The trials and tribulations of a nations cup captain
I have always had the mistaken tendency to “get involved”. While you might think that is a positive facet of my character you are actually mistaken, it’s a flaw. The examples are endless; from running my own team, to forums, servers and leagues. I was an ESL MLA, I set up a community website, helped develop a game mod, tested many, many maps and as I am sure you are aware commentate and stream games to hundreds of viewers. Even this site is another project to get involved in and while each project might involve positives, pressures and pit falls, nothing is quite like being your nation’s leader in the game of your choice.
I am of course talking about my captaincy of the United Kingdom’s TDM squad. This however is not my first experience of that role and you would think I would find it a breeze by now. Let’s step back and review my history.
I originally started my online gaming “career” in Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast (JK2), within which I was from an early stage volunteering for leadership roles and always attempting to enthuse activity into the competitive community. I founded and ran the most successful team and I organised many different tournaments.
It was here that my first taste of captaincy took place and it was in a cup I myself ran as Master League Admin of the ESL. A nations cup, the first real one in JK2 that would involve all the countries across Europe. It would have B teams for countries with a lot of players and the best coverage of any cup we had ever done. We succeeded, and our tiny game really did get a tournament to remember.
I was considered one of the top players in the game and of course was instantly pushed to the position of captain. I already had years of experience running my own team and knew all the nations players inside out, so it would be an easy job and we would undoubtedly be crowned as the undisputed champions of the world!
However this was my first experience of what I will call “my mate is best ever player in the world and even beat fatal1ty once so he must be selected at all costs once he comes back from his 5 year trip to the jungles of brazil in 4 months time syndrome”. It’s a sudden delusion that takes hold of people when one of their friends is not selected to play for the nation. Now they might not have played the game for 3 years, be playing in the lowest division losing every week or be physically dead, but you will still find passionate pleas for their inclusion. It is something I found back then and still find today in Quake Live.
This is the first warning for any wannabe nations captain. People will try and influence you constantly. Don’t be surprised to receive multiple messages a day from players explaining how great there mate was the minute you were not around to witness it. Don’t get me wrong sometimes they are right and these players are very good it is just most of the time there is very little evidence to prove it.
The truth is some players are just not good enough to represent their nation. Some individuals lack the mentality and others are simply not active enough, but what it apparently always comes down to is some people are not my “mate”. At least that is usually the accusation that will get thrown at you if you dare select any player that you might have spoken to once over their phantom play-pal.
I like to be as fair as I can and give everybody the shot they deserve. Hey, I have been on the other side myself, being ignored for selection despite some good results in trials and it hurts. It is never easy to select only a few from many but as long as you can logically backup all your choices that should be the end of the story. However it will not be!
There is always conflict within the squads. Looking back to JK2 again I myself did not get on great with some of the other top UK players, and sacrificed myself for the sake of the teams cohesion, stepping down to a B-team role. How noble of me I hear you cry, but no, this was in the end the wrong course of action. Sometimes you have to be a bit selfish and trust in yourself as others tend to let you down.
When I became captain of the UK team in Quake 3 Arena, it was more by a lack of alternatives then by my own choice. You learn there are many mouths muttering what they think should be done, but very few with the bottle to step up and take the heat. It can be almost infantile some of the back biting that goes on around squad selection. There are those that are happy to go along with whatever, those that will bitch and whine behind your back but don’t dare say anything in front of you and those that like to demand their point be heard and carried through or will withdraw their participation from the team.
It is a sad time when being a politician is more important in a Quake team then being a player, but as a nations captain I think this is the case. Don’t get me wrong it is still a great job to have, you talk and learn from the best players of your country has to offer and everybody at least takes some of what you have to say on board, rather than ignoring everything. But it’s not really a job for a minor player like I was in Q3.
By the time Quake Live rolled around I was excited about the potential of the UK. It could be a chance to give some fresh talent a go. Even I might be good enough to play! I was so enthused and looked forward to countless trials, detailed analysis of stats and a general consensus about who the best team would be.
It is at this point you learn that trials are never truly what they should be. They are good at testing player’s communication skills and a basic ability to play alongside others, but the reality is unless you carry out hundreds of tests you will never get a fair overview of every player’s ability. This means you do have to lean more heavily on the position the players teams are in and of the past experience individuals have at a national level.
Unfortunately selections will always seem bias when the realities of the trials become apparent, as you do have to go with what you know best. I do still however think trials are a useful tool in selection as well as boosting activity in your local scene.
After the whine about the selections when you have your squad and the cup is about to begin, do not expect smooth running. Players will start to go inactive, whine at you about their exclusion from a match or even INCLUSION over a friend also in the squad, be unable to give you any times or days they could possibly play and will suddenly get caught cheating meaning you have to replay your games or get kicked out of the cup.
I know, I know it’s a hard life being your national representative, but somebody has got to do it and I would not want to put you off. Treat this as more of a warning about what is ahead and your road to fame and fortune. I guess if I could sum it all up I would say it is ‘exasperating’. Just when you are over one road bump another pops up, but please don’t let that put you off. I know anybody could do it; it just takes a bit of bottle. So instead of bitching and moaning, exaggerating achievements and bigging up your mates, just volunteer as captain and show us all what you were talking about all along.
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 16th, 2011 at 8:57 pm and is filed under eSports, Jedi Knight 2, Quake 3, Quake Live. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
