Clanbase. EuroCup. NationsCup. OpenCup. Hosted Cups. CBooky. LAN Finals. GGL. Clanbase is without question a powerful body with a rich heritage and reputation to savour, but the question still prevails, and never more so in terms of ET: is the magic still there?
We all owe something to Clanbase. You won't find a single player today who won't remember his or her first Clanbase match, the rush that came with the first time you ever locked horns with another team officially. On from such youthful days to loftier heights, from watching the great teams down the years play the game from the pinnacle of the EuroCup, the pages upon pages of coverage written tirelessly by an army of dedicated admins, the nights spent glued to the radio as minute after minute of heart pounding action was commentated on with intensity and passion, perhaps even being fortunate to play in the big cups yourself. Whatever your history, everyone has a background, neigh an affinity with Clanbase, and that is something that can never be taken away.
Yet through all this, the Clanbase we see in ET is certainly nothing compared to its past credentials. Irrespective of which teams compete in the seasonly EuroCups and NationsCups, the emphasis has slowly but surely been moved away into other games which the organisation-on-high regard as 'more important', however loose that phrase sounds. The organisation which used to designate a portion of its prize purse towards this community now splits its 20,000 euro prizepurse and lan-finals between only 3 games: CoD2 S&D, Warcraft 3 and CS 1.6. However more significant Clanbase and more importantly the sponsors see these games, it cannot be denied that the period in which ET received its money was one when the game was doing notably less well than it is today - again you can point to the number of lans as an easy comparison.
However, my feelings on the current situation on ET's prize distribution is not about what was not given, but more in terms of what was. Take the time to click around the CB EuroCup general section and on the various newspages for the different games, you will see top Clanbase brass Killerman's newsposts detailing the prize distributions. On reading these posts, one of several thoughts struck me.
The first was the amount of repetition. Essentially only two posts were ever created, one for games with lan finals, and one for those without. These were then posted on the associated game's page with the name of the game altered to fit as required. "The (insert game name here) EuroCup XV has been awarded with a significant part of the product prizes". Well, no it hasn't, especially not significant, only the same as all the rest. Perhaps for some this would probably not even matter, but the impression I got was one of a lack of any real interest from those at the top. Instead of a community issued post of excitement or animation, all that stood was one generic entry.
Perhaps excitement is what Clanbase is lacking at the moment. Having lost Intel as a chief partner, the organisation is looking to others such as Steelseries and the website Pokerstrategy.cc to provide the support. As a result, the non-lan finals games of 'other importance' are to be provided with prizes from Steel, such as headphones and mousemats, but which are essentially just repeated each time.
Even then, as much of the community has already commented, why these prizes considering the competition they are provided for? Some such as Ronner argue the point in terms of metaphor, citing the fact that the players who will win the prizes are arguably the least in need, "It's like Tiger Woods winning a golfball". Others such as FlyingDJ use irony to point to the fact that players already have all the equipment they need and often religiously stick to it, "...players can win things they desperately need, I mean, who already has a mousepad or a headset?".
As one-sided as I often am, it has to be said that this is a step up from what Overdrive coined as the "diet light version" of the EuroCup we had last season. It must be said that credit is deserved by Clanbase for maintaining support for the games that fall under its vast radar, especially in light of the no-frills EuroCups in ET we have begun to see appearing.
But my point is this. The EuroCup used to be ET's biggest and most prestigious competition. The teams loved it, the players loved it, the fans loved it and the sponsors loved it. But more recently, the EC has significantly diminished in stature. Without a doubt it is no longer the great notch on the bedpost it used to be. Clanbase do well to show it continued support, but, with the size of the support mirrored in the weight of the announced prizes, isn't the EuroCup becoming more of a token event rather than one which justifies its place at the top?
We all owe something to Clanbase. You won't find a single player today who won't remember his or her first Clanbase match, the rush that came with the first time you ever locked horns with another team officially. On from such youthful days to loftier heights, from watching the great teams down the years play the game from the pinnacle of the EuroCup, the pages upon pages of coverage written tirelessly by an army of dedicated admins, the nights spent glued to the radio as minute after minute of heart pounding action was commentated on with intensity and passion, perhaps even being fortunate to play in the big cups yourself. Whatever your history, everyone has a background, neigh an affinity with Clanbase, and that is something that can never be taken away.
Yet through all this, the Clanbase we see in ET is certainly nothing compared to its past credentials. Irrespective of which teams compete in the seasonly EuroCups and NationsCups, the emphasis has slowly but surely been moved away into other games which the organisation-on-high regard as 'more important', however loose that phrase sounds. The organisation which used to designate a portion of its prize purse towards this community now splits its 20,000 euro prizepurse and lan-finals between only 3 games: CoD2 S&D, Warcraft 3 and CS 1.6. However more significant Clanbase and more importantly the sponsors see these games, it cannot be denied that the period in which ET received its money was one when the game was doing notably less well than it is today - again you can point to the number of lans as an easy comparison.
