Here is where i blow my own trumpet. Before applying to be a crossfire admin, i was a general/casual user that rarely posted much whether it be a comment or a news item. I can honestly say though that i have never had a comment deleted, never been warned and never been banned in all the 5 or so years that i have been a member. Why? Because i have followed the rules in most circumstances. I think most will agree that i am quite outspoken and i am the first to hold my hand up and say there has probably been a time where i have broken the odd rule or two but fortunately never been punished.

You could say that there is favouritism or you could say that the rules are guidelines and occasionally can be misinterpreted or even bent slightly for a better cause or just because it is understood that there is no real harm in breaking it. Either way there are times when you can apply common sense to a situation and in all likelihood, common sense will prevail over a set of rules which in all honesty could be outdated or wrote by a complete tool.

So why is common sense not used as a method when applying it against rules? Dont forget that a lot of ppl in life whether it be admins or teachers that are just messengers, asked to co-operate and enforce by the rules set. Always remember the term dont shoot the messenger as in most cases especially specific to the one that i am about to touch base with. The messenger is only doing their job and following the rules as they are laid out. My personal opinion however, is that someone who applies common sense and courtesy is much more respected than those who follow rules word by word.

We now reach my actual point of the column. We have a game which is ever increasing in age, a game where numbers seem to be dwindling. A game which offers little competition from major leagues (yes i will have a dig at you Clanbase and ESL). The last remaining competition/league is hosted by Clanbase and it was a competition that years ago had a prestigious feel to it. We do however have the advantage of crossfire's involvement in introducing new competitions such as Battle For Berlin.

Now what really frustrates me is that we have come off the back of a summer period (like all previous summer periods) where activity has been low. That plus the community uproar and demand to change the format back to 6on6 we have a game itching for activity. So why is it that Clanbase - a "professional" league still implements rules from many seasons ago which do not apply to a game further developed from its original state?

I am the first to point credit and appreciation to admins throughout the game who dedicate their time and effort to police a game full of children. I would also say i am one of the first to advise admins on any decisions i feel have been wrong or unjust. Now i will be one of many to openly criticise them. But i would never criticise admins for making a mistake, it must really be a cock up, number of errors or plain arrogance that would irritate me to the point of open criticism.

We finally come to the decision by Clanbase to remove oxid from Eurocup. A team that had to qualify for EC and play it's first match of the groupstages last night. A team most ppl probably thought werent going to have much of an impact on the competition, especially not progressing through the groupstages.

I wont get into the politics of the admin(s) decisions. i just want to point out the truth that in all honestly, they barely did anything wrong. A player not on the clanpage? What, is clanbase going to rename themselves to ESL and give Penallty Points for non capital letters when naming a demo? I mean every team and player knew that snoop was a member of oxid, jesus he even played in the qualifiers without being registered there. 24 hour rule for an approved player list? What are we going back to the dinosaur ages of Punkbuster? The only reason we had that rule in the first place was to discourage players from using a fake player as you could check against their ET Pro/PB Guid. We now have the wonderful feature of TZAC, which enables players and admins to ensure that each team is playing with their correct lineup.

Now comes the weird part, a 2nd red card for a player (s1LENT) who lost qualifier one and was replaced in that team with another player. If there is a rule that states players of a losing team cannot participate for X number of weeks in EC, then i cant wait to see what g2p's lineup will be tonight, seeing as they have 3 players who lost both qualifier 1 and 2 meaning that as per the rule implemented on oxid, g2p would have to find 3 replacements.

I could type and button bash for hours upon hours. Frankly im not going to publicly slate admins individually, all i ask is that you apply some common sense to this and all future situations rather than abiding by rules that were made from many seasons ago. Removing teams for trivial matters such as not being on the clanpage is ridiculous and then removing them after one of the admins agreed that it was fine to play with a player, to then have another admin say it wasnt acceptable completely tops of the situation.

There have been a number of errors this season, such as the 1st set of groups containing all of the direct invited teams. We need activity and competition in this game and to remove a team considered an underdog who beat a team challenging for the top 5 in the competition is a real shame for both the league and the game. Everyone knows that there is a lack of talent coming through the middle ranks, so why remove a team that have shown they have potential to challenge others even though they were regarded as insignificant.

I ask both Clanbase and other league/tournament admins that you either apply the rules to everyone or put yourself up for public criticism. Clanbase - please reverse the decision and lets move on and actually finish a Eurocup Season with some thrilling games. Rules are guidelines and shouldnt be specific to every situation. The community is forgiving and i know there are a number of players and teams dissapointed with the latest decision. Dont be afraid to admit you were wrong, or that you are giving the team a the benefit of the doubt seeing as the rules are about as useful as having 6 razz's in your team