Ladies and gents, Southern Hospitality-ers and Glovers of Running Amok, welcome back to Screaming Eagles.
Folks, sometimes--sometimes--old Free just has to get his hands dirty. I like to keep Screaming Eagles focused squarely on the game; TF2 is what we love and play. Darn tooting it's the focus. If we played with oatmeal, well, Screaming Porridge might be a very different, very goopey thing. But sometimes I have to shift the focus a little and direct the lens on the people who inhabit the TF2 community.
Why?
Because sometimes those people get into all sorts of positions--admins, coverage, what have you--and then they pull hoo-ha that simply wouldn't fly elsewhere. Matter of fact, it shouldn't fly in the TF2 community. So, here's another Screaming Eagles on sportsmanship with a nice thick lens directed at a well-known TF2 personality: Peter Mansbridge.
In the recent CommFT Highlander Tournament match between Gun Runners and Inglorious Broadcasters, a dispute arose. I stepped in to moderate that dispute and was forced to ask Peter to stop talking due to his abrasive comments. Luckily for IB, Parable--a very polite dude--was there to handle things. Then today I seethis gem, a forum post on UGC disclosing conversation between Peter and Big Cactus. Threats to disappear STV demos, fix a match, and troll a league match? That's hardly sporting. That's hardly anything but base and nasty, juvenile tactics that, whether intended as a joke or stated in true earnest, amount to bad stuff, shit porridge.
Then I had the fortune to stumble onthis gem, a conversation between Fixxer from Gun Runners and Peter Mansbridge dealing with one of our CommFT Highlander matches. This, good readers, is fine prose. In it you'll find bold, rancid word cheese such as this moldy nugget:
12:34 AM - gR| E² Fixxxer [FFN-1]: and thurs is bad?
12:35 AM - gR| E² Fixxxer [FFN-1]: i can talk to the guys again, see if we can make those times
12:36 AM - Peter Mansbridge: has to be wednesday
12:36 AM - gR| E² Fixxxer [FFN-1]: this is sounding less like a comprimise [. . .]
12:37 AM - Peter Mansbridge: when did you want to play on wed originally?
12:37 AM - gR| E² Fixxxer [FFN-1]: 9 or 10
12:38 AM - gR| E² Fixxxer [FFN-1]: ill talk to them and see what we can muster
12:38 AM - Peter Mansbridge: ok
12:38 AM - Peter Mansbridge: we'll play on wednesday regardless
12:38 AM - Peter Mansbridge: but we really really would prefer 8 or 11
12:38 AM - Peter Mansbridge: for the good of team relations :<
12:38 AM - Peter Mansbridge: we casted you when gayben was watching at valve :D
Here we have a feast for flies: hard-lining a match date and not-so-subtly throwing in the mention of a previous cast for added coercion. Aghast, I went right to the source and asked Peter himself what I was supposed to make of all this:
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Pete
Peter Mansbridge: hi
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Howdy.
Peter Mansbridge: probably will be played tuesday wednesday or thursday
Peter Mansbridge: I think...I dunno
Peter Mansbridge: fixxer hasn't gotten back to me. this is a really bad time.
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Quick question.
Peter Mansbridge: lol
Peter Mansbridge: yes
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: http://www.ugcleague.com/forums/showthread.php?p=78068#post78068
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Confirm that this is real?
Peter Mansbridge: I said that in a moment of anger a month back yes
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: How about this: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/13172133/IB%20vs%20gR.txt
Peter Mansbridge: we're not forfeiting
Peter Mansbridge: we decided that it'd be a dick move and we're just going to play it
Peter Mansbridge: is that your question?
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Not exactly.
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: My questio is DID you say these things?
Peter Mansbridge: yes
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: This is not unlike a shit sandwich, these here links.
Peter Mansbridge: well if you need to do something just ban me and let my team keep playing.
Peter Mansbridge: I apologize for talking shit behind your back but I tend to get a bit bad with anger and I say things I regret
Peter Mansbridge: doesn't matter either, this combined with P.E.'s smear campaign on me I'm pretty much done in the TF2 community anyway
Peter Mansbridge: so do what you must :/
Peter Mansbridge: just let my team keep playing whatever happens.
