Post by m0th64 on Jun 26, 2017 3:59:04 GMT
Hey guys, it's me, m0th64.
As I assume you're aware, I just finished hosting Slam Pinnacle II, an invitational tournament which served as one of the first majors that this scene has had in some time. Unfortunately, some things happened over the course of this tournament that I need to address publicly, so I hope you'll read what I have to say, as I'd like to clear up what happened.
First, there's the matter of RetroGamersGuru's losers run, in which the 13th seed in the tournament beat four of the top five seeds in succession.
On Saturday evening, around the time of the doubles tournament (more on that later), it was brought to my attention that several top players were discussing a plan to throw the tournament to a low-ranked player. I didn't hear any of these conversations myself, and at the time I wasn't sure if they were serious about doing this or if it was just a joke that someone had misinterpreted, but as a TO I felt it was my responsibility to do something about it. I reached out to the Shrekboards administrators (Lord Ape, Kirby, Boasting Toast and EIREXE) and decided to keep an eye on the situation. That way, if things did get bad later, it wouldn't seem like I was pulling accusations out of thin air. I hoped that it would never have to be discussed again after that point, but obviously I'm writing this text post because that isn't the case.
The plan as I was made aware of it at the time, was that TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, ProviderOfSouls, and Squeachu were planning to set up a bracket where either GRsmash or Jv5_Guy were able to advance to the finals without their opponents playing seriously. When GRsmash and Jv5_guy ended up dropping out of the tournament, this apparently shifted to focus on RetroGamersGuru. It's important to note that none of the players who would have been set up to win the tournament by this plan knew anything about what was going on. Following an early loss to SirensAreCalling, Retro won two losers matches by default, then beat Birdo!, TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, RedRidingShrek, Squeachu and ProviderOfSouls all back-to-back without dropping a game for the ultimate Cinderella story. Or at least, that was the image that was put out.
I've spoken with the players involved, and I'd like to thank them for at least being honest with me. The three players I mentioned before, TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, ProviderOfSouls, and Squeachu, seem to have been the primary architects of all of this. They had all predetermined that they would throw their matches, in turn, to allow RetroGamersGuru to win the tournament. This is exactly what happened. RedRidingShrek also threw his match, but from what i understand from talking to the other three players, they coerced RRS into participating into this, and the other three insisted that I not blame RRS for what happened. Birdo was briefly in the voice chat where this was discussed, but didn't participate in the bracket-fixing and seems to have had no knowledge of what was actually happening. That win, at least, rightfully does belong to Retro.
I understand that Lunoz and SirensAreCalling also had early knowledge of this, but Lunoz dropped out of the tournament and Sirens was the one who first reached out to inform me of what was going on. I'm eternally thankful for Sirens' courage, because it seems the other players had placed pressure on them not to disclose any of what was going on, and I would have never known the truth had Sirens not tipped me off ahead of time.
That said, I organized this tournament with hopes of serious competition, and many people entered with plans of exactly that. Additionally, with the new rankings right around the corner, it wouldn't be fair for any player to be left feeling like they have results that they didn't deserve. This is something that is my responsibility to address publicly, even if I can't do much beyond this statement. I still offered to give Retro the money from the ProviderOfSouls bounty, because I wouldn't penalize him for someone else's mistakes, but Retro declined my offer as he couldn't accept money he didn't earn. As for the three players who threw their matches, since they didn't win prizes anyhow, there's very little difference to be made in retroactively disqualifying them from the tournament. As a leader of JerryBoards, I'm sad to announce that we will no longer keep Squeachu on our team as a sponsored player, as we value sportsmanship highly, regardless of what game is being played. I'm not in a position to do much else as far as consequences are concerned, but I trust the community to deal with this information in a way that is both appropriate and mature moving forward.
When ballots go out for the upcoming SIOM rankings, RetroGamersGuru has requested that he be left out of the running. I don't know if this is necessary, as now that the story has come out I believe it's possible to rank him based on previous results and the fact that he beat Birdo but lost to SirensAreCalling today, but I'll respect his wish. I respect Retro tremendously as a player and I hope that he isn't so hurt by this that he stops competing in the future.
