Clanbase is a brilliant yet mysterious entity that dominates the prestige of many a game. My best and worst experiences as a player have come whilst playing in Clanbase competition, and as a shoutcaster I've witnessed my fair share of Clanbase excitement, brilliance and madness.
Join me as we look at the power and influence that a Game Supervisor can have on a game, and how difficult it can be to stop the rot when things go downhill.
When you become a game supervisor its because Clanbase have decided that you've put in the hours that you can now be trusted with the responsibility to spearhead the game. If someone has gotten that far and they've been selected and elected for that prestigious position then its very difficult to suddenly have that person removed from their position, but it has been done, and does it need to be done again? Lets compare ET's history of Game Supervisors and their history and see whether Call of Duty is at a parallel position.
Why is it that we never appreciate what we've got? Well, that's just being human however writing as a player of Enemy Territory I'm more appreciative of the admin team that we have. In our little corner of Clanbase we have match server lists given to us by GamesTV, pick one of those that are ETTV ready and then you can get back to practising. All the mean time, you've one of a group of shoutcasters covering your game, you've got a community watching your every move via a brilliant piece of Gamer TV software accessible via a GamesTV website that's simplicity is refreshing.
In the ET section of Clanbase, the biggest complaint that has been voiced by many of the current players is that there are not enough match reports made for games. Not enough match reports... Cry heavens! Let loose the dogs of war, or not! If match reports are the biggest crime for the current admins, then we're in a position that every other player on CB should be envious of.
It wasn't always like this for ET though, I remember a time that I was heavily involved in the overturning of a game supervisor that had competitive ET in shambles and going nowhere. One simple memory back to the period in between Eurocup 10 and half way through Eurocup 11, when Spirit was game supervisor at the tender age of 15. A fifteen year old in charge of what has accumulatively been the biggest team game on Clanbase since its release? There were many many individuals hard at work who were having their fingers stepped on from above. People who had the right ideas, the mammoth work ethic needed to run a game and having their enthusiasm and dedication eaten alive.
I can remember many a game when players were allowed to chose a server 10 minutes after the scheduled start time and the game supervisor would watch on as players whined and blamed ETTV for the delay to the match. After the wool was pulled firmly over the eyes of Spirit he was released and in came Cash and Angrykid to reign supreme and build a legacy for which ET owes a great deal. The days of obnoxious players dictating to admins was gone, and admin power and respect was restored and with it came great changes that saw the required ETTV setup time duelly respected when selecting a server now long in advance, and coverage at an all time high.
They say the grass is always greener on the other side, but when comparing ET to Call of Duty, right now the grass in ET is a lush grass found on World Cup pitches and Call of Duty nothing but a baron desert called grass seed hell. Lets take last weeks Eurocup group stage finale, iTG is scheduled to cast Call of Duty followed by Enemy Territory. The ET admin agrees to buy iTG an extra 15 minutes incase of delay in CoD, but unfortunately couldn't buy the hour needed to find a suitable server.
On that night I joined both match channels at the same time, no prizes for guessing which channel had their server chosen upon my arrival over an hour before the match. Call of Duty took forever and in the end as a caster, it became a case of one game or the other and I chose ET because sitting watching a match admin stranded, unable to find a server and the players left in no mans land brought back chilling memories from ET days gone by, the server problem was eventually solved by my co-caster who found a suitable match server.
What power does a game supervisor have? Well ET is a prime example of how far downhill a game can go after Lake and Kajab left and Spirit took over, and then how well it recovered and grew under Cash and Angrykid. But you dont have to look at the strengths of ET to find the effect of a quality Game Supervisor, Clanbase is littered with them. Erazor of Quake, strongly backed up by Right, run a very tight ship, Sput of CS equally. These are supervisors who know their game and their job inside and out, their decisions are spot on and on the whole they're rules and decisions bend with the whims of their respective community and thus they have been mainstays on the Clanbase roster for years.
But what happens when you do get a bad apple and you need to make a change? A bad admin can cause repercussions that can hinder a game for years. When two supervisors have a difference of opinion that turns into a fight one can end up isolated and fed up. I remember when AngryKid was forced out of the Nations Cup supervisor spot by Spirit via the most arrogant of newsposts stating “For the good of the cup, I have taken over”. Angrykid (briefly) left Clanbase as a result and I dread to think about where ET would be today in he had not returned, GamesTV.org would certainly not exist in its current state.