Free [MFU] 'LF Highlander Scrim: Just looking for confirmation.
I believe the food metaphor has run its course. What we have here is a shit sandwich, two stinking links mashed between a soggy, half-hearted justification. To his credit, Peter apologized and even offered to drop from the tournament and quit eXtelevision. He's worried, you see, about his behavior smearing the folks he works with--folks like eXtine, Parable, and so on. But those folks aren't the issue here. Those folks aren't to blame. Those folks aren't behaving like adolescent ass-hats. Those folks are not en-route to Doucheonia, mythical land of shit-talk and buggery where the milk is always sour and where acting like a clown brings no consequences. No, it's a single ticket ride, one-way, no stops to pee.
The real problem here is that such an individual has held a position of power in eXtelevision, and as a result, the community at large. Peter may not be an ESEA admin, but eXtv is a community brand--they're known for good casting, good commentary, and fantastic videos--and when you associate Peter with eXtv, you associate the above displayed behavior with an organization that has striven to uphold good sportsmanship in TF2. If Peter was worried about lateral smears, he might have thought about that before opening his mouth.
Should IB be punished? Absolutely not. They, like eXtv, are not to blame. They have a replay of a match due this week and I have every intention of seeing it through.
I'd like to ask Peter to make good on his offer: resign from eXtv. Resign from IB. Walk away, study the play book, and, most important, resign from ass-hattery. It's asking a lot, but trust me: impressing trolls isn't going on the life resume. Finally, I'd like to ask Peter's teammates and co-workers to lay proper smack down. Let's see if we can prevent this sort of hoo-ha in the future.
What have we learned? Ladies and gents, if we don't expect good behavior from the people helping to shape the community, there won't be a community to shape. We already have one GotFrag and that's one too many. If we--the pubbers, the pros, and the people in between, the people casting matches, making videos--the people helping to make TF2 what it is--don't hold our own accountable, then we are, to put it in simple terms, fucked. Not the Guy Ritchie-Snatch kind of proper fucked, either. I'm talking double-fisted prison style. Gimp masks. Toaster ovens. Oregon Trail bitmaps plunged into secret, secret places.
No one but the collective us is going to keep this community alive and thriving.
Agree? Disagree? Hit up the comments, add me on Steam, and let's make sure to sweep the drive now and then.
P.S. If the links die, I have copies of all transcripts.
The UGC thread has been edited. Here is the original post in full:
3:25 PM - the BIG cactus: so sylon and those guys get a medal also?
3:25 PM - the BIG cactus: or just a shit poster
3:26 PM - Peter Mansbridge: medals and a poster
3:26 PM - Peter Mansbridge: lol
3:26 PM - the BIG cactus: wow a fucking medal? for being bad
3:26 PM - Peter Mansbridge: sad isn't it
3:26 PM - the BIG cactus: yea
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: pretty shitty how the finals match isn't
going to be broadcasted
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: but ugc didnt take care of this
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: why would we cast it?
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: idiots
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: lol
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: ya i know
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: it just sucks is all
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: I am giving the finger to UGC on this one
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: STV is being locked
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: the demo is going to "disappear"
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: lol
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: haha
3:28 PM - Peter Mansbridge: this is getting no coverage at all and we
control it completely since we're playing on our server
3:28 PM - the BIG cactus: go for it
3:29 PM - the BIG cactus: man that would be good
3:29 PM - the BIG cactus: upset
3:29 PM - the BIG cactus: mansbridghe 200 points
3:30 PM - the BIG cactus: need to get every one "ready" for the big match
3:32 PM - Peter Mansbridge: yes
3:32 PM - Peter Mansbridge: we could do the opposite
3:32 PM - Peter Mansbridge: cast it, do big promo
3:32 PM - Peter Mansbridge: only for us to spawn the headless horsemann
3:33 PM - Peter Mansbridge: and troll mixup
Originally published on CommunityFortress on Monday, 06 June 2011 16:46 by Free.
Archived from Screaming Eagles #23 as part of tf2esports.com's preservation of CommunityFortress's TF2 coverage. All rights remain with the original author and CommunityFortress; reposted for historical reference.