As I said before, as a matter of transparency, I just want to make this information public. I'm deeply saddened that this happened under my watch, at an event I hosted, and I hope that it doesn't happen again at future tournaments. I will take whatever steps I can to ensure that it doesn't. I apologize to all the players who entered this tournament, and to the viewers who were deprived of serious matches to watch. I hope that this doesn't reflect too poorly on our community, and that we can all move past this. I'm sorry.
For the second matter, as most of you know, there were a number of last-minute disqualifications from the tournament. Some of these were not my fault, as people either had family matters to attend to, or had to go in to work, but there were certainly at least a couple of DQs that I could have prevented had I made the tournament's start times more clear. This was my fault for not planning ahead, and I apologize. All told, we had no entrants for the crew battle or low-tier events, three teams for doubles (when there would have been eight had everyone entered) and only 9 1/2 out of 16 players. (I specify one-half as Sorzan dropped out after losing a close set to Squeachu, continuing what has become a tradition at this point.) Most of the best players at the event did play, so it was still a decent-quality invitational, but far from the ultra-stacked major I had hoped for.
Despite everything, there were still some good moments and high-level gameplay that came from this tournament, and I appreciate everyone who was involved in making this happen, whether as a player or a spectator. Expect VODs to go online eventually, though I'm not sure when. I have a couple of tournament planned for later this summer and fall, as well, that I hope run more smoothly than Slam Pinnacle II.
I'm deeply sorry that this experience had to be soured, and I hate to sound like the grumpy old man of a meme game, but I owed it to everyone to address these issues. I apologize to anyone who has been hurt by this experience, and I hope that the community is strong enough to build a path forward despite everything.
If you have any questions about what I've said, or would like to discuss the events of the last few days, feel free to do so. I'll do what I can to answer you, because I want to be as transparent about all of this as possible. I don't know everything about what happened, but I want to clear up any confusion. I know I have a reputation as a sort of meme-villain in this scene, but I want everyone to know that really do care about the Shrek SuperSlam community.
As I assume you're aware, I just finished hosting Slam Pinnacle II, an invitational tournament which served as one of the first majors that this scene has had in some time. Unfortunately, some things happened over the course of this tournament that I need to address publicly, so I hope you'll read what I have to say, as I'd like to clear up what happened.
First, there's the matter of RetroGamersGuru's losers run, in which the 13th seed in the tournament beat four of the top five seeds in succession.
On Saturday evening, around the time of the doubles tournament (more on that later), it was brought to my attention that several top players were discussing a plan to throw the tournament to a low-ranked player. I didn't hear any of these conversations myself, and at the time I wasn't sure if they were serious about doing this or if it was just a joke that someone had misinterpreted, but as a TO I felt it was my responsibility to do something about it. I reached out to the Shrekboards administrators (Lord Ape, Kirby, Boasting Toast and EIREXE) and decided to keep an eye on the situation. That way, if things did get bad later, it wouldn't seem like I was pulling accusations out of thin air. I hoped that it would never have to be discussed again after that point, but obviously I'm writing this text post because that isn't the case.
The plan as I was made aware of it at the time, was that TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, ProviderOfSouls, and Squeachu were planning to set up a bracket where either GRsmash or Jv5_Guy were able to advance to the finals without their opponents playing seriously. When GRsmash and Jv5_guy ended up dropping out of the tournament, this apparently shifted to focus on RetroGamersGuru. It's important to note that none of the players who would have been set up to win the tournament by this plan knew anything about what was going on. Following an early loss to SirensAreCalling, Retro won two losers matches by default, then beat Birdo!, TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, RedRidingShrek, Squeachu and ProviderOfSouls all back-to-back without dropping a game for the ultimate Cinderella story. Or at least, that was the image that was put out.
