If it wasn’t for Yoan “ToD” Merlo, last week would have been so uneventful that there would be nothing to talk about at all. Luckily, the Four Kings Warcraft 3 player delivered enough drama for an entire column.
Here is what happened: the Frenchman was flown to the WEG e-Stars event in Korea and had the chance to win $20,000 for first place. But ToD never sat down to play in the competition. The problem was that the organizers promised the player that the map choice system he did not like would be changed and that there would be air conditioning for the players. They did not keep the promise.
The story with the air conditioning and the World Cyber Games runner up is that he cannot focus and play well when it is hot. I think this is a perfectly valid reason to play bad, since moderate temperatures are considered normal by most people. ToD knows well that in heat, his chances shrink like a certain organ in cold water.
Knowing that there would be no AC, ToD would have simply declined the invitation to Korea and there have been no controversy. But certain promises that were made were not kept, so why would he participate in a tournament and tarnish his reputation as a skilled player expecting that he would lose to players he would normally beat? Especially after they, allegedly, lied to him?
People that criticize ToD for being disrespectful to the fans and the tournament’s organizer by not playing are either misinformed or selfish. The spectators demand respect and want to watch a great champion play. But why should the champion be denied respect and the right to compete in normal conditions.
Normal conditions is what players may start getting after “the ToD incident.” I, for one, admire him. He stood up not only for himself but for other players as well. Those that silently agreed to whatever they were given, thinking that they could not change anything. And those that were not bothered by the head, but bothered by other issues.
Players much too often get the short end of the stick from events organizers in general. It is time this changed. Perhaps we need more professional gamers from France? It is in their culture to rebel, after all.
2 Comments
Agree.
If no one is going to stand up to the organizers, who will?
Fair enough spectators are the stakeholders you’re aiming to please (and eventually sponsors) but with such disregard to playing conditions, how many spectators are you really going to satisfy, when you have players playing on the equivalent of a new comer?
I also find it honorable that he decided NOT to play and receive a free $1000 as a prize of coming last (of course, assuming he would come last in such poor conditions), despite performing horribly. Had he not done this, it would’ve held some credibility of ToD’s case against himself (greed).
There was a previous news article with less details where I disagreed with the way ToD chose to handle the situation. Now that you’ve cleared things up on what really happened, I agree with his actions. If promises were made by the organizers then they should be kept, and if they aren’t, a top player isn’t going to play in your tournament. I hope other players follow suit if more organizers fail to keep their end of the deal. Then I think we will see some real change.