind of cooperate with each other. All of them would have to reach out to Life to welcome him back.
There just isn't any desire for that to happen. I loved watching Life back during his peak, but even I've moved on to just having apathy towards him. I wouldn't care if he came back and if players or organizations wanted to keep him banned for whatever reason I wouldn't challenge it.
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EPT