However, my feelings on the current situation on ET's prize distribution is not about what was not given, but more in terms of what was. Take the time to click around the CB EuroCup general section and on the various newspages for the different games, you will see top Clanbase brass Killerman's newsposts detailing the prize distributions. On reading these posts, one of several thoughts struck me.
The first was the amount of repetition. Essentially only two posts were ever created, one for games with lan finals, and one for those without. These were then posted on the associated game's page with the name of the game altered to fit as required. "The (insert game name here) EuroCup XV has been awarded with a significant part of the product prizes". Well, no it hasn't, especially not significant, only the same as all the rest. Perhaps for some this would probably not even matter, but the impression I got was one of a lack of any real interest from those at the top. Instead of a community issued post of excitement or animation, all that stood was one generic entry.
Perhaps excitement is what Clanbase is lacking at the moment. Having lost Intel as a chief partner, the organisation is looking to others such as Steelseries and the website Pokerstrategy.cc to provide the support. As a result, the non-lan finals games of 'other importance' are to be provided with prizes from Steel, such as headphones and mousemats, but which are essentially just repeated each time.
Even then, as much of the community has already commented, why these prizes considering the competition they are provided for? Some such as Ronner argue the point in terms of metaphor, citing the fact that the players who will win the prizes are arguably the least in need, "It's like Tiger Woods winning a golfball". Others such as FlyingDJ use irony to point to the fact that players already have all the equipment they need and often religiously stick to it, "...players can win things they desperately need, I mean, who already has a mousepad or a headset?".
As one-sided as I often am, it has to be said that this is a step up from what Overdrive coined as the "diet light version" of the EuroCup we had last season. It must be said that credit is deserved by Clanbase for maintaining support for the games that fall under its vast radar, especially in light of the no-frills EuroCups in ET we have begun to see appearing.
But my point is this. The EuroCup used to be ET's biggest and most prestigious competition. The teams loved it, the players loved it, the fans loved it and the sponsors loved it. But more recently, the EC has significantly diminished in stature. Without a doubt it is no longer the great notch on the bedpost it used to be. Clanbase do well to show it continued support, but, with the size of the support mirrored in the weight of the announced prizes, isn't the EuroCup becoming more of a token event rather than one which justifies its place at the top?
I like it, well written and interesting <3
My main question is, why do you think this?
cash doesnt make a game more exciting to play/watch - eventhough u got the motivation to practice hard til the end if u can win something - its all about the mapchoices, settings and ofcourse the teams
i remember the first eurocup to be the most exciting tournament in the history of et - both to watch and play.
eventhough my team didnt get through the groupstage ( thanks to the famous mobile mg on caen! ) it was very cool to see the powerhouses of that time clashing against each other. ive lost that feeling long time ago
nobody in that tournament fought for money back then, just for fun and "internet fame". and thats what made the first eurocup so special
ofcourse, prizes and money are nice rewards for winning a cup - more prizes & more money => more attention from other games/sponsors - but just playing et for money and/or prizes wont work on a longterm base, not looking at a few exceptions
i only know one team in this community which doesnt play for fun/'fame' anymore. ;o)
as i said in my reply to nxm's comment below, i feel the distribution of prizes accurately reflects CB-on-high's interest in the smaller games, ie the insignificance of an ET eurocup compared to say, a warcraft 3 eurocup. it seems more of a token way to appease communities for games such as et. i bet you top ranking cb persona such as killerman would not be able to tell you what happened in et eurocup 10 or 11 in as much detail as you or i, who as a dedicated community was actually involved in its progression.
my hot cleaner is here now so i have to submit this now :))
What is an eurocup which contains mostly just mixteams.
Money is the problem here ppl nowadays realize that they can play games instead of doin RL things like study/work, ofc its fun to play ET on a high level but not if it ruins my chances to get a good job when im older. As a result of that its harder to find some time 2 play instead of workin on your future.
For example the top CS players make enough money to stop studyin and dedicate a year to playin CS, as for ET u would be a complete moron if u were to fuck up your study just for some online fame, online fame doesnt bring in any money and thus u cant live from it.
i sure hope they do.. cause they need it..
mental note to CB admins: learn to reply to mails, it feels like i'm sending emails to a spamfilter. "Thank you for your mail." "We will consider your input" A simple reply like that would be enough for me to stop sending that same mail over and over again. (I remember some C&A mails, max_fps issues, global config mails, etc) A simple reply should suffice. The only replies I got so far are: plz send it in a mail to this or that person. After doing so, i never heard anything again. Contancting CB admins on IRC works too, but the usual answer you get is: i'm not responsible for this, plz contact him or her. Ofcourse those persons cannot be reached. Just some example of how CB is loosing touch with the scene. (look how long it took them to change their cheat policy)
As foonr noted: we all owe a lot to CB, but you guys are rapidly destroying any credibility you have left in this scene. Again as Foonr noted, I think the top of CB is to blame.
LoL
LOL[:::::
#1 Excuse for chatting BuLLshit: "I was drunk...."
When your drunk you don't forget everything, so pls.
Delete?....
I won't delete this comment since I, even down to earth, fully agree on what I wrote.