[img|left]http://mobil.in-world.info/img/java-hry/call-of-duty/call-of-duty1.gif[/img]
Call of Duty is at that position right now and is at a crossroads that will change the shape of the game forever. As revealed yesterday here on Crossfire, admins jobs are on the line unless they conform with the decisions of Game Supervisor Leon. The problem is, these aren't just admins, these are the Angrykids, the Cash's and the Erazors' of Call of Duty.
Enter into this column, Wabbit and Yami. Yami has announced in yesterdays article that he is going to retire at the end of the season, but Wabbit is still there and its seeing Wabbit in the position that defies belief. Wabbit was almost as ever present in Call of Duty 1, he lead from the front not only running Eurocup but competing for Dsky in Eurocup. ET readers can find a comparison in Kajab from Eurocup 10. Wabbit was the Call of Duty admin at Eurocup 11 lan finals taking pride in its success and was an integral part of it, but now he is powerless despite being the Eurocup supervisor! Yes you read it right, the Eurocup Supervisor is as powerless as George Bush to the problems in Iraq. I started asking questions amongst the CoD admins and was anonymously told the following;
“I read in crows article that threatening is going on, and now I know that I'm not alone. The problem within the crew at the moment is that there is no communication in decisions, if you read crows article you see that Yami and Wabbit had no idea about the streaming decision. The problem is that the people in charge are not that suited to lead, like the decision about streaming was made in a totally wrong way not utilising the experience and knowledge of the crew. CoD1 was better, but in CoD1 the most experienced guy was game supervisor all the time. Leon was chosen because Yami and Wabbit had previously had an argument and Leon was an easier choice to make.”
So where is the problem and where is the solution?
Call of Duty has the largest amount of sign ups for any team game based on last season. Being supervisor of such a game is no easy task. At the top of the scale is $9,500 and a LAN final, and the bottom clan -=[200th]=- who each have individual ranks in the clan. One rule for all is not possible at all for a game this diverse. But as a game supervisor your role is delegate and support, not to dictate and blackmail.
The idea of Game types, Ladders and Opencups having different rules to Eurocups is nothing new. Whilst memory fails me on the specifics, I can remember last season Quake 4 running one cup with a different competition mod to another for a period of time. As a gamesup your role is to find what works best for each of the many pockets of your community.
The Eurocup Supervisors opposed the decision to remove “hitblips” (the small symbol that appears when your bullet hits someone) and it appeared to be the nail in their coffin (Sidenote: They were removed in Opencup and then later put back!). Since then decisions have been made without them and they have been told if they oppose another decision then their jobs will go.
Yesterdays decision to force PB Streaming was made without the knowledge of the Eurocup Supervisor, not only a phenomenal chain of events, but one that caused controversy within the crew, but was THEN reversed following crow's article here on Crossfire, however Crow's public opposition to the decision almost cost him his place as a player in Eurocup!
This was sent to Crow via email:
----- This is an automated message sent by -----
------------- C l a n B a s e ------------------
I suggest you quit trying to discredit CB crew and PsB admins in public without having your complaints checked through the proper procedures.
Memories of Spirit and ET some 18 months ago come flooding back to me, and the crossroads that the game was at is vital. If people had laid down and let Spirit take control over everything then the game would have been doomed, but they didn't. Now is the time when Yami, Wabbit and crow must stand firm and and show their resolve.
Leon and his superiors now have the difficult choice of either sacking one of the greatest admins Call of Duty had and willingly watch Yami leave, or give Wabbit the true power a man in his position needs and a man with his experience and understanding deserves. Leon does not do a bad job of leading those who could care less about the Eurocup, but Wabbit is the man needed to make sure the $9,500 goes to the correct home. At this very moment there is a petition circulating backing Wabbit as the man needed to see Eurocup Call of Duty into its prestigious home.
At this moment decisions have been made that completely contradict the desires of the competitive community, removing hitblips, adding streaming and the dawnville window bug. As a competitive player these are decisions are laughable, however it does represent some peoples opinions, for ET readers it's like representing those that play Shrub Mod with full XP. Those opinions are valid and need representation but that cannot come at the expense of the competitive community.
This is not a battle from the competitive community wanting to dictate to the much larger ladder and open cup community, but the competitive community fighting for their very existence in the most prestigious competition the game has.
