With UGC’s 30th season of Highlander fast approaching a new milestone is being marked. UGC is the longest-running competitive league for Team Fortress 2, and are excited to celebrate this major milestone with the entire Highlander community as well as the TF2 community as a whole!
In light of recent events facing the Highlander community, UGC has decided to address some in the post.
To preface, UGC has a 0 tolerance policy in regards to cheaters. Regardless if they are in Steel or in Platinum, whether they’re a well-known player or a first-time player, UGC will not support cheaters in our league. In recent days, the player known as River has faced multiple accusations of cheating within RGL’s Season 3 Highlander Grand Finals in Invite. After reviewing all the evidence, UGC has found River in violation of UGC Rules, specifically Section 7.1, with reference to Section 7.3. Following standard UGC protocol, River will be suspended from all UGC matches, for 365 days. Additionally, another 200 days have been added to the suspension, for a total of 565 days. This is because we hold our more experienced players to a higher standard, and such players have no excuses for their actions. We expect our top teams / players to be aware of their status in the community and how their actions can influence other players, as well as the community as a whole. Cheating in multiple playoff matches, being viewed by hundreds of people shows a disregard for rules set by our community and expectations that are set for the game’s top players.
In regards to another issue that has faced the community, Karl’s RGL ban is one the UGC will not be mirroring. UGC has strict rules in place for its players, and as mentioned previously we hold our top players to an extremely high standard. However, UGC believes that relevancy and situational context play a large part in ruling on lifetime bans. Most of the community can agree that some actions are inexcusable and no remorse should be shown, and that is why we have followed through with notable instances of inexcusable behavior. Mechawreck and Nursey remain banned and shall remain that way for the remainder of UGC’s existence because those actions are inexcusable and heinous. In instances where rules are broken and lines are crossed, we evaluate those on a case by case basis.
UGC in no form whatsoever supports the actions of Karl in the past, and we feel it necessary to say if anyone were to do the same in the present day, the consequences would be much harsher. However, in faith with our beliefs about relevancy and “Stare Decisis”, or precedent, UGC will not be banning Karl in the upcoming Season 30. If in the event new evidence is released, that increases the severity of the situation, all will be reevaluated. UGC believes in addressing relevant matters, and addressing situations as they happen. The incident regarding Karl was handled by UGC in the past, and in keeping with the precedent it sets, for that specific case, we stand by the original verdict.
It should be noted that these actions are not tolerated within UGC, and anything similar were to happen now, in UGC’s current state, a new precedent would be set.
UGC expects its players to be held to a degree of professionalism and a basic sense of morality and empathy. UGC encourages all of its players to be respectful of one another, because this is a small community, and UGC wishes greatly to be a part of it for years to come.
In addition, UGC will be reevaluating previous suspensions within reasonable limits. Cheating and other offenses will not be reviewed at this time, but issues such as “Admin Abuse” and “Behavioural Bans”, could be reviewed by current Admins for the upcoming season. Please reach out to a member of the UGC staff if you would like your suspension / ban to be reevaluated.
Good luck to all teams in UGC Season 29 Playoffs, and we look forward to seeing you all for Season 30!