ReD's Corner: Tainted - ReD's Corner

By Paul "ReDeYe" Chaloner

It has been a month since I last frequented the pastures of Tek-9 and as promised, whether you like it or not, I am back once more! I said I would make sure I wrote on Tek-9 at least once a month from now on, alternating with Cadred (as one of our other partner sites at Heaven Media) and you may be pleased to learn I stole a good idea from you guys and presented it as my own over at Cadred two weeks ago in my last column! Actually, all of the best ideas are stolen in any case, so you guys should be fine with it. I am referring to MR12 specifically, where those of a smelly fish (COD) persuasion have been using this format for years with much success; however those of a non-fishy persuasion (CSS) have not. I wanted to see if I could provoke them in to a change and whilst it certainly sparked some debate, the inevitable happened: Everyone thinks they have the solution, so we ended up with a million and one ideas and nothing changes.

Don’t think I am hitting on the source scene, far from it, like any community, there are those are morons and those who give good thought and want to help, the trouble is, every community also has a ton of these people trying to do stuff, for various reasons and various gain. Some just love the game they play and want it to live longer, so they get off their fat ass and do something about it. It’s not for personal gain, its not for efame or glory, it’s just a desire to see the game last as long as possible.

We also have those who jump on a bandwagon, but only once it’s rolling with the right people and inevitably these people try and then claim it was their idea all along. There are many other types of people who get involved in the running of sites and communities too, not all of them have bad intentions either, but the fact we have, as a gaming community, been taken for a ride more times than the Stig has driven fast cars, means we are inevitably tainted.

There is a long line of organisers, team managers, teams and tournament owners who have promised much, delivered little and then left owing plenty of money that simply gets written off. How many times are we going to carry on letting this happen? Well, from my point of view, it’s hard because I really want professional gaming to succeed and will (as has been demonstrated plenty of times in the past) jump on the latest thing that promises the earth. Obviously I don’t just go for the next thing someone sends me an IRC pm about, but serious people, with serious money and ambitions have approached me over the years to help setup something, whether it be a TV show, a league or a federation and once you get past the bullshitters and the people with no clue, you end up with people who, if nothing else, have the money to back up their mouth. You don’t really turn down Newscorp when they offer you a part in a $50million TV series and a chance to build a new league globally, regardless of the way it was run. You don’t really turn down an association that asks you to help bring the UK gaming scene together in one federation that will have government support either, and I didn’t.

The trouble is, over the years, the massive failures of CPL, WSVG, ESWC (although that was a huge success, but failed on the money front) and then CGS have taught us lessons about expecting too much from these supposed super tournaments. It hasn’t taught those looking to come in to gaming with their millions anything though. They still sit there blindly on the sidelines, blissfully unaware of all that has come before them entering the sport. DirecTV and Newscorp were no different with this and expected, almost arrogantly that they could simply chuck a bit of cash at it and they would own competitive video gaming. If they had studied how CPL and others had failed in the past, they would and should have succeeded.



And now we have another potential failure on the horizon in the form of the UKeSA and organisation that whilst I didn’t front or get involved in the day to day running, I helped create the essence of it, its spirit and its unity amongst people who previously wouldn’t even sit in the same room as each other. I helped promote it at the very start with statements, as did many other respected eSport personalities. We all gave them our full support, despite having reservations and a huge list of unanswered questions, some still not answered to this day. I raise this, not to boost my own ego, but to show that when I invest in something, I do so fully and without holding back, all in the interest in promoting gaming and helping it get bigger and being seen by more people for what I believe it truly is, a real sport.


Picture made by the GGL following the demise of the WSVG in 2007. Courtesy of GGL.com.

Here is the issue though: I feel jaded by all of the failures at the many attempts to make eSport federations or associations and the many failings of leagues over the last few years. This isn’t something new either, I remember a certain high profile mouse maker back in 2000 going broke and owing 6 figure sums of money to players and teams, only for them to reappear a year later under a different business operating name and seemingly not having anything to do with their previous debts. It’s just that I have got to the point, which I think a lot of others have, of apathy.

I do care about gaming and especially the players who invest their time and energy to become professional but I am tired of hearing of the “next big thing” or the classic line “I think I know how to unite gamers in the UK/World”. If I had a dollar for every time I have heard that I would be a rich man already. So when I was recently approached about supporting or at least talking about a new type of professional gamers association I admit to being less than impressed. Not because the organisation or person (it appears to be one person with a dream) doesn’t have any money (they don’t seem to) but because I have heard it all before. The chap seemed sincere enough and probably believes he can do it, as did the 43 people who have tried it before him did, but self belief isn’t enough. It pains me to say that the problem isn’t this guy, it’s me. I have become almost arrogantly apathetic towards these ideas now and you know who is to blame for that, that’s right, all of the previous failures.

If we are truly going to go forward and have a voice inside governments on gaming related matters, especially the competitive ones, then we are going to have form proper federations. Not these micky-mouse ones that decide to run tournaments as their main reason for existing, but proper, player founded organisations that are TRULY run for non-profit and invest back in to the scene in some way. A collective that have a voice when the next shoot-out-drive-by-exploding-cult-mass-murdering bastards go on a rampage and it gets blamed on video gaming.



This chap may well have those goals too and he may even have the means to achieve it, I sincerely hope he does, but right now I just can’t believe it and I won’t get involved so readily in the “next big thing” project to do so. I won’t stop supporting gaming or UK gaming specifically, but I’ll go about it in the background and in my own little ways. It probably won’t change the world, but at least I will have piece of mind that I am not part of yet another organisation that shafts its players and teams. On that note, let’s hope UKeSA actually pays out what is owed to the teams and players as another £40,000 disappearing will only add to the apathy for all of us and make the next big thing that comes along wonder why on earth no one trusts them…