Note – Whilst this column may be written in a negative light towards the decisions and actions of an admin, communities can never undervalue the time and effort put in by any volunteers and admins who are working for the good of their community.
Join me as we look at the power and influence that a Game Supervisor can have on a game, and how difficult it can be to stop the rot when things go downhill.
When you become a game supervisor its because Clanbase have decided that you've put in the hours that you can now be trusted with the responsibility to spearhead the game. If someone has gotten that far and they've been selected and elected for that prestigious position then its very difficult to suddenly have that person removed from their position, but it has been done, and does it need to be done again? Lets compare ET's history of Game Supervisors and their history and see whether Call of Duty is at a parallel position.
Why is it that we never appreciate what we've got? Well, that's just being human however writing as a player of Enemy Territory I'm more appreciative of the admin team that we have. In our little corner of Clanbase we have match server lists given to us by GamesTV, pick one of those that are ETTV ready and then you can get back to practising. All the mean time, you've one of a group of shoutcasters covering your game, you've got a community watching your every move via a brilliant piece of Gamer TV software accessible via a GamesTV website that's simplicity is refreshing.
In the ET section of Clanbase, the biggest complaint that has been voiced by many of the current players is that there are not enough match reports made for games. Not enough match reports... Cry heavens! Let loose the dogs of war, or not! If match reports are the biggest crime for the current admins, then we're in a position that every other player on CB should be envious of.
It wasn't always like this for ET though, I remember a time that I was heavily involved in the overturning of a game supervisor that had competitive ET in shambles and going nowhere. One simple memory back to the period in between Eurocup 10 and half way through Eurocup 11, when Spirit was game supervisor at the tender age of 15. A fifteen year old in charge of what has accumulatively been the biggest team game on Clanbase since its release? There were many many individuals hard at work who were having their fingers stepped on from above. People who had the right ideas, the mammoth work ethic needed to run a game and having their enthusiasm and dedication eaten alive.
I can remember many a game when players were allowed to chose a server 10 minutes after the scheduled start time and the game supervisor would watch on as players whined and blamed ETTV for the delay to the match. After the wool was pulled firmly over the eyes of Spirit he was released and in came Cash and Angrykid to reign supreme and build a legacy for which ET owes a great deal. The days of obnoxious players dictating to admins was gone, and admin power and respect was restored and with it came great changes that saw the required ETTV setup time duelly respected when selecting a server now long in advance, and coverage at an all time high.
They say the grass is always greener on the other side, but when comparing ET to Call of Duty, right now the grass in ET is a lush grass found on World Cup pitches and Call of Duty nothing but a baron desert called grass seed hell. Lets take last weeks Eurocup group stage finale, iTG is scheduled to cast Call of Duty followed by Enemy Territory. The ET admin agrees to buy iTG an extra 15 minutes incase of delay in CoD, but unfortunately couldn't buy the hour needed to find a suitable server.
On that night I joined both match channels at the same time, no prizes for guessing which channel had their server chosen upon my arrival over an hour before the match. Call of Duty took forever and in the end as a caster, it became a case of one game or the other and I chose ET because sitting watching a match admin stranded, unable to find a server and the players left in no mans land brought back chilling memories from ET days gone by, the server problem was eventually solved by my co-caster who found a suitable match server.
What power does a game supervisor have? Well ET is a prime example of how far downhill a game can go after Lake and Kajab left and Spirit took over, and then how well it recovered and grew under Cash and Angrykid. But you dont have to look at the strengths of ET to find the effect of a quality Game Supervisor, Clanbase is littered with them. Erazor of Quake, strongly backed up by Right, run a very tight ship, Sput of CS equally. These are supervisors who know their game and their job inside and out, their decisions are spot on and on the whole they're rules and decisions bend with the whims of their respective community and thus they have been mainstays on the Clanbase roster for years.
But what happens when you do get a bad apple and you need to make a change? A bad admin can cause repercussions that can hinder a game for years. When two supervisors have a difference of opinion that turns into a fight one can end up isolated and fed up. I remember when AngryKid was forced out of the Nations Cup supervisor spot by Spirit via the most arrogant of newsposts stating “For the good of the cup, I have taken over”. Angrykid (briefly) left Clanbase as a result and I dread to think about where ET would be today in he had not returned, GamesTV.org would certainly not exist in its current state.
