http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1sqlc41
HCT APAC Fall Playoffs issue
Hi everyone,
Just woke up from a long nap in Taiwan as I couldn't really bring
myself to do anything else after the whole incident, but I find
myself with a clearer mind now and therefore am doing a write-up
on it.
First up, I would like congratulate Aku for making it to
seasonals! Like he mentioned in his tweet, we both know each other
and have hung out during the past few events, I know how he's like
and I'm genuinely glad that he made it, albeit at my expense. And
of course I do not blame him for the whole issue.
After going through all the evidence that have been captured by
people from all over the community (who have been really
supportive thus far and I really really appreciate it), I strongly
believe it is just foul play on the part of the admin at Aku's
venue, and that he simply wanted to "help" his countryman out. But
the main issue from there is how HQ just makes a decision without
consulting the BlizzardTW side at all. It completely leaves me
dumbfounded. This is solely based on my assumption, and I will try
to help you understand why I've assumed so in my next paragraphs.
So, I am just sitting in my chair after the first game, feeling
really good about my chances after winning that first game as I
believe I manage to get the favourable queue and actually won, so
my lineup from then on was kinda 65% favoured in my opinion. As I
start thinking of various scenarios/board states in my head and
how I would handle them, I realise that quite a while has passed
and I decided to ping the admin from my Hearthstone client,
mentioning that "the wait has been quite long, what's the issue?".
And suddenly, I receive a message saying "there will be a regame
for game 1 due to a technical issue."
At this moment I just feel extremely unjust, but nevertheless I
decide to keep my cool and raise my hand to get the admin from my
venue over, and simply point at my screen for him to read. It is
now that I realise that is it apparent that my admin JUST GOT HOLD
of the information, and it's MINDBLOWING that my on-site admin
isn't the one informing me of any issues but the spectator in-game
instead. Of course, I state my point to my on-site admin and lay
out all the reasons on why it is simply unfair to me when I hear
absolutely nothing. Even if it is as claimed that Aku might have
heard the commentary by the AU admin, he lost the game anyway, so
why am I the one getting punished for it if I'm not at fault?
I believe my admin did try to push the case towards the HQ, but as
he continuously types in his phone, all he can tell me is the
decision has been final from HQ.
My setup is subsequently checked again by my admin and confirmed
that there is no foul play whatsoever involved, and I am left with
the exact same setup at my venue. Recognising that I don't really
have a choice at all, I just continue the series from 0-0, and
after losing the regame, I genuinely tried very hard to keep my
head in the game, but I believe everyone could see that I wasn't
playing at a level that I originally could anymore, having lost
all the momentum. I'm just glad that I managed to keep my cool on
screen.
As I lay in bed typing this out, it suddenly hurts even more. It
has always been my goal to get the Golden Celebration cardback,
but it feels like it'll just be a painful memory for me. I hardly
mention it, but I too have sacrificed a lot in order to try to do
well, both for myself and for the Singapore eSports scene, having
quit my full-time job and delaying my university education this
year for Hearthstone, so bowing out this way just absolutely
sucks. However, I still believe that I've done great so far this
year, and I don't doubt my abilities to bounce back from this at
all. So see you guys in the near future! And looking forward to
meeting more players in the HCT Singapore tour stop :)
Regards,
Samuel 'Sequinox'