DeKay about changes in ESL, public reaction to them, “wrong” decisions of organization managers
I recently took from (possibly) the most famous insider in the CS: GO field – Yarek “DeKay” Lewis, in which we discussed the recent ESL act (the organization kicked 24 teams from the ESL Pro League without warning) public reaction to this (posts by Torin, s1mple ), “Wrong” decisions of organization managers and other interesting questions!
– Do popular personalities and players (like s1mple) need to talk about ESL and other aspects of eSports?
– Yes it’s good. I would like more people to do this. I don’t know why others are afraid. In my opinion, many simply do not want problems with sponsors and organizations.
– S1mple said in an interview with OverDrive that Liquid fined him for “stupid tweets” and scolded him for criticizing sponsor products. Perhaps this is what affects the words of the players?
– This happens in almost every major organization. This is the price you pay for a high salary.
– Why aren’t you afraid of the consequences of your words against organizations?
“I don’t care what they say or think.” I will always do what I think is right for people and players. Even when I had fewer followers, I didn’t care about the words of other people.
– Do you think that CS: GO rosters are unprofitable for organizations? Have you ever wanted to create your own team?
– Almost every team is unprofitable. No, I’m not interested in that.
If I wanted to create my own team, I would have to invest 100% of my time in it, in my opinion, this requires a lot of attention and travel. I work too much on my personal projects and other things not related to CS: GO to abandon this. Maybe someday … but not now.
I don’t think that I am well versed in the process of team building, as I don’t know some things. I am good at business, but creating a team is more difficult. I don’t know if I will succeed.
– Many people condemn Cloud9 management in CS: GO [которые недавно купили ATK]. If you recall 100 Thieves, then they had a Brazilian squad that did not play a single match, but then they signed Renegades [и они неплохо играют]. But let’s talk about Virtus.ro … They had a Polish team, then they bought the AVANGAR roster, after that the organization changed the general manager, and the composition shows poor results.
– Cloud9 and Virtus.ro made bad decisions. VP held on to their Polish squad too long. 100 Thieves have the best score. There are many things that are inaccessible to the public. No one knows what agreements were concluded, which made decision making difficult. Perhaps the organizations tried to get the best players, but such teams did not play. We will never know the true causes and can only guess about them.
– Do organizations compete for the best players?
– This happens in some cases, but usually teams need new players at different time periods, so this rarely happens.
– Who is better: CEO who was a pro player, or CEO who was a specialist in another field?
– In my opinion, very few former players could become good CEOs. Most of them have no business experience. I do not mean formal education, basically I just need experience. Of course, ex-pro players can be valuable staff, but in other positions.
– Can you become a good manager with your knowledge?
“Yes, I would be better than most.” Most are friends with someone from the team or allow you to make changes based on emotions. Every year, everything is getting better, but even some of the TOP teams had very poor management in the past. Although you need to keep in mind the level of control that they (managers) have. Few maintain discipline among players and have the authority to make good changes. I would not agree to be a manager if I did not have control over the composition.
– Did this happen to G2?
– I’m not sure, very rarely I have 100% confirmation of any stories.
– I understand that in America everything is different. But I heard too many stories about bad contracts in the CIS and Europe. Do you think that CS: GO needs a person with a legal education who can cope with this problem?
– If there are no laws affecting these contracts, then education will not affect anything. The Professional Players Association (CSPPA) and similar organizations may be able to hold organizations accountable for contracts, but it will be very difficult. I hope that as the number of players grows, only reliable teams will remain, and the rest will disappear.
– But why does the association of professional players do nothing?
– Right now, she can only ask the tournament organizers for some changes in tournaments. Over time, she will have more influence. They could not discuss the changes in the ESL Pro League.
– What do you think about Torin, who is trying to hold the ESL accountable?
“Well, as he himself said, he does not know how much they can influence something or demand something.” But it’s good that someone is ready to question the decisions made by the (organization) and make sure that people will be held responsible. I would like more people not to be afraid to say the same thing. He may have been in a hurry and blamed the association of players too much, but the idea of holding the organization accountable is positive.
– But we still don’t know what consequences await Natus Vincere after s1mple tweets [s1mple выложил 2 твитта, в которых раскритиковал решение ESL — кикнуть 24 команды из ESL Pro League, из-за этого многие организации потерпели денежные убытки]…
– Yes, I will not even guess. I hope that they will not be. I am proud of what he did.
