Got home yesterday, collapsed on my bed, and just woke up from a 16 hour nap, haha. I'm sore as fuck, I have a horrible blister on my pinky toe, and I'm unwillingly back at work. I still have GXL prizes to give out (more info on that later in the next post) and other things that need to be done. However, holy fuck, that was amazing.
I've had countless people come up to me and thank me for doing this, but I always replied with "I appreciate that, but thank you for coming out."
There have been multiple times where I went around to everyone, just hugging / shaking hands with people, thanking them for coming out to make this event what it was. All the time, money, and effort I've put in alongside the eXtv crew would be totally irrelevant if it weren't for everyone coming out. We had about 170+ TF2 people come out with a 20 team community tournament. 20 fucking teams. That is so damn incredible.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to hang out with people as much as I had wished, because there was a lot of work to be done. I did hang out with people after each night wrapped up with some great times at Rick's hotel room ($20 COIN TOSS CHAD "HERO" HOLSTEIN, HOLD THAT SHIT). I also had a great time casting with gecks, which was even more awesome to do it in person, considering him and I became an impromptu duo only a month ago.
This event was a lot to handle, and many of us behind the curtains were incredibly stressed. I had a pretty horrible mental breakdown at one point, which then the eXtv guys literally forced me to sit down and take a break. I just sat down and had tons of stressful tears. However, I knew things would come together. After the grand finals finished on Saturday, we played out that awesome outro video the eXtv crew and me watched behind the curtains in the back stage. When it finished, we barraged each others with hugs and lots of tears, knowing we fucking did it. The stress disappeared, and all of the hard work we put in finally paid off.
I really wished we had taken a giant group photo, but I saw tons of people taking many pictures throughout the event, so I'm sure we'll be fine on that end.
Here is what will surely be a horribly incomplete "thank you" list, as I will definitely forget people that I want to thank. So, in no particular order:
dashner - For spending over half of a year talking to me almost every single day for many hours on how we could set everything up and make things better. You spent as much of your own money as I did (maybe even more?), and you really didn't have to do that or even help me with any of this, but thank you.
Lange - For helping with some of the sponsorship stuff and getting A LOT of this stuff off of the ground, especially at the event. There were a lot of times where we were under a ton of stress, but I felt like you were the guy who really reassured everyone that everything was gonna be okay and we were gonna do it.
dr.shdwpuppet - For helping with all of the server stuff. It would have been VERY difficult without you there, and your invaluable talent along with your swift timing to make sure everything happened the moment I needed it to happen was just fantastic.
Airon - You flew out from Berlin to help our production. I think that sentence alone needs no further explanation on how grateful I am for your presence.
Arie - You also flew out from Europe to help with our production and participate in the tournament. I'm really sorry about the miscommunication with PCs, but you could tell how devastated I was. Regardless, things wouldn't have been the same without you and your team.
The eXtv crew as a whole - You guys put on a fucking amazing show. The stream guys, the casters, and everyone who had any kind of role in it. Seriously, what a show.
eXtine - For helping me out with things when I had my breakdown and also helping out a ton with the CEVO rental situation. You made that a hell of a lot less stressful. You also bought me chapstick, and that was basically my #1 request all weekend, rofl.
Corsair Gaming - For being one of the first (maybe THE first?) event you've sponsored. That's so awesome and we appreciate the support so much.
Zowie - For showing your continued support for TF2 time and time again.
ChinGoo, foster, CJ-, Thrasher, Benk, smaka - For donating prizes. I hope I didn't forget anyone here.
TEZC - For flying out from Europe to make this event! Your presence really made this event more exciting, and I can only hope that this is not the last time we see Europe on NA soil. Again, sorry about the PC miscommunication.
Literally anyone who traveled long distances - I don't think this needs much of an explanation, except that it makes me feel awesome that this event was good enough for you to travel such distances. That really makes me feel happy.
mala - For constantly making sure I was okay all weekend and got anything I needed. You also bought me a much needed supply of Monster drinks :3!
CEVO|Pipher and CEVO|Spangler - For your help and PC rentals when they were needed. You guys were probably a little annoyed with me at times but thank you for dealing with me, haha.
Tagg - For taking pictures and bodying me in Smash Bros games. I will never stand a chance. ;_;
flame - For helping out with what you could, when you could. We've had some differences on the forums, but at the end of the day, we just want TF2 to be awesome. You also drive a sick fucking car.
mana and enigma - For promptly helping me with any TFTV things I needed done.
The CEVO teams - For playing a ridiculous amount of TF2 over two days. I know you guys are exhausted and were probably a little fed up with me at times, but you guys put on amazing matches as always. Also, thank you for signing / doing autographs for players. It means so much to them than you can possibly imagine.
To anyone I snapped at - I'm really sorry. There were times where I was really stressed out and did that totally on accident. I don't think I snapped at anyone I didn't know and I don't think there were too many times where it happened, but I apologize. I think the only time I legitimately snapped is when my team wouldn't stop scrimming mix^ when they had to play a match, and I screamed "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE SERVER BEFORE I RIP OUT YOUR ETHERNET CABLES," rofl.
Everyone else - Seriously, I can't accurately put into words how happy I feel with how the event went. None of this means anything without all of you showing up. Thank you.
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For the weeks prior to the event, I was just so done already. My mind was filled with "fuck this, I'm not doing this again next year, wow, much stress, so tired, fml," but now I'm already anticipating planning the next event! The problem is that I really try to do too much on my own. Perhaps I should just do a better job at delegating some of my work to some other people who are ready and willing to help, haha.
All I really gave a shit about is that we put on a good fucking show and everyone had an amazing time, and I think it's safe to say we accomplished both things.
I see a lot of you asking if GXL '15 is gonna happen and if TF2 will be a thing with it.
Yeah, GXL '15 is gonna happen.
Yeah, TF2 will be a thing.
Yeah, I'm running it again.