Players Respond To Questionable Steps Performed By The CSPPA
The CSPPA, also known as the Counter-Strike Professional Players Association has recently taken part in some debatable scenarios. From banning players to sealed voice comms, the CSPPA is constantly on the lookout for judgmental players. Popular figures in the competitive scene have even responded to actions made by the CSPPA. One of these players happens to be Oleksandr Olehovych "s1mple" Kostyliev, who is a well respected AWPer in the community.
Even CS:GO personalities such as Thorin and Richard Lewis have provided their thoughts on the CSPPA and how they perform as a company. Clearly, a lot of people want to make their statements public about the CSPPA, but most importantly, what have they done wrong?
AN INTERESTING RANKING SYSTEM
In August the CSPPA developed a team ranking system that differs from the rest. It was designed around allowing players to select their rank despite tournament points. The ranking system went through multiple professional players and investors before producing a final product. After collaborating with a handful of different coaches, the CSPPA based their creation around a transparent rulebook.
The booklet was released back in August which included a total of nineteen pages. Not only do tournament organisers have to submit their points based on results, but a team’s overall performance is a huge factor at the end of the day. It is mainly up to the head honchos of these events to help produce a reasonable format for these point-based ranks.
With a plan to provide players with sturdy salaries, the CSPPA wanted to make a ranking system that ignored tardies and a lack of invites. While the association has constantly brought up talk of being inclusive, a lot of players feel left out. Bigger orgs that are bringing in major wins feel that their rank shouldn't be penalised because of smaller teams.
While an org could lose back to back events, their influence on the competitive community alone could keep them in play. It seems like the dynamic structure within the CSPPA is more of a plan to revive smaller brands. After facing some negative comments from the public, the CSPPA decided to produce a player board.
A NEW IDEA COMES INTO PLAY
The official player board includes Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth, Epitácio "TACO" de Melo, Chris "chrisJ" de Jong, Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski, Tarik "tarik" Celik, Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt, and Jordan "n0thing" Gilbert. All seven players have dedicated a huge part of their lives to esports and most importantly, the Counter-Strike series.
Even though these players were signed onto the board to help connect with other players, it didn’t really turn out that way. Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill was not impressed with the CSPPA’s ranking system, feeling that it lacked a sturdy structure. He called the entire setup a “dangerous game”, considering it would be centred around a specific group of players.
With the North American scene dying off, players are concerned with how the CSPPA will respond to the situation. So far they haven’t, and it’s taken a turn for the worse with the ex-Chaos Esports Club roster. Anthony "vanity" Malaspina joined in on this issue as a North American player who was recently forced to leave his team. Vanity stated that he was a part of the CSPPA group chat and acknowledged the fact that nobody was worried about the NA scene. It’s almost like the association is starting to play favourites even though their goal was to create an inclusive org.
Click to enlargePLAYERS TALK BACK
S1mple recently made his own statement about the CSPPA, and it wasn't pretty. The conversation basically boiled down to communication with other players. He made remarks about the CSPPA and how they have done some good things in the past, but it doesn’t mean they’re the best. The legendary AWPer was even supposed to meet up with the CSPPA, but they never showed up. It’s impossible to make a decision that everyone enjoys; the CSPPA is proving this is indeed the truth.
After a large party of cheaters went public after their wrongdoings, the tournament organiser began demanding access to player recordings. Ever since MiBR was caught stream sniping, tournament organisers have been on their hind legs snooping around for more information. A statement about BLAST accessing comms was released on December 8 by the CSPPA. They confirmed that players weren’t comfortable with sharing their tournament footage to BLAST, and therefore are giving them a chance to stand down.
While the CSPPA is acting as a parent company by producing these official posts on Twitter, teams have made it clear that they already chatted with the employees at BLAST. The lengthy issue was resolved prior to the CSPPA’s comment, which came across as demanding. After making some over the top statements and failing to include a handful of Tier 1 teams, the CSPPA is walking a fine line to staying active. Now all they have to do is gain the trust of players outside of their committee, then it should be smooth sailing from here on out.
Images via CSPPA
