CommunityFortress

Things have been a little busy for me lately, and I know others have been occupied with things like the chase for Golden Wrenches and the culmination of the World Cup. Nonetheless, we've had some pretty good articles being posted lately. In particular, Schetter's discussion on the structure of sport leagues and how that relates to the TF2 communities endeavors. It took me a couple of days to actually get to it and read through, but if you haven't, it is definitely a must read.

Comparisons between eSports and Poker have been drawn before, particularly during the period of CGS and the desire for eSports to reach the same level of television success as Poker has in recent years. Schetter's article contains an excellent analysis on the functional differences between the World Series of Poker and Team Fortress 2/Team-based FPSs. On top of that, it's a pretty damning analysis of the inability of our current league structures to be able to provide for teams.

As it stands now, there is only prizes worth winning for a couple of teams out there. Taking 4th place in ESEA-Open nets a $150 dollar prize. Once you consider that 6 players are paying league fees and a monthly ESEA Premium fee, there is essentially nothing left. If sponsors are paying for league fees, or in the case of a LAN final paying for travel,  ESEA is a for profit league, and they have to have a business plan that works. I've personally talked in the past, of the need for Gamers to be willing to contribute from their wallet towards supporting this community. However, pay-to-play leagues have shown to be unable to turn that money around in a fashion that benefits the gamers.

If the league is setup to be profitable, they have a minimal desire to spend much money on improving, or raising the % of money they end up paying back to the gamer. An increase in the amount of money they are receiving from sponsors will probably trickle down to the gamers, but they will always put forward the argument: "If you want bigger prize pots, pay more money in, or get more people to pay in".

With a non-profit organization that works due to community volunteers and paid positions (from money coming in, either donations or sponsors), the initial prize pots will be small, but the future potentials will be enormous. Talking with Schetter and reading his article sparked a hundred amazing ideas from my head, and I look forward to sharing those with you. I think it'd be rude to cut in though, so I'll be eagerly awaiting Schetter's 3rd part before I post again on the topic...

We're up to 97 wrenches! Who's Excited? **Thumbs pointed at chest** This GUY!!!