EPTWhat happened:
For anyone that missed it, very early yesterday morning (for North America) Naniwa and Nestea had both gone 0-3 in their group for the Blizzard Cup and still had to play each other in Group B. This match was essentially a show match because neither player could advance at this point, even if they won. In these circumstances Naniwa decided to probe rush with his initial 6 probes, essentially guaranteeing Nestea winning.
The game, requires a Blizzard Cup ticket at Gom.
In response, early this morning, it has been announced that Naniwa's Code S spot will be taken away. TL post of Mr. Che announcing on Korean stream Naniwa's dismissal? And Artosis mentioned on the english stream that it will be given to Sen for his 3rd place position in Blizzcon.
There seems to be an abundance of opinions showing up on the GOM forums as well as TL. I thought I'd try to make some sense of it all in one spot and see how the arguments size up against one another.
Naniwa's POV
I think the biggest supporting argument for Naniwa is that the game had no real consequence. You MIGHT be able to argue that there was some indirect consequences relating to stats between the players and calculating points for overall rankings in the GSL. Outside of that though there was no money on the line, no effect on future seeding, effectively there was no reason to play outside of pride.
So maybe there wasn't much motivation, whats wrong with playing just one more game? Well I've learned a lot about how hard players train and the amount of heart that goes into their games and practice. Remember how both players entered that game 0-3? Well Naniwa had very close games and I'm sure those earlier losses were pretty devastating. Not only is he in a foreign country, very much out of his element, but he is working hard enough to compete against the best of the infamous Koreans, and to work so hard as to almost beat them? I just think we need to have some emphasis on Naniwa's mindset to explain why he could have been frustrated enough to pull a stunt like that. The easy counter-argument is that Nestea was in a very similar position, but I think combined with Nestea's greater experience and home game advantage (if you will) I think it's worth considering. Really it boils down to GOM's consideration of players state of mind in extenuating circumstances, and how they decide to handle those situations. GOM has its own interests to defend as well, but I'll leave that for their side of the argument.
Continuing the idea that it is as much GOM's responsibility Idra commented, I think quite fairly, with his opinon. It's partially GOM's job to keep things relevant to the fans and the players, keeping an honest atmosphere where we don't have to question the value of what we're watching. Not to say they're lieing to us or anything, but I don't think it would be unrealistic to expect the match to not be played at all. Keeping it in as filler or to better fit their scheduling seems questionable itself.
Another continuation, Wolf mentioned on !@#$ Slasher (link below), is that if Naniwa had asked to not play the match GOM likely would have allowed it. Well I pose the question that shouldn't it have been the responsibility of GOM to ask permission of Nestea and Naniwa if they were willing? I understand I may not have any ground here with no understanding of the agreement between the players and GOM, but I think it shouldn't be expected one way and not the other. Naniwa has as much interest in the tournament as GOM and I don't think it should be assumed he do as they see fit without question. On that note as well, should there be a way to honourably (for lack of a better word) forfeit a game? If a player considers it in their best interest should this be allowed?
Even if you consider GOM right in its claim that Naniwa threw the game unprofessionally and should be forced to play the match, where do you draw the line. Slasher really defends this saying that what if he managed to actually win the probe rush? At what point does a game become a bad enough strategy that it's considered intentional? Maybe TheBest.fOu actually had great banshee micro and Artosis is just trying to hide the fact he threw some matches? This becomes a logistical nightmare to police.
EDIT: I'm aware that this is a weird claim and I'm sort of playing Devil's advocate; in 1000 games its unlikely his probe rush would win even 1 attemp. But I still think there is a valid point in the argument, it's about principle, not "it could have worked."
We can even compare this to a match between Coca and Byun where, after discussing the match, Coca "agrees" to forfeit and continue to a game 3. Clefairy's TL post about Coca "throwing a match". A situation arguably worse because it actually would affect code A seeding, if I understand correctly. Another of Clefairy's posts sourcing Mr Che's statement and video of Coca's forfeit shows that team Slayers was allowed to discipline Coca as they chose, with GOM's input. Is there a better solution we could have had with Naniwa, with more of a mediating party thats not so directly involved?
In another comparison, Slasher shows how other major sports handle less significant exhibition matches where teams will bench their major players essentially showing that they are not concerned with winning. It's not really a major problem and rarely punished because of the lack of consequences it has on the league, that's what makes it okay.
EDIT: I think we can consider this point not good enough, the involvement of a Team game instead of an Individual player changes the circumstances.
EDIT: I think it's important to add as well in Naniwa's defense that there was no clear rule that was broken. This was something GOM did more on principle than on offical legalized rules. The major problem with this is the magnitude of the disciplinary action, removing his Code S spot. I think this is well defended though by GOM stating that his spot was never gauranteed, but more him being chosen from a list of players who all had the requirements to earn the spot. Also, whether or not there was a clear rule, it's obvious that people were wronged and I think we are mature enough to be aware of that and understand hiding behind beaurocracy will not help this situation.
tl;dr So, essentially it seems important to note that Naniwa's action doesn't TECHNICALLY harm any part of the league. Also there was a failure to communicate between the interests of GOM and of the players. Lastly, in future incidents, judging whether a match is forfeit or not may be impossible to police wiith any confidence.
