CPL Drops Doom3 From World Tour 28
Antony.S writes "This morning, the CPL (Cyberathelete Professional League) confirmed that they have dropped Doom 3 as the World Tour game. The press release states they "are in discussion with two other publishers/developers". Could one of them Atari/Epic of Unreal Tournament 2004, seen by many as the only serious contender left, or maybe Dreamcatcher of Painkiller, the Summer CPL 1vs1 game? Which ever game is chosen, Doom 3 is still being played at Winter CPL this December."
Pure speculation (Score:3, Interesting)
CPL has no future (Score:3, Interesting)
The CPL (Score:5, Interesting)
The CPL taking an interest in a game is usually the kiss of death for it in terms of its potential to develop a friendly, mature online community. I used to run a big EU based Counter-Strike league, with no prizes worth a damn and where most of the competitors were in it for fun, and the change that came over the game after the CPL decided they wanted to push it were incredibly depressing. Teams I'd known for years, who'd always been good sports, always treated the game as fun and weren't, to be frank, very good suddenly thought they were going to be the next CPL champions and that they'd make a living out of professional gaming.
Sportsmanship and fair-play went out the window. Suddenly, it was all about "practicing for the CPL" and "getting sponsorship to go to the CPL". The former meant refusing to play any maps or game-modes not supported by the CPL. The latter meant contesting any defeat to the last breath, on the grounds that just accepting a loss would put potential sponsors off. Bear in mind that I'm not just talking about top-end teams here. I'm talking about teams that I, an indifferent player at the best of times (I was always stronger on the organisational side) could beat single-handedly.
The CPL themselves, when they deigned to talk to us mere mortals, came across as arrogant, dictatorial, fickle and often highly irrational. They're intensely sensitive of criticism and think nothing of throwing their weight around. Fortunately, my direct dealings with them have been very limited, but I've heard frequent horror stories from players, sponsors and even those who won their competitions.
"Professional" gaming remains a myth. Even the very top players can barely afford to live off their prize money. You know all those big figures you see quoted for the prizes? Those all get split 5 ways. With only the CPL and WCG having decent prize-money, a team would need to win both in a single year to manage a reasonable income. This is for a "job" which takes pretty much constant play in order to maintain your edge. Sponsorship helps a little, but it normally only just covers travel expenses etc, rather than providing an actual income.
Oh well... here's hoping people will wake up and smell the coffee eventually.
Re:No surprise... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:No surprise... (Score:4, Interesting)
I can't tell you how many time I am on a server with 1 other player. That's 2 human players + 14 AI players. No one really knows how that add up.