MissHoneybadger · @the_evany
16th Feb 2016 from TwitLonger
I’m not even sure where to start with this. I guess a timeline is the way to go.
*Disclaimer* This has nothing to do with the current roster of Team Secret and is not intended to demean the individual players in any way. This is to purely to present information as objectively as possible.
Aug. 2014
Secret 1.0 is formed. Evany is approached by Kuro & Johan to manage the team.
Oct. 2014
Secret attend bootcamp in NJ before ESL NY. Evany pays out-of-pocket for hotels, bootcamp, & other expenses. Team internally agrees that the winnings of ESL NY go to Evany to cover expenses for this and future LANs, as well as salary.
Secret attend ESL NY and tie for 3rd/4th place.
Secret attend SLTV’s Season 10 and take 2nd place.
Dec. 2014
Secret travel to CA for BTS’ Summit 2 and take 3rd place.
Shortly afterwards, Fly is replaced with Misery.
Secret 1.5 takes 1st place in both XMG Captain’s Draft 2.0 and DotaPit Season 2.
Johan & Evany are kicked before the new year. Cyborgmatt takes the reins.
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What follows is a series of conversations that span over a year’s time so that we (former members of Secret) can get paid.
Dec. 30, 2014
Cyborgmatt confirms ESL NY prize goes directly to Evany.
Feb. 3, 2015
ESL NY contacts Evany to confirm that prizemoney is ready to be transferred. Evany forwards this information to Cyborgmatt.
Cyborgmatt replies, asking for Fly’s tax form. Says he will follow up once they return from DAC.
Feb. 16, 2015
Evany sends Matt Fly’s tax form.
Mar. 5, 2015
Matt greets Evany; Evany responds but conversation ends there.
Matt: Hey Evany, how's it going?
Evany: Hey Matt, I was going to write you today! It's been like a month since my last email I think
Mar. 19, 2015
ESL NY pokes Evany again asking her to connect with Matt, since they haven’t heard anything from Secret. Evany forwards this to Matt.
Evany contacts Matt to sync on prize payment
Matt responds “yeah sorry I was going to speak to you last week but got caught up with some stuff”
Mar. 20, 2015
Evany contacts Matt to sync on payments. Matt explains that they haven’t been paid prizemoney yet because of delays in setting up a USD account. Matt assures Evany that things should be ready soon. Meanwhile, bank information is given to Matt.
Matt: “all right to give you an update, we haven't actually been paid any prize money yet
we should hopefully have it through soon, had some delays with getting a USD account set up
but things should be ready soon
let me get some numbers for you this weekend/ it should actually all come through at once/ once the account is ready”
May 20, 2015
Evany contacts Matt for an update since it’s been 2 months since the last interaction. Matt replies that he is busy but will sync once he is home that night.
May 29, 2015
Evany contacts Matt again for an update; sets up a time later that day for a call. However, Matt is not around.
June 29, 2015
Evany contacts Matt yet again; this time he responds that ESL’s payment should be paid to Evany by the end of the week and Fly would receive his payment in “a week or two”. Matt apologizes for the delay, citing issues with “account stuff”
Evany requests a spreadsheet to sort out specific numbers to make sure payments are in order. They agree to meet again the next day.
June 30, 2015
Matt is busy, so they reschedule for the next day.
July 1, 2015
Matt and Evany sync on payments figures. Fly and Misery to split the 5th share 50/50 for XMG 2.0 & DotaPit Season 2.
Matt apologizes for the delay
“No problem, I just want to apologise again because this has gone on way too long and I just feel really bad”
Aug. 29, 2015
Evany contacts Sunsfan asking if Secret ever submitted an invoice for XMG Captain’s Draft 2.0. Sunsfan explains that the prizemoney is still sitting in his accounts because he is still waiting for Matt to create a bank account. Sunsfan explains that every other team was paid immediately when the money was received from Valve. He expresses frustration and concern, as holding this outstanding money is affecting his taxes.
Sept. 25, 2015
Sunsfan contacts Evany to let her know that money was sent a week prior but is still waiting on Matt to confirm.
Oct. 16, 2015
Kuro contacts Evany
“Our dotapit, summit 2 money will soon be ready to be transfered/i’m not sure about xmg yet/can you contact cyborgmatt and make sure tal and johan get their money”
Evany asks Kuro if he has received his payments yet.
Oct. 20, 2015
Kuro responds:
“hey, i havent received it yet, i was only told that the prizemoney was ready to be sent out”
November 2015
Evany confronts Matt at the Frankfurt Major. Again, Matt reiterates that money will be sent soon and delays were due to accounts being set up.
Dec. 4, 2015
Evany and Kuro sync up at The Defense in Berlin. Kuro explains he has not received payment yet of any tournament played under Secret. They agree to focus on the tournaments ahead and pursue the matter soon after the season ends.
Dec. 5, 2015
Evany contacts Matt again, asking when Fly, N0tail and she will receive payment.