Gom's POV
GOM has to tread very carefully with situations like this because of the match fixing scandal in BW involving Savior. Even if it is obvious that this isn't the case, GOM is not in a position where it can make any assumptions and it has to be very careful to protect its own integrity. Few sponsors are going to be eager to associate with a league that allowed players to get away with match fixing. The most dangerous thing being it doesn't have to actually happen, only appear like it did to make sponsors hesitate.
The most disappointing aspect is the question of professionalism for Naniwa. Koreans are respected for more than just their success, they set the standard for hard work and dedication. Part of that is the pride and respect for what they are trying to accomplish, which is what makes not caring about this match so controversial. They are eager and proud to be given the chance to compete at that high of a level, so when Naniwa basically shows that it is below him, he is directly insulting that mentality. Well who the hell does he think he is?
It isn't just the other players he is affecting though, the casters and the people behind the scenes are putting at least full time hours into making GSL an exciting experience. Naniwa is essentially insulting everyone contributing there, showing that the match may be worth their time, but not his.
If Naniwa is so frustrated and unable to act professionally for GOM, it's his responsiblity to communicate that. If it was so problematic for him to play the match I'm sure they would have been able to reach an agreement where they would not play it. He has to accept that its his responsibility to speak up and help GOM keep the show going. If he can show he cares in the interests of GOM, I'm sure they would respond reasonably.
l can only speculate on the legality of what happened, but I'm sure whatever agreement in writing there is between a player and an event, I doubt it would be in Naniwa's favor, for good reason. Naniwa has to understand when he enters a tournament there are certain obligations he is agreeing to whether or not he chooses to be aware of them.
The punishment is difficult as well. It's not as though they can simply give him a single game suspension in the future as it affects too much, the next logical step being an entire season. It may have been better to fine him a cash amount, but that presents other problems, including possible legal ones. Pro gaming isn't the highest income career out there, finding an appropriate amount would be very complex. Something small like removing his ability to veto a map for a few matchups seems too soft.
It's not just what he did, but how he did it. This was at a point where everyone was watching, this was a big night with lots of viewers in a major tournament. It was overdramatic and Naniwa was very selfish and decided to make a big deal out of it. One of the things that makes icons like Slayers.Boxer amazing is the self respect he has in how he conducts himself, the person he pushes himself to be, and you'd never see him act like that. A lot of the players in the GSL are there for their team and for their fans, not just themselves. Sometimes it's about putting on a good show for the people who care about them.
tl;dr Its a matter of disrepect, Naniwa insulted a lot of people and could have avoided it with just a little more effort, not much, just a little. GOM is in a tough spot to try and deal with it and has to make a hard decision.
So what now?
Well initially I thought they were being too harsh taking away his code S spot. But after writing this and reading through it, I'm not as sure. I was convinced that a fine would have been fair, but from GOM's point of view that may not have been an option. I sincerely hope this isn't the beginning of a chain of events that causes Naniwa to give up on training in Korea, I'd hate to see this hurt his career. But I can't help but feel that he owes so many people such a huge apology and if he's not willing to learn from this and grow up, maybe he doesn't belong there.
In the spirit of Incontrol's call to the community to better ourselves for the next year of Starcraft and E-sports I think we have a lot to learn from this. It enunciates so clearly that we need to have much, much clearer communication between organizers, players, casters, sponsors, everyone involved in creating the content. We need to strike a balance that allows us to keep creating content and its through confrontations like these that we can sit down and say, okay here is exactly what we need to do so this doesn't happen again, and to protect everyone from feeling the need to throw a game or suspend a player.
E-sports is still very young and undeveloped, we have to be ready for problems like these to come up. If we want to grow to a point where we are recognized world-wide as a valid profession and sport we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard. I think many people have proven they are very capable of that and we need to focus on how we can lay everyones interests and necessities out on the table, and make sure they are met for everyone involved.
Edit: New information
GOM's Official Response
-really clarifies what they actually took away, Naniwa wasn't necessarily guaranteed a Code S spot
-aknowledges that he didn't clearly break the rules, but he was clearly unprofessional and something should be done
Quantic's Official Response
-Naniwa apologizes whole-heartedly, sounds like he actually understands why it was wrong
-Quantic takes a solid stance, they will stand by Naniwa with his mistake and help him grow out of it
DOA's opinion
-brings up an excellent point about the purpose of Blizzard Cup and why the match did matter
Ayesee's opinion from team Gosu
-explains thoroughly how Naniwa wronged his fans
Related Discussions:
!@#$ Slasher w/ Wolf & Naniwa
Jinro, Huk tweets discussing it
Unrelated Edit:
Hey, everybody, sorry for making another Naniwa thread :3, thanks for the many nice comments though! In afterthought I guess putting this in blogs would have been a good way to not add to the masses, but I was actually trying to lessen the need for more threads by having one central place that provided all the information involved. I'm aware of the irony, trying to reduce them by adding my own, but that's why I made sure I put the time in to make this as worthy as I could. I've learned so much from watching day9, SOTG, tournaments, interviews, etc. I think there are fantastic ideas coming out of the pillars in our community and people would be better off being able to hear them, but this is the internet. Trying to follow this stuff, and more importantly, after the issue has blown over its hard to remember all the pieces to help us make decisions later. I wanted something that allowed future me to search "naniwa forfeit" on TL forums, and bam, a list of what happened, with sources, so I could make new opinions on what may have happened with new information I got in the future.
I really thought I could make something useful.
Also how could you pick a side, both are so defensible! >.< I need some special tactics.
