Way back in the day - before I stopped playing full-time and focused on finishing school - I remember playing in CEVO-Open on a team that went 5-3. This was around S4.

Platinum: Were you at the top of the scene back then as well? If so, wouldn't you also say that the top-end scene back then was actually very unhealthy? I distinctly remember that Open was quite casual, and as result there were very few people that truly cracked CEVO-Professional. As a matter of fact, most people were too scared to even think about paying the money to play CEVO-P and learn how to get good.

I remember the low end of CEVO being very deep and transient, the middle of the pack being fractured, and the top end being very thin. How did you see it all?

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The weird part about all of this is that while ESEA were playing dirty, the mid-level community (IM and Main players) was becoming deeper and probably even better than they ever have been.

There are a number of solid mid-level (or even better) players that were only able to grow thanks to the structure within ESEA. These players have often gone from being nothing at TF2 and have become high-quality contributors that engage and help make the community great.

Look at some of the recent community LANs that have taken place. Without the mid-level players that were nurtured under ESEA, our local LANs such as FITES, GXL, etc. would have all sucked. There is no way in hell that FITES would have been 4 solid teams deep unless there was a league to grow the talent on each team. ESEA was the conduit that built the players - and the players made that experience great.

ESEA is a messed-up company, but I look at the turnout and competitive drive at my local LANs and I really wonder if we're as unhealthy as we think with ESEA.

The community was on shaky ground the last time we all played in CEVO. That's why I'm a little nervous about it this time. I hope CEVO doesn't take the rope we are giving them and hang us all with it.

We're giving up a whole lot to make the switch to CEVO. I really hope that we don't get burned this time around.

When I was a shit STA 8s player, I read about the switch to ESEA on GotFrag. A big reason for the switch had to do with how it opened certain doors and offered new features that had never been seen before. What doors can CEVO open for us this time around?

ESEA is a badly flawed company, but the "pay to play" community under this most recent season of ESEA was actually very healthy. IM was extremely fun and competitive. Open saw a number of new teams rise up. Invite and Main provided some solid postseason entertainment.

CEVO is probably a cleaner company than ESEA - but will the scene be as healthy this season as it was last season? How long will it take to recover, and will people stay on board for the 2-3 seasons of growing pains while the Rome is built?

Entry fees = greater prize pool. What does a greater prize pool do? It encourages high level play. What does high level play do? It piques the interest of viewers - and these are the viewers that sponsors and website advertisers want.

CEVO is an LLC. Even if they NEVER take a red cent of entry fees as profit, they need to make good money from their sponsors in order to financially justify having their business.

CEVO makes money from entry fees - just not in a very obvious way. Think of it like the deep-sea "lantern fish". The glowing bait (the league fee/payout system) draws the smaller fish (the player) into the mouth of the bigger fish (the sponsor). CEVO then goes fishing and lures the in the sponsors/new players that have been drawn into the system at large.

The sad part about this is that there are about 100 or so ESEA players that will suddenly be out of practice for a season. Teams that formed to compete in ESEA (and in some cases BOTH leagues) are going to probably die as there is no point in practicing to never play in a "tough" match.

This will, in turn, have an effect on a lot of CEVO rosters as well - since there will be a number of very capable and even talented players flooding the CEVO market.

CEVO would have been smart to delay the start date until 48-72 hours AFTER ESEA's deadline. They're missing out on a LOT of money this season. Stoning people out of the breakout season in your league - especially considering who a few of these customers are - is not a good business decision in the long term. People who don't play this season could be tempted to say "fuck it" and stop playing for good.

The community needs their money, time, and character.

Awesome, so now everyone gets to watch me drop to a bodyshot at last.

This was a great LAN. FITES wasn't great last year, but they got back on track this time. Everything went smoothly.

http://challonge.com/fitestf

Brackets haven't been released yet. The good matchups will probably happen in about two hours once some early work is done.

There are a few matchups that look very sexy on paper. Street Hoops vs. Pharaoh might be worth watching for the scout play alone.

Leaving the apartment in an hour or so. See you guys there.

Don't let LAN dictate your visitation hours. I'm very glad that it's not a crisis.

If you make it a little late, we'll see you there. If not, then we understand.

I wouldn't be shocked if ESEA flattens the divisions at this point. Open will be about the same size as IM/Main unless something drastic happens. If this were to happen, it would be similar to the situation before ESEA-IM - in which finishing 10-6 in Open would mean that you were a solid mid+ team.

Everybody could be playing themselves some fuckin open for S16.

If you're Killing, how do you allow a situation like this:
- 9 Invite
- 14 Main (people are going to save main rosters)
- 14 IM
- 15 Open

A (9 Invite) / (35-50 Open) configuration would be so much cleaner.

The GXL crowd would like to remind you that if you're going to do this (the breakfast) you should probably set up reservations.

I still feel bad for the poor workers at Bob Evans.

I should be picking up mason around noon. We'll probably hang around the Harrisburg area for a few hours until LAN opens at six.

Do you already have someone in mind? I've enjoyed pugging with you and Bosh in the past, and I would like to try out for you guys as medic.

Bumping.

EDIT:

I just saw that there are about 17 teams in Open right now. Most of those teams aren't full, and a number need good medics. While it wasn't my original intention to play Open, I will gladly do it this season if I like the team.

If ESEA-Open dies, it won't matter that I consider myself "IM+". Admins will shut down ESEA TF2 while I wait for a good team, and there won't be Christmas for anyone.