Crack Clan has supported countless TF2 teams since 2007; from lending name, to financing servers through to supporting LAN appearances. Different for everyone but, as far as I'm concerned, not entirely insignificant.

Ipz squad was cut simply: a) not adhering to the original agreement [persistent inappropriate language/behaviour and near total cessation of promotional activity] and b) soliciting support from another organization while under support by Crack Clan and using the Crack Clan name. Pitching Infused for LAN support hoping for a better deal shortly before LAN is somehow transmogrified by Ipz's narrative above in to his whole team getting screwed before the event; this is far from accurate and simply an outrageous accusation. Silence at the time from both sides to respect the tentative nature of e-sports and reputations was dutifully employed, but I'm considering Ipz post above as abandonment of that paradigm and so I will address this directly since he doesn't seem to play at the same level he used to.

The model he mentions was proposed by myself and was broadly supported by the squad -- the funds were not there to support a full-on LAN appearance so a plan was built to try to help out -- it garnered enthusiastic support from Ipz and the rest of the guys and also received similar accolades from the community at large; many of you enjoyed the resulting videos, demos, configs, match reports and Mumble casts through our "TF2 Portal". This was such a success that Ipz proudly included that as part of his pitch to Infused while still receiving support from Crack Clan. Cringe and two-faced indeed, sir.

That said, it was easily the most excited I have ever been about TF2; that particular squad did indeed perform and outperform in many ways: the hilarious antics and awesome personalities with some heroic efforts and some genuine work (Ipz is correct in this, he and Chaplain and others definitely worked hard on producing quality videos which still hold up to the test of time - I'd be annoyed to feel like I lost all that effort too) really made for a special package. Last but not least, I was absolutely made to feel like part of the team; Admirable is a charismatic gentleman genius and the entire squad was gracious enough to include me in post-engagement meetings and tolerant enough to let me say a few syllables even when they knew the game a thousand times better than me. It was a class act while it remained a class act, I still look back on it fondly and will likely always do so - sometimes I wish we were still all together, it was good times. It was also class on Infused's side not to sponsor until after enough time had passed, that's proper.

Putting your heart, soul, time and money in to supporting a squad and then seeing them pitch another organization while you're gearing up to go to LAN was pretty heart-breaking. I don't expect y'all to take me at face value coming out of the woodwork to defend against what I think is an outrageous narrative so, since most of you are already aware of the colourful language employed by that squad on stream through our portal (something Crack Clan has been strictly against since the very beginning), I've redacted the "pitch" (because there's photos and real names involved and I don't know how much of that is public knowledge and that's not cool to spring on the public anyway) for what I consider sensitive..

https://filetea.me/t1sJZiWJHonQ3xXlByclTDoqA

..so yes, in my books, you get sacked for this kind of stuff - most of that angle was mine, lifted straight by the author of this document -- just outrageous! Anyhow, I don't blame Ipz or anyone for looking for a better deal, but he could have worked with me on that (I would have gladly come in under the Infused banner and helped support that squad) but I do blame him for posting the ridiculous version of events that you can see above..

Part of the reason why I put Kaylus through an extremely rigorous and extended trial before agreeing to do something together is because I felt pretty badly burnt from the above debacle: I've always loved being part of a high-level team - I suck at the game but really like it so it's always been a great way to live vicariously through other players - Smzi, T-Mac, TviQ, 2nuts, Brego, ipz, Admirable and Chaplain set that bar for me more than anyone had before -- but after what feels like a year of giving Kaylus "maybe's" I could no longer deny that him and Alien, Soupah, Kinty, Karnax and Mino are worth a shot -- I hope I can help them in some way while enjoying their journey through this season and I'm sorry that this announcement has had to put a little focus on anything but these French lads that are poised to make waves!

Anyhow, there you have it! Hi again everyone, I'm glad TF2 is still kicking, let's see what we can do this time!!! Allez les Bleus!

Good moves

Incredible stuff, some of us have been waiting for a long time to get some kind of in-game competitive acknowledgment, even if it's not for 6s I'm thrilled for it and high5s to Sal/eX for getting this rolling.

I read through everything above and one item more than others continues to ring in my head:

Why not let this very high SNR thread continue while we start another one to store AARs so that the data collection can begin in a semi-organized way, right away? Getting some kind of AAR template standard going could put us on to this path, at the very least it would likely need:

Who played:
--Blue:
----Scout: [div/name]
----Soldier: [div/name]
----Pyro: [div/name]
----Demoman: [div/name]
----Heavy: [div/name]
----Engineer: [div/name]
----Medic: [div/name]
----Sniper: [div/name]
----Spy: [div/name]
--Red:
----Scout: [div/name]
----Soldier: [div/name]
----Pyro: [div/name]
----Demoman: [div/name]
----Heavy: [div/name]
----Engineer: [div/name]
----Medic: [div/name]
----Sniper: [div/name]
----Spy: [div/name]
When played: [dd/mm/yy hh:mm]
Weapon bans enforced:
Formalized outcome: [Red: X Blue: Y]
Things to keep:
Things to alter:
Notes:
[link to STV demo]

..so what do you say to making it our collective mission to get together and come up with a few pages of these kinds of AARs to help the cause?

EDIT: based on Kissme feedback below

Hi, I've brought many teams over 15 years to championships and top placements. The following applies to any FPS title with callers:

Aim requires practice.
Movement requires practice.
Coordination requires practice.
Calling requires practice.

Your team needs to understand that you will make mistakes just like they will miss shots and be out of position. If they don't follow the calls you won't know if they are good or bad ones.

One way to improve quickly is to have your team religiously follow both your good and especially your bad calls, keep notes and discuss after your scrimmage/match/etc.

Always make new mistakes! :)

If you're keen on improving then you need to be in an environment where the above happens, otherwise chances are high that you're in the wrong place or with the wrong people.

This.

All I've ever sought in e-sports was to work with people that actually care.

The key word there is 'work'

I always set out to do work the same way: write down goals, convert them in to an action list, assign items/dates and then, execute.

This is normal, daily activity around the home or in the office..

..but when you enter the world of e-sports with this process in mind you'll find that you're typically trying to wrestle productivity out of an activity/scene that is, by design, a passtime dominated by a younger demographic. This is an extremely difficult task and often fails ('CBA' is a terrible sentiment/reality!) -- 15 years, thousands of people and I can count on both hands how many have actually done something truly meaningful for a scene..

I'm deeply fortunate to have met a crew that doesn't just talk but also walks and has made our current initiatives at Crack Clan possible and promises more -- we, like everyone, have a much larger list of ideas than accomplishments but most of you have probably already witnessed what you can do with a group that actually delivers items on their lists. That's the difference right there, and I'm grateful for every day that it lasts and even when it's good I still seek people that can actually do something with the drive/infrastructure that we provide at Crack Clan.

The bottom line is, for the most part: ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is everything. The future of most things, e-sports included, rests directly on action. If you want to change/improve something then surround yourself with people that produce and move forward - otherwise you're just a spectator and the future is what others will make..

Last official 'tween these two was really, really good to watch. I am eagerly looking forward to seeing these two clash again!

Chaplain, you raise the bar!

PS: Tea and crumpets will be served in the cc// rec. room for all.

Everybody just rock it, don't stop it, gotta rock it, don't stop. Keep tickin' and tockin', work it all around the clock.

Hooah; supercast!

Go get 'em lads!