Not everyday you can read about Beckham's and Idra's retirement all on one website.
The author graced us with his presence, check out the link for the full article!
Cheese is a cheap strategy. The very greatest players are bonjwa. Personalities are referred to by their in-game IDs rather than name. And then there's BM – bad manners, and one of the many things Greg "Idra" Fields is famous for.
Fields specialised in Terran during his Brood War days, but was one of the most dominant Zergs in Starcraft II.
Fields is polite, extremely articulate, and until a fortnight ago was one of the highest-profile and highest-paid professional gamers in the world. This is not wholly unrelated to the fact that he's also responsible for some of the most outrageous outbursts in eSports, and not the cool kind of outrageous.
He once opined that a nice chap called David Kim, for being one of Starcraft II's balance designers, should be raped with a tire-iron. In March, he wished cancer on an opponent while livestreaming – which was, of course, seen and spread by everyone watching. Alexander Garfield, the CEO of Fields' team Evil Geniuses, assured fans there would be no repeat.
Shortly afterwards, following a frustrating showing in the early rounds of Blizzard's new Starcraft II World Championship Series, Fields visited the forums at Team Liquid, the biggest community hub for the game, and went for certain fans. "You're all a bunch of fucks," he wrote in a thread concerning team EG. "It just so happens I get paid to treat you as such. It's fucking awesome."
This happened on 7 May, and the remarks rapidly spread online. It was a moment that posed eSports, and particularly Team EG, an uncomfortable question. Sean "Day [9]" Plott is a major Starcraft II personality and caster – as well as a former North American Brood War champion. "Right when Idra left the Polt game and then shortly thereafter made that post, I was having a conversation with a friend, and I said there's a 99% chance he gets kicked for this. No chance he doesn't get kicked for this. But it was still so crazy to me that the next day it did happen."
Sean ' Day [9]' Plott: ‘I think all the deep analysis for what it means for eSports comes down to 'well you can't be a jerk, no matter where you're working.'’
On 9 May Team EG announced it had fired one of its biggest faces.
lol generally you quote certain sections of the article ... You don't link and then post the ENTIRE article as well you should post your opinion.
Aside from the general bitching, its in the right forum at least now, it's a really well written article from someone who actually sounds like they understand the industry. I enjoyed it.
"Not the fans and genuine supporters of eSports, but the ones who are just there for the drama mongering. And in a way I did, and still do, get paid to treat them like shit because that's what they find entertaining, that's what they tune in to watch and get off on."
hmm. Quite an interpretation to his contract. I can't imagine it saying anything even along the hyperbolic or sarcastic lines of "treating them like shit for entertainment". That just doesn't sound like a good person at all
On May 21 2013 07:35 Hitch-22 wrote: lol generally you quote certain sections of the article ... You don't link and then post the ENTIRE article as well you should post your opinion.
Aside from the general bitching, its in the right forum at least now, it's a really well written article from someone who actually sounds like they understand the industry. I enjoyed it.
+1
Not cool to stop traffic from going to their site.
On May 21 2013 08:02 Stanntis wrote: Hi TL. I wrote this article. Just wanted to thank you for taking traffic away from the site that paid me to do so. GG WP.
Thanks for the post. It is good to see papers starting to pick up on Esports. I am also torn about the Idra issue. I really enjoy watching him play and commentate, but also understand where a company like EG cant afford the bad press. I hope he stays around Esports for a long time to come.
Well written article, Stanntis. Much more in touch with the scene than one could expect from a mainstream publication, and you interviewed all the right people. I do have to say that you got the timeline wrong, though. The post was before the games were aired. I don't blame you for it - it's become an unfortunately widespread bit of misinformation. I wish it would stop, though.
EPT
? And thanks for bringing this article to my attention 
