Connor Echols · @Jigz
5th Mar 2017 from TwitLonger
SoaR vs. eUnited Forfeit
At this point, everyone should be aware that we had to forfeit our games today. I think it is important for everyone to understand why, with the reason being “unable to field an eligible roster." Specifically, we couldn’t field five eligible players. For those of you who do not already know, Benji has decided that he wanted to leave SoaR and continue with eUnited (formerly NME). He notified us this past Wednesday, the day after check-ins ended, that he was leaving SoaR; however, since the check-in forms were already due for the week, both our team and eUnited (NME) had Benji filled out as the solo laner. On Tuesday, it was clear to me that he was unhappy with the direction that things were going after privately talking to him, but we did not know he had already taken any steps to leave. Despite waking up to the news that our solo laner had left us, we had two substitutes that were, to our knowledge at the time of check-ins, available. Those two subs were Nulisa and Sam4Soccer2. Nulisa decided on Wednesday that she would be trying out for Elevate this week and we were happy that she received the opportunity. She had warned us before that it was something that could happen, but we figured that if someone on main roster had an emergency AND if Nulisa did get the tryout with Elevate, then we would still have Sam as a backup. Once we realized the situation was going south, we told Sam that we would likely need him for this week. It was then that he notified us that he had a family trip scheduled for this weekend. Despite his best efforts, he was not going to be able to reasonably cancel this trip or find the time/equipment to play in our games. This being the case, we approached the eSports admins about using another player not listed as a substitute on the check-in forms for the games several days in advance. Their response essentially told us that they could not allow it under the set of rules in place regarding check-ins. This is where I disagree with the decision that was made, though it is ultimately out of our control.
The rules do not allow for rosters to use players not listed as a substitute. This rule is understandable. The admins, however, have power as given by the rules to make exceptions should an appropriate situation arise: (6. RULES DISCLAIMER "All rules are subject to an Administrator’s interpretation. Hi-Rez Studios reserves the right to modify, add, or delete rules at any time, without prior notice and/or reason"). We believe this should have been one of those situations. We also believe any reasonable person can see how allowing us to find a replacement, in a situation that we had virtually no way of foreseeing, should be completely reasonable if it means the SPL games are still played. We take the games very seriously and we have an organization and an audience that expects us to show up and play our best.
Some food for thought – We were meant to play eUnited today (Benji's new team). This means that him informing us after the check-in deadline could intentionally force us into a very difficult situation (exactly what happened). Also, just so everyone understands how the roster locks work: up to this point any given player could check in for any team they wanted if it was at the beginning of the week. Check-ins for Tuesday last through Sunday’s games, but the next week everyone could technically swap around as they please. According to the admin's logic regarding our situation, Zapman could technically be signed into every team in the SPL on Tuesday and then just pick what team he wanted to play for that week on the first day of that team's games. This stems from the fact that there is no rule regarding players being checked in on multiple rosters at once. Additionally, there is a clause that allows admins to enforce roster locks on certain players at their own discretion, but was not used in our situation. A player was successfully allowed to switch teams to put a future opponent at blatant disadvantage and no accommodation was made for our substitutes' situations. Missing the deadline by a day when our games are not for several more so that we can put on a show seems perfectly reasonable to us in this scenario. We fail to see how this situation did not qualify as a time where an exception should be allowed.
Ultimately, while we disagree with the decision made by the administrators, we respect Hi-Rez's right to make the call that they deem most appropriate. Please remember, the purpose of this is not to inspire drama or to assign blame, but simply to shed light on the situation and explain our frustration. Going forward, we do have a new solo laner chosen and he will be announced when all contract related business is complete.