I've spoken with the players involved, and I'd like to thank them for at least being honest with me. The three players I mentioned before, TheBoiWhoCriedWolf, ProviderOfSouls, and Squeachu, seem to have been the primary architects of all of this. They had all predetermined that they would throw their matches, in turn, to allow RetroGamersGuru to win the tournament. This is exactly what happened. RedRidingShrek also threw his match, but from what i understand from talking to the other three players, they coerced RRS into participating into this, and the other three insisted that I not blame RRS for what happened. Birdo was briefly in the voice chat where this was discussed, but didn't participate in the bracket-fixing and seems to have had no knowledge of what was actually happening. That win, at least, rightfully does belong to Retro.
I understand that Lunoz and SirensAreCalling also had early knowledge of this, but Lunoz dropped out of the tournament and Sirens was the one who first reached out to inform me of what was going on. I'm eternally thankful for Sirens' courage, because it seems the other players had placed pressure on them not to disclose any of what was going on, and I would have never known the truth had Sirens not tipped me off ahead of time.
That said, I organized this tournament with hopes of serious competition, and many people entered with plans of exactly that. Additionally, with the new rankings right around the corner, it wouldn't be fair for any player to be left feeling like they have results that they didn't deserve. This is something that is my responsibility to address publicly, even if I can't do much beyond this statement. I still offered to give Retro the money from the ProviderOfSouls bounty, because I wouldn't penalize him for someone else's mistakes, but Retro declined my offer as he couldn't accept money he didn't earn. As for the three players who threw their matches, since they didn't win prizes anyhow, there's very little difference to be made in retroactively disqualifying them from the tournament. As a leader of JerryBoards, I'm sad to announce that we will no longer keep Squeachu on our team as a sponsored player, as we value sportsmanship highly, regardless of what game is being played. I'm not in a position to do much else as far as consequences are concerned, but I trust the community to deal with this information in a way that is both appropriate and mature moving forward.
When ballots go out for the upcoming SIOM rankings, RetroGamersGuru has requested that he be left out of the running. I don't know if this is necessary, as now that the story has come out I believe it's possible to rank him based on previous results and the fact that he beat Birdo but lost to SirensAreCalling today, but I'll respect his wish. I respect Retro tremendously as a player and I hope that he isn't so hurt by this that he stops competing in the future.
As I said before, as a matter of transparency, I just want to make this information public. I'm deeply saddened that this happened under my watch, at an event I hosted, and I hope that it doesn't happen again at future tournaments. I will take whatever steps I can to ensure that it doesn't. I apologize to all the players who entered this tournament, and to the viewers who were deprived of serious matches to watch. I hope that this doesn't reflect too poorly on our community, and that we can all move past this. I'm sorry.
For the second matter, as most of you know, there were a number of last-minute disqualifications from the tournament. Some of these were not my fault, as people either had family matters to attend to, or had to go in to work, but there were certainly at least a couple of DQs that I could have prevented had I made the tournament's start times more clear. This was my fault for not planning ahead, and I apologize. All told, we had no entrants for the crew battle or low-tier events, three teams for doubles (when there would have been eight had everyone entered) and only 9 1/2 out of 16 players. (I specify one-half as Sorzan dropped out after losing a close set to Squeachu, continuing what has become a tradition at this point.) Most of the best players at the event did play, so it was still a decent-quality invitational, but far from the ultra-stacked major I had hoped for.
Despite everything, there were still some good moments and high-level gameplay that came from this tournament, and I appreciate everyone who was involved in making this happen, whether as a player or a spectator. Expect VODs to go online eventually, though I'm not sure when. I have a couple of tournament planned for later this summer and fall, as well, that I hope run more smoothly than Slam Pinnacle II.
I'm deeply sorry that this experience had to be soured, and I hate to sound like the grumpy old man of a meme game, but I owed it to everyone to address these issues. I apologize to anyone who has been hurt by this experience, and I hope that the community is strong enough to build a path forward despite everything.
If you have any questions about what I've said, or would like to discuss the events of the last few days, feel free to do so. I'll do what I can to answer you, because I want to be as transparent about all of this as possible. I don't know everything about what happened, but I want to clear up any confusion. I know I have a reputation as a sort of meme-villain in this scene, but I want everyone to know that really do care about the Shrek SuperSlam community.
I'm a Captain Hook main now, I guess. 
If it were me, you'd be dead.
