coL/Dev Aftermath: The Controversy

I don't understand how baseball writers keep pumping out content on Barry Bonds and steroids. It's only been a few days since the story broke about Warden's offer to Sasquatch, and I'm already starting to get tired of thinking and writing about it.

Of course, when it seems like when I'm at my lowest point, something new comes up to pique my interest again.

 

And maybe it just seems this way, but I can't help but feel that every new development in our eSports story raises more questions instead of providing more answers. I keep rereading the posts, going back to make sure I didn't misunderstand some critical point, didn't miss a crucial inference, in the futile hope that the reason none of this makes sense is because of me, not because the explanations are almost impossibly hard to believe.

 

Sadly, even after rereading everything, the only thing that's become clearer since the beginning is that any hope for the unadulterated truth is looking more and more like a pipe dream, at best.

 

Don't misunderstand me. I don't really blame Jason Lake or compLexity for taking the general stance of denial and "no comment". General Managers should protect their players, and we should expect them to do it, too. We've seen it from Lake before in his defense of Belle's performance when he basically said (on numerous occasions) that people should blame him for the situation.

 

But even if it's expected, man oh man there are so many questions.

Warden's Intentions

Let's take the latest installment of controversy. In a forum post on the LA compLexity's website, Jason Lake confirmed the veracity of the log, but qualified that by saying that coL already knew of Devastation's missing demo, adding that they were trying to "provide Dev an ‘out' to save face via a FF before they were handed a league enforced FF loss by CEVO (which was the end result)."

 

In other words, the log that Sasquatch provided was real; we've just misinterpreted the motivations for Warden's offer.

 

I'm not sure that matches up with what Warden said. For reference, here's the text of what transpired:

Devastation`sasquatcH> were you serious
Devastation`sasquatcH> or joking
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> serious lol
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> we just want a chance to play in playoffs
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> in **** situation
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> looking for some mercy
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> only one of us can make play offs
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> lookiung like ya'll, we'll play for ya'lls money
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> half half
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> we're legit
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> if we win 5k, 2500 ur way
Devastation`sasquatcH> were considering it
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> ok
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> would appreciate it, let us know
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> we could call ff and goto bed
coL[CGS]Warden[A]> and u could root for coL sat.
coL[CGS]Warden[A]>

Maybe it's just me, but "we just want a chance to play in play offs", "looking for some mercy", and "only one of us can make playoffs/ lookuing [sic] like ya'll, we'll play for ya'lls money" don't sound like quotes from a man that knows he's about to receive a forfeit win.

 

Moreover, how does this offer make any sense if we believe Mr. Lake? If compLexity knew about the missing demo, they knew they'd have a spot in the playoffs. They're supposedly doing Sasquatch a favor by saving Devastation from the humiliation of a league-mandated FF-loss, and in return for that favor Devastation will give them ... ? A twenty-five hundred dollar invoice? Talk about being ungrateful. If we assume that coL knew about their impending forfeit win, they were basically offering Devastation an "out" and $2500, all while receiving absolutely nothing in return because they already knew they were in the postseason.

 

Now I've met some really nice people in my time, and by all accounts Warden, coL, and Lake have a lot of genuine friends in the industry, but I find that offer pretty hard to believe. That goes double when we include the phrasing and the wording in the conversation, which we now know to be true.

Media's Integrity

In some ways, Jason Lake's initial response (and all his responses, to a lesser extent) to the allegations reminded me of how the CPL handled their response to the post by Martijn Bloemheuvel - heavy on the disdain and insinuation, a little light on the actual facts. The major difference was that instead of attacking the source of the information (Sasquatch), Lake was calling the media's credibility into question.

Either way, it's a way of addressing the issue without directly refuting the points. Here are the first two comments Lake made on the LA forums:

Feb 22nd --"Guys, I won't be commenting on alleged clips of a IRC chat during a 3 hour conversation. If I did that, the same people (media people) who are posting such nonsense would all be fired with the logs I have from them talking about their bosses, the fans, etc.

We simply won't be baited into commenting on such nonsense. See you in the playoffs."

Feb 24th -- "On the contrary.. I know the TRUTH of the story... I'm not a desperate media site starving for business... I know exactly what happened directly from the CEVO admins... what Matt did was trying to save Dev the embarrassment of an eminent FF loss... not trying to bribe someone. In addition, Dev openly admitted they wouldn't play Saturday even if they made the playoffs..they had other plans... If his intentions had matched the media allegations, I PROMISE you I would have fired him in a second.

We don't answer nonsense stories from the new tabloids of "journalism" because in real life team brands survive and media comes and goes, Sad our audience is young and doesn't realize how "media" is truly controlled. Has your favorite site changed? Check who owns it.