[img|left]http://mobil.in-world.info/img/java-hry/call-of-duty/call-of-duty1.gif[/img]
Call of Duty is at that position right now and is at a crossroads that will change the shape of the game forever. As revealed yesterday here on Crossfire, admins jobs are on the line unless they conform with the decisions of Game Supervisor Leon. The problem is, these aren't just admins, these are the Angrykids, the Cash's and the Erazors' of Call of Duty.
Enter into this column, Wabbit and Yami. Yami has announced in yesterdays article that he is going to retire at the end of the season, but Wabbit is still there and its seeing Wabbit in the position that defies belief. Wabbit was almost as ever present in Call of Duty 1, he lead from the front not only running Eurocup but competing for Dsky in Eurocup. ET readers can find a comparison in Kajab from Eurocup 10. Wabbit was the Call of Duty admin at Eurocup 11 lan finals taking pride in its success and was an integral part of it, but now he is powerless despite being the Eurocup supervisor! Yes you read it right, the Eurocup Supervisor is as powerless as George Bush to the problems in Iraq. I started asking questions amongst the CoD admins and was anonymously told the following;
“I read in crows article that threatening is going on, and now I know that I'm not alone. The problem within the crew at the moment is that there is no communication in decisions, if you read crows article you see that Yami and Wabbit had no idea about the streaming decision. The problem is that the people in charge are not that suited to lead, like the decision about streaming was made in a totally wrong way not utilising the experience and knowledge of the crew. CoD1 was better, but in CoD1 the most experienced guy was game supervisor all the time. Leon was chosen because Yami and Wabbit had previously had an argument and Leon was an easier choice to make.”
So where is the problem and where is the solution?
Call of Duty has the largest amount of sign ups for any team game based on last season. Being supervisor of such a game is no easy task. At the top of the scale is $9,500 and a LAN final, and the bottom clan -=[200th]=- who each have individual ranks in the clan. One rule for all is not possible at all for a game this diverse. But as a game supervisor your role is delegate and support, not to dictate and blackmail.
The idea of Game types, Ladders and Opencups having different rules to Eurocups is nothing new. Whilst memory fails me on the specifics, I can remember last season Quake 4 running one cup with a different competition mod to another for a period of time. As a gamesup your role is to find what works best for each of the many pockets of your community.
The Eurocup Supervisors opposed the decision to remove “hitblips” (the small symbol that appears when your bullet hits someone) and it appeared to be the nail in their coffin (Sidenote: They were removed in Opencup and then later put back!). Since then decisions have been made without them and they have been told if they oppose another decision then their jobs will go.
Yesterdays decision to force PB Streaming was made without the knowledge of the Eurocup Supervisor, not only a phenomenal chain of events, but one that caused controversy within the crew, but was THEN reversed following crow's article here on Crossfire, however Crow's public opposition to the decision almost cost him his place as a player in Eurocup!
This was sent to Crow via email:
----- This is an automated message sent by -----
------------- C l a n B a s e ------------------
I suggest you quit trying to discredit CB crew and PsB admins in public without having your complaints checked through the proper procedures.
Memories of Spirit and ET some 18 months ago come flooding back to me, and the crossroads that the game was at is vital. If people had laid down and let Spirit take control over everything then the game would have been doomed, but they didn't. Now is the time when Yami, Wabbit and crow must stand firm and and show their resolve.
Leon and his superiors now have the difficult choice of either sacking one of the greatest admins Call of Duty had and willingly watch Yami leave, or give Wabbit the true power a man in his position needs and a man with his experience and understanding deserves. Leon does not do a bad job of leading those who could care less about the Eurocup, but Wabbit is the man needed to make sure the $9,500 goes to the correct home. At this very moment there is a petition circulating backing Wabbit as the man needed to see Eurocup Call of Duty into its prestigious home.
At this moment decisions have been made that completely contradict the desires of the competitive community, removing hitblips, adding streaming and the dawnville window bug. As a competitive player these are decisions are laughable, however it does represent some peoples opinions, for ET readers it's like representing those that play Shrub Mod with full XP. Those opinions are valid and need representation but that cannot come at the expense of the competitive community.
This is not a battle from the competitive community wanting to dictate to the much larger ladder and open cup community, but the competitive community fighting for their very existence in the most prestigious competition the game has.
Note – Whilst this column may be written in a negative light towards the decisions and actions of an admin, communities can never undervalue the time and effort put in by any volunteers and admins who are working for the good of their community.
