SC2SEA.com - Starcraft 2 SEA eSports Community Site

General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

I’ve never made a blog before, mostly because I really didn’t feel the need to share my thoughts with the greater community, but the last month or two have really made me think it’s time I did.

Since the start of last year I have been a part of this community and have loved almost every second of it. My dealings with people have been great on the whole. So many great people, giving up their own time to help one another, to run tournaments, keep this site up to date; put their own personal finances in the community, for both E-Sports and to help other people out like we recently saw with Paroxysm.

I have personally met a few of you now and have found everyone I've met to be polite, passionate and friendly. It’s a fantastic community on the whole with a lot of very level headed people.

However increasingly we are seeing more and more dramas, with personalities, egos and just simple points of views clashing and becoming bigger problems then they should be. I know personally this kind of stuff has been very mentally draining and I know I am not alone amongst clan leaders who are finding it tough right now to keep everything from becoming massive issues or becoming too much.

And most of the issues would have been completely avoided with just a simple message to the other person involved. I don’t understand why so many issues have to be put up there in public. If you have a problem with another member, why not just PM them and try and sort it that way first?

If you have an issue with a clan or someone in a clan, why not PM their leader? If it’s in a tournament setting PM an admin...

It takes less effort to write a PM to the other person, then it does to spend writing a whole blog or forum post and you'll be surprised how easily most issues are solved.

I mean in the end aren't we all here for the same reason? Because we love StarCraft II, we love our region, we want to see e-sports and StarCraft shine. We want to see our big players on the international stage. We want to see our big teams playing in team leagues and beating teams for NA and EU (and maybe one day Korea).

So let’s do a better job of working together, keeping the drama away from the site, treat each other with respect. Sponsors don’t want to come to the biggest community site and tournaments we run and see this stuff.

As for myself and my clan, I have time for everyone and anyone who wants to talk about any aspect of them. Don’t be afraid. I know people have different opinions and viewpoints and people won’t always agree with what I do, what I say or what I believe in. But I do know that if you put the effort in, you can understand and accept other view points, be polite about it all, and resolve all conflicts. Just put the community and E-Sports first.

Sorry for the length of the blog, I really just needed to get my thoughts out there. I am really looking forward to what we can achieve as a community this year. So let’s stop the bullshit and lets start being making SEA matter.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Dis guy... Dis guy gets it. GLHF y'all.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

I cant agree with this enough. sc2sea is the best bit about Starcraft 2 imo, but more and more latly I'm getting sick and tired of the BS that people are doing and sayings, and its making this entire site as a whole alot less appealing. I find it so amazing that sooo many people over the last couple months have found it some what hard to be just a little bit mature. Settle things privately, or where possible just forget about it.

Yeah Ben. I agree with what ur saying,

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Well said Ben

Totally agree with what he said and I believe many share the same thoughts, feelings and passion as he does. We shouldnt lose focus on what really matters close to our hearts about SC2, esports and the community.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

I approve this message.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

This is why I've stuck to my guns that , best new clan

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

I re-approve this message.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Nothing wrong with a bit of shit talking and disagreement of opinions. It's what makes the game and scene a whole lot more interesting. It's a spectator sport, and nothing gets spectators more interested than knowing these 2 guys wanna **** each other up. Perhaps there are good and bad ways to go about it, but having everyone circle jerk over how awesome and fun and nice we all are sounds a little bit boring tbh. I'm all for being nice, but why are we trying to shove our heads in the sand like an emu, pretending harsh words don't exist, whenever someone says something that has a bit of substance to it.

I understand forums and community sites should be welcoming and inclusive and friendly and all that, but I don't believe that should be ALL that it is. It's a place for people to discuss their feelings/thoughts, whatever those may be.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Agreed, but disagree that it means it's better for people's issues to be addressed in the forums rather than just doing it privately, when it doesn't really affect any of us.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

sometimes it might. If two people are heatedly discussing an opinion that is relevant to the forum/discussion it should remain valid. Perhaps "I'm gonna get you bitch" "NO, im gonna get YOU" isn't quite necessary and can be taken to pm's, but either way, I feel it should be moderately extremely lightly/if at all.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Kez I agree with you to some extent. We should always be able to discuss issues and have differences of opinions. However if your comments have nothing constructive in them, if they bad mouth a player, clan, community and sponsor, you are doing damage not good.

Why is it hard to take it up privately with the person you have the issue with first? Why is that the wrong move?

And I am not saying at all we should all go yes sir, no sir.. You need personalties and you do need the show matches, the rivalries etc.

But if your just gonna sit there and say: X is shit and a horrible person, I hate clan Y, Z are full of cheats and are cry babbies... what purporse does that serve. What if your wrong about what you are saying? What if your ruining a whole clan by saying that or scaring away a sponsor. Does your right to say what you want justify that?

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Because it feels weird to randomly come out of the blue with a pm "Hey man I hate you. That is all" lol. If someone is discussing lets say TA, and then x person says "I'm not the biggest fan of them blah blah". People saying they hate someone/whatever is slightly more constructive than what people might think. Benji had AN ENTIRE THREAD dedicated to everyone coming and saying their 2 cents about him because of multiple dramas/shit talking. It also polarizes thoughts and opinions and gives the community more to discuss and talk about. Furthermore, the "drama" that 2 individuals create, is almost NEVER as large as the 15 people and various threads that come out saying how dumb drama is rofl. Lastly, its natural to see someone say something about you, then reply via the same methods they used to say it in the first place. Furthermore, it shows people not to disrespect you in some way I guess

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Taking your issues public is only a good idea when both parties can't reach a solution on their own. I'm pretty sure this thread is more aimed at admin related issues, and I agree with him on that point. You can't get rid of retards on the internet but there will be less headaches throughout this season of SEACL if people actually bring their problems to the involved parties before bringing it to a blog or chatbox.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

But unfortunately people just don't care enough to pussyfoot around every issue and politely message someone with their disdain for them.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

i find that lately there are a lot more blogs/threads talking about how bad drama is for the community, and way more discussions in chat about it than drama itself. idk seems a bit ironic to me as it just blows it all out of proportion and causing MORE drama. sure people arguing over petty disputes may be percieved as just that - petty - further discussing the dispute by making blogs talking about how petty it was just accentuates the drama further.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

The problem is that there is no repercussions for anyone's actions - we are generally community policed. If someone is running around being the biggest dick in history - is PMing them really going to do anything at all?