Matt: “Johan should have his money soon. Tal needs to get back to me still regarding his bank's branch details I need”
Dec. 6, 2015
Evany replies to Matt assuring Fly will send his details soon. Asks whether Matt has Evany’s bank info.
No further responses from Matt by this point.
Dec. 12, 2015
Evany and LD sync up at The Summit 4. LD explains that they had been waiting to send out the prizemoney from Summit 2 for months but have been waiting on Secret to set up their accounts. Evany and LD agree to sync on specifics after Evany returns home.
Evany and Kuro discuss the situation again at The Summit 4. They agree that the new year is a suitable payment deadline.
Dec. 19, 2015
Evany contacts ESL asking whether prizemoney from ESL NY 2014 was sent. This is met with a reply that Matt seemed to be avoiding him when it came to Secret prizemoney. ESL states they will reach out to Matt again.
Evany contacts LD asking when the prizemoney for Summit 2 was sent out. LD responds that payment was sent Sept. 5, 2015 and that delays were attributed to Matt failing to provide payment information on time. All other teams had been paid before New Years (2015). LD provides full figures and spreadsheets detailing the payment. LD expresses frustration over the lack of response from Secret’s management.
Evany contacts DotaPit asking whether prizemoney for DotaPit Season 2 had been sent out. He responds that payment was sent around Sept. 1, 2015, but the delay was because Matt hadn’t sent the invoice for months. DotaPit asked for the invoice since Dec. 2014 but the bank account wasn’t opened until after Sept. 1, 2015.
Dec. 20, 2015
Evany contacts SLTV staff asking whether prizemoney from SLTV Season 10 had been paid. SLTV responds that Matt had only sent the invoice a few weeks ago and that SLTV paid out Dec. 18, 2015.
Dec. 23, 2015
N0tail expresses frustration and anger to Evany. He explains that Matt dodges his messages and responses are extremely delayed. He also states that if the money isn’t paid after Christmas he intends to go to social media.
To avoid a possibly uncontained mess, Evany sends Matt an email cc’ing Fly, N0tail, and Kuro requesting an explanation on the delay of payment, as it is clear that each tournament had already paid out by the end of September 2015. She expressed the collective frustration of Secret’s former members. Evany attaches Fly’s tax form again.
“Please stop dodging our messages. I know the main delay was due to setting up an account, but from the information I've gathered from last year's tournament organizers, they all paid out their respective prizes, most of them within the first two weeks of September 2015. So what is the hold up?
Unfortunately if we don't receive our money transfers with detailed records by New Year's, I can't guarantee this won't blow up on social media. We've tried our best to be patient and understanding; I never wanted this to come to this. .”
No response.
Dec. 24, 2015
The secretary for Mr. Sadikoglu, team director for Team Secret, contacts Evany for bank details to arrange transfer. Evany responds with corresponding details.
N0tail writes to Evany asking if she’s sent his details to the secretary yet. She confirms.
Dec. 26, 2015
Ms. Secretary apologizes for delays because offices are closed for the holidays. Offices open again on Jan. 5, 2016
Jan. 1, 2016
Nothing yet from the side of Secret. Evany reassures N0tail and Fly to give Secret more time.
Jan. 2, 2016
Evany writes to Ms. Secretary, cc’ing Fly and N0tail.
“As I have informed Matthew, we were ready to go to social media if we did not receive the money by the New Year. However, I understand the nature of the holidays. Please do not take advantage of this understanding. I do expect full cooperation and communication.”
Evany requests a Skype call with all parties involved once Ms. Secretary returns to the office so they can sync on the payment together and make sure the payment process is smooth.
Jan. 3, 2016
Mr. Sadikoglu contacts Evany, cc’ing Fly, N0tail, Puppey and Matt. He details the financial figures to be paid to each party. He states that these amounts “will be paid no later than February 15, 2016” and that he only just “learned about this matter from Matt 4 days ago.” He expresses confusion at Evany’s statement regarding social media because they are not a public company, nor do they have shareholders or credit to banks so this would do them neither harm nor good. He cites Evany as unprofessional for this and says “feel free to go to social media as this won’t speed up or delay my payment”.
Evany updates Kuro on the situation, as he was not cc’d in said email.
Jan. 25, 2016
Ms. Secretary requests a few payment details. Evany is in China for MDL Season 2 and replies on Feb. 1, 2016.
During MDL, Evany syncs with Charlie on payments for Secret 2.0, as Zai and Arteezy have not received payments either.
Feb. 1, 2016
ESL contacts Evany to let her know that prizemoney for ESL NY 2014 was sent out one week prior.
Feb. 2, 2016
Ms. Secretary: “Let me check if I need more information. As soon as ı do the transfer ı will let you know.”
Feb. 15, 2016
Ms. Secretary requests more payment details for N0tail. Evany responds with the appropriate information.
Feb. 16, 2016
No prizemoney or notice of transfer is seen. N0tail expresses frustration again. Evany pings Ms. Secretary for a status update.
Charlie follows up that, to date, Zai and Arteezy also have not been paid.
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And here we are. As you can see, it has been well over a year and we have been quite patient.