Either way, it's a sad situation we wish hadn't happened. I'm very sad about it because I know a very good person who has taken a lot of undeserved hate over the years is being targeted again.. and unfairly again. We're definitely sorry for the problems it has caused, and wish our fans, CEVO and Dev the best in the future."

Talk about firing on all cylinders. He even brought up the ridiculous flames Warden's received throughout his career due to his weight. While I agree those people are generally just above pond-scum on the intelligence scale, I'm left with questions about the rest.

 

If Warden's intentions were pure, why wait two days to say anything? I can't speak for them, but I know if somebody accused me of trying to fix a match and the community was frothing at the mouth, but my actions were really an act of charity, I'd be screaming it at the top of my textual lungs anywhere I could. To translate Howard Dean, "Not only am I going to New Hampshire, I'm going to South Carolina, and Oklahoma, and Arizona, and North Dakota ... and WASHINGTON, AND MICHIGAN, AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO WASHINGTON DC TO TAKE BACK MY REPUTATION ... YEAAARRHAHAHHAHR!"

 

(Sorry, I've always wanted to do that. Back to being serious.)

 

It comes down to this: I don't think the principle of not being baited into a comment is worth much when the version of the truth you're withholding would be infinitely preferable to the "rumors" currently floating around.

 

I don't want to get too heavily into the questions about the media's credibility because I think it's an easy way to get both distracted and riled up. But I did want to touch on it briefly.

 

Essentially, I don't think the media acted irresponsibly. I might not be the most unbiased source considering I've managed to dupe a large group of people into thinking I'm funny or intelligent (trust me, the joke is on you), but Lake is doing what he must in an effort to protect his players and his franchise. If that entails questioning the media's credibility, then so be it. What I know is that sources were checked and double-checked, and all information was corroborated. People from both sides of the dispute commented on the situation, along with others who had first-hand knowledge of the situation and what happened. There was no dissenting opinion behind the scenes, it was just the opposite; there was a confession.

Still, I don't blame him for being upset. I would be too. For reference, imagine yourself going to sleep with a franchise you've built with years of effort, money, and plain old elbow grease. Then you wake up in the morning to see this story broke over the night. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't be thanking the sun for coming up and putting a big smile on my face. It's upsetting. Not because the media shouldn't have run the story, but because of the sheer fact that it's an upsetting situation.

CEVO's Response

Yes, I'm still concerned about their reaction, or more accurately non-reaction, to this whole thing.

 

Basically, I'm worried about the ramifications this decision will have on the future. If that IRC log isn't enough evidence, what is? It's a critical issue because you don't have to bribe a whole team to throw a match. In next season's CEVO-M Finals, what happens if two evenly matched teams meet up, and one team offers a single player some extra money to tank? It's certainly a more cost-effective solution. Could they really talk about it over IRC without fear of any kind of punishment?

 

Or, even more worrisome, what's going to stop them from making the offer? If all they have to do is cast reasonable doubt on the log or their intentions, it's not a hard proposition when IRC logs aren't officially accepted as evidence. There isn't much to lose from just an offer if they can deny the whole thing and escape with nothing more than a warning.

 

Right now, we know that the conversation between Warden and Sasquatch was real, and no matter what the intentions were behind they offer, they were still made in an attempt to subvert CEVO's rules - either by advancing coL to the playoffs when they would have otherwise missed the cut, or by hiding the outcome of a request for Devastation's demos.

 

One is certainly worse than the other, but neither one is good for the league, in my opinion. And right now I'm not even sure coL received a slap on the wrist. The warning seems more like a glare than a punishment.

 

CEVO officially announced they were still looking into the matter. Personally, I hope there's a little bit of a stiffer punishment coming - not because I want to see coL punished or because I dislike Warden or anybody associated with the franchise, but because I think the situation merits a harsher response.

The Future

At the end of his latest post, Lake says, "We're all doing the best we can to push this eSports thing forward. Let's work together."

 

I couldn't say it any better myself. Everybody, from the media, to teams and players, to your average Joe in the competitive community, is working together to advance eSports. That push comes in various forms -- through getting news on Digg, broadcastings games on TV, or just supporting teams, franchises, and leagues. But we're all in this together, and we should be working together. I'd like nothing more than to see that happen.

 

There's just one problem. Somebody that's supposed to be working together with us has been lying, and I'm not sure how to deal with that. If we're really working together, we need to do what's best for the sport and what's best for the community, and I don't think hiding the truth of this situation falls under either of those categories. That's not directed at compLexity. Whether you believe them or Devastation, it's clear that somebody isn't telling the truth, and in either case the reality has huge implications for eSports. Either Devastation is lying about Warden's intentions and knowledge (e.g. he really was offering them an "out" while knowing he was about to receive an FF win) or compLexity is lying about their version of events. Reputations, and more importantly the integrity of a whole league, ride on which version is true.

 

If we're really working together, I think the first step is addressing questions that demand answers.