I've PMed people and was generally not content at all with the outcome. So now what?

As long as it's clear and civil, I think public posts are fine. If someones done something wrong, it'll be found out. If it's a misunderstanding, they can talk it out. If they disagree, it'll eventually fizzle out and be forgotten. This is a public forum, where people come to talk and vent their thoughts. You are free to ignore topics you dislike - instead of getting angry over someone else's business. There is always the report feature if you think it's getting into dangerous territory.

Until the day when there is more original content to keep people busy and not bored, there is always going to be drama.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

@UHF- It sounds like your doing exaclty what I suggest, PM first. Yes there is always going to be some drama, but we can do better then we have been. Take the time out before you post something on the blogs, forums, chatbox, whatever. Can you solve it with the other party in private? If you haven't tried yet, you should do that first.

There is so much work done by lots of people in their own spare time to add things to this community. The amount of work admins and moderators and clan personal have to do, just because someone decided they didnt want to try and resolve something in private or decided to just spew filth with nothing constructive, polite or useful in it, is completely unacceptable. Why should they suffer?

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

im sorry to sound harsh but admins and moderators are admins and moderators because they want to be. it is their job to filter through and deal with dramas like this. to feel that being an admin/mod is going to be easy and that they will not have to get their hands dirty dealing with disputes and dramas is simply naive.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

Escalate it to an admin? o-o

It's not that we think it's going to be easy -- it's that sometimes we miss things. I sure as hell don't have the time to read everything that comes through this website + the chatbox, so I only see what I see + what I get told. Also, that type of reasoning is the same as dropping trash on the ground and saying "well that's why we have janitors" at a movie theater. Sure, they'll clean it up, but you don't need to be a grub..

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

I never said that, admin and moderator work is always going to be hard, dramas or no dramas. And yes there will always be some. But

Why can't we do a better job ?
Why can't we sort out some things ourselves?
Why can't we take five seconds to think about the consequences of our actions?

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

because your sc2sea utopia is unreasonable.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

This forum is filled with white knights in a time of minor trolling, tbh I agree with RuineD, Kez everyone who doesn't go 'Oh no drama, this is bad for the community, make it a PM, I hate this'. Also I fail to see why chatbox banter/trolling/whatever is so harmful and annoying, sure everyone sees it but it isn't there for ever and it is hardly that bad. It is like two people BMing on ladder and then someone pausing or random spectator say QQing and getting an admin and being like 'I HATE THIS DRAMA THIS COMMUNITY IS FILLED WITH LOVE'. It is the internet, accept trolling.

Have you ever been on any other gaming forum? Especially one that is centred around competition? This is like heaven compared to them and I don't understand why everyone gets so hurt and feels like they need to to be the moral one every time even a minor thing goes wrong or an issue arises. It is SC. It is the internet.

Just lol.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

That doesn't really do anything.

But otherwise, surely if it's becoming that much of an issue/detriment to the site, a separate forum category could be made for matter such as this (ie. Community Issues *Enter at own risk*). Set up rules for the category, and moderate it.

Drama is going to happen no matter what you do, so we either put up with it (which I'm fine with), or we facilitate it in a way that it is centralised and policed properly.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

If you don't like drama, don't involve yourself in it. It's that simple. Unfortunately disagreements on the site seem to be 95% people throwing in their worthless 2 cents, and 5% the people involved and a few others whos opinions may have merit trying to talk things out. On a public forum it's no small wonder that people are going to publicly post their opinions whether they step on someone else's toes or not. You cannot and should not expect every single person to care about their image on a forum, to care about a big scary infraction or warning on their post, to think rationally in the heat of the moment and to calmly approach the situation.

Sc2sea already does a pretty damn good job at not becoming one of the assholes of the internet like many other forums have. I think people get too butthurt over the few issues that blow up on the forums and somehow come to a conclusion that we're poisoning ourselves with endless drama. In the last 6 months I can only think of maybe 3-4 noteworthy dramas on the forum. Try to find me another gaming forum that has less than that. Good luck.

Re: General thoughts on SEA and Starcraft 2
 

But thats the problem, I get involved when its involves my clan or a tournament I run, without any kind of choice on my own behalf.

I understand there is drama at times and I am fine with that. If I dont want to be invovled I wont get involved.

The thing I'd just like to see more of, from my own personal expereinces over the last 12 months of running a clan, admining tournaments and helping out where I can in the community, is that people try and solve their issues with an admin, clan, member personally if its possible.

I would much prefer to solve simple issues without their being a huge outbreak of insults, incorrect information and slander.

Yes there will always be drama, yes its not always possible to do what i ask, thats fine. I can accept that. I can accept there will be insults.

let me make it real simple for what I want.

You have a problem with a tournament i run, a tournament i admin, a topic I post, a member of my clan or my clan in general, PM me about it and tell me what ive/they've done and give me the chance to explain/fix it. If i dont do the right thing, feel free to create whatever blog / thread / A4 poster you want.