Because generally these teams have 2nd and 3rd-string players they can throw out there to play under the guise of "getting them actual experience", however you don't have that luxury in Invite, see here:

At any one point, you can only have 3 backups playing. Meaning you will have 3 starters out there and if they're not on the expected class you're going to be accused of throwing it away under the current ruleset. In essence Invite is more like Arena Football than traditional American Football, you gotta play both sides of the field all season.

Precedence isn't really validation. That's my only real issue with it. While it does occur, if the game is played in a truly sportsman-like manner, every match is played to the full potential of the team.

True, but at the same time, this season the NBA sanctioned the Spurs $250k when they sat Duncan, Parker and Ginobili in a nationally televised game as they deemed it a "disservice to the league and our fans."

Don't get me wrong - what they did was inconsiderate and people have every right to be upset. However, people are acting like this is some cardinal sin and nothing like this has ever happened. People earn their way into the playoffs. The goal after that is trying to get the matchups you want to go as deep as possible.

Offclassing. Same deal.

Also, with everything positive that has happened in TF2 over these last 6-8 months, it really rustles my jimmies to see that the biggest "story" in this community is the thing that was the most negative. Get over it. Move forward.

great point

even though precedence should not be coming from real sports, they do get punished occasionally. if not there is ill will with the opposing competitors, fans or media, so there is some retaliation whether it being official or not, so just saying pros do it doesnt mean we have to overlook it, thats stupid logic

and i dont see people acting like it's a cardinal sin anymore, they have been given a small fine which is reasonable and no one is flipping out about it being too severe or too lenient

http://www.gosugamers.net/starcraft2/news/17744-coca-and-byun-punished-for-match-fixing

Epic counter by Killing.

since when is looking at past events that are similar to the current situation, for the purpose of justifying a disciplinary action an "epic counter"? sounds more like an easy way out of a situation, imo.

i see where you're going with this.

when the argument against said action is there being a lack of precedence in similar scenarios and you find precedence it is in fact a counter

fucking kill yourself already carrots

Just be glad this isn't badminton where the stakes are higher.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-33747_162-57484108/olympic-badminton-teams-disqualified-for-throwing-matches/

Why don't we implement a draft system? We can watch all of the lower end teams intentionally throw their games for the first draft pick in the following ESEA-I season.

It's an epic counter because people were using professional sports leagues' lack of response to throwing games as an example for why FT shouldn't be fined. He posted an example (that is even more relevant) of a similar course of action taken in response to similar conduct.

To add my 2 cents to the matter: It matters tremendously whether or not Fully Torqued was attempting to throw the match in order to gain a better playoff seeding. I hope we all agree if they were that is not in the spirit of fair play as previously defined, and certainly isn't in the eyes of the admins (which de facto are the only ones that matter). As Seanbud's response thread was either deleted or I'm an idiot and can't find it (*spoiler* I'm also just an idiot), and we have no Fully Torqued response to go off of, the only opinion that should matter in this regard is the admins'. Since Killing and Kalkin seem to agree that this was a move made with the intent of gaining a more favorable LAN spot, the fine given is totally justified in my eyes.

Yo 2007 called. They want TF2 back.

If I ever see this happen again the fine will be an order of magnitude greater at the minimum. This was a warning shot, and much greater penalties were considered. This is practically receiving a get out of jail free card in comparison. I will not tolerate this kind of bullshit in the future.

is there something wrong with the idea of randomizing the bottom tourney seeds

I think the problem is "sportsmanship" is far too vague as a rule.

The system has to be set up so that a team doesn't stand to gain anything by throwing a match. Seems obvious, but much easier said than done, of course.

E-sports.

/thread

The difference is that NBA/Starcraft is always casted. There's value beyond winning and losing, entertainment is on the line(which matters considering John took the time to bring the stream to the front page of Twitch). Just don't allow teams to throw matches of the week.

can someone point out to me when TF2 shifted away from playing a game and became about putting on a show?

harsh, but I guess ESEA is trying to send a message, unfortunate that FT is at the receiving end but then again everything surrounding the incident is unfortunate, I see where ESEA is coming from, let this be a precedent and lets move forward

yeah i agree i definitely think we should boycott blight until foger pays smaka back

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/01/sport/olympics-badminton-scandal

The Olympics are weird. When it comes to professional sports, the bottom tier of teams lose intentionally to try to get the first draft pick. It's smart.

my feelings :(

no one gave a shit when demuslim threw his MLG qualifiers to guarantee idra a seed in the upper bracket

The cast was on ESEA's channel right? Are the casters getting any repercussions for also swearing/baiting FT/handling things unprofessionally?

dont forget kalkin's f bombs